《Aquatic Nightmare》 Chapter 1: Doomed on arrival The incident report at site states that unit went missing at . There is no indication as to where they could have gone, as there were not spotted leaving the base. The camera footage in the room gives us more of a hint as to what happened considering the camera shut off for thirty seconds before running again. In that span of time the men that were previously playing cards disappeared, and while there would be a suspicion of foul play the door did not log anyone leaving. -Russian interior defense report on incident 284-B, at site POV S-3 Name: Division: Status: Designation: Spetsnaz-3 In my line of work, bright flashes of light tend to be a bad thing. Getting spotted during a night raid, getting checked to see if you are pretending to be unconscious or getting hit by a flashbang. Today is no different as me and four of my squad are currently surrounded by a bunch of cosplayers in a dark room with rock overhead. "The summoning was a success!" a girl in a dress yells. "Please calm down princess, it is too soon to get our hopes up". Princess? There is too much going on here for the situation to be sane. "Squad stay combat ready but no sudden moves, we need information". It seems S-1 is relatively calm all things considered, if anyone will find out what''s going on he would be it and if he doesn''t no one will. "Well, what more do you need to prove it was a success?" The girl claimed to be a princess certainly got the look and attitude to match one. "They are dressed in odd clothes and look like they are extremely wary of us, so they certainly seem otherworldly to me". S-1 gestures for us to look to all sides of the room and back him up. "What the hell is going on here!?" The sergeant finally spoke up out loud except that it didn''t sound russian or even english, hell it didn''t even seem like any language I know at all. "Well that at least confirms the language part of the summoning spell working, it seems that the goddess is watching us today". An old man continues mumbling away like one of the engineers lost in calculation. "S-3 initiate communication with unknown contacts, get us information and try to seem non-threatening, we have your back". I holster my gun and approach the overly (or appropriately?) excited princess. As I approach, I see some men in armor appear from thin air like they had always been there and point halberds at me. If they believe that those glorified pointy sticks would prevent me from harming the girl they clearly have no idea what they are messing with. "Can you tell us what''s going on here?" It is my job as the radio operator to handle most encounters of a diplomatic nature, even if it isn''t part of our regular MO. "We summoned you to help with the demon lord of course! We need your help to defeat it, or else humanity is doomed". The princess is clearly still extremely excited and some of the other oddly clothed people from the encirclement look relieved, and I get the feeling that the evenly spaced piles of gold and gems with some odd asymmetrical gaps in the piles are what makes me believe this was a rather expensive venture on their side. "And why would we help?" The room tenses, the guards tighten their grip around their halberds the princess is actually a little shook and baffled at my statement and all the robed men look with disapproving mild horror. "But you are humans, aren''t you?" I''ll have to recover this somehow, can''t afford conflict with unknown contacts while surrounded, even if by what is clearly not tactically favorable for them. "Yes, but where we come from soldiers don''t tend to help out other nations for free, until then we serve Russia". I say all this while giving an obvious look at the piles of gold and gems as if we could be bought with those, my trick seems to work and the air in the room gets a lot lighter. "Why of course you will be compensated appropriately for your service to the kingdom of Dalka, please state your desire men of Rossya". Excellent, I can buy important time with this tactic, "Could I request some time to discuss this payment with my fellows? This whole summoning business is rather disorienting, and would like to get a little more known with the nature of the job and who we are exactly working for here". The girl gives another smile, except this time it doesn''t reach her eyes. "That is fine I will have a few rooms assigned to you for the duration of your stay, my father will want to talk to you eventually, so please have your answer ready by then". She snaps her fingers and some servants come walking down the stairs into the basement and gesture us to follow. "Fucking hell S-3 that was nuts, you really pulled it back there". S-4 said it in russian, so I''m assuming they figured out that we haven''t been compromised if we can still talk russian. He was always very jovial and expressive, but I get the feeling he plays the fool a lot more often than he is the fool, he is also our team gunner. "They were always intending to stick us in rooms for a while, they had those servants ready" S-2 observant and mostly paranoid as always is still watching the guards as he says this, our scout is clearly seeing something he doesn''t like. "Those guards were invisible and there the entire time, I saw a shimmer that was shaped like them on the locations where they appeared from before they appeared". "What are you guys talking about?" the princess interjects, having regained some of her previous excitement. "We were discussing sleeping arrangements and would like to request a singular room with 5 beds to be assigned to us". The problems S-4 had with the quartermaster made him a smooth liar. The princess deflates the smallest bit before returning to a slightly jovial tone. "I heard men in the army were really bored, but I didn''t know that attitude crossed worlds". It would have been a rather funny statement if it wasn''t for the part where it seemed like the princess was fishing for information too flawlessly, and someone that wasn''t fishing for information wouldn''t be able to say that with such a straight face in a situation like this. "Cease the unnecessary chatter and eyes front, do not embarrass us in front of royalty". Looks like S-1 noticed what she was trying and shut her down before she could get anywhere, although I am a bit worried he may have outed himself as our CO. The princess makes some more attempts and jabs at conversation, but we keep moving steadily and silent as we make our way to our assigned room. At some point the princess leaves us while pouting a bit and the surprisingly unnerved servants open the door to our room. "Please notify a servant if you require anything, we will come get you for breakfast lunch and dinner". The servant bows and leaves us to our room. "Sweep" the moment the word leaves the mouth of S-1 we all get to work checking the room thoroughly for anything out of place. "Found something, it looks like the scribbles covering the floor back at the summoning area" S-4 found the scribbles hidden under a false ceiling in a drawer. "If it wasn''t meant to be found it can''t be anything good for us, we should destroy it" S-2 looks relieved at this information "I would be more worried if they didn''t try even with the language barrier protecting us for now". "We will talk about classified stuff over radio but keep pretending that the language is our main way of preventing information leaks, considering the technology of the locals I believe they don''t have radios". "I would recommend seeing the locals as a good source of information regardless of their obvious intentions" S-1 gives me a pondering look as I say it. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Why do you think that S-3?" "Because while the locals don''t seem to know what we are capable of, they do fear us, and probably any reprisals that could happen if we were to find out that they have been lying to us". S-1 thinks for a bit and comes to a conclusion. "We should get to figuring out this payment stuff, we need much more information and there is some decent time left to get shit done before we are summoned by their king, S-4 and S-5 are to investigate the library". I hadn''t even noticed S-5 since the start of this debacle, as our team sniper he puts great importance on silence and not being noticed. "S-3 I want you to try and get some information from the locals and S-2 you are with me, we are going to take a nice stroll around this place and see what we can find". ____________________________________________ POV second princess Alicia of the kingdom of Dalka I make my way from the otherworlders to the throne room. No doubt my father has already heard most of what happened and will be testing me on my knowledge of intrigue. "I would like to speak to my father". While normally coming to the throne room with the king there and without appointment is seen as a major faux pas, my father has also taught me that family always comes first and that needs to be shown as well. "Alicia! Is that you? It is good to see you on this fine day!" my father seems to be in one of his good moods, which makes sense considering the summoning finally yielding some success. "Yes your majesty I have come to report on the success of the summoning" My father quickly adopts a slightly sour look before going back to his good mood. "I told you none of that your majesty crap when it''s just us I''m your father first and king second, now tell me of these men of rossya". At those last words, I can hear the scheming he''s doing coming out from his words. "They aren''t what I imagined them to be in both a good and bad way, good in that they seem like professional soldiers, bad in that they are professional soldiers. They asked for payment for dealing with the demon lord, but clearly hold loyalty to a different kingdom". My father ponders for a bit before asking, "what are the chances of being able to tie them to our kingdom? If we have otherworldly heroes on our side, the other nations would think twice and the theocracy thrice before trying to attack us, even with this demon lord issue on our border". As expected, my father doesn''t hesitate to fear the potential threats more than the current threat. "Not good, they are already incredibly wary of us and don''t hesitate to show their suspicion towards us". My father ponders some more with a sour look on his face before mother quietly enters. "Well from what the reports say dear Rufus they are still very much human men, they can be paranoid enough to rip out the listening enchantment as much as they want but finding out what they want tends to be more of a matter of time rather than one of certainty". They found the listening enchantment? That was state-of-the-art enchantment work and should leave nearly no trace of mana for mana detection spells. "How did they find it?" My father asks before I could. "Well we didn''t get much from it but roughly 5 minutes before it went dead there was a single word said before it seems they found it, but it was all in their odd language". "And what are they doing now?" My mother''s expression finally grows sour. "That''s why I''m here now, it seems as our guests have decided to make themselves comfortable rather quickly, two are walking around the training ground two more are holed up in the library and one is currently asking the servants and guards some odd questions". My father manages to look mildly annoyed before turning to me. "Marie dearest, can you have someone lead Alicia to where the man talking to the servants is and find out anything? As of now we don''t even know which one of them is in charge, and with paranoid men like these it''s best not to make assumptions". My mother, having clearly expected this whole turn of events, snaps her fingers and the head maid enters. "Jennifer, lead princess Alicia here to the otherworlder currently talking to your staff so she can make sure everything is alright". The head maid bows and respectfully gestures for me to follow. As I approach where the man is talking, I overhear some of the things being said. "So this demon lord turns people into half-monsters using corrupted magic?" The servant replies somewhat shakily. "Y-yes, I believe it was called the transmogrification spell, and it also corrupts the mind quickly turning those hit into puppets of the demon lord". I make my way to enter quickly, and the otherworlder seems to mutter something under his breath before making a short bow and greeting. "Greeting princess Alicia, is there anything I can help you with?" This was one of the two men that spoke at the summoning ritual, I don''t recognize any of them as they are always wearing black masks covering everything except the eyes, so they sent out the one most capable of talking to gather information from the servants? "Greetings hero, I heard you went around asking questions from the servants and I wanted to make sure you weren''t making them too uncomfortable, if you have any questions you can always ask me". The masked man thinks for a bit before answering. "I believe I never properly introduced myself, I''m S-3, and I was asking some questions about our target and its nature, can you tell me a little about those who serve it?" Now that he mentions it I don''t recall giving my name, so he clearly has been asking about a bit more than simply the demon lord. "Why of course Esstrey, the demons come in many forms but all of them hold loyalty to the demon lord and hold a disdain for all humans, many are capable in the demon army of casting the dreaded transmogrification spell, but the demon lord is of course the one most capable of it". The man narrows his eyes a bit before asking, "how is humanity still holding on?" I''m a bit shocked at this question and remember the prophecy again. About how those of another world would be the ones to save humanity. I had always believed that it would be a hero in shining armor that would ride in and spearhead humanity to a brighter future and even when I was rather disappointed that the heroes that came were anything but clothed in shining armor, but they were still heroes. "The royal army has its own tricks and might still left, we are no pushovers and some wayward magical experiment from an insane mage like the demon lord isn''t going to just take our beautiful kingdom without a fight!" I actually get a little winded by the end of the small speech. Esstrey gives a nod before adopting a determined look. "In that case I''m looking forward to working with you all, someone capable of brainwashing is a danger to us all, my fellows are currently researching more about the target as we speak". As much as I want to believe that he means those words, I can tell that it''s hollow platitudes. These men still hold great distrust for us, no matter how much they know about the world. I promptly excuse myself and head back to my room to send some letters to my brothers and sister, and hopefully keep my younger sister out of all this. I get the feeling that the summoning is us playing with fire more and more while my father and mother are blinded by opportunity. A donation to the local church would probably also be nice, if we are playing with fire, I just hope that the goddess will watch over us. __________ POV S-3 Having talked to the ball of energy known as the second princess Alicia of the kingdom of Dalka, I make my way back to the room. As we all slowly arrive and share the information we gathered, we come to several conclusions based on evidence collected. Magic is real, so are enchantments elves, dwarves, vampires, demons, dragons, monster and a whole heap of other stuff normally found in what would usually be found in fantasy books except that somehow some of Lovecraft''s works are also mixed in considering the many books about beings from the stars. "So we have giant flying fire breathing tanks, beings from mythology and carnivorous caves but worst of all somehow humanity hasn''t been crushed like bugs despite not even having invented gunpowder yet". S-1 gives one of those pondering looks he makes when we are assigned a mission with unrealistic expectations from command again. "And they want us to kill what is an ancient being made by a mad scientist thousands of years ago in an attempt at making the perfect being, simply because God is real, and she said so". As S-1 continues, irritation comes more and more into his voice, S-4 gives a pained look before speaking up. "From what I found with S-5 the whole summoning thing is much easier to do than sending something far away as we could be considered lucky if we end up in the sun". We all grumble at that and ponder our options a bit before S-2 gives a grin through his mask he only gives when he spots weakness. "Except that that ancient thing has never faced gunpowder before or any powerful mana-less weapons, there may have never been a recorded case of someone surviving an encounter with the demon lord among humans but that all leads me to believe together with what the soldiers said about demons that they all have enhanced senses". S-1 gives a serious look at S-2 before commanding. "Explain". The grin on S-2 grows even wider as I can tell from his eyes that he''s enjoying the moment thoroughly. "Enhanced eyesight? Flashbangs will hit them harder than their worst moments, Enhanced hearing? We use some loud fucking guns, enhanced smell? The only smell they will get to smell is the smell of our guns. The enemy has never been this unprepared for us, but we are running out of time, no doubt does a being as ancient as this has spies in the palace, it''s what I would do". I decide to make this the moment to speak up. "We should still think of a reward, we still serve Russia before all else". Now it seems it''s the turn of S-1 to make a grin that would haunt children at night. "How about we ask for land, specifically most of the land of the demon lord, we could build towards making travel back to Russia more viable from there, and we will have something to give to the motherland when we re-establish contact with command if we could make it permanent". "We should ask the king to move quick then, our advantages won''t last long". Everyone pauses for a moment and take wonder at the fact S-5 just talked, and we collectively decide to hand a message for the king to one of the servants and handle the rest tomorrow morning. Chapter 2: "We will bury you." The Imperial Tower is greatly displeased at the continued denials at this vital piece of information. The kingdom of Dalka is reported to be making great strides in interdimensional research. In dark times like these, do we not stand together as humans? All that stands between us and our many foes is no doubt the might of our combined magical accomplishments. Yet your continued refusal to even show us the failures says otherwise. As such, we have deemed it appropriate to inform the Empire as a whole of our findings. You will hear from us. -A letter found in the chamber of the court mage of Dalka, after alarms indicated something teleporting in POV His Majesty King Rufus of the Kingdom of Dalka It was quite the surprise to receive a message from one of the otherworlders. But I suppose that expecting anything from the otherworlders is setting a bad precedent, considering they are quite literally from another world. "Some of the nobles have already requested meeting and many requested seeing the otherworlders, but I don''t believe they are ready yet". "The nobles are far from important right now, I think that they are getting ready for the demon lord". My wife and daughter are in a heated debate about how to handle this news, as the plan was actually to wait and let them get settled in while also distracting the nobles with empty promises about the exalted heroes. "Your Majesty, the men of Rossya have arrived and request an audience". The captain of the guard says it in a calm tone, but his hand being close to his weapon while he looks around betrays his nervousness, something about these men have the entirety of the guard on edge. "Well, let''s go see what the fuss is all about". As the men enter the throne room it becomes obvious what has the guards so on edge, the confidence in their stride while not having a lick of magic about them, they look more like hardened raiders than military men. They also seem to carry around odd metal clubs with curved protrusions and... are those small shovels by their side? It feels more like I am entertaining a group of orcs in my court today rather than human soldiers, let alone the people of prophecy. Looking closer, the men even carry a symbol of a human skull with small shovels behind it. Were it not for my wife''s spying I would think them to be grave robbers or necromancers, but luckily she found out they didn''t even know anything about necromancy, so that''s one diplomatic incident nipped in the bud. "Your Majesty, we have come to negotiate the nature of the job and its payment". That fast? These men either didn''t understand their situation or had more of a grasp than would be usual, well that makes things easier I hope. "Is there a reason why you all seem to be in such a hurry? This situation is a bit odd way to go about it". Marie, the love of my life saving me again by posing the question I didn''t want to ask. "We are disconnected from our home and any supplies it has, our weapons are limited in both ammo and spare parts". So those clubs are like a sort of bow or crossbow? "We can arrange for the supplies to be produced, there is no need for haste". Plus, I haven''t gotten the chance to show off the otherworlders to all my opponents. "I''m afraid that''s not possible, this kingdom does not have the facilities needed to make the ammunition needed, and we have reason to believe that our capabilities being unknown will be our strongest advantage. We have to move now in order to maintain the advantage". While I doubt the statement of the ammo I don''t doubt the statement about hidden abilities, I know enough about my own palace to know that there are few things that remain secret even to the blasted demon lord. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Even with you wanting to move fast, there is little we can do to arrange the army to go with you this fast or your aforementioned payment". Drawing away an army might also lay me open to the ambitions to the east but taking out the demon lord is too valuable. "We believe a strike force in two days on the chapel near the demon lord''s castle would be the best move, records indicate demonkind practices a religion based around worshiping the moon with the demon lord also acting as a pope, the plan would be to use some of the tamed great eagles to insert us on top of the chapel and strike during the ceremony". And that was probably the scariest thing I have ever heard from trained killers. In about half a day time they gathered enough information about an assassination of where and when, which also saves the trouble of needing to identify the demon lord. "Then what about the reward you requested upon arrival?" After all, this might end up with costing me an arm and a leg. "We would request a significant chunk of the land currently under control of the demon lord as the reward, we deemed it fitting to the situation and within your capability to pay". The land of the enemy? They didn''t request wealth or even try to ask how to get back to where they came from, so it can be assumed they want a more permanent stay in a position of power to figure it out themselves. "Granted, and see the wisdom in your request for speed, Johnathan here will help you get what you need and any more information we might have on the demon lord, Goddess protect you heroes". I cannot believe it, these men really must be from the prophecy if they move this fast. I catch a glimpse of my daughter giddily bouncing around and my wife giving a smug look, things are finally looking up for us after two thousand years. ____________ POV S-3 During the day things have been busy. Guards are moving with great haste and the robed men (wizards apparently). Have had quite a few chats with various members of the team (or attempted to in S-5''s case). According to the royal beastmaster the trip would take a day and according to our timetable we won''t get another chance for a month after this. "You afraid?" S-1 looks at me while saying it. "Yes" after all who wouldn''t be when preparing to face down a being as old as counted history. "What do you think of running from all this?" normally such a question wouldn''t even be asked in a military operation, but this isn''t exactly a run-of-the-mill situation. "I think we were trapped the moment we got here, there is word of us being men of prophecy, but I don''t see fate being kind to us, and we will have to work with what we have, how would you rate our odds?" "Three on two if our information is correct, one in three if our information is wrong". Those are surprisingly good odds considering everything, S-1 notices my surprise. "I did a slight bit more digging into what S-2 said about demons, and it all looks to be true, right down to how they apparently need to protect themselves from magical sound and light attacks frequently used by human defenders". I wait a bit for S-1 to explain further. "But the flaw in that being is that they only protect themselves from magical light and sound attacks, anything more, and they risk blinding or deafening themselves". "If our weapons are that effective, why are the odds so bad?" "Cu''z we don''t get backup on this mission, remember that success entails enough of us surviving to fulfill this prophecy thing while also killing the demon lord". At that moment, princess Alicia comes over and excitedly gestures for us to follow. "Come on, your stuff is almost ready, we are bringing along some of our finest mages to conceal yourself along the way". Well, I''m never one to delay the moment of truth as I fall in behind the princess, gathering some odd stares from the servants in the process. "So, what''s with the stares?" The princess gives a quick glance to the servant before continuing along happily. "They probably aren''t used to me being this happy so openly, all the nobles are so stiff all the time, and I''m often forced to act like one of them, but today I decided not to care". Right, nobles are a common thing on this world, we can only hope that they never find out what the red star on our patches mean, else we are gonna have a problem. As we pack our final pieces of equipment on, the eagles S-4 approaches me. "You read the book on high ranking demons and their capabilities?" That book was a blessing of valuable intel. "As much as I could in a day''s time, we can go over it properly during the trip". S-4 looks at the great eagles for a bit before looking annoyed. "Those oversized birds do not look like a comfortable enough ride for me to sit through another one of S-2''s rants on floating deathballs thrown by Delta''s". S-4 looks like he''s having fun, at least to the point that he already gave our enemy a name. "Fuck it, ill bite, why Delta''s?" "Because D-mons and Delta''s". S-4 gives a shit-eating grin as he brings forth his great revelation. "Very creative, keep it up and S-1 might promote you to latrine duty for a month again". Before S-4 can give a response, S-1 says over radio. "Quit pussyfooting ladies we got a job to do, we are leaving". Chapter 3: "One cant have two deaths, but you cant avoid one." "The weapons of the otherworlders are truly fascinating. Despite seeming like a bunch of crude, poorly made maces, they actually contain intricate metal components that aren''t possible to be made by current methods. Sadly, without the co-operation of these men we won''t be able to find out how the weapons are made. We could not get much other info, only with long range magical scans. -Report from court mage of Dalka to the King The trip itself was rather uneventful if you don''t count flying lizards and the terrain below growing an odd black and white as trees and plants lose their color. "I read it in the books about demon territory, but seeing it in person is still a whole experience on its own". S-1 grunts, somehow loud enough to be heard over the flapping of great eagle wings. "I ain''t too worried about those trees but more on what will happen to trees back on earth, the book said it was caused by high mana concentrations affecting wildlife and I prefer my trees green and less carnivorous". The discovery that trees in mana dense areas are very aggressive in getting their nutrients was definitely both laughter inducing and fire encouraging. "I think I see something up ahead". S-2 is somehow managing to stay steady on one of the eagles with binoculars. "That would probably be the chapel you guys mentioned, we will drop you off here and try to keep you silent until you engage with the enemy". The wizards coming along are obviously out of their element, but were very confident in their ability to keep us hidden from the enemy until contact would be made. As the chapel comes into view, it becomes clear what the plan will be, as the top of the chapel has a glass dome above where the preacher would stand. "From what I can see from here there are quite a few demons around right now, also are you sure they are all demons? They all look awfully animal-like for a bunch of unholy beings". "Well, if you would ask the church, they would tell you they are all corrupted demons that sway from the path the goddess has laid out". The robed man gives a suspicious look before continuing. "But every scholar from the Tower experienced in the subject will tell you that the many variants are merely proof of the attempt to create a species better than humans". The man gives a smug look of superiority as he says this. As we land unto the roof of the chapel, muffled voices can be heard through the glass. The men watch as an ornately dressed half-bull holds a black and white crown while a woman with leather wings horns and a devil''s tail stands waiting in front. "-To celebrate the coronation of the 14th lord of Mazurio, it was a shame to hear about the death of her mother, bu-". "Finally some good news, it looks like the original demon lord has been long dead for a while now, and we arrived just in time to take out an inexperienced replacement". As we all get our gear ready and attach our hooks to the bars of the glass dome, S-1 starts explaining the plan. "Well that''s good and all, but we still have a demonic landlord to kill, so get ready to use aerial breach plan 8". "Why can''t we just take the demon lord out from here?" S-4 asked, most likely for S-5''s sake. "Higher demons have many varied protections against attacks, we will most likely have to keep up a constant uninterrupted stream of fire". The wizards signal for one more minute of invisibility, while S-1 signals to be ready in ten seconds. "We need to keep up the illusion that we are locals as much as possible in combat, so remember, no Russian". This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "And with some last closing remarks I now pronounce you Kyla''th Mazurio, daughter of Helne''th Mazurio the 14th lord of Mazurio, may your reign be long an-". *CRASH* as the skylights shatter and small metallic shapes are thrown down from above and the masked men start descending. As the first of the flashbangs and grenades go off, the screaming starts in full as people are blinded and shredded in equal amounts and any spells going off are wildly off course and intention. The demon lord, clearly not willing to just stand there and take it, casts a spell that causes a large sphere of black to start surrounding its position, the masked men move into the sphere undeterred. "S-1 to all units I believe I spotted target taking out its own eyes and a green light coming from where its face would be prepared for target to not be blinded and engage thermals". "Who are you people!?" the target shouts and gets its response in a hail of lead and death as the masked men move closer to isolate the target. S-2 unloads into its position while S-5 is standing further back as target starts lobbing overgrown icicles, fireballs and lightning at the team. The icicles shatter on impact on the thick armor plating, while fireballs and lightning simply seem to be ignored by the horror''s given form. "Target is weakening, press our advantage". As the barrage intensifies, the target increases returning fire and gets a solid hit in one of the men with a ball of energy that radiates death. S-1 drops to the ground, and partially melts. "S-2 reporting S-1 is confirmed K.I.A., S-3 with me to surround target". While the men move to surround the demon lord, S-5 suddenly yells in rage and anguish as a red pulse goes off, and every member gets a little more agitated for a moment. S-5 pulls out a small shovel and charges at the target, despite the protests of his teammates over radio. "S-5 seems to be mentally compromised, continue standing orders". The target suddenly does something barely visible on thermals as it holds its hand on S-5, and he starts spasming for a moment before growing horns and wings. "It''s the transmogrification spell! S-5 is confirmed K.I.A. and new combatant needs to be taken out now!". The men mercilessly open fire upon the being before it can finish forming, while the target fires another red pulse. This time the screams aren''t followed by a man attempting a melee, but rather S-4 unloading his RPK upon the target''s location. "S-3 we need to change tactics and fast, you need to sneak around while I draw the target''s attention, and then we hit it from both sides". As another spell goes off which slowly floats over to S-4 who doesn''t seem to care about the spells'' intention, he drops his gun as his skin starts to grow scales and his face starts elongating. "RAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!". The man carrying the Vepr-12 seems to rage as well and blows off the neck of his former teammate at a distance as he too starts approaching the target. As the target throws another transmogrify towards him, he suddenly dodges and keeps getting closer. As the target gets noticeably sloppy, it spews forth more necrotic energy towards the encroaching assassin. He collapses into a heap as the target gets closer and sticks out its hand. "You fought well, but it ends now". The man wriggles some movements as the slow floating ball of wickedness approaches. "I see you bleed, I don''t think it''s over just yet". With those last words, the man detonates the grenades left on him, blasting the target back, and himself into pieces. I had been sneaking for a small while now trying to seem unimportant and get behind the target and I make my move as I see the detonation blast away the target on thermals. I open fire and get a few solid hits in while the target is dazed and seemed to have been caught completely off guard against me. The target yells something and makes a movement in my direction, which I pre-emptively dodge as I''m rewarded with the sound of furniture behind me smashing and elevated screams of the still present audience being hit by the collateral. Before I can recover, the target suddenly moves rapidly across the black fog, attempting to find cover from my unending barrage. I can tell it is wounded heavily and won''t last long, but I need to confirm the kill if I want to have any chance of success in this world of magic. Suddenly the air changes and the target appears right in front of me as if it was always there, I attempt to dodge a fist but crack my thermals in the dodge and am forced to ditch them. Now that I see the target up close I see the damage done by my former teammates as the thing in the shape of a demonic woman is riddled with bullet holes, shrapnel and even a suspiciously shovel shaped crevice in its left arm. "?G-got you?". And a glowing hand comes crashing down. Chapter 4: “without hard work you won’t drag the fish out of the pond.” If we survive, then we won''t die. -Russian proverb POV ??? A?A???A?A?????A???????A???????A???????????A???????H?????????????H???????H?????????H??????????????H????????????????????????! FUCK THAT HURTS, OH SHIT I HAVEN''T FELT THIS MUCH PAIN SINCE BASIC. MY SKIN FEELS LIKE PEELING. The pain quickly wears off as I lose and regain consciousness. The fuck did that bitch cast on me? It doesn''t feel like it''s lethal, so it clearly wasn''t effective enough. I look around me and quickly realize I was blasted backwards and wasn''t even out for moments, as there are still people panicking and the black sphere cast by the young Queen is still active. I might still have time to end her before she recovers. I try to move back towards the black sphere, but quickly fall over. I remove the mask that feels like it''s suffocating me and look down what I tripped over. Right, I can''t walk because I don''t have legs, but why did I have pants? I put my beret back on, and I start crawling using my shovel towards the black sphere, thinking can come while I crawl. She clearly hit me with something, but other than the pain, I don''t feel too different. I try to think back towards basic but nothing comes up other than the part where I did way too well on land for someone with no legs and did horrible in the aquatic training for someone with the lower body of a fish. That''s odd, I''m rather sure they don''t accept women in the spetsnaz either. As I enter the black sphere, shovel in hand, I see the figure of the fledgling Queen come into view. POV Kyla''th Mazurio, Queen of Mazurio As the last assassin is blown away by a transmogrification spell, I take the time to recover. "Damn those assassins got me good, Jalaha should be here soon to help deal with all the wounded, and I should be able to ask the last one where they came from, the transmogrification spell is truly our greatest asset." I realize the dark sphere is still up and running when I see a vague figure crawl towards me. I lift the sphere and get a good look at the latest addition to the forces of demonkind. Long blue hair that looks like the ocean and fin-like ears protruding from where human ears would be that protrude outwards of her head, her blue tail glistening in the small amount of light that gets through the destroyed dome above. However, what is truly noticeable is the stark contrast with her choice of attire. Green-brown armor covers her chest and similar clothes cover her arms. More things become clear as the haze lifts, and more things seem to just be...wrong. She''s crawling over with a small shovel in one of her clawed hands, and her sharp teeth show a twisted smile. As I get a good look at her eyes, it becomes clear what''s wrong, and her shout agrees with my assessment. The transmogrification spell isn''t supposed to blast people back. "!" "DIE!" The mermaid has a crazed look in her eyes as she clearly still has enough energy to spare to leap on me to knock me over. She raises her shovel high and prepares to swing it down hard, no doubt aiming for my neck. However, the moment I see her muscles contract to swing downwards she gets blindsided by the pommel of a scimitar, knocking her out cold. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Kyla, are you alright?" It seems I''m finally seeing some luck today as my faithful dark-elf aide Jalaha makes a heroic entrance. "W-what was all that? Those assassins? The crazed mermaid just now?" Damn can''t even get the shakiness out of my voice, I''m a Queen, not some pampered noble''s daughter. "I''m sorry Kyla, we had gotten reports that the Dalkans were planning a major summoning use against us, but it seems they were directly trying to access the prophecy spawned by the church of the east." "When was this? Why was I not informed?!" "I received a report an hour ago saying that the summoning had success a mere 3 days ago, not in my wildest dreams would I have expected them here now, more importantly right now are those injuries, how did they even damage you?" Jalaha helps me with healing my wounds as I''m still shaking from everything about this that happened, I think this is the closest humans ever got to killing a lord of Mazurio. "T-the nullification effect of my dark sphere was ignored, I don''t think their attacks were magical at all." Not to mention that the last one clearly didn''t seem to be too effected by the partial-mind wipe that always comes with transmogrification, yet they were all hit so easily by spells that are normally rendered ineffective by magical resistances. Jalaha moves to one of the corpses of the masked men and casts an analysis spell on the half-molten corpse, the one that went down first. During this I have to work to keep my dinner inside as I get my bearings, people are still bleeding and painful moans, but temple personnel are already rushing to the many wounded. There is also still a distinct smell of fire and sulfur along with metal. As I take a closer look at the former masked men I notice that all their clothing is green-brown and adorned with a patch of a human skull wearing a red beret with a red-yellow star at the top of the beret, two shovels cross behind the skull like some kind of pirate or necromancer symbol. "Kyla, it''s probably best if you don''t stare at corpses of dead men, this is all bad enough for you already." "Jala it''s important to know who they are and where they came from mother taught me that much at least about assassins" "Well good luck with that, I confirmed the men are from a different world because they have the magic resistance of newborn babies, they really were 3 days on this planet and never tried to manipulate mana in their lives. That''s probably also why the last one resisted the effect partially, by the time you hit him with the spell you were heavily wounded and was just throwing around undirected power." "So a miscast on someone that doesn''t even have any magic resistance causes them to be able to remember their past selves? Great now I can safely cast this on literally no one else other than babies with this knowledge." "While you were busy staring at corpses I also took the liberty and made a quick scan of the non-corpse and I can conclude good news and bad news, the bad news being that the survivor is probably incredibly unstable and hostile towards us and our nation as a whole. The good news is that she is actually mermaid royalty, so congratulations on turning your first royal of the solar races, this hasn''t been done in five decades and a mermaid royal for quite some time longer than that." Jala has a mocking grin on his face as he said that. In history books it is clear to see why royal turned are so valuable, all naturally born Mazurians are timid and isolationist compared to the solar races and especially turned solar races. A turned royal is an actual game changer and were frequently right-hand men and women of ruling lords, but here I am with me being one of the youngest if not THE youngest demon lord to produce a royal, but she''s insane and hostile. "Preserve me from Jala''s mockery, oh Luna, the First helping me right now also would be appreciated." Despite my acting, Jala has been able to relieve the tension from me and make me feel better. "It isn''t too bad, while I don''t think this will be the last we heard of the solars and their plots involving interdimensional soldiers, I believe at the very least this one won''t be coming back no matter what considering how solars treat mazurians." I wonder for a bit at the offhand comment about interdimensional soldiers before I realize Jalaha just gave me a great idea. "Get a message to the warden of Bartholm, I need her to take a prisoner and find a way to release her into human lands without Mazurio as a whole being implicated." Chapter 5: Too young for prison. I told you before, oh great Duke of Rivka and I will tell you now. Mazurian presence *was* low across the board, but this phenomenom has happenend many times before! Soon we will have Mazurians attacking all across the border again. That isn''t even mentioning the effect the failed assassination attempt would have had on this. I strongly urge you to raise funding for the guard, before something terrible happens that will put us all to shame. -In a letter from general Maltza POV Esstrey It has been around 37 sleep cycles since I woke up in prison, no doubt kept asleep by some spell while they kept me in transit. While I was in prison, I at least managed to learn about this magic stuff and found out that magic resistance is important and how to build it. Luckily, despite what my memory says, I was very much turned into a mermaid and wasn''t just always like this. "Hey Esstrey." Despite me being located in what looks like a worse version of Guantnamo Bay, things could really be much worse. While my mansion is roughly 25 square meters in surface and 4 meters in height, it leaves much to be desired furniture-wise. They did equip me with a surprisingly nice fishbowl, which I use for sleeping and hydrating. "Oi Esstrey you still there?" What is concerning to me is the clear fact that the mission was a total failure, my entire team is very dead and the Queen very much alive. Which brings me to another point, why am I kept alive? I''m just a security risk, and I am rather certain these people are backwards enough for the more old-fashioned displays of public execution, especially for attempted assassination. I mean, come on! Monarchs? Royal families? Talking to all of them back to back when your country has a history of killing them was incredibly awkward. "OI ESSTREY!" "WHAT IS IT, JIMMY?" "Just checking if you are still alive." "Fuck off Jimmy, you are not getting my corpse." "Aww come on lady, you told me about what your patch looks like, it be a match made in the underworld." "And I told you a dozen times now that the patch has fuckall to do with necromancers, and I regret telling you about it." That was Jimmy, my lovely neighbor and also the only one that talks in a language I can comprehend. As one could guess, he''s a necromancer and very annoying. Unfortunately, he''s also my only source of information, since the guard haven''t been too helpful to me. He also told me the Mazurians tend to stick anyone dangerous but potentially useful into this place. In his case, he is apparently a rather big player in the whole necromancy business, or at least one that cares if he dies so he can be negotiated with. "You say that Esstrey, but the 4 dead guards say otherwise. Hell, you give me the vibe that you bat less of an eye to murder than I do, and I''m a fuckin'' necromancer! Can you at least keep it down a bit? I don''t want you to be moved to a maximum security cell because they actually started treating me better because I got you next to me. I''m tellin ya, ya must be some high rankin'' mermaid lass cuz'' the warden must have a soft spot for you after the shit you pulled." "I don''t give a damn about the warden going easy on me, I''m going insane in here as is. Johnny isn''t exactly a great conversation partner, and Jimbo is somehow even worse!" "Hey, why did ya have to give me a name like them anyway, you gotta admit I''m a much better conversation partner than the man-eater and whatever Jimbo is." Jimbo gives a dissatisfied howl that sounds like someone replaced his vocal cords with a shrill violin in obvious response to being insulted by Jimmy, he''s clearly a much better conversationalist. "I gave you that name because they are all very American names, and you are all very American to me." We banter back and forth for a while longer, as it''s the only thing worth doing in an attempt to stave off insanity. Successful or not, it at least passes the time until some guard gets careless again. Until at some point Johnny Maneater starts clattering his teeth, signaling the smell of fresh meat moving down the hall. He stopped doing that to me a few days after I arrived, or specifically the point I killed the first guard and took a bite out of her. "Patrol coming, ETA thirty seconds." "Patrol shouldn''t be here for another three hours." As running footsteps are heard in the distance, it becomes clear quickly that it isn''t the patrol which is coming by. "Six unknowns, ETA ten seconds." "Quit that! I don''t think it''s a patrol." "Prison level one, section eight, cell eight. Which Should be a level six security cell, honestly I expected higher for the person we are here for." I''m going to call that voice Pierre. I think that''s my cell, I hear them walking down the stairs with loud steps but great confidence. Are they assassins come to finish me off? Possible, but they wouldn''t be from Mazurio considering the Queen could have me killed at any point if she wanted to. As the unknowns comes into view that fact becomes obvious, for one they are all human and dressed more for a weak imitation of stealth rather than actual stealth as the shapes of armor is visible under cloaks. "You sure this is the cell? I only see some mermaid in a fishbowl." As he said that, I hear him snicker slightly. That one is getting called Gaston. Damn, I don''t have a good visual on them despite them being this close, my time here must be doing a number on my skills harder than I thought. Maybe it would have been a better idea to be nicer to the guards and try to build some rapport, so I could have gotten a fitness installation installed. Oh well, it is what it is. "It seems much more likely to be the creepy guy next door." Really? They think Jimmy is me? Well I never saw the dude, so I''m not sure if he looks as emaciated as he sounds, but it still feels a bit insulting. Still, that''s really harsh of you Gaston. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "Fuck do you want kid? Come to gawk at an old man in your spare time? I''ll curse your ass if ya keep lookin''." "Okay, never mind rot away then, old man." Damn Gaston you are not good at making friends in prison, are you? He''s already rotting away no need to rub it in. It''s only okay if I do it. As the group looks around the other cells they are met with the lovely hunger noises of Johnny and Jimbo''s screeches of dissatisfaction. "Maybe we should try asking the mermaid if she knows, she seems nice." Ah, what a lovely voice, alas I have killed more people in my relatively short stay than the three numbskulls in all their years combined. So while I''m sure she is also nice she is also very wrong and will thus be Jeanne. The last three that haven''t spoken yet don''t look like they intend to anytime soon either so I will refer to them as Dipshit one to three. If they wanted better names they should have said something, although I don''t blame them if they simply didn''t want French names. "Oi mermaid, we asked you something, so would you be so kind as to respond?" Gaston asked me something? No it must have been Pierre and Gaston simply got upset for his buddy''s sake. Even if Gaston is kind of a dick I decide to leave my fishbowl and slowly wiggle closer to the jail bars. As I get closer I notice that they are a lot younger than any team going through a prison has any right to be. "Say that again? My hearing isn''t what it used to be, while you are at it can you tell me your age? I do hope my eyesight isn''t failing me either." Jeanne tries to speak, but Pierre stops her and walks forward a bit. He opens his mouth to ask again before he squints his eyes at me and gestures at Dipshit two for the torch. As he nearly shoves the torch in my face I cover my eyes to the light suddenly getting that much brighter. I hear some gasps from the French trio but nothing from the Dipshits while Gaston rudely gets into an offensive stance. "Where did you get those clothes? What did you do to him?" Oh, right I''m still wearing my spetsnaz gear, minus hidden armaments of course I spent those already. "What does it look like asshole? They are my fucking clothes and if you want your own damn set go bother my quartermaster, but don''t be surprised if he decides to kick your ass." I''m starting to get real annoyed with these stupid questions and this attitude that reminds me of a bunch of kids. "We came here to find the man that was rumored to have fought the demon lord and survived, are you him?" Now that I think about it why did it seem like they recognized my gear? "In the flesh, even if the flesh is a lot softer and more slippery than it used to be." At that statement all of them actually wince a little, even the Dipshits who I was starting to think were actually pretending to be royal guards with their impeccable statue imitations. "If the man was turned then I suppose there is nothing left here for us." Wow, Dipshit one is clearly not used to breaking into secured facilities if he''s planning to leave after confirming only one thing while this far in. "Now hold on if it''s a lost cause why did they lock the man up? Doesn''t the spell that would have turned him also turn him loyal to the demon lord?" "Woman thank you very much, I didn''t go into special forces expecting normal situations, and it''s a lot less disorienting for me if you make it easier. But as to answer the question something went wrong with the spell, and it didn''t annihilate my memories completely, the first thing I did and the first thing I''ll do again if I ever see the bitch is try and kill her with a shovel." "Oh great! We came at the call of an insider who said that the failed assassin of the demon lord would be able to provide information on it, can you tell us?" That would explain a lot except for the part where an insider is a thing, didn''t they just worry about the whole loyalty thing? "Not before you open this cell, I have been stuck here for a month too long, and I do not feel like staying longer." Gaston actually gestures the team together before Jeanne can let me out or Pierre can go off on his own and fabricate his own idea. After about half a minute of terrible whispering between the group they decide to let me out. As I''m out I immediately move to my neighbor''s cell and give him a smug grin and stare at him, he looks baffled for a while before finally scowling and speaking up. "Fine you win, I Jimmy hereby acknowledge you Esstrey as simply better than me at escaping and would like to formally request my release." That felt nice, especially after that bastard refused to teach me anything related to magic that wasn''t magic resistance or death magic as he found other magics ''distasteful''. "Hey hey this wasn''t part of our deal what are you doing?" Dipshit one is clearly not pleased about me releasing the creepy old man as my first act out of the cell. While his movements look professional it looks more like trained practice with swords than anything else, I am confident he would not survive an encounter with someone who would suddenly pull out years of systema training. "Relax, this is someone who can help us with this whole prison break thing, I''ll tell you all about the Queen on the way to the exit. However, for now we focus on what can be done rather than said." After I open Jimmy''s cell he slowly slumps out, and I get a little more entertainment from seeing the old man step out of his cell for the first time in probably a decade. I don''t spend too long enjoying the sight as I move to my next target I stand eye to eye but a safe distance away from Johnny. Who had his face pressed against the bars for a while now. "More friends of yours? I hope you aren''t planning on releasing that one too." Pierre said it like it''s a joke, but I can smell the small amount of fear coming off him as he says it betraying his worries. "No, not yet." As I reach for Johnny and... Slam him repeatedly on the bars breaking his face and killing him. The Dipshit two and three flinch, Dipshit one puts his hand on his weapon, Jeanne gives a high-pitched yelp while Pierre empties his bowels and Gaston fully draws his sword, As I drop the corpse of Johnny to the ground I turn to the group. "None of you have still told me how old you are." The Dipshits quickly calm down, but the French trio is rather distressed at the sight of the dead maneater. Gaston looks about ready to yell at me, but Pierre interrupts him. "We are all roughly fifteen or sixteen years old." I turn my gaze unto the Dipshits while letting my words drip with venom. "Conscripting kids now are we? You guys are awfully desperate while last time I was at the palace you still had plenty of resources to buy experienced mercenaries instead." Gaston defends the trio seemingly on instinct. "There is a prophecy that heroes from another world would save humanity, we have to do this for the good of all." Ah, I see how it is. "Well then, it''s odd to meet those who follow in my trail I can tell you right now that you should leave this to the locals." It''s actually Jeanne that speaks up at this. "We fight for our friends, and we have the power to help people! We need to do this!" Need to? Has she gone nuts? "I don''t remember my name you know." The French trio go through various states of confusion while I see the Dipshits wince at my words with a hint of... pity? "My team is dead, I landed in a prison made to contain dangerous individuals and I cannot remember the faces of my parents. I remember my mother chastising me for wanting to join the army, but I don''t remember her face or her voice. You kids seem like pussies and should think a little more before deciding to fight and die for someone else." There is some silence before Pierre speaks. "We came with an entire classroom you know, we can''t avoid fighting for someone else." Well then they are fucked. You know what I am not going to deal with this crap. I tell Jimmy to use his magic on Johnny and release all prisoners. If I''m gonna break out of this place it won''t be done quietly. "He''s a necromancer? Why do you consort with such vile magics former hero? We need to strike down the necromancer at once!" Fucking hell I do not want to deal with this right now. At least with the way he talks it confirms the Dipshits are royal guards or something along those lines. "Then arrest him once he gets into human territory or did you forget that we aren''t in your fancy pants palace where all the things you face are backstabbing nobles? This is now a military operation and as such I decide we will be applying scorched earth on the entire prison to cover our tracks." Jimmy who was watching the entire exchange cannot hold back his glee as it becomes clear he already killed Jimbo while no one was looking. At least someone around here knows when it''s a good idea to start destroying shit. Chapter 6: Descend into sanity Great shadow, I hereby command you to carry out my order, and find the individuals most likely to shape the world. If my son is so intent on learning magic, I won''t miss the chance to teach him some real politics as well. Of course, this will be a great opportunity to take a peek at potential brides. My son shouldn''t stand alone in the future, and that would be a true miracle to put the lichdom in its place. -The Emperor adressing "How did you not know you count as royalty?" Gaston says some really annoying stuff sometimes. "It''s very simple, you see, prison. I only knew about Mazurian royalty and their strength in a broad sense, and wasn''t really interested in knowing about them beyond that." The trip out of Bartholm was stupidly easy, there were no guards on the way back, despite the huge racket all the undead made. By the time we made it out through the sewers Jimmy had vanished most likely not wanting to have an attempt at entertaining any royal guards with his party tricks. "But this makes you a princess! This is so exciting, we can do our make-up together or do each other''s hair!" At this point, I''m starting to respect Jeanne a little with how much she can ignore details she doesn''t want to know. "Please no name-calling, now where is our ride away from here?" The royal guards actually give me a really confused look as I say that, luckily Pierre answers for me. "We have a horse and wagon parked not far from here, after that we will head for Rivka. That is a major island city located at the border, which is protected firmly by the army. After crossing the bridge there, we will send word of our success back to the capital." I try to follow them but come across a unique issue I don''t remember having before. "Uhh, can one of you carry me? I have no legs and was getting carried by Jimmy''s undead until a short while ago." The silence, it is so deafening I have a hard time thinking. Jeanne however saves me by walking forward wrapping her arms around me and... failing to carry me as she is too weak, and I''m too slippery for her to get a good grip. She throws a pleading glance in the direction of the royal guards, who collectively look at each other before moving to pick me up. "How did you lose? What went wrong?" Gaston asks with genuine curiosity in his voice. "Nothing really went wrong and that is the real scary part, we ambushed her while she wasn''t expecting us, she didn''t know anything about us, we knew plenty of her and had her practically disarmed and unarmored during a coronation. The crowd was suppressed during the entire fight, and our weapons were uniquely suited for taking her out. Yet even with all that we lost simply because we were outclassed." Some awkward silence ensues. "You guys don''t happen to have someplace for me to sleep, do you? As a half fish, I do so appreciate no drying up." "When we were assigned this mission we received multiple barrels of foodstuffs and drink for the travel, we still have some empty barrels we can fill up that should do." So the royal guard can be helpful, good. The next hour goes by smoothly as the group all load up the wagon and prepare to head out again. I take my place inside the cart, as the horses to their credit only get mildly scared by me. "Why didn''t you guys come by eagle?" Flying seems much more useful for something like this, but Pierre interjects. "Great eagles have a large and distinct mana signature, it would take some strong mages constantly working on keeping them cloaked or we would get spotted." Other than the occasional tree shooting seeds in the direction of us or the horses, there aren''t any significant threats, and we mostly make small talk until... "Drop your weapons and nobody gets hurt!" The bushes yell out with a voice of gravel. Of course, no one of our party actually does so as the figures start stepping out of the bushes. Seven half wolves step out from the bushes surrounding us with weapons drawn as their leader moves forward seemingly nonplussed. "I smell a part of your cargo that does not belong to you slavers." Everyone starts drawing weapons and gets ready for a fight before I make myself known. "I believe it is rude to talk about a lady while ignoring her presence." I say this while showing myself on the cart to the group of wolfmen and try to channel some kind of inner spoiled brat. "What do you think you are doing, trying to attack my escort? Have you no shame?" The wolfmen quickly switch expressions between baffled, awed and ashamed. "M-m''lady what are you doing in the presence of solars? They are vile and would seek to harm you!" "They are indeed quite vile, but they are also my escort, so leave." I retreat back into the wagon and ignore what goes on in the outside world until the cart starts moving again. "That worked? Why?" Gaston looks flabbergasted at that and directs the question at me. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Why do I have to explain everything? Go ask the actual royal guards a question of why they were scared of a wagon transporting a royal, you meathead!" I say this as I retire to my barrel. These damn kids are working on my damn nerves. Just as I try to sleep the rest of the way in my barrel, I''m approached by another person who only offers complaints or questions. "That was probably a bad idea you know, letting them go." Royal guard one looks tired as well as he says this. "Could be, they will certainly pass this on to their command. Good thing *I* was never the one to let them go, I merely gave the opportunity to spare them." The guard simply nods and heads off to sleep as well. "The horses are trained to keep going until they reach their destination, we will handle the watch rotations under ourselves, goodnight." I try to sleep inside the cramped barrel and have a hard time doing it until I''m suddenly awakened by the shouts of a man who is clearly tense. "I am going to have to inspect you all before you are allowed entry, during this I request your full co-operation and no sudden moves! We don''t exactly get visitors from this side!" It seems I managed to sleep until the gate, as I emerge the gate guards go from tense to combat positions as they get within ten meters of a mermaid royal. "FREEZE! DAMN, GET REINFORCEMENTS OVER HERE!" More and more guards start appearing on the wall pointing mostly crossbows at me, they also raise the bridge behind us to lock us in. Even while being a fish in a barrel, it doesn''t seem like too great of an idea, since I could just jump in the water below. "STAND DOWN! THIS IS AN OFFICIAL EXPEDITION BY THE ROYAL GUARD, AND I ORDER YOU TO CONFIRM OUR PAPERS!" An odd if effective way to go about it as the gate guards send a nervous looking captain up front, after he checks our credentials he gestures for the gate to open and lets us through. "Lovely atmosphere, I could really see myself settling down here" Gaston actually snorts at that while some of the gate guards within earshot who heard it give him some dirty looks. "Right? I don''t blame them too much though, this is a frontier port city after all" "There is a port? I would like to visit there if possible." I think I see our royal guard escorts actually gesturing to stop the conversation towards Gaston, but while its clear he sees them he decides to ignore them. "Sure, my dad was a sailor, so I would like to go myself as well." "We should get the message ready, you guys can head there in the meantime. Do take one of the horses with you, I get the feeling people will stop looking at you with so much fear if you are on a horse." Pierre is clearly tired of things and just wants to get his mission over with. Royal guard one is about to speak up, but Pierre holds his hand on the shoulder of the man. "Come on, our job is done, don''t you think?" The man tries to say something, but Pierre is just shoving him along, and the other guards decide to timidly follow after. "I wonder what the hell all that was about." "Don''t care, let''s go." And let this be known as one of the rare moments I would agree with Gaston. As we arrive at the pier, garnering plenty of odd stares along the way, I am greeted by an awful sight. Cages. A lot of cages are scattered over the pier, some still being offloaded from a ship but it''s clear that the process has been going on for a while. All of them filled with mermaids and mermen, kids and elderly, the strong and the sick. I had without noticing been moving toward a fat man adorned in gold and silk. He carries a dagger too well decorated to be useful. "You the boss of this?" The fat man turns around from inspecting one of the mermaids in the cages and briefly flashes with surprise when he sees me on a horse, but recovers quickly as he sees Gaston. "That''s quite correct, have you come to inspect if everything is up to standard, Ma''am?" I ignore his attempt to gain information and put up an uncaring tone. "Is this a slave trading operation? Or just subjects for live experimentation?" The fat man recoils slightly at my words before retorting. "Heavens no, this is not the empire or the lichdom. We don''t have such vile practices you speak of no, these mermaids are the lucky few. The navy was planning on an offensive on the demon lord over sea, and these mermaids were moved away from the combat zone in the meantime. From here they will be sent inland towards a set of lakes called sanctuary, where they can work in fisheries and live in peace away from the war. I am surprised your friend from the palace didn''t inform you." I shoot a glance towards Gaston as I dismount and notice him shrugging. Gaston is visibly from the palace? I couldn''t tell. "So these people are like serfs?" And ones acquired by raiders, no less. The merchant thinks for a bit before silently nodding his head while smiling. Of course they are, why wouldn''t they be? A light feminine giggling can be heard. Why else would troops from the red star end up in this place? The giggling turns to chuckling as the fat man gives me a strange look. He said it with such confidence, then again what did I expect from a world where monarchs are a genuine thing, these disgusting freaks summoned kids to do their dirty laundry. The chuckling turns to laughter, and the mermaids in cages nearby start staring at me, eyes wide. There is crazy magic and monsters always threatening people, but I guess people never change. The laughter grows louder, and I can feel the stares of nearby sailors on my back. I get it now, there is truly only one reason for the red star to have been brought to this place. The laughter goes shrill and turns to mad cackling. Serfs? In another world? And they were still hungering for others to do their work? Ridiculous. "Ma''am, are you okay?" And the laughter dies. "I get it now, I''m not going insane, it''s all of you who are insane, and I''m the last sane person on the planet" Before anyone can process my words, I dash for him and steal his dagger, using it to hold him hostage. "EVERYONE GET BACK OR I WILL SHOW YOU HOW GOOD I AM AT GUTTING GROWN MEN LIKE FISH WITH A DEMONSTRATION!" Several sailors who were moving closer now take a few steps back, Gaston shouts in surprise. "What are you doing?!" "Something I should have done when there was still a we. Alright, fat boy, tell the men here to release everyone here from the cages or else." "B-but my investments!" I decide to continue his train of thought for him. "Are worthless if you die, besides the people of the palace are sure to be willing to listen to your grievings considering the palace brought me out of prison." The merchant almost doesn''t hesitate the moment I give him a way to reimburse his losses, predictable. "D-do as she says! Release them!" The sailors simply look at each other before shrugging and moving to unlock all the cages. "Don''t do this Esstrey! You can still go back!" Gaston tries to reason with a sane woman in futility. As the mermaids leave their cages, I gesture for them to jump into the river and give one final yell as I see guards toting crossbows approaching. " , ?" "THE PEOPLE SING, DO YOU HEAR THEM?" Chapter 7: A great leap forward with no legs The damage done to the region was well handled and reduced thanks to the efforts of many. There are still plenty of prisoners at large, but the undead outbreak was suppressed succesfully. The cause for this is believed to be closely tied to your special project. Logs indicate she had a necromancer as a neighbour who was most likely freed in the proccess. I will endeavor to personally correct this mistake. -Report from the warden of Barthol to Kyla''th the 14th lord Organizing a retreat from Rivka was trivial considering this is technically the first time I''m swimming in this body. What wasn''t trivial was the sheer amount of garbage being pumped into the sea through the river. Apparently, many magical factories located along the river dump their trash into the river to get rid of it, creating a sort of magical pollution which is mildly poisonous for sea life and also the one of the reasons mermaids never even thought of properly joining the war. Luckily, even with the greatly weakened mermaids, we only lost about six mermaids of seventy. As we make it out into sea, one of the healthier mermaids with red hair and a determined look swims up to me. "My lady, what should we do now?" This won''t do, not anymore. "What''s your name?" "It''s Lychta my lady." "I''m Esstrey pleasure to meet you, with the pleasantries done I need you to tell me as much as you can about mermaid life but to start off start by telling me what counts as mermaid shelter." Lychta proceeds to give me a general idea of the situation. Mermaid nests are apparently a lot like ant nests but underwater instead, with farms on the bottom of the sea meant for cattle, as all of us are carnivorous. The type of cattle apparently depends on which enclave of mermaid you generally belong to, their own enclave got raided by human scuba raiders equipped for dealing with mermaids. Most of the warriors died with few escaping, while most civilians surrendered, Lychta being one of the soldiers that stayed behind to organize the surrender. "Before we try to build shelter we need to get further away from the coast, I notice we have a great deal of speed under the water and need to make full advantage of that, can you get a mermaid over that can draw me a map of the area?" As Lychta excuses herself and the mermaids all slow down and start settling in for the day, even if this is not going to be a place of shelter this will be camp and I start making a quick patrol and assign a watch rotation. The watch will mostly be there to wake me up and if I cannot handle the problem alone it is deemed too hard to handle and we leave early. Despite having been on the brink of never seeing the sea again, the mermaids look to be in high spirits and greet me cheerfully as the kids start to doze off. "Lady Esstrey, I bring a former cartographer by the name of Pakar who said he knows the local area well and can draw you a map." An older merman makes a small bow to me and starts drawing in the sand. "Here is the river we just came out of and around here is where we should be, if we head westward we can meet up with the mermaid enclaves, to our southeast lies more coast belonging to the Dalkans while to the southwest lies Mazurio and her coast. There is also a free port full of pirates on an island called Quintillius Landing to our north, while to the east and northeast lie the western edge mountains and the empire." "Excellent, you are dismissed. Lychta have the hunters returned yet?" "Not yet lady Esstrey, but they should arrive any moment now." "Once everyone has rested, I want them ready to move, sleep well." ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ As I wake up, I notice Lychta moving towards me. "Lady Esstrey it is good to see you up, I was just coming to wake you up. A ship was spotted sailing nearby." "What kind?" "The merchant kind, milady." "Looks like things are looking up for us, I was looking forward to making some purchases. Get all combat capable mermaids up and organized, let''s go shopping. It doesn''t take long for breakfast and organizing a raid, as both are done in the same timeframe. I assign a single soldier to escort the mermaids northward while the rest of us go on an errand. "I don''t think it''s safe to move with only one capable guard." "That is because it is not safe, but it is needed since we need the supplies this ship is no doubt carrying and the more supplies we have the faster we can move and the faster we can settle somewhere." Despite me not being very reassuring, I don''t get any further complaints, not even any questions on why we are not moving westward. I think Jimmy did mention something about Mazurian culture practices in prison once. And here I thought he was simply babbling like a madman again. The trip to the merchant vessel is predictably short since we are a pack of combat ready mermaids traveling through water. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. As the ship comes into view, I signal for the mermaids to come closer, briefly forgetting we can talk underwater and explain the plan. We approach the ship and stalk it from below for a short while before climbing up the side. Getting closer to the deck I start to hear the voices of disgruntled sailors, all the mermaids are on one side so we can more easily sneak in. I start chewing away at a piece of wood to get a grip and repeat the process until I have a climbing wall all the way to the back of the ship, specifically the part with the captain''s quarters. As we all hang underneath the windows, I initiate our attack by bursting through the window into the captain''s quarter and immediately go for the nearest man to hold hostage and take his sable. My mermaid team following soon after. "This is a raid! Drop your weapons or be annihilated!" Turns out I have taken the navigator hostage, but he is hardly my main bargaining chip, as we outnumber the captain and the single crewman guard nine to two. "Who are you? What do you want?" "I SAID DROP YOUR WEAPON!" I shout while cutting the navigator across his shoulder with his own sword. The captain, still caught up in a stupor, doesn''t notice Lychta using her tail to launch forward and tackle the man to the ground, the guard tries to do something but gets cut off and taken down by a swarm of mermaids instead. "Take their weapons, this is about to get fast, and captain if you wish to see any of your men alive I recommend telling them to surrender. I am not here as a Mazurian, but as a pirate. I am sure you can figure out what that means." The captain only gets enough time to widen his eyes further in fear as the other two men are knocked out cold while the mermaids rush out of the cabin. As we rush out, we are greeted by sailors going about carrying around cargo and talking idly as five men instantly get blindsided and killed by the mermaid tide crawling on their deck and launching themselves on the unsuspecting victims. "W-w-we are under attack! Mermaids on the deck!" "We have their captain! Victory is ours! Kill all who don''t surrender!" Lychta yelled it as she raises the captains'' saber into the air. Some of the men who recognize it surrender, as two more are killed in the meantime. The captain rushes out of the cabin behind us and starts commanding his troops to surrender. Some don''t still but are cut down without problems. As the sailors all start going to the deck to be disarmed and sit in a line, I start with my demands of the captain. "We will be taking everything we consider of value, bar the personal belongings of your crew and what is needed to make it back to port. Co-operate with us, and we will be out of your hair quick." It wouldn''t do to needlessly destroy the lives of people who so graciously offered us their cargo. The captain however has one more offer to make as my girls start looting. "My sword is a family heirloom and important to my sponsors, can I at least bargain for that back?" "It depends on what you have to offer at this point captain, after all your own life isn''t exactly yours to offer right now." "Would the location of a recently sunk pirate ship be good enough?" I give the captain a bright smile, All teeth of course. "Why that sounds like a lovely trade captain, do tell me more!" Having made out like a bandit with gold, silver and weapons, we head back to our caravan of refugees, victorious and fat on victory. There are cheers as we get back with the goods, our caravan helps us carry it as I direct it toward the location of the destroyed ship. "My lady, why do you think the man wasn''t lying?" "Simple, the destination he set was too close. At this distance, we could still go back and kill them." I am sure there is no love lost between pirates and merchants. A few kids start swimming around me excitedly. "Are we pirates now?" "Yay, princess is a pirate!" I would say morale is at an all-time high, but that isn''t exactly hard with how things have been going for them lately. When we arrive at the wreckage there is a shadow looming over it, I also spot multiple men picking through the wrecked ship with odd bubbles of air around them and wire connecting them to the shadow above. It''s another ship, and as the men spot our caravan approaching they start tugging the wires and ascending. "My lady, should we hunt them down?" "Go swim near them to prove a point, but don''t kill them. I think these are pirates and would like to scare them a bit" As we swim around the ascending men like sharks, the men are extremely nervous and many keep tugging their wires out of panic. The first men to make contact with the surface scream out. "Mermaids! There be a whole enclave of mermaids down there!" I gesture for the others to stay behind as I move up to the surface, my suspicions are confirmed as it is easy to see the men carrying clearly non-standard gear. I decide to surface and give a good first impression on the water-bound protection racket. "What brings you boys so far from land? Got lost in a storm somewhere?" I give a nice big smile to really sell what I''m here for. A man dressed more fancily than the rest of the men responds. "Why ill be, if yer aren''t a pretty face if I''ve ever seen one. I''d ask ye what such a lovely face be doin'' round these prime huntin'' waters, but a birdie told me bout'' a slave raid on merm'' waters. If ye be wantin'' vengeance for the actions of landlubbers, ya came to the wrong place. This naught me and me humble salvage crew ''ere." If his getup wasn''t a big enough hint for the lack of respect for authority figures, the lack of respect for the language he speaks would do it. Just the types of men I was looking for. "Your guess is good merchantsbane, but I did not come for ill-suited vengeance. I would like to lead my caravan to less hostile waters, but my supplies run lower than I wish them to be and the pockets of our quarry are full. What say you of hiring a small contingent of oceandwellers for the time being?" I have known these types of men enough times to know that nothing defuses a situation like some humorous stage play. "Why I''ll be, that be some of tha'' best news I ''eard all week. Come aboard for parley, and let it be known tha'' cap''n Nosk neve'' leaves his guests to dry." I board safe in the knowledge that I have units in a position to strike, and the captain has nothing to win from attacking me. I am sure this will be a fruitful relation until we reach our destination. Chapter 8 interlude: Royally fucked up You have got to be fucking with me. You mean to tell me that bastard Nosk got himself help from a royal fucking mermaid? Last I heard, that bastard was on the brink of getting whacked over his debts, and then he comes into port looking smug as all hell while his men tattle their mouths about friendly mermaids. If there is a royal mermaid all the way out here it has got to be a transmogrified one, no other royals would be insane enough to come here of all places. Set the men to high alert, but whatever you do, don''t engage any mermaids you see on sight. I would rather not get on the bad side of Mazurian royalty on top of my already mounting problems. -Governor of Quintillius Landing, to his guard captain POV second princess Alicia of the kingdom of Dalka Today was going to be a stressful day. After reading the full report made by the newly summoned otherworlders makes me realize why my parents have been both distressed and excited recently. It has been roughly a month since the failed assassination of the demon lord, as the mages reported all vital signs on the strange men failing. Had it not been for long range observers and later an informant that came out of the woodworks we would have written them up as just another loss. The mages in charge of long distance observation reported great amounts of panic in the demons gathered at the chapel, and many more wounded than the feared demon lord of legend would have allowed. We deemed the otherworlders truly valuable due to how close they must have gotten, and went to summon the next batch. The new batch was more easily summoned due to better calibration. There is an issue that there are twenty-eight children and one adult, the adult of the group even turned out to be a pacifist who didn''t want them to fight at all. We were again prepared to write off this group as failure until they all showed unusual promise regarding their growth. We go even better news when the informant had brought us evidence that there was a survivor of the original group who managed to remember themselves and their loyalties. After the strongest members of the group of heroes we have were sent together with some of the royal knights for guidance to rescue the survivor and find out the weakness of the demon lord. From the description of the survivor they did come pretty close to killing the demon lord while also revealing that the first demon lord has died long ago and that this one is simply a far off successor. The report however grows darker from there as it starts describing the demon lord''s actual abilities. The scariest of which being a darkness barrier so large it apparently covers a seven-meter radius and is so dense it can actually be used to blind enemies. It only gets worse from there, as it is revealed that the survivor was turned into a mermaid royal. Who upon breaking out immediately staged a prison break on a place that contains some of the most terrifying monsters in this region for a reason. Yet, from everything in the report, the demonic prison breakout seems to be the least of our worries. "After which you allowed her to head to the port where captured mermaids were just being offloaded, where she proceeded to go insane and threaten a merchant to release them at knife point." Father is furious. "Yes, your majesty, I take full responsibility for this." "I do not want your head, I am not even mad at you. Hell''s I am not even mad at the merchant so brazenly asking for remuneration for his losses from the palace. What makes me furious is us finally managing to squeeze a win from the jaws of the demon lord in the form of information that was so preciously guarded from us only for our victory to be soured by the birth of a transmogrified mermaid princess who is currently at large terrorizing merchant vessels while heading northward towards Quintillius landing no doubt to join up with that oversized den of thieves." He almost shouted those last words. "Y-your majesty?" "You are dismissed, report back to your captain." As the man leaves I see my father deflating slightly in his throne, it is not often he shows negative emotion to his subjects in public, but he did always say it exhausts him like nothing else. Thankfully, my mother is here to cheer him up. "No worries dear Rufus, from what I know from any thieves and bandits is that a high enough bounty keeps them away from civilization. We could just put a bounty on her, and then she can stay on or below that island for as long as she wants." My father perks up at that and lovingly looks at my mother before a messenger knocks on the door. My father reluctantly allows him entry and prepares to continue with his duties. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Announcing the arrival of the diplomat of the empire, Sir Brannsten." A man with barely contained irritation enters and gives an overly forced greeting. "Greetings Brannsten, what news do our friends in the empire bring us today?" My father is clearly nervous, as the man is anything but a friend. "The Empire wishes to show its displeasure with Dalka over her pursuit of the prophecy and without consulting nations with a presence of the church of the goddess." The man is looking as displeased as the empire certainly would be at this point. "I did not know we had to ask our neighbors whenever we performed magical experiments, it would be rude of us to ask the same of you, after all." My father tries to lighten the mood a bit, but his efforts do not succeed. "We know about the failure of the first group of heroes, and your summoning of the second. These brazen attempts to usurp the prophecy and use the church as a shield have not gone unnoticed, we will not ask you to hand over the second group as we must respect the prophecy even at this point but if you will summon a third the Empire WILL decide upon more direct action to ensure the heroes are in more competent hands." My father swallows, as the threat is not lost on him. Before he can retort, the man continues. "The Empire''s stand on this is endorsed by the theocracy. They were also the only reason the Empire hasn''t decided to act yet, as they convinced us of the usefulness of the first group in gathering the information on the nascent demon lord. I will now return to the embassy and inform the Emperor." The man swiftly turns around and rudely dismisses himself. Such an action could be harshly punished by anyone not carrying around diplomatic immunity or words backed by the empire and apparently the theocracy. Mother is clearly thinking of something else. "He clearly doesn''t like the theocracy having agents in Dalka any more than we do, to so brazenly tell of one hiding in our ranks." My father looks somberly out of the window before smiling. "Alicia, aren''t you forgetting something?" I snap to attention as I realize I was still in the room watching everything happen and try to remember what I could be forgetting. "Brother Celdium would return today!" I run out of the throne room and towards the exit. Celdium is talking with one of the knights and gets tackled by high velocity princess. "Alicia! Did you grow bigger? I have got to tell you all about the dungeons I explored with some of the heroes. They grow really quick, and I met a lot of cool people there, mostly dwarves, of course." "Celdium! I''m so happy you are here! I want to show you how well I did in my studies and..." "And?" Right Celdium didn''t know about the Bartholm expedition yet and knowing him he is going to do something reckless. POV Kyla''th Mazurio, Queen of Mazurio Kyla was having a good day. She was scared for a week after the assassination attempt while having nightmares of unflinching monsters crawling over her mothers'' corpse towards her. She got even more scared for another few days when news reached her of the Dalkans summoning yet another batch of otherworlders. The fear died down however when she heard of the heroes while being more numerous were also less violent and not intending to rush off after her head. She had some people monitor them and their progress. While their growth was impressive, their methods were also more familiar and less traumatic. The news of the casualties as a result of an undead outbreak was also worrying as undead usually hold no allegiance and the plan for releasing the mermaid princess between the humans could have been in jeopardy. Not to mention the escaped convicts that are unlikely to be easily found. Thankfully, some wolfmen scouts assigned to keep an eye on the expedition came in contact with and confirmed the mermaid princess being with the humans. What had her worried for a while was how it was obvious that the mermaid princess was not a captive, even if incredibly cranky at the time (which did get a chuckle out of her). After all, she knew that the Dalkans were horrible people, but she needed them to be horrible to a specific mermaid just this once. Her plan came to a climactic conclusion as the scheduled date of the return of the expedition coincided perfectly with a mermaid slaver party and its goods. As predicted, the mermaid princess was stricken with grief and held a human hostage while freeing her people while saying some insane things. Oh well, you can take the insane assassin and put him in a royal mermaid body, but you can''t take the insane out of the assassin in the royal mermaid body. She did get hopeful that the princess was perhaps more forgiving than initially suspected, and they would be able to compromise. Her daydreams were filled with the assassin mermaid princess helping her out with her kingdom and even pushing humanity back across the sea, all the while making many humans into subjects. Her hope was thrown in disarray as a report came in not too long after that instead of moving to rally with mermaid forces, she moved the freed slaves northward towards the pirates at Quintillius Landing while carving a swathe of destruction across the merchants near her path. All in all, it is still a net positive. Jahala decides to sour my day by bringing me additional news. "Kyla the empire is moving a diplomatic entourage toward us, they are moving through the kingdom right now." The empire? We have never been in contact with them and kind of assumed we would also be at war with them like the Dalkans. Me and my big mouth always have to ruin everything. Chapter 9: The devil lives in still waters It is unknown what causes the transmogrified to be so much more aggressive than their natural-born counterparts. The thesis made by Jacobs is completely idiotic, and he deserves to be fireballed for his blight of a thesis on our fine community. If he can''t tell the difference between causation and correlation, I will personally transmogrify his mother into a hamster while casting the verdant smell spell on his father. Then we will see who is right! -Average debate on theory between mages POV The mad princess Esstrey Today was going to be a grand day. After having thoroughly ravaged merchant vessels and even a patrol which was sunk with the help of my new allies. Splitting the rewards of our hard-earned work it didn''t take long for land to be in sight, and our raiding parties split. I directed my caravan to a nice looking hole in the ocean floor which would cover us from prying eyes that could dive from above. I did run into a minor speed bump here when I quickly figured out that I don''t know shit about civil management. Even with my basic Russian education giving me an edge here. Good thing I classify as royalty and that somehow makes all mermaids automatically listen to me. I would be annoyed by this if it wasn''t so useful in assigning jobs to the various refugees. Currently, the military while experienced was outnumbered and outgunned as we lacked weapons and manpower. Our civilian arm on the other hand had plenty of people and would no doubt quickly get our base set up. The combat mermaids were not very happy with my announcement to approach Quintillius Landing alone. Especially when they found out I have never learned water magic. I just told them to stay put and protect the one place that eventually needs to be worth returning to. That got them to allow me to go on the condition I meet up with a scout twice a day while at the pirate town. Getting closer, I quickly noticed ships of all irreputable kinds moving out and about. Many more than would normally be seen at one of these ports, as I realize that while this world isn''t the most technologically advanced, they can make up for it with magical production. While moving just below the water, I begin my search for someone desperate enough to work for a mermaid. I spot a target, and prepare to make contact. "Hey kid, wanna make some money?" I surface near an underfed kid who was sneaking near some crates. The kid flinches at the noise clearly directed at him and looks around in a panic. "In the water, kid." I give a toothless grin while holding some gold coins. The kid looks to the water and sees a mermaid looking right at him. While at first he looks like he wants to run, his gaze quickly falls on the coins in my hand. "Two coins as advance payment, and three more if you can lead me to an information broker." The kid goes from fear to confusion and quickly to determination as he steels himself. He vigorously nods at his chance at his chance of food. My smile brightens and shows my teeth as I leap out of the water and land next to the kid. He flinched again at my leap, but I ease his fears by shoving two coins in his hands, and he starts leading the way through the alleyways. I don a large cloak we looted off the ships to cover myself from prying eyes. It quickly backfires as four men come from the sides of the alleyway with crude clubs. "Well looky ''ere, we finally track down the brat which had been sneakin'' ''round our fine goods lookin'' for a steal, but not only do we find the little thief but also the one fundin'' him!" The kid, clearly putting on an act, pretends to be scared while grabbing and hiding behind my cloak. I can smell his fear and feel his trembling hands as he is reminded I''m not human. "Well now, I don''t suppose you fine gentlemen happen to know the way to a good information broker?" I ask more to buy myself time as the men approach, they all have terribly made swords hanging on their belt, but the fact that they are carrying around clubs means they don''t intend to kill anyone. Big mistake. "What a beautiful voice you have ma''lady, of course we can lead ya to a fine man who can handle such things. A''m afraid tha'' me and ma boys will have to search ya. It be standard security measures for such oddly dressed individuals as yerself ya see." The men give some disgusting smiles as they clearly forgot about the child and have their eyes focused on me now. "Go ahead, I''m sure you won''t find me carrying any hidden weapons." The men look like they have just won the lottery and start approaching. The kid has backed off and hidden nearby, clearly not intending to get involved here. The first man reaches his hand forward. And I promptly pull him closer and bit his entire shoulder off. The man screams and drops to the ground as his fellows are still behind on the uptake. I drop my cloak and show off my fishy glory. Their eyes widen in realization, but before they can run off, I have already leaped forward with my tail, instantly knocking one out and flooring the other. The fourth man yet untouched tries to run, but instead finds himself hamstrung as a nearby barrel cut him into the back of his knee, and he drops to the ground as well. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I start thinking whether I should finish the men here or let them go before my choice is made for me as the kid starts slitting the throats of the men one by one. The kid looks at me with a blank look until I realize I still have a man''s arm in my mouth. My chewing slows before I gesture for the kid to keep leading the way and I don my cloak again. "You are a scary lady." The kid says his first words, and it''s easy to tell why he doesn''t speak often. His voice is raspy and weak, all signs pointing towards dehydration and starvation. "Let them hate you, as long as they fear you. That way, they will at least think twice before trying something like this." The kid gets lost in thought some more before speaking up. "Can you help me?" "I am helping you kid, you will have to specify." "Some of my friends were caught by the local gang. I want to free them." "That sounds like a tall order, I''m guessing your friends were caught stealing. I won''t help out with something like that, I have plenty of enemies as is." The kid sags a bit and continues on disappointed, I see him squeezing his hand and build up the courage to say something. "They have my sister and are gonna sell her off to a brothel if I don''t gather enough money." That was quite a bit of information for free, this place does quite a few things like grooming, extortion, prostitution and.... "Indentured servitude? Where are they now?" The kid brightens up at my interest. "They are at their base right now." I gesture for him to lead the way as it''s getting clear his throat won''t handle much more talking. It doesn''t take long to find the base of the gang, as a bunch of stereotypical goons guard a slightly bigger house than the rest. The kid points me in their direction and I observe their base. Two bandits on the roof with crossbows playing cards, three men of the same faction are harassing some people further down the street and two men guard the door looking tired. A plan soon forms. It may be a simple plan, but everything that is genius is simple. I pull my hood back enough to hide my ears but not my face as I shuffle my way to the main entrance. The guards notice me approaching and quickly try to look serious as they see a pretty face. "I have an appointment." "I will have to know with who, ma''am" I look around warily, both as act and as precursor, the harassing men are moving to a new target and the crossbowmen above are still playing cards. I gesture for the door guard to get closer, as if to whisper something in his ear. He obliges and gets closer to hear this no doubt juicy secret. I bite his throat and rip out enough for the man to instantly fall to the ground silently. Before his friend can sound the alarm, I jam my saber right through the center of his throat in a dash. I quickly head inside and find men and women gambling all around. I approach the stairs to a basement, which are guarded. "You there, escort me to the big boss man." The man looks around himself to see if I mean someone else, and then points at himself in question. "Yes you, and hurry up, I have urgent news that has been waiting long enough." He looks at his fellow guard before shrugging and unlocking the door behind him. As we get to the stairs, I come across an issue. Stair climbing is difficult, so I do the only logical thing in this situation. The moment the guard closes the door behind us, I slam his head into the wall to shut him up, and he falls to the ground. Dead or unconscious, it doesn''t matter as long as he''s quiet. I make my way down the stairs carefully and try to avoid slipping but mess up at the last bit and tumble down. "Who''s there?" A huge man towers before me as I get up and survey the room. A low table with a map over it, multiple advisors around the map while the huge man angrily approaches. "I''m your new boss." I proclaim as I stare the man directly in the eyes. "Yeah sure very funny, now who are ya?" The man has a big grin on his face as he says that. Right until I drop the cloak hiding my features. "I said I''m your new boss, submit or die." The room explodes into panic and the huge man goes to grab me. I leap upward and let him grab my tail which is too slippery for him to hold unto allowing me to crawl toward his back and bite him in the back of his neck before he can act. As he falls to the floor the advisors wince and back off. "I said I''m your boss now, send someone to the docks to get in contact with my enclave. Try to work together as much as possible, and remember to play nice. You are all my people now, and my people help each other." The assembled men and women shoot another look at the dead titan of a man and the mermaid standing next to his corpse before one of the smaller men speaks up. "And how would we contact them?" That is a good question. "Mermaids should find you around dusk and dawn if you swim while bleeding. They don''t know yet, so do remember to explain the situation properly. Now who is going to help me up the stairs? I have some matters to attend to." The advisors look at each other in uncertainty and fear. "Quit delaying and stop looking so damn depressed. You guys are basically in charge now because I certainly don''t care too much what you guys do as long as it isn''t slavery or its lesser siblings." Everyone perks up at that, while one of the women moves to help me up the stairs. Not much later, the streets are filled with people staring in awe. They saw a woman break into the Serpents Tail headquarters and out came a mermaid with indentured servants, while the men of Serpents Tail gave small respectful bows as she passed. I move towards a certain kid that was watching the whole thing, who gives his sister a hug. "Well you little punk. You still have to escort me to a good information broker." The kid lets out a genuine smile at that and our small entourage moves forward again. With one less cloak. Chapter 10: Information from the pirate bay The kingdom of Dalka: A human supremacist kingdom culture-wise. It maintains a co-operative relation with the Empire and the Theocracy of Laktar. As for the non-human nations, they maintain a non-contact policy with the solar races with the exclusion of some purchases of dwarf good. The non-solar races have a mutual hostile relationship with Dalka, but Mazurio is the only nation which is effected by this. Apparently, the Dalkans have also summoned interdimensional humans to bolster their strength. Once again, proving that Dalka is pretty good at magic. Here at the bay, our relation with Dalka is a mandatory service relationship. Dalka doesn''t want to be serviced by us, but our men are determined, and hard workers who won''t take no for a good reason not to provide. The kingdom of Mazurio: An all Mazurian kingdom. Diplomacy with them is made nearly impossible because of their tendency to attack the solar races in an attempt to turn them. Many other non-solar races are also just too far for proper diplomacy to get going. We do have records implicating agents of Mazurio being active in non-solar controlled regions. They do have an extensive network of agents very loyal to the gold they provide, which are also one of the few solars not to be attacked by Mazurians. Until recently, it was believed that their leader was the same one from two thousand years ago. This was disproven by a Dalkan assassination attempt roughly a month ago. Concerning our relation with Mazurio I would say it is rather complicated. The lack of trade makes them generally a non-target, and any ''personnel trading'' would have difficulty selling their goods either way, since the bay is not a great place for doing slavery. They do pay very nicely for information. The theocracy of Laktar: These nutjobs are a heavily religious nation. It is even more aggressive towards non-solar races than the Dalkans are. This is all remedied by the fact that they follow their religion more than common sense most of the time. These stubborn bastards are the bane of anyone that doesn''t follow the religion of the goddess. They are most known for their acts of terror and other fun stuff on followers of Luna. Their main force are religious zealots known as paladins, who are practically souped up adventures with better gear. Robbing their pilgrims isn''t too bad, but if you end up killing one of them, you can be guaranteed to have paladins after you. Other than the paladins, they are easy targets both on land and sea. The Empire: The elephant in the room. An expansionist empire that has tried its hand at world conquest more than everyone else combined. If you have ever bothered to look at a map, their country sticks on it like it owns the place with how large it is. Thankfully for the rest of the world, it is nowadays a little more interested in the diplomatic side of things due to not being able to hold their gains further out they go. They have an embassy with every nation capable of having one, and us. Their relation with the entire world is relatively cordial for such a big empire. Being as large as they are, their needs and production is also massive, resulting in them being the biggest trading partner of anyone that does trade. They also just about accept anyone into their empire as long as they assimilate to a certain extent. They even have Mazurians and known vampires ''living'' within their borders. Our relationship with them is like marriage. We take as much as we can from them, and they in turn hate our guts. They tend to not try to move directly against us much because they border a lot of people they don''t get along with. The North: Not actually a unified region as much more a land of cold, monsters and the barbarians that survive here. The tribes usually do a lot of raiding for fun and are otherwise ignorant of the world. They only raid the Empire due to only bordering them, and only during summers. A lot of crazy cults do start up around that region, which adds to the chaos nicely. Some of the better equipped captains sometimes make trips to the north to trade and ''exchange culture and ideas'', the more successful of these come back fat with imperial plunder, as the north has different priorities during looting. The South: This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Similar to the North, but better equipped and replace the cults with Mazurians. They have a little more diplomatic reach due to being a desert region comprised of city states, their raids often target living people rather than dead ones unlike the North and happen during winters. The place while certainly being riddled with agents of Mazurio is cordial towards the many Mazurians in this area, making it a weird sort of stable. They also do a lot of trade with the rest of the world, and their raids are more comprised of mercenaries hired by traders to disrupt their competition or gather slaves. The Mazurians also don''t tend to answer to Mazurio, and prefer to identify themselves as Southern. Our relation with the south is pretty good, to the surprise of no one. Smugglers and mercenaries just can''t get enough of the place, and the southerners appreciate our shipbound specialties. The jungles of Tazkar''han: Massive tribes of Mazurians and jungle elves that border the South and the Empire, who constantly seek to sacrifice anyone and everyone. They don''t even care if you are a man of the Empire, a woman of Mazurio or one of their own. They utilize poisons in abundance and don''t look too kindly on missionaries. Otherwise, they are surprisingly open with their trade, and don''t try to sacrifice you too often. Some daring privateers and mercenaries sometimes try to raid these lands. These are some of the best equipped and hardened men you can find in the west. The lichdom of Fathanasia: A bunch a scary undead. We don''t know much about these guys, and it is not just because they are on the east end of the Empire. They aren''t big fans of the living. You can only really do negotiations with vampires, but only really in theory. Their land looks about as dead as the people there. The Empire frequently has fights with the bonesacks, but they never did manage to wipe them out. During more warlike times, like when the Empire went on another world conquest, there were rumors of Mazurio and the lichdom co-ordinating. Our relation with them is one that we are glad doesn''t exist. Imagine undead pirates, gives me the shivers. The eastern wastes: A large wasteland inhabited by nomadic greenskin tribes. They border with the lichdom and Empire. They also frequently fight both of these juggernauts, which is damn impressive for such a loose alliance of tribes. Furthermore, they are supposedly led by a great shaman, but their attitude towards trespassers make them hard to get information on. Rumors say there is something east of the eastern wastes and the lichdom, it''s hard to find out what, as I''m sure you can imagine. Outside their borders they can actually be negotiated with, but due to them not being big on sharing and so far away they are hard to work with. The dwarves: Anywhere where there is a mountain, there is a dwarf. The closest of which being the western edge mountains. The big thing splitting Dalka and the Empire. They live in clans most of the time, and make for excellent engineers. They have good relations with the other solar races. If it wasn''t for their resource addiction, we would quickly be out of a job, as the western edge mountains are littered with mountainside banditry. If that road was safe, no one would take ours over water. Our contact with the shorts (don''t tell them I called them that) is good, all things considered. They don''t trade over water so we don''t bother them, and sometimes a rich captain or mercenary band commissions some dwarven weaponry to be made. Our relation with the bandit part is one of respectfully ignoring each other. The elves (of the eternal forest): We don''t know shit about these guys. Supposedly they are arrogant? They live in the Eternal Forest which borders Dalka and the theocracy. Everyone who enters gets killed, and they rarely leave. There were some pirate captains in the past that were looking to make a quick buck getting some elven souvenirs for southern sultans, they never made it. Mazurians: Or demons, depending on your education. They live mostly in Mazurio and the South. They also have a presence in the Empire and the North. Solar races don''t tend to get along with them, especially the Mazurio variant, due to their tendency to want to cast transmogrify on everyone. In nations that aren''t Mazurio this is generally considered worse than murder. In their own society they follow the law of the strongest, and are inclined to follow a very informal culture. They are highly varied in their advantages to the point even the church would admit that the first demon lord was a damn genius. There used to be mermaids here on Quintillius Landing until old man Quintillius himself kicked them all out in one of the world conquest Empire phases. Other than a harpy roost further inland, we didn''t have much contact with the others of their species. Until now. Monsters and Dungeons: Ranging from the humble Rous to the mighty dragon. They are omnipresent, and tend to be hostile to anything edible and/or moving. Some of the more intelligent ones are capable of diplomacy. This does not make it a great idea. Notable monsters include: The dungeon of eternal pain, the dragon tyrant Maldavaoth and the mad princess Esstrey. -From an information dealer to the mermaid princess Esstrey "Who is he calling mad?" Chapter 11: The most dangerous job of Russia Most of the invites sent have been accepted. Invites sent out west are still pending, including a small investigation into an anomaly taking hold in Quintillius. Agent has been ordered to make contact. Glory to the Empire. -From a message to the Emperor, sent by Getting information from the broker was pretty easy albeit painful. Getting the cramps because I have no legs is something I''m sure I''ll have to deal with plenty in the future. I at least had the future problems with it reduced by having some mermaids craft one from coral. Didn''t know coral could be handled like wood here, but only mermaids do this because the coral has to be treated and worked completely submerged and under high pressure. During my time on land with the thing I also had some gangsters from Serpent''s Tail push me places I want to go partially because I find it pretty funny and partially as a power move. Speaking of which my takeover did not go unnoticed as I got plenty of heat for it and was ''throwing the balance of power in disarray'' as the governor put it. Its clear he''s just a mouthpiece and those using him are scared to death of me because I literally waltzed into a gang''s headquarters and just took over the place with minimal resistance. Other than the gangs, no one else cares because the mermaids are very good business. Being the natural divers that we are, I told Lycha to lend some volunteers to go along with pirates who use more explosives and fewer divers than is good for their wallets. All the jobs being close range and non-violence clauses of course, I will not allow allied non-combatants to endanger themselves. "What are you looking at? Never went fishing before?" It would be a bit better if people stopped staring. I get it, there is mermaid royalty on Quintillius for the first time in like a thousand years. Get over it, will you? "I think they are staring at the part where hardened gangsters are pushing around someone in a wheelchair like she''s their boss." One of my escorting goons is clearly having fun while doing it too. "Hardened? I don''t pay you guys to be hard while staring at ladies all day!" "Pay? You don''t pay us at all! The council pays us" And from what I heard it''s more than they used to get, so despite being led by a Mazurian the gangsters don''t care. As a matter of fact I''m pretty sure they are pretty happy that a large part of their resources and strength is out of reach of anyone. "And who do you think was feeling mighty generous that day? I even killed your old boss quickly!" I say the last part loud enough for bystanders to hear, much to the entertainment of both me and my goons. "Don''t go scaring me customers ma''am, A''m tryna run a business ''ere." The dwarf craftsman we finally arrive at doesn''t seem to happy, then again he never seems happy. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Bullshit, I ain''t scaring me. Besides this is just how I look when I smile." My goons snicker at that knowing full well that my most effective intimidation weapon are my teeth. "We both know that I wasn''t talkin bout yer damn smile lass. I''ll just get yer damn order and then ya can buzz off me smithy." The dwarf walks out back and comes back with something large covered in cloth. I greedily look under the cloth and a smile lights up on my face. I hand the craftsman the rest of the payment and signal to my men. "What the hell ya gonna do with that things?" The dwarf immediately regrets asking but I answer anyway. "Why I am gonna test it out on gang rivals of course! I think I''ll start with the Broken Stars." As the men turn my wheelchair away the dwarf begins closing shop. My goons gleefully push me back to the main street. "Where to next boss?" "You oaf! I just said! Get me to the building that sits across from the Broken Stars headquarters. I heard they are having a meeting at their top floor, and the view that window has is to die for." The duo pushing me try to hold in their laughter. "I''m fuckin glad I got put on escort duty today! This story is gonna fetch me so many drinks at the bar!" As we roll into Broken Stars territory some other Serpent Tail troops join us along to cover us while we go. It wasn''t planned, but our patrols can recognize a good time when they see it. We don''t run into trouble as we look more like a small mercenary band than gangster scum. The greatest enemy yet again proves to be stairs as the men pull my wheelchair up towards the roof of the building. When we get to the top I star unwrapping my gift, an enchanted compound crossbow made from coral and bits of metal. I quickly spot the window where the Broken Stars should be having their meeting. I tell one of my goons to use their magic thingy and he obliges. "HEY BOSS, COME LOOK QUICK! THA FUCKIN SERPENTS ARE ''ERE AND THEY BROUGHT THEIR BOSS." My goon shouts harder than should be physically possible using magic, the call for aid gets answered by my test subject as a tough looking woman looks out of the window and the crossbowmen on top of their rooftop finally take notice of us. It is too late as a crossbow bolt annihilates the brain of one of my bigger competitors and her corpse remains slumped over the window. Before booking it I spot a strange cloaked figure from the meeting make direct eye contact with me. Before I''m carted off I decide to give a quick wink at the figure before leaving. "Holy shit boss! Why don''t ya do this more often?" "Maybe one day boys, but for now this is drawing too much heat to me. If I went around taking out everyone above me as rapidly as I could, we would get mercs or even the governor on our heads. So when I said I was testing this thing I was serious." The men give a few fake boos as they run as fast as they can back to the port. "Then what about that weapon boss? That be no normal crossbow I say." "I know of plenty of better weapons, but how do you think things in the world would go if people had access to weapons that could kill anyone instantly?" The men think for a bit as we slow down before making ugly faces. They may be gangsters from a pirate port, but that does not make them stupid. Even the ones I have taken out so far were simply unprepared if not outright outmatched. "Make sure to properly dispose of the dwarf. We can''t have a man with his knowledge roam free like that." As we get to the port the men say their goodbyes as if they won''t tell the council all about me. They can tell everything they know for all I care, they won''t ever get enough information to actually threaten me. After all, information is half the battle. The other half is violence. Chapter 12: An offer you wont refuse. The ground will shatter as our weapons will be brought to life! Dimensions once far away will close in on us like predators circling prey! The undead will know fear! The Mazurians will know urgency! The solar races will know pain! The end is nearly upon us! Repent! Repent! -Found in a tome about the end of the world in a church library, predicting the end of the world having happened seven hundred years ago POV crown prince Celdium of the kingdom of Dalka The dignitary from the Empire had been fuming angrily for a while now. His unreasonable demands for secret information or outright monetary compensation of ridiculous amounts going unanswered. The more information the Empire is acquiring on the latent heroes, the angrier they are that they didn''t demand for the heroes themselves outright. He has scheduled another audience today, which I am not looking forward to. As he enters the room, there is something different about him. He no longer walks intending to challenge my dad to a fistfight. Rather he seems to be walking like all those snobbish nobles walk when they are cooking something up. I would try to guess what it is, but knowing the little games nobles do so love to play is a fool''s errand. Little Alicia has however made great strides in plotting and scheming, according to mom. "The Empire has come to amend the bad relation with Dalka over the recent scandal involving the prophecy of the church." What the hell are they planning? _____________________________________________ POV Kyla''th Mazurio, Queen of Mazurio Oh, Luna! Oh, fuck someone, anyone, please save me from this stress. "Kyla, you are panicking." Jalaha usefully chides. "OF COURSE I''M PANICKING, THE IMPERIAL DIPLOMATS ARE HERE WITHIN THE HOUR!" Why? Why in my lifetime do I have to deal with the biggest nation in the world which could actually destroy Mazurio, and has plenty of incentive to? This is all because those assassins who got the information of the First being long dead out somehow. It has to be! "Kyla, take some deep breaths. You are in your own palace and nothing here can hurt you. The Empire can''t either." "But what if I fuck up? What if they declare war?" I heard the empire hasn''t gone on one of their world crusades in a while. Are they preparing for a new one? "Relax, first off, they would have sent an army if they intended for war. And secondly, they still have more enemies than just Mazurio." Ok, breathe in. Breathe out. Calm breaths. I am not panicking. I have Jalaha right here, I am still one of the strongest mages in the world. Furthermore, I might not know why they are coming, but they sent a letter in advance informing us of them arriving. Deep breaths. I can do this! "Now announcing Imperial dignitary Count Steinmann of Rockwell" A lizardman clearly not used to human politics announced it. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Why are they here so soon!? I thought I had more time! Jalaha save me! Instead of saving me, the traitor has already taken up a place lower, and to the side. Clearly not intending to get involved. "Greetings, Lord of Mazurio, I am here on behalf of the empire for peace negotiations between our two nations." "Wait what?" I ask, dumbfounded and aloud. That was most definitely not something human nobles do. The man raises his eyebrow. "If this is in the interest of Mazurio of course." "Yes? Yes! Please continue, what is needed for peace?" The man is clearly taken aback by the overly emotional Demon Lord. "Well we were also thinking of starting trade between our two nations in the same, so I will also come back to that, but the Emperor had a specific demand of you yourself for the necessity of peace." "Yes! Anything for peace! What is it?" ____________________________________ POV The mad princess Esstrey "Mining gear?" The burly foreman asks. "Yes, I''m serious, mining gear. I will also take any firestarters that still work when wet." My shopping spree continues, funded by a mermaid enclave and a small gang. "Lady, I have been hearing many dangerous things about you and your purchases." The foreman is clearly none too happy with my coming here. "And how much have you heard from people that denied those purchases? I recommend you get to work quick, dear foreman. At the very least, I can assure you that the money is good." Disgusting, these men aren''t even motivated by money. I have to threaten them as well to get any point across here. "I-I''ll get right on it, ma''am!" I gesture for my escort to head into an alley that heads in the direction of our base. "The rat hiding in the shadows can come out now. If you don''t, I''m afraid I''ll have to insist." I turn my wheelchair around while my men take positions on my sides. "A paranoid one, aren''t you? Not that I blame you." A man that kept himself hidden to the shadows reveals himself. I wouldn''t have spotted him if I didn''t catch a glimpse of him tailing me while I was passing a mirror store. "Speak or be spoken for, agent." I point my crossbow at him, and he doesn''t react. "I have come to deliver an invitation for you to join the imperial university of magic in Beitzlin." My men already start whispering to each other about the largest academy in the Empire. Only imperial nobles are said to allowed to attend. "Let''s say that I believe this fanciful tale of the Empire being suddenly very interested in the less friendly contacts again. Why me? Why not one of the nobles you all love so much?" The man keeps his face hidden, but I see him think behind the unnatural darkness where his face is meant to be. That''s weird, dogs are not meant to think. "I will be upfront with you as my mission was to ensure you accept this invitation, and I have been allowed quite a bit of leeway as to how to go about this. The crown prince insisted on attending, and his father wishes to make it something to remember for the young prince." The cloaked man is very forthcoming about all this. Let''s think. What do I get if I accept? An actual education in this magic stuff I''m supposed to be good at, along with contacts of other influential figures that will no doubt attend. What will I lose? Time spent gathering strength at Quintillius, and possibly my head if I''m deemed a large enough threat. "Is the demon Queen invited?" "I was informed the invite was extended to her as well, although I do not know if she accepted." I smile. "Well then, my good man. I suppose I accept." He walks over to give me a small crystal, which I accept. "This is your identification crystal. Anyone within the Empire will know that you are coming to attend at the university, and should get you past checkpoints. I am sure the Emperor will be pleased if you make it." The man quickly vanishes into the shadow as fast as my smile drops. I turn back to my goons. "Well, comrades, it seems you will have to do without me for a while." And I gesture to be pushed to the harbor. There is work to be done, and I didn''t forget about the little slave problem the Empire has. Chapter 13: Blood in the water The southerners will fight to protect their income. The Tazkars will fight to protect the religion around their obscure gods. The theocracy protects the religion of the goddess. Dalka protects its royal family. Mazurio protects the demon lord. The north protects whatever cult they are in. The damn greenskins protect their shaman. The undead protect whoever dug them out of their graves. We don''t even know what the elves really protect. Honestly, everyone and their mother protects someone or something. Even here in the Empire we are no exception, of course, but why the hell are there so many attacking forces in a world of protectors? -A quote of a forgotten imperial soldier, immortalized as poetry within the army Organizing a small expedition of combat mermaids was rather easily done. According to Lychta we have been getting mermaid migrants from the enclaves recently. Many of them being younger combat trained types that joined looking for a chance of wealth and glory. Most mermaids are now also equipped with crossbows and rapiers. Our planned expedition path is meant to take us right to the beating heart of the Empire. "Ship spotted ahead, lady Esstrey. It is flying scavenger colors." "Move close to identify, they might know something about activity in the region." A small group of mermaids shoot off towards the ship. I surface close to the ship and see a familiar face. "Ah! If it ain''t the missus, Esstrey! Just the woman I be lookin for!" Nosk greets me jovial as ever. "Is something wrong?" If he was looking for me, it cannot be good. "Aye, that it be. Dalkans have finally gotten sick of a certain raiding merm'' redistributin'' some much needed riches to the masses. They sent themselves a batch of bounty hunters to deal with ya. Merm'' hunters is what me crowsnest says. Their ship is close an'' I was plannin'' on trackin'' them ti''ll ya showed up. I would help meself, but money been tight see? Got me some brand new magic cannons and a bigger ship." He says all this while showing off engraved cannons of his brand-new cruiser. "Well, I''m sure we can figure something out together. How about two gold per mermaid hunter found dead if you help? Along with the usual salvage rules, of course." The base price for assassination is roughly one gold per head. With mermaid hunters being specialized in underwater combat, and not ship to ship combat, this price is more than fair. "Generous as always! I do so enjoy workin'' with tha merms''." Nosk answers happily as we head in front of the ship. Once we get close enough for every sailor to see the ship, I start hearing the yells of the pirates getting to their stations, I signal for my squadrons to start encircling the enemy ship as the cannons start firing. The men aboard the hunter ship haven''t noticed the mermaids below them as they enter combat with the pirate cruiser. The ship itself start moving close to board, but this has no use as Nosk isn''t interested in a melee. The mermaids below get noticed as we all start circling the hunter vessel fast enough to cause waves. A few of the hunters don gear and jump into the water, partially to engage us, but mainly to get away from the pirate cruiser. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. As I watch a few men descend into the abyss equipped with lightning weapons, and air amulets, some of the mermaids start suffering burn wounds. I quickly signal them to take distance, and the rest to focus on the ship itself. They will have a hard time ascending back to the ship if there is no ship. The ship itself was threatening to get in boarding range of the pirate cruiser starts slowing down as a whirlpool forms below it. One of the sailors tries to shoot his crossbow at the mermaid below, but gets hit directly by a cannonball for trying. His corpse falling into the water below. As his corpse touches the water, a new smell hits my nostrils. I know this smell. It is blood. Sweet, delicious blood invades my sense, but I don''t want to eat his corpse. I simply want to smell more blood, so I rip apart his corpse to spread it. Some mermaids are looking at me strangely, and I sense something new. Emanating from me is a sort of signal that feels slightly like me. As the signal comes into contact with the mermaids, they start twitching and send the signal out as well. All touched by the signal go into an enraged frenzy, wanting nothing more than the blood of my enemies. "Blood! Blood! Blood!" The chanting starts with the mermaids closest to me, but as more get infected, soon every mermaid is chanting. "BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!" The chanting breaks the surface, and soon the remaining mermaid hunters stand watching over the edge in terror. Until I jump one of them in a massive leap. I grab onto the victim and drag him down, but I don''t kill him yet. "She''s got Jacob! Fuck!" Another man jumps after him, and more men follow the first to jump. Their terror blinding them to the truth of the situation, making them fall back to their training. These men aren''t so lucky as the first few who jumped. Mermaids are already chewing at some of the jumpers, their situation deteriorating further the more blood fills the water, further terrifying the men, and invigorating the mermaid swarm. BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD. I rip apart a man, and use his corpse as an effigy to further terrify the others. They try to fire harpoons that are easily dodged in their state of terror. The water grows red as the last mermaid hunters die off, but the fight isn''t over yet. The sailors on the ship running around in terror as the hunters they escorted are now a bloody patch under their vessel. I am not sure what they tried in the end. As the whirlpool grows stronger, and starts breaking the ship apart. Captain Nosk fires his cannons into the spinning ship, accelerating its demise. The sailors onboard hold on to the ship in a desperate attempt to stay away from the waters. It''s no use as the vessel breaks apart, and soon all sailors join the red patch along with the hunters. I quickly lead my mermaids further into the depths to hunt down the ones who jumped first. They were brave at first, but as they see the large cloud of the ripped apart corpses of their colleagues, that bravery vanishes. They are easily picked apart, and I feel the signal finally weaken. That must have been magic. From what little research I was able to do it is largely instinctual, and dependent on the person. For Mazurians it is often tied to them on a genetic level. So the magical frenzy was most likely a response of my body. "L-lady Esstrey! What in the seven hells was tha''!? Ye bloody ripped em apart!" I surface near Nosk on his ship, and notice a decapitated ear stuck to me. "Some sort of magic. Don''t worry too much about it, I was just heading to the imperial capital to go get this magic thing checked out." Nosk roars in laughter at my words. Clearly entertained at my words. I don''t mind him, as I have one of the mermaids fetch his pay while others salvage the ship. "Only ye would treat magic like scurvy lady Esstrey! And seeing what yer did there, it''s a damned nice thing ta know. Travel well, mad princess!" He waves as my entourage sets course for the Reiter river. Chapter 14: Tough Memory I am close to finishing my grand design, but my enemies circle me like vultures. Undead and greenskins to the east, the solar alliance of dwarves elves and humans to the west. I just need a little more time, before the grand Salah''Din of the south or the void creatures to the north catch on. -The Grand Scientist The Reiter river is filled with military checkpoints, some of which actually have sub-water incursion protection. A small gem so helpfully provided by an imperial agent was all that was needed to pass any of these, and it was nice to know any additional pursuers would be greatly hampered by glorious bureaucracy. The imperial capital Beirlitz was quite the sight to behold for someone not used to the sights of Moscow. Security was also rather surprised by my entourage of mermaids entering through the Reiter directly into the city. "Well, this is my stop. Remember to fill out that bucket list I have set out for you, Lychta." It contains valuable intel on how to deal with the locals at Quintillius after all. "Lady Esstrey, are you sure you will be fine on your own?" Lychta sounds worried while she says it, clearly intimidated by the ''vast'' city around her. "Relax, everything will be fine for me as long as you all follow protocol, and keep up with your training of course!" Some mermaids shudder at the word ''training'' as if death approaches. It really is just standard Spetsnaz training that I have been teaching them and the gang, though. I take my wheelchair, crossbow and identifier gem with me along with a satchel of gold. Now just to find the academy. As I make my way through the capital, I get a lot less stares than I did back in Rivka, with a lot less hostility as well. That doesn''t mean much considering a royal mermaid in a wheelchair carrying a crossbow is still not a daily sight, but the stares back then didn''t hamper me, and these definitely aren''t stopping me. This calm touring of the city is brought to a halt at the nostalgic sounds of people screaming in terror. "HELP! THERE''S A MONSTER! RUN!" I see some stooges run out of an alley, which I quickly decide needs some more of my calming presence. "What the fuck is going on here? Fuck are you sissies all running away from?" I try to bait some information from some of the fleeing men to no avail. These men can think of littler than saving their own pathetic lives right now. I keep moving closer into the alley until I make contact with what appears to be a woman in a maid dress turned away from me. "Oi, you, do you know what has all the people so terrified here? Something about a monster?" I hope this person isn''t as terrified as the earlier people. It would be annoying to have to keep looking. As she turns around, I find myself staring into space. Not in the spacing out sense, but in the sense that the woman before me looks like a starry night sky. As I gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back, and blinks all the starry eyes while doing so. Her legs are all tentacles, and I''m pretty sure she has mouths scattered across her body. I quickly recover as the woman is wary of me being there. "C''mon, someone with that many eyes has got to have seen what has everyone so fucking scared." The woman? Abyss? Thing? Maid. The maid looks around a bit confused, clearly not used to people asking her direct questions. "I have not [gazed/beholden/seen] that which you seek. There is no [fight/combat/conflict] in this area." Some of the words spoken by the maid seem to travel directly into my brain. While not being in any language I recognize, they still seem to have little effort being understood. "Well that''s a shame, I was traveling for weeks, only being able to take potshots at the occasional bandit. Do you know where the magic academy is? I have an appointment there." The maid blinks her star-eyes while tilting her head. "[Negative/no/refusal], but we can look together." The maid approaches me as she says this, and starts pushing my wheelchair. "Well good, four eyes is-- uhm, yeah, that sounds good." Not wanting to sound racist, I cut that thought off. I''m not in a position or a mood to be picky about strange company. That, and with everything that happened so far, I''m sure this maid is as tired of odd looks as I am. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "I''ll just ask because you seem like the type to only give information when asked. What''s your name? I''m Esstrey, by the way." I really need to get more used to introducing myself. Furthermore, I barely know anyone by name. "This one is [known/named/designated] as c???????????????t??????????????????h???????y??????????????????d???????????r???????????r??????????????????????''???????????????g????????????????????????n?????????????????a?????????." As she says her name, it sounds like someone is trying to speak over radio with a terrible connection. "I think I heard you say Cathy in there somewhere, so I''ll just call you that if that''s cool with you." Because I am not gonna bother trying to say that name. No matter how much I am lacking in the introduction department. "That is indeed [ice/nitrogen/absolute zero] with me." Gee lady, I just said cool not fucking Pluto no need to get all excited. My opinion on her excitement mellows quickly, as the stares of people that see me getting wheeled around are clearly pointed at Cathy. The same terror in their eyes as the men running from the monster, and if I wasn''t here, I''m sure these morons would be even more scared. Thankfully, the sight of someone getting pushed around like a grandmother dims their fears. I think it''s actually going rather well until Cathy jerks and speeds me into an alley. "Esstrey has a [meeting/appointment/fate] with someone through this alley." I do? Well she is either fucking with me, or more likely is actually right, and would make one hell of a secretary. Coming out of the other side of the alley, I spot a dark elf walking alongside....HER. I make visual with primary target as Cathy accelerates me towards my goal. I load my crossbow, knowing that at distance it won''t do anything. Twenty meters. Fifteen meters. Ten meters. Minimal civilians in my sectors, target has not noticed my approach yet. Target has one bodyguard, low probability of problems coming from him. Five meters. I ready myself to leap, and just as I leap at two meters, Cathy stops the wheelchair. I launch on the back of the target, who lets out a yell of surprise. Her bodyguard tries to interfere, I put a stop to his plans by planting a bolt in his kneecap, he goes down screaming in pain. I bring my teeth to the neck of the target, who is screaming in incoherent fear at this point. Just before I am about to bite down, a metal object gets lodged in my mouth. No matter, my teeth are stronger than most metals on this paltry planet. Before I bite down on the metal to destroy it, I feel something... familiar about its texture. I pause my assault on the woman before me for a moment to inspect the anomaly in my mouth. It has a thick wooden handle, the end of it is flat with sharp edges. I remember this, it is a Spetsnaz shovel. I remember something about the shovel. Something tied to who I was. I remember the drill sergeant yelling at me. "GODDAMMIT PRIVATE <#$($^%@$> THIS HERE SHOVEL IS TIED TO YOUR LIFESPAN!" The sound of the shovel whistling through the air as the drill sergeant threw it at a practice target. The dummy was hit right where the skull would be, falling over completely destroyed. I remember someone else telling me how and when to dig fortifications. My old CO S-1... no, Dominik Lebedev of the Russian Spetsnaz. He taught me that it doesn''t take long for a determined man with a shovel to dig himself to safety. So the power to alter the land should never be underestimated. I snap back to reality, and find myself getting light shined into my eye. "She''s back!". A guardsman steps away from my wheelchair, and I see a dark elf getting a nasty kneewound getting tended to. The demon Queen sitting next to him with a blanket, and a mug of hot something while looking like a disaster victim. I look behind me, and find Cathy still standing there as if nothing has happened. She looks uncomfortable with the guards all looking at her in distrust. "Well, this is awkward." That redirects the staring towards me, the guards looking at me as if I''m crazy, the dark elf looking at me like I just won first prize puppy kicking contest and the Queen looks like one of those puppies was hers. I take this moment to get an actual look at the oh so great demon Queen. Other than her signature horns sharp tail and bat-like wings, she also has silver hair, and silver eyes. Her stature betraying her age, she can''t be older than twenty-two. There is no demon lord looking to overrun humanity here. Only a sad little girl thrust into a world much bigger than her. I notice that the presence of the guards isn''t calming her at all. "Quit fucking gawking, you tin-buckets! Show us where the hell the magic academy is already!" The guards are surprised by my anger. "We still need a report of what happened here." These guys aren''t taking the hint. I take out the little gemstone identifier. "No." The Queenling needs distraction, the dark elf looks like someone else would be better in tending to him, and Cathy.... is just fine, actually. The lead guardsman gives me an exasperated sigh, but with none of the involved parties speaking up, he can do nothing. He only gets a glare from me in response. "We will keep an eye on you." He is obviously trying to sound more intimidating than he is right now. "Sure you will." Chapter 15: Asylum of the Insane I am the great tyrant of the world! I cannot be defeated! Let the world tremble before my armies! FOR THE EMPIRE! -Manius Civillis, roughly 1500 years ago before being assassinated, ushering in the 1st imperial collapse ''Walking'' together with the demon Queen was an awkward thing. Her bodyguard Jalaha, is more pissed than she is about the whole trying to kill her twice affair. The Queen herself somehow manages to look embarrassed, she did insist on me calling her Kyla when I asked her if she knows anything on local slave traders. I don''t know how Cathy looks, as she is pushing my wheelchair behind me, but I don''t need to look to know she looks as serene and/or bored as ever. I also asked her about how magic works, but all she really had to say about it, that at my level it would all be instinctual. I wanted to ask more, but by the time we finally got talking we were doomed to be too close to our destination to make a difference. At least the literal university based around magic will answer those glaring holes of information. Approaching the premises, I spot a large mansion-esque building with a stone wall, and two men in full plate guard the gate. I spot one of the men passing the other a small pouch while looking dismayed as we get closer. "Goddess damn you Fred, how do you always get it right?" Fred is clearly much too enthusiastic for just receiving a coin pouch. "It''s because I prayed nicely rather than use the Goddess''s name in vain unlike you Jules, and I hoped the next group would be extra clowns for the circus. It keeps things less boring around here." Jules gives Fred an annoyed look, almost as annoyed as I am at being called a clown by a bunch of technologically inept savages. "With the people invited to this place, you certainly aren''t right in the head to call us clowns." I make sure to add the last bit with as much venom as possible. "You tell me! Over the last week, the weirdest people have been showing up. I thought the principal was just trying to get research subjects at first, lately I have been thinking he might be setting up a whole circus with its very own freakshow." Fred seems rather oblivious to me plotting his demise right now, Kyla looks like a lost puppy at the comments by the men. It seems I have found some common ground here with Jalaha though. "Well, I''m sure you men wouldn''t be averse to offering your heads for insulting the lord of Mazurio. It would only be fair, after all. I believe it''s called Lse-majest in human lands?" The men both look a bit shocked at that, Fred looks like he''s barely managing to stop himself from running, while Jules grips his sword. I throw my identification crystal through the gate, and hit Fred on his helmet, who jumps back in surprise. "You gonna open this gate or what?" Jules is mumbling to himself as Fred gets keys to open the gate. Jules seems to have gathered his pair, and speaks up as we pass. "The hell is the Emperor thinking? Why is he inviting all these enemies of the Empire?" The man looks rather dismayed, I almost sympathize with the man who is clearly not very good at betting. The keyword being almost. "Are you questioning the decisions of not just your superiors, but the only superior that matters?" Jules sputters, while Fred is actually snickering to himself. "Ha! I like the fish! Go on in mi''lady!" Fred does a complete 180 in attitude as he points at the academy entrance. "If the last clowns are anything to go by, you lot are all supposed to be in year one, ninth floor, fifth hall and class number seven." I give him a questioning look. The mansion looking building is big, but certainly not that big. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Fred notices my confusion. "Spatial magic baby! Welcome to the Empire!" Fred and Jules go back to whatever it is they were doing, with Fred greedily fondling his bag of coins. We make our way inside. On the way, I see plenty of heated debates between some of the student, who are all wearing some....odd uniforms. "Remmierre theory on heat spell-based traps is superior to Balclanne''s you are an ignorant buffoon!" "Remmierre''s pathetic excuse for a spell theory is not spell-based, it is spell-cringe! How could you not see the horrible efficiency rates of the spellweave cycling!" I stare in horror as I watch a bunch of Japanese school uniform wearing people speak like the engineers back at base do. "And what are you four doing out of uniform? It''s standard school regulation to always wear your uniform inside." An old man that reminds me of mathematician teachers berates us. Which is weird because I don''t remember any mathematician teachers. "Well, I am not here to attend. I''ll find your room, and set everything up for you there. Good luck Kyla!" Jalaha quickly runs off, not wanting to get involved. Kyla sputters a bit before answering. "We just arrived here. I didn''t know there was a uniform?" "Please don''t tell me I have to actually wear one of those." I point at the students talking, the boy wearing a gray woolen shirt. Which would probably look a lot better on fifty-year-old men rather than a student. "Don''t be silly, you will be wearing the girls uniform." Which appears to be a skirt, and simple white blouse with a red scarf. This is the worst. "I have to wear that crap?" Who the hell designed these? And why? "No. All three of you will have to wear a uniform that makes it clear you are not imperial citizens." The mage starts dragging Kyla to a supply closet. Cathy meanwhile, betrays me by following after while pushing my wheelchair. He comes to a supply closet, which he opens with a glowing key. He grabs three uniforms of the female design. Except that instead of white, they are black. "All three of you are a week late, but considering one of you can''t even walk, i''ll let it pass. Get dressed and go to your classrooms afterward." I am still staring in dread at the uniform handed to me. I was fully prepared to kill to get the information I want, but being forced into some far eastern traditionalist joke was not something I was prepared for. Before I realize it, I am carted off to a changing room with Kyla and Cathy. Cathy quickly changes my clothes like she has been doing so forever. "My beret!" My cap is taken away from me by Cathy, who puts them all on a pile. "This facility has a no [hat/helmet/mask] policy except for religious reasons." Religious reasons? Do I believe in something? I believe in hanging every slaver from lampposts, but I don''t think that''s an accepted religion. My time runs out as Cathy finishes up, and pushes me back to the hallway. I must look as ridiculous as I feel. Before I can even further contemplate my existential dread, I come across my immortal enemy. It stands mockingly in defiance of my hatred of it. "This is all your fault!" I start hitting the stairs with my shovel. The effect is negligible, as the stairs are clearly enchanted with some sort of toughness magic. Kyla comes to my rescue, and conjures some solid black mass on the stairs. It congregates as it forms a ramp, completely making my foe impotent. Cathy pushes me up the stairs turned ramp. "Magic is truly amazing. I thought I would have to ask them to make an elevator." Kyla looks a bit confused at the word elevator, but quickly switches to pride. "Right? I''m pretty great at magic. My capability for magic is rather high, although the eggheads here always research to push magic even further. I wonder what kind of secrets they are holding here?" Kyla rubs her hands together at the last bit, clearly plotting something. As we make it to the classroom, I can hear sounds inside. Kyla opens the door and cheerfully greets everyone. "Hel-" She at least tries to greet everyone. "What are you three doing here a WEEK late? You better have some good goddess damned excuses!" The professor is pissed, but what catches my eye more is the classroom. "Oh my god, Jeff was right. This is a circus." Chapter 16: The cocktail of diplomatic disaster I got a letter from my son a few days ago. It described his classmates. Normally this is not something he bothers me with, but despite being in the same class as the crown prince, I have been getting told by my own son that apparently the class is filled with the monsters our Empire fights against! I demand to know what is going on over there! -A letter sent by a worried parent to the principal of the imperial academy Gazing upon my fellow classmates I can tell that the joke is written by reality. There is a dwarf fiddling with a crossbow, who quickly locks unto my crossbow with a hungry gaze. There is a pale woman with red eyes looking with a different kind of hungry gaze. There is a skeleton that looks completely out of place with the school uniform. There is an orc crammed into the male school uniform, with a goblin covered in feathers and bones sitting next to him. A huge Lamia with the school uniform, but also a headdress straight from the ancient Aztecs on her head. There are two others with religious clothing, one of which is wearing plates under white robes, the other one is a cow woman type Mazurian. Her teeth remind me of the British, no matter how bright her smile. A set of Arabian twins are whispering loudly to each other, most likely from the far south. There is also another royal mermaid, and who I''m pretty sure is Alicia, sitting next to someone who kind of looks like her. "There is some space in the back. Go sit there and don''t disturb my class any further than you already have." I move to in between the dwarf and Alicia. The latter of which looks at me in surprise. The dwarf doesn''t hesitate to go for what he wants. "I''m Urist, mayor of Crystalspear. That''s a mighty fine piece of work you are carrying around. Mind if I take a gander?" With everything I heard from dwarves, this wasn''t exactly unexpected. "I''m Esstrey, and yes, I would mind. I killed the person who made it to keep the design hidden after all." The dwarf grumbles, and I think Alicia overheard since I notice her going slightly closer to her other neighbor. "Now, on to what I was saying before. Mana is a fundamental force of nature. Improper wielding will result in unpredictable results. Basic mana manipulation can easily be achieved by feeling the mana within you, and then moving it around. As for aptitude of magic, you don''t need to worry too much about that. Anyone is capable of magic, but not everyone can become a mage. Some people just have a bigger fuel tank for mana than others, or just cast more efficiently. Make sure to practice plenty in your spare time, mana manipulation is the most important class in this entire school without a doubt." Shit, I think I already missed some major bits. Whatever, I''ll just ask Kyla later if I don''t know something I guess. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Professor, every teacher here says they teach the most important class. The dueling teacher said the exact same thing yesterday." Some dude with blonde hair says. Yet again, I am impressed by some people, as most of the human population is still staring at Cathy and Kyla. "The dueling teacher is entitled to his own opinions." The professor is clearly not happy with said opinion. "Now to the known elements. Since we have some new people in the class, I will go over them again. Nearly all magic has an opposing force, it interacts with that force the most, to the point where the weakest light barrier spell still has to be destroyed for dark magic to effect you. All magic and their opposing side are as follows: light and dark, water and lightning, heat and cold, life and death, earth and air, sound and sight, space and time. There are some other forms of magic of course which do not fall in this category, some examples being the unpredictable chaos magic or the magic inefficient pure magic. These forms of magic however are generally not good for combat. There''s also a whole heap of sub-elements, and unique magic spells which are harder to define. Blood magic and the transmogrification spell being some well known examples." The pale woman perks up slightly at the last bit, clearly not expecting her slight movement to be noticed. The class goes on for about half an hour, by the end of it the professor points us to the backyard training area. From what I can see, most of the Mazurians of the class are all crowding Kyla, who is clearly overwhelmed by all the attention. The exceptions to that rule are Cathy and me. "Come, lady Esstrey, I look forward to watching you [punch/apply physical force/beat] to the spawn of the northern nobles." Cathy is from the north? That actually makes sense if she is the product of some cult trying to reach beyond themselves. Urist walks next to me. "I''ll cut ye a deal, let me improve some of your works, and in exchange ye let me pick yer brain on some things ya won''t kill me over." Clever little man, I''ll bite. "Sure, that seems like a lovely idea." Especially considering that if my assumptions on most of these students being closer to diplomatic delegations being correct, I would need all the allies I can get. What I certainly don''t think is a good idea is letting all the delegates fight. Chapter 17: No mercy All quiet on the western front. -Report from general Maltza The training yard was a large open area with some mages around testing spells. Our class made its way over to one of the more open area''s only to encounter a large burly man with more armor than common sense. The man was overly jovial and quick to hug, but Kyla tazing him with lightning saved me from any attempts made by the man. He set everyone to spar with each other, but I had other plans and instead started sharing ideas with Urist. "So, yer tellin me, that yer old lady just had one of these things lying around?" Urist was fascinated by the machine I described. "I''m pretty sure it was my grandma that had one, that or my grandpa, but that''s less likely. You have to know, these things were more ancient than my gran'' herself at this point. Called it a spinning jenny from far out west." Urist is almost looking insulted at this point. "Eight coils is ancient? I think I understand why ye don''t want to share things ya wouldn''t call ancient." Glad to see he understands. "What the hell are you two eggheads doing? This isn''t engineering school! Get fighting!" The teacher butts in, sounding very excited. "We are mentally sparring, it seems I''m currently winning." Besides, from what I''m seeing from the other mermaid who is currently sparring the cow lady, things can get pretty dicey. Sharks are often seen as dangerous, but cows kill a LOT more people than sharks do, for many reasons. "She ain''t just winnin'', I''m getting me ass kicked here teach''. Say Esstrey do you think ye can give me a rough drawing how a spinnin jenny looks like?" I give a nod to Urist who is clearly enjoying the show as much as the information. The teacher tries to berate us, but is interrupted by one of the human students. "You dare disrespect imperial education? We are gracious enough to educate you fools on the proper way to use power, even if you are historical enemies. Yet you sit there, squandering it! What place did you crawl from for respect of education to be this bad?" Judging from his stance, he''s most likely some high ranking noble''s brat. I can''t exactly say I''m from a country where we shot his kind, so I improvise. "I''m from Quintillius." The overgrown brat starts sputtering angrily, and instantly takes off his glove, which he throws in my face. I don''t bother to dodge, as im left wondering why he threw his glove in my face. "You dare! I should have known someone as uncouth as you would be a pirate! I challenge you to a duel, scum! Face me and defend your honor!" More eyes start turning our way at his loud proclamation. Did I do something to offend him? Well, this might be a great time to test some stuff. "Depends on the rules but sure." I see no reason not to accept this. Might be able to blow off some steam. "Of course a criminal like you wouldn''t know the rules. We will use sparring rules, dull weapons and first one down loses." One of the students excitedly comes over with two dull swords. I give my shovel to Urist so he has something to inspect, and throw my crossbow to Cathy. The teacher is still looking baffled, but me taking his lesson seriously has him stuck on non-intervention for now. At this point, everyone stopped sparring to either do something else or look. I notice a few human students snickering as if something is funny. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "I am Marcellus of house Northspire." He bows slightly while looking at me with disdain. "I am Esstrey... the mad Queen of Quintillius." I think I have been called that in every official situation back in Quintillius. We take positions across from each other, and one of his lackeys starts counting us down. Once we are started off, I dart forward to the surprise of Marcellus. He manages to deflect my early dash, and strikes back with his blade. He recovers quickly thanks to the fact he has legs, and I don''t. I quickly back off afterward as to not get caught off guard. "I should have known you wo-" I dash forward again while he''s distracted attempting to monologue. This time however, he dashes back faster, and starts hitting back. I back off under his assault. He pursues, and forces us into a fencing battle. It quickly becomes clear he is the better fencer, as I''m pushed further and further. Right until he goes for a strike on my sword, and manages to disarm me. The sword falls to the ground, too far for recovery. The snickering of his lackeys turns to giggling, some of the other students have decided to join in on the snickering as well. Marcellus himself takes the time to look triumphant as he points the dull blade at my face. "Well, this was nice and all, but you really should pay more attention to the lessons of your betters. You will never raise yourself to become better if you associate with criminals." He starts talking again, I decide it''s time. Enough skill rating. Time for the durability test. I dash towards his sword smiling, he is surprised by the dash again, but knows it will enough to instinctively thrust his sword toward my face. I respond by biting the sword to pieces. Spitting out some of the iron pieces I move closer, and claw him across his left shoulder. He screams in pain and panic as he tries to throw a punch with his right arm. I intercept his arm with my left hand, using my right hand to break his arm. The screaming escalates, and he tries to fall over backward, but I intercept his attempt at surrender by stabbing him in the abdomen with my right hand, doubling him over. I pull out my clawed hand, and lift him higher from the ground. The teacher is moving to intervene. "Cathy." I utter a single word, and the teacher drops to the floor as tentacles trip him up. "I understand wanting to protect your [students/proteges/disciples], but this is a duel. The [rules/parameters/laws] of the duel state this is between the two of them, and the fight ends when one falls to the floor." At this point the life has quickly drained from most student, even some nearby practicing mages tried to intervene until Cathy moved. To add insult to injury, the foreign students are now snickering at the sight of an arrogant imperial noble getting his shit kicked in. I simply continue with my experiment, and start pummeling the face of Marcellus until it''s unrecognizable. After I''m satisfied, I drop him to the ground, and call for a life mage. The moment he hits the ground, a woman in white robes rushes over to Marcellus, and gives me a mean glare. She tries to pick Marcellus up, no doubt to bring him to a better place to heal, but he groans in pain in response. She gives me another glare. "Don''t mind me, I am simply here to observe your work. I recommend doing it quickly, as I punctured his liver." The nurse briefly panics, and quickly starts healing him up. I watch closely, as I see the shoulder recover fastest. Followed by the liver wound, pulverized face and broken arm respectively. I waddle over to my wheelchair, and Urist seems to be done inspecting the shovel. "That is some nice work." I don''t know if Urist refers to me dismantling the noble or the shovel itself, so I simply nod. Cathy joins us, and gives me a small bow. "Thanks Cathy, I owe you one" The teacher would have ruined my experiment. Kyla also rushes over, but she seems rather angry. "What was that?! Do you have any idea what you just did?" Other than terrifying most students here enough to stay out of my affairs? Of course I do. "I wanted to see how effective healing magic is, and what is effective to counter that. Broken bones are clearly the hardest to fix, followed by organ damage." Chapter 18: Tourism 15 14 products in stock. Requesting 30 28 kilogrammes of kibble to be delivered. Payment on arrival. -Product report at Almac''s jungle servants Following my heroic display of pursuing science in a world of magic, I quickly found out that I''m not the only one liberally interpreting rules. The lamia by the name of Larktaria was berated for trying to sacrifice animals in her room a few days ago, the lich Xygar got an official warning for attempting to teach students necromancy, and the minotaur woman Bessielle is said to have broken many students bones in sparring matches. The last one apparently liked to target followers of the faith of the goddess more harshly. The rest of the day progressed in similar fashion. Kyla got into a fight with some military raised student, Cathy was warned for restraining her dueling teacher (that was because of me), but I generally got off scot free due to the whole dueling issue. I''m sure there are many who hate me for what I did, but that''s fine as long as they fear me. Urist also recommended me a good information broker that is based close by. Meaning I can finally get started on what needs to be done. Cathy said she had some matters to attend to, but assured me the people I''m looking for wouldn''t be too far off. Making my way over to the address, I am greeted by a small line of students waiting in line. "Next!" A student enters a small tent that reminds me of those crystal globe scammers. This is the information broker Urist recommended? It better be good. I take a ticket and wait, passing the time by scaring the shit out of passing students by smiling at them. Luckily, it doesn''t take long for my ticket to be called. As I enter the tent, it looks exactly like I imagined. Shitty crystal ball on a cushion included. A woman covered in symbols and jewelry sits across. "Well, what do we have here? I would liken you to the other mermaid royal in the school, but you carry yourself like a paranoid nutcase. Would you like to see your future?" The young hag has a fancy scam going here. Too bad for her, I''m not interested. "Don''t care, I''m paying for information on slavers in the city. How much will that cost me?" The woman looks at me suspiciously, before getting out a thick tome. She leafs through the tome for a bit before answering. "I believe I have something for you. There is an auctioneer nearby that specializes in Tazkar''han Mazurians. They tend to go for a pretty coin among nobles with more exotic tastes. Not to mention their capability as combat slaves. I can also tell you that they are not in the greatest standing with the guard, and should they find themselves victim to crime, the guard might not respond very fast." I''m not sure how she could tell that the last bit of info was quite useful to me, but I''m not one to shy away from gifted horse mouths. I put down ten gold coins, and take the address with me. "Thanks, I might return." I start heading to my room where I stashed my equipment. While on the move, I also cycle my mana through my body. According to the professor, active mana usage makes it easier to use. Something about mana channels not being clogged. Making my way back inside, I encounter my eternal nemesis. Staring at the stairway in hatred for a while, I suddenly hear another wheelchair behind me. I turn around and get greeted by another mermaid royal. There is also the massive lamia Larktaria with her. "Esstrey right? I''m Nylchai! The representative of the mermaid enclaves of Mazurio!" She clasps and shakes my hand vigorously, while Larktaria puts her hands horizontally and bows slightly. "I am Larkta, the Tazkar''han representative. It is good to meet the Quintillian representative." She introduces herself very formally for what is usually assumed to be a savage jungle. "This is great timing! Larkta do you know anything about the imperial slave trade of Tazkar''han Mazurians?" Larkta looks a bit in disgust before recovering. "It is common practice to sell prisoners as slaves to imperials, and while I appreciate the gold. It does not sit well with me that they end up serving imperials. Being sacrificed is a much better alternative." So the prisoners are often the losing side? That is good information. I smile, briefly forgetting about the stairway I need to pass. While thinking on how to go about thing, Larkta starts life magic on our wheelchairs. The coral it is made up of responds by crawling up the stairs like crabs. "Thanks for saving so many mermaids by the way. I don''t know what the enclaves would have done if it went on any longer." as Nylchai speaks, her face gets a little red. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Why didn''t you just stop the ships yourself? I threw quite the wrench in their plans with simply some pirates, and mermaid scavengers working together. The mermaid enclaves should have much more resources than I have." She gets quiet at my question, and starts mumbling away. Did I touch a nerve? I mean I know Mazurians are apparently infamous for lacking initiative, but it can''t be this bad right? Making it to my own floor, I wave goodbye to the tailed brethren. The job I''m about to do is a one-woman job. No witnesses. No loose ends. I quickly grab my gear, and rapidly descend the stairs. Going downstairs is painful, but possible. As I leave, I notice the sun setting in the distance. Still rubbing my bruised behind from the bumpy ride down, I start moving.
I make it to the address stated. The front door sign reads ''Almacs jungle servants''. So I head to the back instead. It looks like some back-alley shithole, most likely filled to the brim with evil stairs. I look up, and notice a light still on at the upper floor. There is a nearby pipe connected to the rain gutter. I climb up the rain gutter, rattling the entire thing in the process. Hopefully they will just assume some drunk is making a lot of noise. Peering through the windows, I see a clerk writing behind his desk. His back turned to me. I wonder for a moment how to go about it. Either I break the window, and start a massive fight, or I try to do things quietly. An idea hits me. I''m not using a gun, I''m using a crossbow. Aiming the loaded weapon at the clerk, I nail him right in the carotid artery. The shattering glass has certainly alerted someone, but not a full alarm. Making a quick entrance by shoving the glass aside, I take position next to the door while reloading. Just in time too as someone approaches "Arthur what wa-" The man opening the door gets a face full of shovel. His face is quickly divided by shovel. The only thing remaining of the man''s alert state being a wet squelch noise. Throwing the corpse next to Arthur, I progress down the house. There are three men playing darts downstairs. "Gerard is sure taking his time checking up on Arthur. You think he''s threatening him for a raise again?" The men are starting to get restless. "It did sounds like glass breaking, maybe he''s trying to blackm-" He doesn''t get to finish his sentence, a bolt nails him right in the dome from upstairs. "What?! Intruder!" The men draw knives, clearly not very well paid guards, if guards at all. They rush at the mermaid camped at the top of the stairs, but just before the first can make it to the top, a second bolt hits him in the chest, sending him tumbling back in pain. Falling backwards, he takes his comrade with him down the stairs. Tumbling down and tangled as they are, they have no hope of defending themselves against the mermaid jumping down the stairs. Their skulls get cleaved by cold iron, and a nearby entrance to the basement has rattling coming from it. "This way!" Armored boots make their way up, but I am faster. The moment the door opens, an armored man gets rewarded for his bravery with a bolt to the throat. He falls down, choking on his own blood. A second man jumps over him in a fit of rage. He slashes the sword at his foe, only to get met with teeth biting into his sword. It shatters in his hand, and he has no time to look baffled as he gets beheaded by a shovel. That''s five. The sword I bit did manage to bite back. My face has been decorated with a cut at the sides of my mouth forming a bloody smile. I quickly rush down further into the basement, but not without taking a shield from one of the dead men. The next opponents in the slaver den are a set of three armored guards defending a bearded man in extravagant robes. "Get back sir! If she''s here, she has already killed everyone above!" The lead guard looks in panic. "You think she''s one of the Empir-" He doesn''t get to finish his words as a bolt darts for his neck. However, unlike his former comrades, he manages to bring his shield to protect himself just in time. I rush the man, dropping my crossbow. It''s now or never. I leap to attach myself to the staggered man, who tries to shove me off his shield. I hold firm, as his comrades try to intervene. Seeing an opening, I pretend to go in for a bite, but instead hack his upper leg with my shovel. He collapses to the ground, but is saved by his teammates. "Shit! This isn''t going good!" They say that, yet the old man they are protecting stays. That''s when I noticed a movement from the old man, not with his physical self, but something around him. He''s trying to cast a spell! I make my opinion on spells in enclosed spaces clear by throwing my shovel at the man. It finds purchase in his ankle, and he topples over. The spell he was casting disperses, and the energy rampages in his body if his screams are anything to go by. The guards believe me to be open, and charge at me. I dodge into one guard, bashing his face in with my shield. I quickly dash into the other guard, and bite his neck out. I calmly move back to my crossbow, and start loading it. The survivors stare at me in fear. "No plea-" *Kathunk* "N-no I don''t want to-" *Chak* *Krunch* With the men finished off, It doesn''t take long for me to find the merchant in charge of this operation. "So you are the one that caused so much trouble for my men. What do you want?" I correct his assumption that he has bargaining power by planting a bolt in his knee. "The keys to the cells." He fumbles with his pocket, and throws me a keyring. "H-here, now p-please leave me to my losses." He manages in between groans of pain, rather impressive for a merchant. I start opening the cells of slaves, the ones who ask me where they should go I simply give a shrug. I wasn''t here for the slaves. My gaze wanders over to a set of carpenter''s tools, and some wooden planks. Then I lock my gaze back unto the slaver. "W-what are you doing?" Chapter 19 interlude: Eviscerated competition Yesterday there was an attack at Sanctuary. A group of mermaids and pirates went into the Balya river, and crossed into Sanctuary from the river. It seems all the fishery workers were taken in the attack. While our economy as a whole won''t be affected by this, it is very much a political, and tactical disaster. The workers have no doubt been pressed into service to become pirates, and that''s not even mentioning what happened to the fishery owners. All management personnel was found nailed to crosses, while the meager security team was disemboweled. I warned you already duke Rivka, and I urge you now. You NEED to invest more in the army. -A letter to duke Rivka, from general Maltza POV Crown prince Eden Civillis of the Empire It has been two long weeks at the academy, and I believed it was time to get some answers from my father. He really likes keeping me in the dark, but this has gone too far as is. Making my way through the palace all the staff here bow their heads in subservience, throughout the Empire the people bow their heads. My class being the exception to that, not because of some idea that they are equal to me. I believe it has more to do that there is no reason not to be hostile. Most of my insane or nigh-insane classmates have still proven to be somewhat palatable despite all their shortcomings. That is still no excuse to fill half my classroom with the monsters. I knew my father opposed me learning magic at the academy, but this is just ridiculous. The minotaur and the paladin constantly get in fights, the dwarf is working with the vampire to blatantly attempt to uncover state secrets, the pirate mermaid is often overheard discussing death magic theory with the lich, and then there is that *thing* that came along with the honest to goddess demon lord. Just looking at either of those two is enough to send shivers down my spine. I am awoken from my horrors as my escort opens the door to the imperial throne room. The emperor sits on the throne enjoying some women, while nobles are discussing matters while scattered about. No doubt that those two women at his side are both members of here to spy on the nobles. The emperor notices my presence, and no doubt knows why I''m here, as he gestures me to follow him to his office. My hunch is proven correct as the women quickly fall off, and vanish into the shadows. "Eden." The emperor''s tone has lost the jovial tone he had when he was sitting on his throne a moment ago. "Wilnius." He frowns at the casual usage of his name, he never liked the slightest breach of formality, yet I do so enjoy pushing him. "I get the feeling you aren''t here to come speak to me about your progress in the academy." His majesty says it with disappointment in his voice. "I am here because someone clearly has a grudge against me studying magic at a learned institute, and seems to have arranged for the most dangerous individuals to walk the planet to infiltrate my class. All in an effort to make life stressful." I say it with as much fake offense as I can infuse in it. The emperor narrows his eyes at me for a bit, before finally coming to the part where he usually explains things. "I really do want you to succeed, but I more importantly want to teach you a bigger lesson than magic." "The thing from the north has been researching, and practicing forbidden magic. The Dalkan siblings are setting up a spy network. The southern twins are making trade deals with nobles to get more slaves. The greenskins are in contact with nearby raiding greenskins, coordinating them. The pirate has been going around the capital nailing slavers to wooden crosses." As my father continues speaking I grow a little pale. Why is he putting his subjects through this? Yet he doesn''t continue, and waits for me to respond, typical. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Why are you allowing them to do these things?" It was clear he was hoping for that answer. Annoying old prick. "Because they would anyway. Whether I sanction it or not. Naturally I don''t just let them go ahead with their shenanigans unsupervised." The emperor continues speaking of them as if they are children in a playground. "The northling has been getting spoon-fed information by an ''insane'' researcher that just so happens to direct any rituals towards matters that would aid us. The Dalkans succeeded in setting up their spy network, with some key figures being double-agents who are now effectively operating a spy network within our nation that sees things like those outside our nation would. The greenskin raiders that are being controlled, are all being directed to our borders with clever patrol usage." As the cunning bastard keeps speaking it becomes clear we truly were kids playing in the sand to him. "The nobles in contact with the southern twins have been getting some mixed requests from the both of them, revealing that the twins are working against each other. The people killed by that pirate? All part of a major pro-war slavery ring that haven''t been paying taxes." That last one threw me off. Killing people who don''t pay taxes? The emperor is faster than me asking the question. "Which brings me to my real point, my garbage vassals. I guarantee you that half of the imperials in your class are treasonous, the other half simply not having committed yet. Those rats in noble clothing will kiss our asses, excuses my Dalkan, whenever the opportunity arises. Still, I am sure they do it to taste whether we have been properly keeping our behinds guarded. Those monsters outside our borders, the very same ones that currently inhabit your magic classes. Those are the only ones you can really trust in a way." The emperor rants about our vassals again, that isn''t exactly new. The part where he includes our neighbors as a positive part is new. "How could I possibly trust a vampire? Or a lich? Or the actual demon lord?" I see parts of the point he''s making, but trusting the undead goes a bit too far. "Foreign policy is so simple. Those monsters do what they want, because they can. If you know what you want you can trust them to try and get it. Our vassals could do anything right down to self-destructing if they become stupid enough to believe it grants power. Those across the border have simpler wants. The north thing wants knowledge on spatial magic? We can trust it to go after books on spatial magic. The pirate hates slavers? Give her a fucking list of enemies who happen to be slavers, and you get front row tickets to watching a pirate intimidate her opponents to the fullest." So he really planned all that in advance? I don''t know if he''s crazy or a genius. "What about the demon lord? What does she want?" She is after all the most dangerous out of all them. "I don''t know. It scares me not knowing what she wants, but other than peace she hasn''t really overtly wanted something." Nevermind he''s definitely more on the crazy side. "More importantly than all that politics stuff, has any girl caught your eye?" He suddenly spins the topic around, and sends the conversation into a cliff. "Huh?" "Come on boy! You got to have a girl you fancy by now!" "Please don''t speak of my private life like that." He sees too much with the than is good for him. "If you don''t pick, you know I will. The Empire won''t survive without stronger ties to either one of her vassals, or even one of the foreign girls. Reports say that Alicia girl is quite the political backstabber, you know. I wouldn''t mind her planting a knife in the back of anyone who moves on you." "Father, I would rather not every girl that approaches me ending up as a slashing victim." "I wasn''t talking about girls moving on you, Eden." Chapter 20: Three-way-nuthouse Weapon prices are going up a lot more lately. We have some good income going from smithwork over at Duke Northspire''s domain. The weapon prices were always good here, but lately there have been getting a lot of nice contracts being given out. Armour is of course going up comparably, the duke has also been spreading word to attract more blacksmiths, along with getting ores from dwarves. At first sight it would look like an offensive on the north, but the emperor would never approve of such a suicidal venture. It''s probably the Duke winning it big somewhere, and deciding to stock up on arms. -In a blacksmiths letter to his brother I HAVE DONE IT, I HAVE DEFEATED MY ETERNAL FOE AT LAST. My training of magic finally paid off. It has reached a point where I can now use water magic to support my own body when moving, effectively swimming on land. With this power I have successfully bypassed stairs, and soon I won''t be needing my wheelchair anymore. Nylchai also saw me practice once, and instantly ditched her wheelchair in favor of airswimming. I guess she has enough magical experience to do it instantly, but just didn''t think of it for some reason. Oh, yeah I also did some more free-range hunting on slavers. My first run on slavers was really embarrassing. I can''t believe I got so close to losing to a bunch of primitive savages, so I decided that I need to stop fighting like human Spetsnaz. Of course this doesn''t mean giving up on the Spetsnaz part, I am simply going to be adapting to fighting like a mermaid. Magic should be the key to this. I have been doubling down on magic everywhere I can, cycling magic now comes as easy as breathing. Casting magic is showing major improvements as well, but from what I read up on the subject these things are going more easily for me than they should. Apparently the progress I made is close to what could be accomplished by others in ten years. The books I read on it also included royal Mazurians in these calculations, so the kids that were summoned are probably showing similar progress. Doesn''t change the fact that Dalka is employing child soldiers, but it does make the child soldiers more liable to be endangered. I have also been having conversations with Xygar about death magic. Apparently it''s technically illegal because of it''s ''inherent evil nature'', but security has been lax on it ever since they decided to invite a lich over. Jimmy was really helpful in explaining death magic to me, and probably somewhat of a genius as well. Jimmy specialized in applying death magic to the living, which liches don''t tend to do other than offensive purposes. "It is quite ironic that growths, one of the most feared mortal diseases. Has its weakness lie in the very magic they fear. Your teacher was a true master of his craft." Xygar also seems really happy finally having someone to talk shop to. "It was actually more a case of applying theory from my own world. Where I come from they are called cancer, and have been researched non-magically extensively. Cancer could best be seen as separate life being born in your own body like a parasite, so if death magic kills life by nature I thought it should prove effective against it." The things Earth could do with magic would be fascinating. "We should find test subjec-" Before Xygar can continue with his idea that would certainly raise eyebrows Kyla approaches. "Hey Esstrey, why are you hanging out with the lich?" She says it with some disgust in her voice. Xygar however is either ignoring or incapable of seeing the insult, and simply keeps his excitement. "Esstrey and me were discussing a potential cure for growths disease. It would be revolutionary, and no doubt set me a step above my peers." Kyla shifts her expression to confusion, then gets slightly angry. "There is no cure for growths disease! It can kill the strongest of us!" She says the last words with some tears in her eyes. I decide to get it over with, rather sooner than later. "Who died? Was it your father? Mother? A friend maybe?" I pressure Kyla, let it be known I have never been accused of being a therapist. "M-my mother, she died of growths disease only a few months back." Oh yeah, she did inherit the throne around that time. That all lines up. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Xygar is actually the one to speak up after that. "It''s true lady Kyla''th, I have been discussing theory with lady Esstrey, and with our combined knowledge we have deemed there to be a solid chance for a real cure. Granted this is all in the early stages, and not every form of growths disease would be so easily cured, but it all lines up." Kyla looks to me for confirmation, I nod my head. "Brain tumors, and heart tumors would be hard to fix. However practically all forms of skin cancer could be treated. Our theory mainly lacks test subject right now, and I don''t see that changing with the stigma people have toward *ahem* advanced life magic." It would be best to have some plausible deniability of course. Even if it feels like someone has been cleaning up after the slavers I got my hands on. Kyla cheers up instantly, and her tear-stained face quickly changes to one of hope. "You are serious! This this changes everything! Oh! Thank you Esstrey! Thank you Xygar!" She goes for a bear hug on the poor skeleton. Who is clearly not used to physical contact of any kind, before I am able to get away she grabs my wheelchair, and kidnaps me. "Let''s go tell the others!" Speeding off in the direction of our little clique. Oh, yeah the class also quickly formed into three cliques. With our class practically all being a bunch of foreign dignitaries the cliques that formed mirrored that. There is the south-eastern clique consisting of the greenskin duo, Xygar, the female twin of the south, and Larkta. There is the north-western clique consisting of Kyla, Alicia, Cathy, Nylchai and me. The last clique would be the central imperial clique, which consists of almost everyone else. Notable figures including the blonde haired dude being crown prince Eden leading it, crown prince Celdium of Dalka and Carmilla of the lichdom. Urist kind of goes around everywhere, no doubt only caring about blueprints. Kyla wheels me over to where our little clique is sitting for lunch, hugging me by the neck while keeping her head against mine like she''s a mother showing off a child. Nylchai simply looks amused, Alicia looks disgusted, and Cathy looks... jealous? "Esstrey have you gotten bigger?" I swear, Kyla has no attention span. One moment she''s excitedly moving me over here to brag about me curing cancer, and now she''s suddenly more interested in my size. "Yeah, rather aggressively so lately. I already needed to get a bigger uniform, my personal stuff is also at a tailor to get enlarged. I have no idea what''s causing it." Because growing in size is certainly not something I was very concerned with lately. "Oh yeah that. The heroes have also grown quite a bit, we believe it has something to do with magic enhancing already aged bodies. Causing a sort of late growth-spurt." I barely stop myself from yet again berating her for using child soldiers. She has no power there, and I am not one to deter helpful behavior. "If Dalka knows so much about magic, why are you here?" Nylchai is unhappy with all humans, so Alicia brushes it off as usual. "Because you dumb fish, I am here to support my brother in getting imperial aid for dealing with annoying shits like you. I heard some of you burned down Sanctuary, and butchered the people there." Or she doesn''t brush it off, and goes to make filet. "Maybe if you weren''t keeping the mermaids at sanctuary captive, it would have ended better for the people there!" Kyla is not happy with one of her fishes getting insulted. "Oh? What would you have [done/acted/inflicted]? Another transmogrification [miscast/fuckup/disaster] like with lady Esstrey? Try and create more of your [knockoff/bootleg/imitation] kind?" Cathy is still glaring angrily at Kyla, who is still bear-hugging me. "Greetings lad-" Eden makes the mistake of having bad timing. "WHAT?!" Sounds the small chorus of nation leaders, I''m rather grateful for his presence, because Kyla finally let go of my neck. I return the favor by giving him the greeting a comrade gives when saving them from rabid women. "Yo" Truly, I am a champion of noble etiquette everywhere. The manlets by his side have already been scared shitless, but Eden is either fearless or foolish, as he only raises an eyebrow at our collective dignified greeting of the crown prince of the Empire. Alicia quickly devolves into incomprehensible apologizing, while Nylchai snickers at her. "*Ahem* I was here to ask if you five would attend the start of year ball? It is being hosted next week." A ball? Is this medieval Euro- oh yeah it is. "Fuck it, sure why not? Wouldn''t be the craziest thing I have done." Eden raises his eyebrow even further. On one hand I can feel him regretting his decision to remind us, on the other hand Eden seems like a pretty chill dude to drink with. Mostly because he''s not the biggest fan of slavery. I heard a lot of southern nobles complain about him for that exact reason. Before the north-western clique can respond, as they are still cooling down from having a civil debate. I get blindsided by a seventy kilo barrel of beer with a beard. "Alrite! Ya hear tha Eden? Esstrey will be joinin us fer a drinkin contest! Ya should see how much drink a fish can take!" Urist having heard enough is laughing loudly throughout the cafeteria, alcohol ever-present on his breath. Chapter 21: Girls night out (scaring unsuspecting civvies) My old friend has left me plenty to work with. The devices he left behind have clear orders, and the theories he left me with have given me a clear goal. To anyone reading this. Make sure the never becomes a threat again with what we left behind. -Logbook of The Grand Scientist For the northwestern clique, it wasn''t hard to put two together. Finding out I am going through a growth spurt, only have the school uniform, and Spetsnaz clothing. They quickly figured out that I don''t have formal attire to attend fancy meetings. I am no stranger to fancy meetings, as being the most communicative of my old team often had them push me to do explaining to command. There were even a few times we had to act as bodyguards for important folk, sometimes it was even playing actual bodyguard instead of assassins in disguise. Unfortunately, that''s neither here nor there. I am currently being dragged through the town by socialite powerhouses, each with their own reason for wanting to stuff me in something ''cute''. However, if I know anything of royal dresses and them being ''cute'' I am going to have a hard time stuffing plates under them. It was a hassle enough to do so with school uniforms. "You know Esstrey, you didn''t have to come in full war-gear." Nylchai points at my crossbow, and my shovel. This is hardly gear to fight a war in. it''s more like sleepwear. "Like I''m gonna be caught dead without them. I am not as effective with magic as you guys are." Alice raises an eyebrow at my words. No doubt still questioning why she is still hanging out at our little clique. "You better not act like that at the ball, it would look bad on me if one of my main opponents looks like a buffoon." That would explain why she wants to stuff me in formal attire as well at least. It would look pretty bad for all my enemies if a showed up like a raving lunatic. Now I just need to figure out why Cathy cares. "That place looks [good/fine/acceptable]." She says it like a suggestion, but moves my wheelchair while dragging Kyla along hard. Jalaha came along as well, who seems to be suffering even more than I am. Apparently in Mazurio they don''t really do balls, but the Queen had apparently always fantasized about going to one. At least someone is having the time of their life right now. The store clerk is scared shitless as a small gang of highly important murderers waltz right in. He''s clearly weighing his options between helping us, calling the guard and simply dying on the spot. Unfortunately for him, he is too scared to do the first, the second won''t help him, and he lacks the equipment to do the third. So he gets banished to Limbo along with Jalaha. Eternally waiting for something to happen. Cathy is immediately heading towards a section with... servants clothing? I guess she really likes the aesthetic. Alicia and Kyla team up, and proceed to dig through a section with highly expensive clothing. Nylchai in the meantime has ambushed on of the seamstresses who was unfortunate enough to wander the store unattended. No doubt asking for a custom design. Well, might as well check through the selection before others check for me. This one wouldn''t be able to carry plates, this one is too easy to spot, this one has a corset. I start sifting through the clothes rapidly, but everything I find is absolutely terrible for hiding anything bigger than a dagger. My eyes wander through the store, and they go over Jalaha for a bit, who is talking to the store clerk. He is carrying a scimitar, which is surprisingly well hidden in his... fancy clothes. I stealthily roll over to Jalaha who actually looks a lot better than he did at entry. Right up until he hears my wheelchair. His shock is short-lived, as a large claw grabs him by the wrist, and pulls him to his doom. He tries to get some last words out, and reaches for the clerk, but it is for naught as the clerk is too terrified to move. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Congratulations soldier! You are hereby being drafted for the eastern front." Or at least, I''m rather sure that the men''s clothing section is at the eastern part of the store. Still sputtering, Jalaha is unable to resist my grip, especially since I''m shoving water behind my wheelchair for locomotion. "Au! Au! Au! You are crushing my wrist, please stop!" I acquiesce, and let go of his hand. "Help me find clothes worth a damn, and I''ll save you from Kyla wanting to drag you off for fashion opinions." His annoyed expression get replaced with a pondering expression, before nodding with a determined look. As expected to be among the fears of a mortal man. I check the men''s clothing, which does end up being better, but most of it still gives me the vibes of posh noble pansies. At least I could hide plates and weapons in these. Jalaha seems to notice my mild disgust with the articles, and actually points me to a separate section with a big imperial flag marking it. Why would Jalaha show me thes- oh. This might actually work. "Jalaha! Can you come here and tell me if this dress makes my horns look big?" A voice of doom sounds across the store, but I do not fail to deliver on my promise. "He''s currently busy helping me pick something! You should ask Nylchai!" Quickly throwing a fish to the sharks in the process as well, I will need that seamstress soon. A relieved looking Jalaha points towards some of the more interesting looking wear in this section. This is perfect for what I need. Taking the piece to the released seamstress, who briefly looks at me like I''m her savior. Although I wouldn''t say savior, more like new management. "I need this fitted for me, and I will also need all imperial heraldry ripped off, and replace it with this." I bring out the Spetsnaz patch I kept in my pocket. No way in hell am I leaving that with the people refitting my gear. "A-are you sure? That doesn''t loo-" I interrupt her complaints with a glare. "When can you get it done?" The seamstress looks to the clerk for help, who ponders for a bit and signals two on his hand. "We can get it done in two days." "Good. I will probably be bigger by then, so please make them using these measurements." I write down the size I predict I will be in a week. They give me some odd looks at that, but don''t question it further. The others finish up as well, we all leave the store, much to the relief of the staff and Jalaha. The gaggle of foreign officials making its way through the streets, terrifying more passerby''s, but the fun has to end at some point when I hear a shoe step on a roof tile through the crowd of people. "We are being followed." Alicia, Jalaha and Nylchai give me odd looks, only for Kyla to elaborate. "Yeah they have been following us for a while, I think they are the academy personnel that has been following our class around keeping us safe. These are a bit more obvious than the ones back at the academy." We were getting followed within the academy as well? That''s actually not that surprising, but a group of people following another group so shoddily doesn''t smell like a protection detail. "We are confronting them. This whole affair reeks of assassin rat bastards." I signal for Cathy to turn me one-eighty to face the roof, at least one of them is on. I am rewarded by locking eyes on a man that thinks he''s invisible peeking back. "Alright, let''s head into an alley to make sure no one else gets cau-" I cut off Alicia by pulling out my crossbow, and nail one of the stalkers right in the nogging through the eye. "You little rats can come out now! The next one won''t miss either!" Confusion turns to shock turns to fear, as a corpse falls from a rooftop, and people start calling for the guards all around us. Some figures around us notably aren''t fazed while men with crossbows of their own appear on the rooftops. "Esstrey, what the fuck! Are you trying to get us in trouble?" Alicia is clearly not happy with my handling of the situation. I respond by reloading. "A hidden protection detail wouldn''t reveal weapons if I were to kill one of them. Kill them all." Before the men on the rooftops can respond, black magic hits them all like a barrage, melting flesh from bone. An attack I remember, Kyla used the same stuff against Lebedev. This time less restrained, because we aren''t in a populated building. As people quickly get away from us, and guards are already approaching, I take note of the few that aren''t running. There are two groups of heavily armed and armored eccentrics. Most likely the famous adventurers I have heard so much about, and a few scattered civilians that look on with a more calculating look than any sane individual would have. So that''s our hidden protection detail. One of them notices me looking, so I simply wink at him. "Well that''s done. Anyone up for lunch?" I get no response. Chapter 22: Ballin Plotting against the emperor? That is very daring, but do we stand a chance? With all the resources from our... benefactors, we might stand a chance. That is of course, if what you say is true. There are also still plenty of obstacles to remove. - The last week passed in ease, there were a few more hiccups in the form of people wanting me dead or locked up. Some assassins sent by slavers, who very much did not appreciate me going around turning their employers into Christmas decorations. There was also a group of adventures who tried to apprehend me for ''piracy and connections with the black market''. Those complaints fell on deaf ears, as there is no proof of me having committed piracy in the Empire, and the mermaid in the black market was wearing a mask. They wanted to claim that it was obviously me, until I pointed out I am not the only mermaid with blue hair and blue eyes in the capital. They know it was me, but nobody cares enough when I can get away on a technicality rather easily. Using magic, I ''swim'' into the ball. This even will be the first time I will be trying out airswimming for an extended period of time. Before entering, I spot Cathy at the entrance, waiting for something. She is dressed in a fancy maid outfit, something no servant nor noble would wear. "ڧӧ֧ Cathy, you didn''t enter yet?" She shifts some eyes around, and blinks slowly before answering. "No, is it fine if we enter [together/unionized/as one]?" Teaching Cathy about Russia was one of the more fun things to do. She can already speak the language fine, and seems very excited to hear of ''extradimensional space''. "Of course it''s fine comrade. Having you right behind me to scare all those pansies will be fun!" Showing our ID''s to security gains us a quick entrance. The moment I enter with Cathy right on my tail, the attending nobles close to the door already flinch away, much to my entertainment. Urist quickly spots me entering, he thunders over to me as quick as his legs can take him. What is real surprising is that he''s in full metal plate, if I knew I was allowed to come in overt armor, I would have! "Esstrey ya gotta save Eden!" Fancypants is in trouble? I reach for one of my hidden weapons, security didn''t even check if we had these. "Who? Where?" I quickly scan the room, and see the trouble Urist was talking about just as he says what the problem is. "Vile creatures assault our boy! They are attempting ta capture and devour him before we can have a proppa drinkoff!" I spot Eden, surrounded by noblespawn vying for his attention. I should have known that medieval European politics would revolve around selling off your kids to the highest bidder, but Eden is my opponent to drink under the table. Thus, I refuse to surrender him to the piranha''s. Approaching Eden at a suspiciously quick pace, my prey don''t notice me until it is too late. "Hey Eddy! Who are your friends?" I lock arms around two of the girls harassing him, much to their horror, I am only getting started. "By the Goddess Esstrey! You look like you killed an imperial admiral and redecorated his suit before promptly wearing it yourself!" Before I can continue my assault, he comments on my outfit. This is an admiral outfit? Looks more like something a British colonial-era captain would wear, tricorn included, of course. "I mean, I might have killed an imperial admiral at one point, but all the meat kind of looks the same to me." Most of the creatures start backing off at my words, the rest soon follow as Cathy stalks right behind me. I release the horrified brats from my arms, and they quickly run off as well. "Did you really?" I simply chuckle and shake my head. I''m pretty sure my memory is still good enough that I would remember doing something like that. He sighs in relief upon that. "Come boy! Ya have been evadin me attempts at getting ye absolutely wasted long enough!" He scrunches his nose in displeasure for a bit, before looking back to his previous company, and feeling more certain. "Alright, it would be bad if I went back on my word against a dwarf at this point." He says it like he is resigned, but a man of his status never needs to resign himself to anything. Urist leads us to a table on the side, he somehow brought along a large keg of dwarven beer. Eden brought some bottles of whiskey, and I brought a few flasks of rum. "Alright boozelets, tha rules be simple. If I take a swig, ye take a swig. Ta make it more fair, I''ll be takin bigga swigs." As we start on the second swig, Kyla fast walks over to us, hounded by a surprisingly large amount of imperial nobles. "And this is my good friend Esstrey! She is more commonly known as Esstrey the mad, because she has such interesting views on slavery." Kyla introduces me in a way she never introduces me. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "There ain''t nothing interesting about my opinions on slavery. It is perfectly normal to want to nail them all to a cross. Now what do you shrimps want? I am in a drinking contest here with some rookie alcoholics." Eden may be a rookie alcoholic, but Urist scoffs and takes another swig. "Weren''t there a lot of slaver murdered lately in particularly gruesome ways? Like they were found nailed to a cross?" Eden says it like some very funny joke, but slavers dying horribly is my bread and butter, so who am I to judge? "Yeah crazy right? I wonder who would be nuts enough to do that?" Kyla is trying to stop herself from giggling while saying it. The parasites clinging to her grow pale as they watch me. I simply give a smile that sends them running. "Fuck was that about? I thought humans were more scared of the great demon lord." Kyla sits down next to me, looking as relieved as Eden did a moment ago. "I thought so too, but I guess they have some skewed expectations when they saw me. Thanks for the save Esstrey, you are really great at scaring annoying people away." She looks at Eden while she says that, like he''s in on some inside joke. The fuck does she mean by that? Urist takes out cards to enhance our alcohol competition. However, before he has even finished dealing our cards, Carmilla and Xygar show up. "Hey guys! Mind if I sit here?" Carmilla says it with a clearly faked smile. Looks like she had a rough time as well. "Sure lass, as long as ye don''t mind the smell of booze." Carmilla looks around at Urists statement before answering, or more correctly venting. "It beats the constant smell of arrogant noble blood. I far prefer the cattle back home that are bred to perfection, but my nation demands that as a vampire I get along with the rot of the Empire. No offense Eden." Eden lazily waves it away like he is used to people calling his vassals rot. "Oh Xygar! Did you receive the resources for curing growths?" Kyla has actually managed to remember something for once, this being the cure for cancer expert being Xygar who is handling the practical area of what he insisted is my theory. "Oh yes! They were quite cooperative, and Jalaha has been of great assistance to me. I should also be able to easily expand the research into curing the hardier parasitic diseases as well." Xygar can''t smile because he''s a skeleton, but from his voice I can certainly tell he''s trying. It doesn''t take long for the next visitor to join us as well. Myrdria, princess of the city state Alnab, and one of the slaver scum twins, joins us, followed by an entourage of older nobles. "And this is my class, they are the future, and I do recommend trying to build trade relations with these people. Lady Kyla''th is the sitting demon lord, and the only one so far to have decided to make contact with those outside Mazurio. Xygar is a death magic major, and will be able to tell you exactly how goods can expire. Urist is a mayor of a magic bomb factory, this all makes him a great contact if you have too much competition. There is also Esstrey, she is a leading expert in the trade of people." She introduces us in a very specific manner, Kyla gives a meek wave, Xygar is trying his hardest to blush at being called a death magic major, Urist is sending a death glare her way for exposing his business, and I simply send a big smile in the direction of the slaver scum. Sadly, my smile misses, and hits the noble merchants behind her instead as they all quickly make excuses to leave. The entire table sends a look in the direction of Myrdria that screams ''you too, huh?''. "Esstrey dear, lovely working with you, you make for perfect intimidation. I have to say, really picked the right job with your skill set." She says it like everything that just happened was a foregone conclusion. "I can''t be that scary, they are probably just running away from Cathy, who is always close to me. Besides, I would NEVER work for rat bastard slaver s-" Before I can finish, I am interrupted by Myrdria. "One-hundred gold if you punch Urist in the face." I reach across the table, and sock one of the ale kegs present in the face. Specifically, the one that was still sending a death glare to my paycheck. The punch makes his helmet give off a gong-like noise, and he falls to the ground moaning, more from the fact he is now dizzy, and will have a hard time getting up. Since the booze numbed his sense. "See? You didn''t even hesitate. Cathy may look scary as a species, but anyone that looks for longer than five seconds will notice a diminutive servant. Whereas you represent a very real, and a very present threat. Someone that can and would kill for unperceived slights." She monologues it like she''s saying some grand fact of life. I simply gesture for her to pay up. "Esstrey! Why did you punch Urist? That''s just cruel!" Kyla is fine with me killing solars in general, but it seems even she can''t resist Urists... ''charms''. "O relax! He barely felt it, and he''s also now fifty gold richer! It was a team effort, after all." The real cruelty would be not sharing with a comrade after all. Our banter is interrupted as Alicia stomps over, with her brother in tow. The nobles following them quickly taper off, as it becomes clear her destination is the faction of freaks. "Thank the fucking Goddess, some company that isn''t liable to poison me." I would correct her on that, as I have poisoned plenty of people during these occasions, but realize that I really wouldn''t use poison to kill anyone here. I have a message that needs sending, after all. "It ain''t tha bad." Eden manages to barely slur in between sips of whiskey. Alicia simply scowls in return. "Honestly, I''m surprised no one has fallen over dead yet. If my mother were here, we would be attending a funeral, rather than a ball." Considering her tone, she is most definitely annoyed at the cheery situation. "Not to [worry/fret/anguish] Lady Alicia. Lady Esstrey has proven [invaluable/indispensable/undeterred] in finding things to kill." Coming from literally anyone else that might have been meant as an insult, however just this once I feel like proving Cathy right, and give Kyla a poke. "Is there anyone where there isn''t meant to be anyone right now?" Kyla narrows her eyes at me, but her focus lies elsewhere. "There is someone in the rafters under cover of shad-" I spot the trespasser in question, and shoot him down with my crossbow, which I had hidden under my coat. The bolt lands in his neck, and he falls down in the middle of the dance hall, crossbow clattering next to him. People scream as a corpse lands, which quickly morphs into the realization that he was an assassin who was bad at his job. "Damn, I wanted to prove dad wrong so badly." Eden pukes, and falls to the floor unconscious. It seems he lost the drinking game. Chapter 23: Something worth fighting for Crown prince Eden is going to prove a bigger obstacle than thought. He has been building connections with imperial nobles, and foreign powers. Among those being prisoner exchanges with the undead, trade with the jungle, military exercises being done together with Dalka, and an end to piracy in the western seas on royal imperial ships in exchange for a tithe. We need to find methods to curb his influence fast. - to Count Lifstein It''s been a while of going slow and steady. There were some deals made regarding the regions we represent, and from the letters I have been receiving from Lychta I actually have the authority to do so on behalf of Quintillius. The nobles are highly annoying in actually making deals with the Empire as a whole, but I simply bypassed them by setting the tithe rule to only apply to Eden''s ships. I have also made major strides in magic, and most likely reached my maximum size in the process. Now I''m even bigger than the lamia, and me being near the teachers scares them as well. Although I''m not sure if that is because of my size or me having effectively hunted slavery out of the capital. Apparently my killings have reached a point where I am being treated as a natural disaster. "Thus in two weeks there will be a competition in the arena, third-year students have some limited mandatory attendance. Class representative Eden will tell you all about it." We also forced the class rep position on Eden, because no one wanted that kind of spotlight. "Eden isn''t even here, I feel bad for the professor since Eden is effectively showing him up for this." I didn''t know Kyla had the capacity to feel empathy for Solars. Let alone the man she always gets in a fight with over magical theory. "That gilded shrimp hasn''t been showing up to sparring classes either. I really wanted to test out some spells on some tougher humans." Some human classmates frown in my direction, whatever shrimpies. Should have gotten training from elites since birth as well if you didn''t want to get called out. Before things get too out of hand for the professor, Eden enters, looking more dismayed than usual. Carmilla who sits close by the door clearly notices as well, and I get to read her lips to check what she asks. "You look like shit, did your dad do something again?" "You could say something like that." Eden shifts from dismayed to begrudging acceptance as he takes to the front of the class. "Alright class, I have an announcement. As you might have heard, the yearly arena competitions are coming up again. This year will be larger than usual as the Emperor has made a few decrees. First off, the rewards for the tournament have been increased, along with some artifact equipment being available at the higher tiers. The first place reward is also a favor from the Emperor himself, within reason, of course. All this brings me to the meat of the announcement, along with four of the third years participating as is tradition, four of our class are to participate as well. Those that scored best during combat classes get first pick, and I will be participating separately as well." Eden said it with grace, but he couldn''t hide a grimace where he said that four of our class with the higher scores would be participating. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. A lot of people are suddenly looking at Kyla and me. There really isn''t anything that interesting going on here. I''m just picking out some leftover meat from between my teeth with a bolt, and Kyla briefly looks up from a big tome titled ''strategic dark magic at the archmage level''. I think one of our four to go along with Eddy would also be Bessielle. That cowgirl takes the phrase ''go break a leg'' rather literally. People are still upset at me about that when I told her that, saying something along the lines of ''encouraging excessive violence''. "Not to worry, lady Esstrey, I''m sure you won''t need to [face/challenge/fight] any stairs there." Cathy knows me really well, I may have plenty of ways to bypass stairs now, but a Russian remembers those who wronged them. Any accusations of property damage done to stairways at the academy is Dalkan slander. "What are the rewards?" I ask the important question since Bessielle got caught up in another theological debate with our class paladin, and Kyla is enjoying her book. Eden simply sighs in defeated acceptance. "I will now hand out the reward pamphlets, there will also be betting, and attendance is recommended for the entire class to see what big league fights look like. I wouldn''t recommend betting myself, but I also know I can''t stop you. However, you will need to make an official declaration that you have not, and will not get information on results through a seer. Don''t try to lie, the staff will know." He starts handing out a list of all the prizes. I practically steal one of the documents off his hands by the time he finally gets to our corner. He also whispers something rather loudly to us. "Please don''t kill anyone, that goes for all of you. It would really not help any of us if you did." That''s reasonable enough. It would be bad sportsmanship, after all. I look at the rewards starting from the bottom, being allowed to participate is apparently already big enough for a massive payday. The bottom place gets fifty gold, which considering you only really need connections to get there is absolutely massive. Further up, I see that fifth place and above get unrestricted access to the imperial library. With increasingly impressive sounding names being gifted as equipment for each as well. There is also a gold reward of FIVE THOUSAND GOLD AT SECOND PLACE? THAT''S A LOT OF DEAD PEOPLE. Apparently I''m drooling as a napkin gets moved across my chin by some stubby arms. "Esstrey, when ya win a nice spot, canya gimme a peek at tha equipment ye''ll get? Eye would love a gander at those beautes" Urist slurs the words, as it''s clear he''s excited about the equipment. Also, the reason why he''s able to reach my chin in the first place? I''m letting him ride on my shoulders nowadays, at first academy staff was annoyed by it, but the only thing that matches my size is Urists vulgar tongue. Meanwhile, Kyla is simply eyeing the first place reward. Having properly set her book down to get a good look at it. It seems a realization sets in for her as well as her eyes go wide. "A favor from the Emperor?" Chapter 24: Arena first rounds Solars are called solars because they have light magic weaved into their very being. These include the races of dwarves, high elves and humans. I have managed to design a spell which switches this affinity over to dark magic. Usually major unpredictable mutations happen during this, but this is to my advantage. This mutation side effect can be directed to be beneficial, and can be the catalyst needed to make the ultimate species. There are however another few roadblocks I need to clear before properly deploying it. One being that it has a tendency to cause permanent dissociative identity disorder, resulting in effective death. The other being that inherent light magic within solars is obstructing most of the mutation, if I somehow managed to raise one of the solar races without them using magic until they are of age, and then use the spell I could create the ultimate lifeform here and now. Unfortunately, magic is needed for growth in life, so the only thing my experiments have resulted in is a lot of dead babies, and more angry solars. -Logbook of The Grand Scientist The arena of the Empire is rather big, apparently the people here are big fans of bloodsport. Something also tells me that they specifically love it when non-imperials participate in the bloodbath. I was assured by Eden that the arena practices some of the highest levels of medical care, and security of the lives of its participants. Mainly a lot of strong wizards that specialize in locking down someone, and apparently the medical staff can even do limited resurrections. I asked Cathy why I hadn''t heard from it before, and she said that apparently the brain of someone survives for quite long without blood, so it''s more powerful healing magic rather than actual resurrection. The first up is Kyla, and it looks like she''s up against a massive northman. My match is after this, but I can still spectate just fine for now. "In one corner of the ring today we have the giant of the north, wielding a double bladed axe that is said to cleave mountains, we have Eats-The-Skulls!" Cheering is heard upon entry of the northman dressed in skull, clearly he isn''t living up to the name if he''s out here wearing skulls instead. "And in the other corner of the ring, we have a contestant who, despite being here for her first time we all know and fear, the greatest threat to mankind to be alive, Kyla''th the 14th demon lord of Mazurio!" Most of the crowd goes from cheering to confusion, apparently the public wasn''t informed of her being here today. Even with her carrying a blade with solid black flames coming off of it, I can tell that Kyla is a bit nervous, with the cheering so readily switching to murmurs across the crowd. This won''t do at all. "Yeah! Fuck em up, Kyla!" My shout is heard by Kyla, her nervousness quickly transforms into a smile as she waves at me. "Let''s all make this tournament one to remember! Contestants get set, ready, fight!" The announcer who is thoroughly enjoying himself quickly starts the fight without any ceremony. Did they pick Kyla''s opponent to be a barbarian specifically to launch the fight while the crowd is still recovering? My thoughts are quickly stopped as the Demon Queen shatters the ground, and abyssal crevices open up around the arena with dark magic leaking out of it. Her opponent wastes no time, and charges directly at Kyla. She responds by sending multiple black lances at the burly titan, who shrugs off the initial shots, but gets tricked by Kyla, who forms a black ball over his head. The now blind man is still charging in her direction, but she simply hovers away from his charge, and lets him plummet into a crevice. She never even used the flaming black sword. "And that''s the first round, folks! Let''s all rejoice for a moment that we got to see the demon lord in action, without having to worry about being the target!" The crowd actually cheers this time. It was disappointingly short, but she did display an excellent level of skill. I suppose it''s unfair to expect anyone to put up a fight for more than a minute against the demon lord. Whatever plan the barbarian had was shattered by pure magical might. The arena gets repaired, and a burly blackened man gets fished out of a crevice before being tended to by medics. I quickly buy a hotdog, and make my way down to the arena entrance. Gearing up for my fight is easy, since I''m practically always geared. "For our next fight we have a crowd favorite, the immovable wolf, Markryr Hyrtbryker!" My opponent gets announced first, but I''m not in the arena yet, so I simply do some last gear check-ups. "And in the opposing corner another first timer who has no doubt been on the ears of everyone lately, the titanic pirate queen of Quintillius, Esstrey The Mad!" I enter the arena properly, coming face to face with a wolf man. I did a little studying on Mazurian duel etiquette specifically for such an occasion. "You are as big as the announcer claimed you were, I will hang your tail from my ceiling, so my pack will forever know who the alpha is." The wolf greets me in standard Mazurian dueling manner. Even if the fight is non-lethal, Mazurians still proclaim trophy taking in real fights. "I will make your hide into a coat, so the wanna-be bigshots back home remember who they are dealing with." I smile as I say it. His fur does look like it would make a comfortable coat. "Contestants get set, ready, fight!" As soon as we start, rock starts growing on the skin of the wolfman. His claws take on a metallic shine, and he quickly looks more like a knight than anything else. I''m not idle, as I quickly start summoning water on the battlefield. It will be easier for me to maneuver in wet terrain. The wolfman believes he makes the first move by rapidly moving in my direction, but I pull out my conceal-carry crossbow, and force him to cover his eyes for a moment. As the bolt clatters off the rock covered hands, he is instead met with the sight of me charging back at him, tsunami at my back. He gets ready to strike at me, but I use my superior reach to aim at his legs. He grunts in pain as a small cold iron shovel swipes by his leg, causing a shallow cut. I was aiming for deeper. He tries to retaliate by advancing in combat stance, but underestimated my nimbleness when he saw my size. Instead of allowing him to get closer, I simply back off, and start slowly circling around him on a wave of water. He concentrates for a little while, and I feel a small threat of something like him reach out. I follow the thread, and notice... beh-!. An explosion of rock and dust appears behind me, pushing me in range of the armored dog. He swipes his claws across my tail, drawing blood, but I don''t let his success go unpunished as I create a deeper gash in the shallow wound I left before using my shovel. I quickly draw back, not letting him strike again. He should have trouble moving right now. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. I decide to use mobility to my advantage, and create a floating donut shaped river with Markryr at the center. I enter the river, and start circling him like a shark, while occasionally launching high pressure pieces of the river at him. It''s mostly meant to distract him as I... smell... BLOOD. The shovel in my hand is giving off a DELICIOUS smell. I make the river smaller, and start laughing. I AM SO HAPPY THAT HE IS FILLED WITH BLOOD. A small tinge of fear joins the smells, and Markryr begins to cover himself in more metal. Before he can fully finish I launch myself at him, he managed to counter me by stabbing my in my gut with one of his metal claws, but It''s too late for bloodbag. I dig my claws into his shoulders, piercing the pauldrons. I smile at him one last time, before I headbutt him hard. I hear rock break, and the wolf flinches at the mass of mermaid headbutting him. I headbutt again, and I hear a yelp of pain. I headbutt one last time, as this time I hear a crack, and he goes limp in my arms. My meal is stopped by multiple mages, who quickly work together to launch me away from the wolf. I begin to regain my senses as well. This is gonna be a regular thing, isn''t it? "And we have a winner folks! That has got to be one of the most bloodthirsty fights I have ever hosted, and I have hosted fights between vampires!" The announcer is clearly overreacting. Carmilla regularly tells me how she wants to do some aggressive bloodletting on imperial nobles. I head back to the spectator stands, since the medic declared me to be fine if I just drink a potion. Sipping on the red juice as I float back to my seat, only to find Cathy no longer there. I had barely noticed she was there until I noticed her absence, apparently. "For our next fight we have on one side of the ring the meanest bastard on this side of the globe, the meanest and greenest, Dakr-al-zuhl!" A large orc almost as big as the chieftain of our class enters. He wields a serrated blade that looks like it would shatter at any moment. "And his opponent will be one we know next to nothing about, the most monstrous of northerners, Cathy!" Wait, Cathy was one of the top-scoring students? How? Also, they could really only come up with calling her Cathy? That''s not even her name, I just started calling her that because her real name kind of sounds like that. As Cathy enters the arena, she immediately looks in my direction and waves. I simply wave back, looking a bit dumbstruck. She''s wearing some odd flesh-like armor covered in eyes. I''m also pretty sure the armor is shifting around, but I''m not sure since Cathy is kind of a humanoid tentacle slime herself. "Contestants get set, ready, fight!" Dakr instantly casts a spell that sets himself on fire, he doesn''t really seem too bothered about it, so I''m assuming he is flame retardant or logic retardant. Cathy just rips a hole through space, and slaps him across the back of his head. He stumbles forward, while Cathy retreats her tentacle, which now looks mildly charred. The hole closes before Dakr can even do anything about it. While he''s stupefied, Cathy begins to grow in size, and loses her usual shape until she''s more monolith shaped. The orc looks in terror as Cathy slowly approaches, multiple mouths having grown on parts not covered by her armor. Dakr charges at Cathy in a fit of fear. His slash digs into the armor, but despite the mean looking blade carving quite nicely into her there is no blood, and he is swallowed whole. The crowd and even the announcer are silent, even the protective mages forget their role for a bit. Instead of waiting for the announcer, Cathy simply waddles over to my seat, which is nice and close to the arena edge. "Cathy, the announcer hasn''t declared the fight over, yet you still have to beat him before you can sit back down." The large flesh monolith looks at me for a second, before spitting the orc out and giving his still form a slap with a tentacle. Seeing the orc whole and fine seems to snap the mages, and the announcer, out of their stupor. "T-the winner is Cathy the northwoman!" The blob in question morphs back into her usual form, and crawls up to sit next to me again. The people that were sitting around us take a little more distance from us. "Good fight, here, take this hotdog. Eddy is next, and the failed drunkard has been hiding his strength way too much, if he has any." Cathy accepts the hotdog, and puts it in one of her mouths. "F-for the next fight, we have famous duelist, and daughter of the warden of the east, Michelle Prassen!" A fancy noble takes to the stage, but the way she carries herself makes it obvious she isn''t here for tea. She carries a rapier that she clearly knows how to use. "And opposing the warden today is a man we all know and love, our very own, CROWN PRINCE EDEN CIVILLIS!" Both the crowd and announcer go wild, Ed-boy is clearly a fan favorite among everyone. Also, am I spotting it wrong, or is Michelle blushing? Either way, it seems Eden brought along a warhammer, and a decorated golden buckler. I''m sure all of the equipment except for mine is enchanted today, but the mana reading I feel from that buckler matches Kyla''s flaming sword. "Contestants get set, ready, fight!" This time the fight starts instantly, Michelle tried buffing herself with life magic, but Eden instantly deflected solid sunlight in her face. He charges at Michelle who tries to both buff, and protect herself at the same time, but Eden keeps deflecting sunlight in her face. When I look closely, I notice that her face is actually somewhat scorched already, and I''m surprised her eyes haven''t been burned out already. She stops trying to buff herself, and instead impales her own cloak on her rapier. Eden deflects solid light again, only for the cloak to absorb the light, getting scorched instead. Michelle advances to meet Eden''s charge, weapons clash as the rapier tries to find a gap in Eden''s defense, however a gap in Michelle''s defense is found instead. She had focused too much on protecting herself from the shield, she doesn''t notice when the hammer comes through the cloak, and breaks her leg. She screams in pain, and drops her weapon. Eden halts his assault, and helps set her down before the fight is declared over. Michelle doesn''t resist, and allows herself to be put in a resting position. "The winner is Crown Prince Eden! And a stunning display of sportsmanship at the end! I would lament that our other contestants couldn''t show that much heart today, but that would be unfair with Eden as competition." HUH!? He couldn''t even finish his damn whiskey, how is that good sportsmanship? The crowd seems to disagree with me, as they go absolutely wild at Eden''s victory. "For our next contestants we have nine times arena champion, the strongest man of the Empire, MAGNUS BELLATOR!" The man actually almost matches Eden in cheers, and I catch a glimpse of Eden leaving the arena. I can see the blood draining from his face, as he gets pale at the mention of the man. Magnus is decked out in full metal plating, with mana signatures indicating all of it being rather heavily enchanted. The equipment doesn''t match up to the shield or the sword per piece, but he is much more decked than Kyla or Eden were. His total signature is almost twice that of the sword. "And facing Magnus in the ring we have the one closest to the moon, the boxing priestess of Luna, Bessielle Minatara!" Bessie steps into the arena, clothed in lunar priestess robes, outfitted for combat. She has brass knuckles on her hands. She already broke nearly everyone''s bones during practice, but now she looks like she would eat more bones than a hyena. "Contestants get set, ready, fight!" Magnus calmly approaches Bessielle. His sword glints in the light, and his tower shield wielded like a feather. Bessiele charges at him in the last stretch, aiming right for the head. Before Bessiele makes contact, Magnus burst out into blinding light, and once the light fades Bessiele is laying on the ground. She''s bleeding all over and has multiple broken bones. Magnus stands over her in indifference. "The victor is Magnus! The strongest man once again claims another victory for the empire!" Woah, this guy is no joke. How the fuck did he get all that gear? And why is he even participating if he has all that? Ed-boy has some questions to answer, and Cathy has already left in what is no doubt his direction. Chapter 25: Birth of the prophecy My allies have successfully scoured the last vestige of elder beings. It took intervention from the goddess herself to end their reinforcements, but the solar alliance is still on my ass. They blame me for the beings of the beyond invading, when I was the one who saved them of it. My allies said they will sleep until they are needed again, I hope they never wake up. On the bright side, I have all spell components needed to start the ritual. Once I make the being which can reliably cast my custom spell, I will beat back the solar alliance. They will not stop me in my pursuit of ultimate life. -Logbook of The Grand Scientist Entering the arena backrooms, I spot Kyla tapping her feet impatiently, while Eden is talking to a cloaked man. There''s also a timid looking woman with round glasses, and a teacher outfit. She lights up when she sees me and approaches. "You are Esstrey, right? My students told me about you after they rescued you from Mazurio. I''m Ena Dalia, the teacher that was summoned alongside the kids." Right there was a teacher summoned alongside the students, she doesn''t look too strong, but she''s confidently standing in the same room as Eden and Kyla. "That''s correct ma''am, I am Esstrey of the Russian Spetsnaz. Due to circumstances I physically cannot provide you with more details, but if possible I could help, what do you need?" Kyla and Eden both look at me like I ate something weird as I''m talking to Dalia. "Thanks, but no need. I mostly wished to see the person that was still alive after being summoned before us. Also, do you happen to know of a way we could return to earth?" She looks hopeful as she says that, but I have bad news for her on that front. "Sorry, ma''am, but my team was able to ascertain that this world doesn''t have the resources to send us back to earth. Apparently, great amounts of dimensional mages would be needed for such a task." She looks dejected, but not too surprised. "That''s a shame, then all I could ask of you is to please survive, lady Esstrey." "Don''t worry about me, if you keep the kids safe, I''ll focus on making the world a better place. That way, we at least have a future." She balls her fist in determination. "I will, and I am confident we will all make it out. Excuse me." She leaves having finished what she came here to do. I''m sure she can keep the kids safe. Kyla walks toward me in annoyance. "Esstrey! Why were you so nice to her? I have never seen you be that nice to anybody!" Eden also finishes talking to the cloaked man, and joins us. "Because she is from the same planet I am. Us interdimensionals have to stick together, ain''t that right, Cathy?" Kyla and Eden both give confused looks between Cathy and me. Eden is the first to speak up. "What makes you think Cathy is interdimensional?" "She''s a S??????????????h??????o??????????????g???g???????o???t???????????h????????????, my CO used to read Lovecraft and his work. Most of Cathy seems to align with those traits, so I''m mostly assuming here." My voice cracks up a bit as I say Shoggoth, making a weird sound reminiscent of having a bad radio connection. Kyla and Eden both looks physically stunned. While Cathy turns a darker shade of purple. "Enough stalling Eden! Tell us what the fuck is up with that Magnus guy." Eden quickly pulls himself together. "Magnus Bellator is an old, retired war hero. He had retired over a decade ago to live peacefully, and donated most of his assets to the Empire. I was informed just now that he is participating at the behest of Count Lifstein, and the Count saw fit to equip him with some very high-end gear specifically to stomp us. It seems we have been stepping on some toes, and they were planning to stomp us so hard it would prove that opposition to the Emperor is possible." Since when are we in the emperor''s camp? "Well, what do we do then? If we let this guy do his thing, it would be rather annoying. It would be easy if I had my guns." Eden actually looks at me for a bit at that. "I didn''t think you would be so open to the idea to work with me to hamper my opposition. Don''t get me wrong, I appreciate the help, but they are very much my enemies, and my enemies alone." "Don''t think I don''t know about the Emperor''s men covering my tracks. I also know that the information broker is one of yours, since my first targets were all tax-dodgers. The way I see it, the people opposing the Emperor are already including me in their list of enemies no matter what. As it stands, the way I see it, we need to beat the shit out of Magnus to prevent this Liverstein guy from doing anything." I''m sure it was obvious to everyone who knew me that I have been going around killing slaver, and in the same manner it was pretty obvious someone was covering for me. I have had way more heat from the guard at Quintillius. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Alright, so Esstrey will help, would you gals be amendable to provide help?" Eden looks to Kyla and Cathy full of hope, unfortunately for Eden, I already know Kyla''s answer will be n-. "Sure, I''m not a big fan of Empire nobles myself. It''s about time someone turned them into modern art. I''ll also send a message to get you those gonnes you want. You could use them better than I could. I''m guessing they will arrive in two weeks." My jaw drops, did Kyla just agree to help a solar? All for free? And she''s even giving me the team''s guns back, just like that? "I, too, will provide [assistance/aid/support]. Us interdimensionals are to [stick together/work together/ally]." And all that roughly translates to yes, Cathy will provide help. "Alright, I have a plan, but we need someone who is a general weapons expert, and has good battlefield awareness." As Eden says that, the eyes in the room turn to me. "What? What''s the plan then? Spit it out quickly, because I''m up soon, and my opponent is Magny."
"On this side of the ring, we have the strongest man, the myth, the legend, MAGNUS BELLATOR!" I hear the crowd cheering for Magnus. "And opposing Magnus is the largest mermaid you have ever seen, the titanic madwoman, Esstrey The... Mad?" The announcer trips over his words, as I enter the ring. I can feel the eyes of the crowd burning into me. Even Magnus seems to speak up. "You why? How?" I smell a tinge of fear coming from Magnus. Instead of responding, I draw the black flaming blade, and the glowing golden shield. The flesh armor starts covering my whole body in preparation for a fight. I can hear it whispering all kinds of things in my ears. The armor tells me about bad relations between militant bureaucrats, and hive minded extradimensional refugees. When I focus on Magnus, it switches its whispers over to how best to prepare this man''s heart. The dark flaming sword, and the shining golden shield are having a small battle between each other. The mana artifacts in my hands being on the brink of rebellion. I try to respond to Magnus, anything. Instead, I find myself only able give a guttural groan. "C-contestants get set, ready, fight!" Magnus shoots out at me, intending to finish me when I don''t seem mentally ready, but he is instead fooled as water burst from below, and blows him off course. Before he can recover, I blast him with solid light. In response, he feeds mana into his right pauldron, which turns his whole body reflectant. The armor whispers to me that he is equipped to counter both strong light and dark magic. With the intent to counter the two big players of the arena. I respond by slashing the blade in his direction, which sends a black tear in his direction. His left pauldron fires a sort of light beam at it, some sort of point-defense system. This isn''t going to work. I approach the man, he responds in kind with tower shield lifted. When we get in range of each other, he slashes at me, but draws back when he sees me trying to take the hit with my face. He jumps back a few meters, and lifts his faceplate. "What are you?!" I feel a word on my tongue, the only word I could speak in this state. "NIGHTMARE!" I burst forth, and slash at him with the black blade. His pauldron tries in vain to deflect the artifact. Instead, Magnus is forced to put his shield in between us. I push down on the shield, and the blade start cleaving through. Using my superior heft, I rip the shield from his hands. The blade is now stuck in the shield, so I simply drop both behind me. I don''t need that anymore. Seeing that I am without a sword, Magnus believes himself to have an advantage. He goes for an overhead slash, wielding his blade in two hands. I respond by bashing his right shoulder in with the golden shield. As he takes the damage, he suddenly explodes into light, but I command the sentient armor to attack in all directions. When the light lifts, I spot Magnus being more wounded than before. Time to finish this. I advance on the man. When he tries to back up, I push him forward with water. He takes the moment to charge forward, and drives his sword through one of my kidneys. Instead of pushing the blade out of the wound, I command the armor to take a hold of it. I give Magnus a close-range blast of light, his reflecting enchantment having been disabled when I bashed him previously. I drop the shield to the ground while he recovers, and dig a claw into his right shoulder. My right claw emerges with another weapon in hand, a small mass-produced unenchanted shovel. There is a last moment of fear as I start wailing into him. By the fifth hit, I am getting attacked from the sides by magicians, but their combined air magic is no longer strong enough to displace me. The announcer hasn''t called for the end yet, but I figure if they are trying to get me to stop, it''s a win for me anyway. I drop the mauled man to the ground, his enchantments sparking dangerously. I shuffle back, and pick up the sword and shield. They aren''t mine, so I''ll have to return these. "E-Esstrey is victorious!" Medics start rushing in, and one slowly approaches me like I''m some wild animal. I try to tell them to hurry up, but the armor is still blocking my speech. I command it to unblock my head. "What the fuck are you waiting for? My kidney won''t regrow itself, you know!" Goddammit, there''s still a sword stuck in me. Chapter 26: The calm before the storm The scientist who made me was a fool, why was he so intent on preserving the original? If he just accepted that the ultimate species can only exist with a different mindset, he could have realized he succeeded long ago. No matter, I will finish what the fool started, and carve my own nation out of the arrogant solar alliance! -The First lord of Mazurio "Get him Urist! Fucking end him!" Urist goes for his knees, but is blocked by a swift kick from his opposition. "A''m tryin ya overgrown fish! The manling isn''t lettin me get close!" The son of count Lifstein goes for another kick. Instead of hitting Urist, his leg gets punched by the dwarf. The noble backs off in pain. Before he can recover, Urist uppercuts him in the nuts, ending the fight. "Nevah insult my designs again!" Urist spits a bloodied tooth on the floor. "Which design was he even talking about?" The dwarf has made too many to count at this point. "Dunno." Urist is apparently as clueless as to what was actually insulted as me. Instead of trying to remember, he simply climbs on my shoulders again. "Well whatever, I got some more designs from the royal library to discuss." I slap down a few blueprints on the table, the lackeys of the Lifstein boy pull him away while sending me a glare, but they are too scared to do anything more. I lay the blueprint on the table, from what I can tell it''s some sort of zone device. The dwarf takes a look as well. "Fancy thing, lots of rare materials, and mainly made from dragon bits. Its purpose seems to be disrupting magic within an area, using the dragon bits as catalyst. Too bulky to use in combat except for ambushes, the design is... three hundred years old, and commissioned by a paranoid emperor at the time who believed the demon lord would come to the capital." For all of Urist''s crude language, he really knows his stuff. "Esstrey are you unraveling imperial secrets with Urist again? You know, one of these days, you are gonna stumble on something the Emperor won''t like you looking at." Alicia approached quietly at some point, and as is standard, gets jealous she wasn''t included. "Relax Alicia, if big E was so worried about what I was doing, he would send those cloaked people to stop me. I am not unreasonable... for a price." I''m not gonna just drop things without getting some money out of it. "What did you even do with the bow you got from winning fourth place?" The rest of the tournament was a lot less exciting, right up until I faced Eden near the end. That blast of light is both painful, and disorienting as all hell. That little hammer of his also packs one hell of a punch. Of course, Kyla did end up winning the tournament with rather ease, because when she faced Cathy she just dropped her in an up-sized version of the crevice she used in the first round, and when she faced Eden she overwhelmed the arena with dark magic. That effectively put an end to any magic Eden would be able to deploy. "We scrapped that elven hunk of junk, and repurposed is together with Kyla into something more fit for a friend of the dwarves!" Urist unlatches the now arbalest from my back, It''s still a compound crossbow, but with the strength of the world I don''t think knowledge of a compound crossbow is something worth killing a craftsman over. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "You butchered it! It was said that this bow was gifted by a high elf of the eternal forest to imperial forces so they could destroy the undead! You turned it into monstrous siege equipment!" Alicia looks in horror, as the once golden bow is now a black crossbow, it has also become much too big to be used by anyone not longer than four meter. "Why would I need a weapon good at destroying undead? I have met two undead, and one undead sympathizer so far, and they don''t seem too bad to me. If anything it was a happy little accident when the materials turned black when Kyla transmitted the enchantments over." Alicia pouts, no doubt still angry that Kyla won the tournament. Cathy chooses that moment to enter, if my experience is correct Nylchai and Kyla shouldn''t be too far off. "Lady Esstrey, I have discovered a book in the [library/knowledge repository/book storage] that speaks of our kind. Could I trouble you for some time to read me a [bedtime story/pre-sleep speech/Q????''???????w??????i?????n????????k????????a????????r???????a?????n hug]?" Cathy has also gotten a little more clingy lately, I don''t mind as she is apparently an expert on dimensional travel. Sadly, not enough to get me back home. "Sure, Cathy, let me just see what you have here." She hands me the books with only a mild amount of reverence, as if the book could disappear any moment. ''Creatures of the beyond and you, by Manius Civillis''. The first mad emperor wrote a book? If it''s a book on what is usually done by the northern tribes, it isn''t that surprising that it ended up hidden away. Suddenly I hear shuffling, and a lot of people suddenly leave the cafeteria in a hurry. The reason for which is clear as Kyla enters, scaring off everyone. "Why is everyone so afraid of me now? You two are sitting right there!" Kyla points at Cathy and me as she enters. "Because there have been rumors that you used the favor of the Emperor to be allowed to transmogrify imperial nobles." Alicia sips her drink as she says it. At least someone here is up-to-date on the latest gossip. "What!? Who would start such rumors? Nobles are terrible for transmogrifying! You need someone physically strong to be a good transmogrification target, just look at the thin arms of those nobles!" She points at a group of students who hadn''t gotten the hint of leaving yet. They overhear what Kyla says, and quickly pack up to leave. "I started those rumors of course, my association with you is raising eyebrows, but by portraying you as the plotting demon lord you are, I can use my relation to you as a weapon. Thanks for being such a lovely deniable asset." Kyla''s face turns as red in anger, and she begins to gather mana in her hands. "YOU WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU DISG-" But her rampage is instantly stopped by a dark elf slapping the back of her head. "Behave Kyla! Do not prove her right by acting like this. You wanted to get better at politics, right?" Kyla begins forcing herself to calm down. She actually gets pretty far until Alicia opens her mouth again. "Don''t get cocky just because you won a dinky little tournament, you are still as mortal as the rest of us." Alicia proclaims it arrogantly... to the demon queen. I try to think of a way to stop her, but before I can think of something, Cathy taps me on the side. "Try [pulling/pinching/stretching] her ear." Yeah, that should work. I pull the ear of the rambling princess, the moment I do Kyla goes from hidden fury to instant entertainment. "You ain''t immortal either, so quit trying to start a pissing contest with the demon queen. Take it from me, you won''t win." And just before Kyla gets too happy with the result of all this, I send a glare her way. She knows what she did. "I am getting my guns next week, and I will not have some petulant country leaders ruining the reunion with my precious ballistics!" Chapter 27: Cutting off the head of the snake You needn''t be afraid of a barking dog, but you should be afraid of a silent dog. -Russian proverb The cafeteria is as quiet as usual, mostly owed to me sitting at my usual spot, and usual time. The nobles and scholarship students attending walk by in hushed tones, and hunched backs. As if I might jump out at them at any moment. It could also be related to my current tablemates. "Lady Kyla''th has been ever so kind to me as to so graciously provide me with numerous test subject, I have already made progress on the annihilation of several growths, but alas it is not without setback. I have only been able to terminate growths in simple locations. Anywhere near nerves or organs gets difficult." Xygar is very excited to test an unexplored avenue of death magic. "You are scary fish pirate, I never expected to see the day that a bonebag would be excited over healing the living." The goblin shaman Prez''cote is at the brink of laughter, it would have scared people away if there was anyone left. The orc chieftain Blaz-Durnaturr simply picks between his tusks with a serrated blade, much less interested in the magical debates than his goblin companion is. Not to say he came here for nothing, my good relation with ''da midget'' did make him search me out to try and broker a deal between the both of them. I look over the contract we are building together once more, it seems awfully rough for simple parchment. "What''s this made out of?" I''ll just ask, because I can''t figure it out myself. "Human skin." All my tablemates respond at the same time, apparently they have much more experience working with unconventional materials. "Well, regardless what you make it out of, the issue with the contract is this part here. It states that a dwarf is to deliver the weapons by caravan, but have you ever heard of dwarven land transport? They absolutely despise that, not to mention that the deal is with Urist, he might live in the Western Edge Mountains." He would probably also be worried about greenskins capturing and torturing his people for design secrets. "How tha hell am I gonna make a deal with da midget if he ain''t tellin where he lives? Da git is way too uptight with tha." Blaz is clearly not happy, but at least understanding enough to be able to work out a deal. "Well, we could probably work on a third-party dropoff po-." I''m interrupted by a feeling of mana in the air getting heavier, and I can tell that the other casters with me are also feeling it. "Wotz happenin?" Blaz instantly gets into combat stance. He knows that when the casters get wary, there is a cause for it. "The mana in the air is getting disrupted, I would have a hard time casting even simple spells. Esstrey do you know anything?" Xygar starts scanning the room, the other students have also noticed something is up. "Most likely an attack, we need to find the others. Whoever is causing this came prepared." However, before we can move, barriers close the entrances, locking us all in. At that moment, a group of cloaked men emerge through one of the barriers. Blaz and I get in front, with Prez and Xygar figuring out how to bypass the closest barrier. Without magic, it will take a while longer. "Who are you people? And what''s going on with the ma-." A blade emerges, and slashes the student from shoulder to side. The man fan out, and start chasing people around to kill them. A few have eyes on our group as well. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Blaz keep them busy, I''m gonna start reducing their numbers." My pocket ballista nails one of the men not paying us enough attention to the wall, turning him into a pin up donkey. Three of the men engage Blaz, but the orc warlord doesn''t go easily without a fight. He baits one of the men into overextending, and rips into his leg. His teammates save him by driving Blaz back, using magic to enhance their weapons. "Blasted gitz only disabled our magic, I''ll have da headz of every one of u spellblades!" Blaz threatens the men to seemingly no effect, until a rock from a goblin sling stuns on of the men, leaving him open. Blaz ignores the rapier of the one still standing, and bashes the skull of the stunned assassin in. A loud whistling noise is heard throughout the room again, and another man is turned into a rug by a massive ballista bolt. The assassin in the room quickly decide we are too big of a threat, and start focusing on us. We aren''t the only ones doing damage to the assassins in the room either, as multiple holdouts have been formed by nobles who rely more on their sword skills. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, as enemy mages have finally set up. The other holdouts are hit by lances of multiple elements. Annihilating any attention that wasn''t on us. We only hold out by the fact that I pushed over a few tables as cover, but the assassins quickly start closing in. I look around me, Prez is shivering in a corner in fear, one of the lances went right by his head. Blaz is murmuring curses to himself, in hatred of all magic. Xygar is still desperately working on a way out. This is it, isn''t it? "Xygar, you still have cancer to cure. At the very least, you should get out." I turn to the greenskin duo. "ѧӧ ӧ , ܧڧߧ ӧ էާ, ѧӧ ӧܧ ߧѧէ֧اէ." My words aren''t understood, but their intent is heard. I pull out a small shovel, now barely larger than my claw. Blaz firmly grips his ripper, and Prez shivers while clutching a dagger. I give one last bright smile, and fling the whole table we were using as cover at whoever was unfortunate enough to be in its line. I dive for the closest man, and use sheer force to crush the armor under his cloak like a soda can. Not only that, but I grab the corpse by the leg, and start using it as a club against the other assassins. Prez managed to get a few stabs in on one of the mages in the confusion, but quickly gets countered by an ice spell, freezing him solid. Someone with a maul shatters the shaman ice statue afterward, scattering his bits across the floor. I begin uncontrollably giggling to myself, I was going to be receiving the guns today as well. I would have done so many things, but it seems this is the way it has to be. I use my makeshift club as a shield against a blast of fire, but multiple windblades shred my uncovered side. One man gets a bit too close for health, and is rewarded by a shovel going through his jaw. My reward for reducing their numbers is being speared through the tail by a soon-to-be dead man. As I crush the skull of the spearman, I hear a guttural scream of pain. Blaz is driven through the gut by a greatsword, but he isn''t deterred by this and tries to slash at his attacker. Instead, the swordsman puts more force on the blade, and bisects the orc chieftain. Blaz falls in between the corpses of the dead to join them. I can''t hold my laughter at this point, there''s so many of them. I drop my shovel and club, opting instead for the tables in the room. I focus my attacks on the weak looking wizards, slamming them across using superior size and strength. The room quiets noticeably as my work continues, disabling the bastards left and right. Xygar has already left the room at some point, hopefully he will make it out. I bisect a man with my jaws, and notice I disabled almost all the casters. I might actually win this, but before I can turn to deal with the others, I fall to the ground. A large thud resounds through the room, as something big falls to the ground. My vision spins as I roll across the floor. The large object that fell to the floor... is my own headless corpse. A man stands next to it, and flicks my blood off his blade. They start talking, but I have already stopped hearing. My brain flashes through its broken memories, desperately trying to find a way out. I see pieces of training, flashes of my time in Moscow. None of these are helpful. I remember what my sergeant said about the mission. ''Success entails enough of us surviving''. My brain scrambles through more memories, but sarge''s words stick to me. The only thing... that survived... is a... head... Chapter 28: Theatrics of the Damned "Death solves all problems, no man, no problem." -Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili POV Kyla''th Mazurio, Queen of Mazurio While talking with Nylchai and Larkta in the classroom, I suddenly feel a heavy weight settle on the mana in the air. I''m not the only one who noticed it either, as others in the class look around in confusion. The professor simply looks stunned, and repeatedly starts flexing his hands. "Alright class, something is clearly going on, everyone please stay calm and head for the theater. Evacuations are managed there." The professor leads the way out, and through the hallways. Other classrooms are also moving, with their teachers simply signaling their confusion to each other. When we near the theater, all hell breaks loose, as men in cloaks start wildly blasting a whole menagerie of magical attacks on the students. Many jump through the windows to escape, but I see on the outside even more cloaked men pouring in. We are surrounded. "Class get beh-" The teacher dies as he draws a sword. An arrow sticking out through his throat. "Everyone, get inside the theater!" Eden''s shout is heard over the panic, and every one of our class makes a break for the theater. Before the last of us make it through, the people at the rear are hit by a massive fireball. "Celdium!" Alice joins the cries of mourning screams, I feel like I have been here before, but something is missing this time. The students begin to disperse throughout the theater, desperately trying to find hiding spots. Except for Eden, Cathy and Carmilla standing on the stage. I hurry to join them. "What''s the plan here?" Cathy manages to look mildly annoyed, Carmilla looks deathly afraid, and Eden gives me a grim look. "I was hoping to use the central position of the stage to draw their attention for as long as possible, that way the guard might arrive on time to rescue at least some people." So he was planning on killing himself, great. "I have [lost/missing/gone] Lady Esstrey, I was planning on standing here so I would be visible to her." Shit, Esstrey was in the cafeteria with some others, I hope they managed to find their own exit. "I-I don''t know! I was just following you guys!" Carmilla is probably the most scared out of anyone right now. So no one has a plan? Well, Eden''s plan might work, but it obviously needs some improvements. Come on, think Kyla! Think! You are the Demon Queen of Mazurio! Mana is being disrupted in the air, but not inside our bodies. That means whatever they are doing is not a complete nullification of magic, but rather a large resistance to it. I can''t force much magic through on my own, but... but I might be able to with the others here. "I have a plan! We will ritualcast a basic barrier of pure mana. It will be highly inefficient, but it''s the only way we could get a barrier up right now. Stack up on me, and prepare to be the toughest distraction in the school!" The trio quickly fall in position, backing me up with their mana. A deceptively strong barrier forms out of the mana of a vampire, the crown prince, an interdimensional being, and the demon lord. It will however not be enough for a determined assault. Our barrier formed just in time as cloaked men start pouring into the theater, one who looks to be their leader takes off his hood to gloat. "The rest are hiding, find th-" He''s cut off as Alicia jumps for his throat, stabbing him in a major artery with a hidden dagger. "YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!" As the screams are heard throughout the theater, Larkta jumps in between a group of the troops, wildly tearing at the assassins. Alicia is quickly killed by the surrounding people, but Larkta manages to take down a few with her before being shot by multiple crossbows. The men, much more cautious now spread throughout the theater while maintaining eye contact on the podium. They occasionally throw attacks our way, but quickly stop as it becomes clear they need more than that to break through. The men find a few of the human students hiding behind seats, and promptly execute them, but as another group of the assassins enter, they are ambushed by two southern sword dancers. The sword twins rapidly carve a path through them, catching them by surprise. As a few of the men turn at the commotion, Cathy grabs one of the men who got a little too close, and drags him screaming into the barrier. He tries to resist, but is slowly getting crushed while his screams fill the theater. More people get distracted, and two people in religious garb choose this moment to ambush an isolated group. One paladin, and one minotaur crushing armored, and unarmored opponents in equal. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. A second fireball hits the entrance, and one of the southern twins is sent screaming to the ground, while the other falls dead on impact. More assassins pour in as the blockage is resolved, and start blasting magic in all directions. Some of those directions are clearly meant more to clear out anyone left hiding, but none hit near the areas where Urist or Nylchai are hiding. Bessielle and her paladin friend aren''t so lucky, Bessielle gets hit directly with an ice lance, and multiple crossbow bolts, while the paladin takes a lightning bolt. The latter falls dead to the ground, while Bessielle takes cover in the smoke of combat. The screaming of the man Cathy caught finally stops, as she twists his neck. "It would seem we have been defeated, it was [nice/acceptable/good] while it lasted." "As expected of the primary target, you got quite a few of us at the end." One of the assassins looks at the surrounding carnage, looking quite displeased. Then he looks to Eden. "Crown prince Eden, we are from the Shadow Hand. We have come to deal with the enemies of the empire, you can come with us now." Eden betrayed us? I glare at Eden, and Cathy is already preparing to kill him before he can move. "He''s lying, I can sense his heartbeat. The only thing in that sentence that wasn''t a lie was addressing Eden." Carmilla suddenly gained the courage to speak up, and Eden is visible sweating. "Thanks Carmilla, I would be lying if that didn''t put my balls in my throat." The assassin looks mildly dismayed, but turns to the entered mages. "Delta team, what took you so long? We lost Alpha team, and Beta team has taken significant losses." The mages are already spreading out in a half-circle, ready to destroy our barrier. "We encountered resistance at the cafeteria, the lich just left as we entered. The pirate was leading the greenskins against Charlie team, and managed to severe damage to them, they are holding off the guard as we speak." The Beta team assassin looks shocked. "And what of the pirate?" "Beheaded, Charlie should have taken the briefing on her more seriously. Our benefactor will be disappointed." They... got Esstrey? Cathy shows emotion on her for the first time, tentacles drooping downward, and generally looking depressed. The men waste no further time, and the Delta team lead charges up a ritual attack. With our magic weakened, we won''t last long, and as his attack reaches its crescendo... ...*CRUNCH* A shovel sticks out of Delta lead''s skull, dropping him and killing him instantly. For a moment, the whole room looks at the theater entrance in shock, and the largest mermaid to have ever existed enters. Using a halberd to balance herself, as her movements twitch unnaturally. Esstrey looks truly awful, uncountable wounds spread across her body, and her head attached to her body by a strange thick ring of blood. Esstrey locks eyes with us, and opens her mouth as if to say something, but the only thing to come out is a guttural groan, followed by her puking up a large amount of blood. "That''s not Esstrey, that''s a ghoul. She has no heartbeat. Xygar must have raised her." As Carmilla says that the ghoul engages in combat. Using the halberd to pole vault over some seats, and lands on one of the casters to eat him alive. The casters try to reform their formation, but some get too close to the barrier, and get snatched by Cathy, who looks thoroughly pissed. One of the casters attempts to cast a fire spell on the rampaging ghoul, but instead a bolt flies from under the podium, and hits the pyromage in the brain. "NOW!" I stop charging the barrier, and start charging the nearest assassin. I might not have my magic, but the demon lord is the greatest Mazurian, not just the greatest caster. The swordsman in front of me goes for a wide horizontal slash, but I parry him mid-strike with my palm. Before he can recover, I wrench the word from his hand, and throw it towards Eden. He can use it better than me. The man looks at me, and the realization sets in for him, as he just got signed up for a fistfight with the demon lord. I jam my whole arm through his gut, destroying his liver. That was for Esstrey. "KYLA!" Jala appears bow in hand at the entrance, along with a familiar skeleton hiding behind him. The remaining assassins try to flee, but are ruthlessly shot down by a combination of crossbow bolts, arrows, and a leaping ghoul. At some point, our magic returns to us as well. When the assassins are dead, Eden calls us to the podium to discuss. Urist and Nylchai emerge from below the podium, both holding dwarven crossbows. Bessielle also limps to us from behind cover. Even Esstrey-ghoul joins us. "I''m guessing the real Shadow Hand dealt with the magic disruptor, they probably expected that if we were still alive having our magic returned to us would be the same as them rescuing us." Eden gives me a pointed look while he says that, but I don''t care for Eden, and give Xygar a deathglare even the lich fears. "YOU TURNED ESSTREY INTO UNDEAD!" I grasp his thin, fragile bones. She should be resting in peace, but is now instead bound as mindless undead. A ghoul even of all things. "W-wait! I didn''t! I thought Carmilla raised her!" I stop shaking the lich, and turn to Carmilla. She is instead taking a very close stare at Esstrey. The ghoul responds by opening her mouth again. "???? ?????" Carmilla''s eyes go wide in surprise as the ghoul murmurs something. ??????? ????? "By the goddess, she''s still alive!" Chapter 29: Dies Irae OH GODDESS, THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! THEY ARE COMING OUT OF THE GODDESS DAMNED WALLS! WHAT THE FU- -Last words of general Maltza POV Esstrey the Mad Queen of Quintillius A man stands before me in the dark. He''s wearing Spetsnaz gear, and carries an AK-103. His features are visible before me, yet I forget them even while looking at the man. "Who are we?" The man asks while he looks at me seriously. I cannot recognize the man. "Irrelevant, may our actions speak for us. I will not explain ourselves." Explaining who we are hasn''t been relevant on this world. The man doesn''t look happy with the answer, but continues anyway. "Why are we?" I look the man up and down a bit. A Russian soldier who still goes unrecognized. A man detached from command, his country, and his people. "We are the wrong that rights, we bring others what we can''t have." The man looks frustrated at this point, he looks down at his own gloved hands. "What are we!?" "Alive." The man grows angry at my comment, but quickly calms down afterward. He looks me in the eyes, and steels himself for what he is about to say. "Esstrey!" I look at the man, I wasn''t expecting him to say that. "Esstrey, wake up, ya halfwit fishstick!" _________________________________ "Esstrey!" I''m face to face with Bessielle, who looks about as pale as someone could get. "I''m awake!" I look around me, corpses of many are across the theater, but there are still the living here as well. Someone tries to speak up, but Bessielle instead grabs me tightly. "Esstrey! Luna is real! Remember, Luna is real!" Bessielle stands up, seeming satisfied she brought along the message. She then proceeds to fall over to the ground. Kyla is already rushing to her. Her last words didn''t sound like something a religious fanatic would say to get more devotees. "I can''t heal her! There are too many poisons running through her system!" Kyla clings desperately to the dying minotaur, tears begin to well up in her eyes. "I didn''t know you were capable of blood magic." Carmilla looks like she''s been crying. "Neither did I, but I gave it a shot when I had nothing left." A powerful new weapon to add to the arsenal, the ability to puppet my own body using blood magic. "This is everyone who is left of us." As Eden says that, cloaked men storm in, and I quickly take Urist''s crossbow. One of the men is carrying my crossbow. "Don''t shoot! We are with the Emperor!" Eden holds his hand on the crossbow in my hand. So these really are friendlies? Eden begins to talk to the newly arrived group, if he has so much faith that they won''t kill him, he can choke on it for all I care. I take my crossbow from the imperials. "Lady Esstrey, you may want to [see/gaze/behold] this." Cathy gestures me towards the window. This shit just never ends, does it? When I look outside the window, I quickly see what''s wrong. The sky has a massive tear in it, and strange creatures that look sort of like Cathy run around outside fighting the guard. "MY FATHER IS DEAD?!" A cry of anguish is heard, Eden drops to a seat while holding his head in his hands. The Emperor is dead? I could at least begin to guess who the hell could have done this, but I need time, and information. I look around the room, and see Kyla still desperately trying to revive Bessielle to no success. Carmilla is hyperventilating at the things outside, and Eden is doing his best to imitate Napoleon post-exile. Everyone else just looks lost, except for Cathy. She looks to me for salvation. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "ALRIGHT YOU SORRY EXCUSES FOR COUNTRY LEADERS, MAN THE FUCK UP." Everyone in the theater is shocked to attention. I don''t blame them either, as I''m doing my damn best to imitate my old drill sergeant. "YOU ARE ALL IN CHARGE OF THE LIVES OF PEOPLE THAT ARE STILL WITH US, ACT LIKE IT. EDEN! Get out there and organize your men! They are looking for the Emperor and god bless you will give them one!" Eden actually recovers easier than I expected. "Kyla! Get out there in the skies, and annihilate every invader you can! Someone out there is trying to kill the demon queen, are you just gonna let them?" Kyla wipes some tears from her face, and Jalaha comforts her. "Carmilla! Produce a list for Eden of all the nobles who are likely to have betrayed the Empire. Work with Eden to cut their lie spitting tongues out!" Carmilla tries her best to focus on the task I gave her, and is helped by some of the Shadow Hand members, guiding her to a separate room. "Xygar! I want you to start bringing the dead back into the fight. Revive as many as you can, and bring the fight outside the capital. I want that place to be a special type of hell!" The lich looks baffled at what I want from him. He looks to Eden, who simply nods to give his approval. He instantly gets to work on raising our fallen classmates. The others look on in disgust, but don''t do anything to stop it. "Nylchai! Get in contact with the mermaid spies you have in the river! Get word out to the world what happened here!" Nylchai''s face grows red at me calling out her spies, but the ones who would care don''t bat an eye. "Urist! Help Eden draw a defense plan." Urist was already taking out quill and papers, no doubt expecting what I was going to ask. "Jalaha! Get my guns delivered to the Royal Library. I will need them there." Jalaha gives me a baffled look, but does not protest. "Cathy!" The Shoggoth is already at my side before I can even say what I want from her. "Understood Lady [Esstrey/Spetsnaz/N???i???g???h???t???m???a???r???e???]." "I am heading to the Royal Library to confirm some suspicions. We will meet back at 20:00 in the classroom." _____________________________ Arriving at the Library, I find that the place is sparsely defended. The royal guards that normally hang around here have all moved to active patrols throughout the palace against incursions from eldritch horrors. Near the library, I was also informed by a Shadow Hand member that the former Emperor was blamed for the massacre of the academy, and the Emperor was killed by multiple high ranking nobles who were visiting at the time. After they heard of the slaughter, one of the nobles presented evidence to the others claiming the Emperor was the cause. It was effectively a failed coup from there on out, considering the assassins never managed to kill Eden. Cathy follows me inside, and I already hear the heavy footsteps of people carrying heavy equipment. A squad of heavily armed minotaurs are carrying the weaponry of an entire former Spetsnaz team. Weaponry that apparently had something of mine with it. I take a half slagged shotgun from the large hands of one of the minotaurs. The Vepr-12 floods me with memories of a paranoid man. Dmitri Artyomov was always thought to be FSB by the other, but even if he was, that only served to increase his paranoia. "Listen <@(*&#>, it''s all in psychological warfare. Think like a foreigner thinks." Now that I remember him, I realize how truly paranoid he was all the way to the end, but he did care for his team. I put the shotgun aside, and grab the PKM. The couriers having left while Cathy is simply going through some books. The PKM itself was a practically ancient weapon, but Ivan Smirnov used it nonetheless. Saying that his father used it in Afghanistan, and it never failed the man. Ivan liked to smile, yet he never seemed truly happy. "<%^*&@#>, I don''t think it''s normal to want to be a soldier, but it is important to remember why we fight." Even if he wasn''t the happiest of us, he was the most sentimental. Putting the PKM aside, I make a quick note of how it''s the only gun to still somewhat fit in my claw if I were to remove the trigger guard. I pick up the SV-98. The memories I get are vague. From what little we knew of Boris Novikov is that he wasn''t the brightest tool in the shed, but he knew he didn''t need to be if he simply remained silent. The memory that stands out is one where we go berated by the quartermaster, but Boris stayed so silent, he was never even mentioned to the drill sergeant. He got out of latrine duty that time by simply not saying anything. Moving on from the sniper to the last gun, the AK-103. I pick up the AK and hold it close to me. Nothing. I try reloading. Nothing. Not even a speck of what should be my own memories. Just a significant lack of anything. A shame, but I have enough of what I wanted. "Cathy, can you find me the other thing I was looking for?" Cathy looks up at me, and begins to concentrate. I don''t know how, but she always seems to know things slightly ahead of time. I don''t need to know how it works to know I can use that to my advantage. It doesn''t take long for Cathy to point at a piece of the floor. I grab the PKM, and smash the floor in with the butt of the weapon. Below the false floor lies a small notebook, and an alarm goes off. "We should have enough time to get back before I have to explain anything to anyone. Would you be so kind as to carry the other weapons?" Cathy gives a curt bow, and easily wraps the guns in her tendrils, those will come in handy later. I pick up the small notebook titled ''Logbook of The Grand Scientist'', and leave the Royal Library. Chapter 30: War in the West Nearly every noble in the Empire believes the old emperor enacted the massacre at the Beirlitz academy. They march rampantly on everyone siding with the Coalition of Nations, and are now trying to dethrone Emperor Eden Civillis. As such he has tasked me with the grand purpose of securing the west. The Dalkans and god botherers are also attacking en masse, and these new allies make me question if maybe those nobles were right, but by the goddess they are an ally we know are hard to fight. I for one, am glad to be on their side for once. -General Sneiperr of the western imperial loyalist army POV Kyla''th Mazurio, Queen of Mazurio The world burns. We must make haste. When Esstrey returned with a small book, and a plan. We had all accomplished our objectives. She based everything off whatever was on the journal, having Cathy point towards relevant sections. The logbook spoke of allies somewhere hidden on the world, and something about the moon alignment needing to be correct. Esstrey also casually revealed that The Grand Scientist, and The First Demon Lord, are the same person. After the man had lost all hope for completing his experiments due to the interference of The Solar Alliance, he used the most powerful version of it on himself. Heading towards an isolated peninsula, The First started his conquests there, and the rest is history. A month and two weeks is how long we had to hold on. A month beset upon by every power on the world that wasn''t in that classroom at the time. That time is almost over now, and Esstrey only needs to decipher the where. Eden had proposed a coalition between us all. The Coalition of Nations is formed up by Mazurio, the royal imperial faction, The Lichdom, The Northern Tribal Alliance (Cathy was apparently the official head of state up there. I''m just surprised they are organized enough to form such a thing), The dwarven clan of Crystalspear and The Governate of Quintillius. Together we are up against The kingdom of Dalka, The Theocracy, the imperial noble faction, The united greenskin nomads, the Southern city-states, Tribal Coalition of Tazkar''han, the invading creatures of beyond and The Eternal Forest. The last of which has embarked upon an expansionist genocidal crusade against the world when the spatial invaders arrived. Only the Dalkan''s Theocracy and imperial nobles actually work together a bit, and much less than our coalition does. The South is mostly a grief-stricken sultan pulling every asset he has in a slaver crusade. The jungle had a power vacuum, and now pretends they are united, but are practically embroiled in civil war. The greenskin nomads lost two important figures of their moderate faction, and sees this as an opportunity to pillage the whole eastern Empire. Our position in the West is the strongest, with Quintillius completely dominating the seas after the major co-operation that took place between Esstrey and the mermaid enclaves. Furthermore, Mazurio only borders Dalka, thus we can only advance in one direction, which we have. Initially there was a major push of Theocracy forces and Dalkan forces, but it turned into a trap. Eden''s information network exposed the whole thing from start to finish, and their combined armies walked right into their ends. The theocracy stopped supporting Dalka after that, and focused on The Eternal Forest. A large trebuchet launches its payload on its target. The target being the walls of Dalka. A group of mounted knights rush out from one of the breaches, heading right for the trebuchets. Mazurian magics are launched on the cavalry charge to no effect, the Dalkan mages still as strong as they have always been. The Lizardmen manning the trebuchets quickly man the barricades, expecting a heavy fight for the vital siege equipment. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Instead, I interrupt the cavalry charge with a burst of high-powered dark lances. Followed by long ranged transmogrifications. Multiple of the knights go down, and a few of the ones who went down and didn''t die get hit by the transmogrification balls. The charge quickly turns into a brawl as multiple Mazurians sprout out from between the ranks. "Load special payload! CHARGE!" I heft my sword up high, and point towards Dalka. The capital of our longtime rival. Wolf-kin rush to the battlefield, eager to prove their worth in combat. The Lizardmen reload the trebuchets from well crafted crates. Specifically the crates with a dwarven symbol on it. A linguist told me it means ''Caution, explosive.'' A sergeant attempts to rally the knights, and retreat back to Dalka when he sees the Wolf-kin rush towards to support their new brethren. The sergeants attempt to rally is halted by an arrow embedding itself in the man''s collarbone. Signaling Jalaha having joined the charge. Right as the Wolf-kin make contact, a loud explosion comes from the Dalkan palace. The mighty trebuchet having delivered its payload of Crystalspear''s finest. The barrier protecting the city and palace had long since run out of power, and me launching some attacks of my own on it certainly did not aid them. Flashes of white light erupt from the skirmish of the knights, and more Mazurians rise from the ashes of my enemies. Time for phase two of the invasion. I fly high up, followed by multiple squadrons of harpies. All of them carrying more of Urist''s gifts. Esstrey told me of a strategy employed by an army that was thought to be invincible at the height of its power. She also told me that it isn''t perfect, but it would suffice. Coming from Esstrey that is high praise, even if she looked disgusted while talking of the army that used it itself. Higher rank demons move in at the edges of the city as they see us rise into, and above Dalka. The many tribes that have waited a long time for a chance at invading Dalka following behind us. As the harpies drop their payloads indiscriminately, the streets quickly become clogged by humans attempting to flee. Mazurio has arrived, and we are here to stay. The high ranking demons, effectively Mazurio nobles, pummel the wall guards from the sides. Loudly making it known to everyone that they aren''t safe here. The Dalkan reserves are paralyzed by the large number of refugees block their access to reinforce the wall. Before long, the nobles have claimed pieces of the wall, and are now firing inward. The remaining gates are opened as well, and the tribes charge in. Adding more to our numbers. I barely had to do anything, as the battle smoothly played out like Esstrey told me it would. A harpy flies to intercept me, carrying a letter with the image of a skull on it. The skull that has been dubbed ''Esstrey''s skull'' due to its signature red beret she always wears. "Kyla! I bring news from the fishies!" The harpy quickly gets distracted by the flashes of combat down below, and after delivering her message, she flies in for a closer look. A letter from Esstrey? Let me see... My eyes widen in what I hope is easily recognized as joy, and hope. She found it! The place where the solution to the spatial invasion lies! Although I don''t know why she seems to be referring to the unknown allies as ''non-magical MacGuffin.'' She says in the letter only a when and where, and says that I should focus on finishing Dalka off, because the war doesn''t end with the removal of the invading space forces. I look at the crumbling Dalkan palace, and the streets filled with Mazurians. I see them flying the colors of the Coalition of Nations. A light-blue flag with a map of the world on it. Yeah, I can spare some time. Chapter 31: War in the East The spoils are good, and our people grow in number. The Queen has decided that we would align ourselves with other powers in the world, but such is not the Mazurian way. We have always been to ourselves, and for many of the more conservative leaders, this is a nightmare scenario. Or at least, it would be if our successes wouldn''t be so numerous. Calling any Solar a friend is a hard to digest concept for many Mazurians, but the Queen decreed those who fight under the blue flag are our allies. Allies against the storm of war. Allies against the storm of death. I for one, welcome these changes when I look at our successes. Perhaps the previous Mazurio lords were wrong? -Kicks-The-Buckets Lizardman Chieftain to his battle-kin POV Carmilla Bloodcrested, Daughter of the Red Queen The world burns, and it scares me. Eden''s plan is rather insane. A coalition between our nations was thought to be impossible, and I was sure that mother would have blocked it from going through. Apparently, by the time I returned home, there had already been multiple spatial incursions. Even now, the *things* from beyond rampage throughout all the lands. Not a single nation doesn''t notice them. Mother rapidly agreed to the coalition, something that truly scares me. She would never ally with an imperial, a pirate, and one of the spatial creatures we fight normally, but this is far from normal. Our main opponents are the Eastern Wardens, and the greenskins. On top of the spacethings we have been fighting of course. How could the mortals so easily throw their lives away? Why are they so careless with something they already have in short supply? Truly, if Esstrey is anything to go by, mortals are all naturally insane. Insane as they are, they are not to be underestimated. Today I am up against the greenskin hordes, mostly to keep them in check, so Eden doesn''t have to divert his already stretched supply against them as well. He is surrounded enough as is. While the loud greenskins are annoying to fight, I am happy that I am not deployed in the western part of the lichdom against the wardens. Xygar was deployed there, and the wardens have a long history of fighting the undead. Their magics specializing in dealing with undead make them the reason the eastern Empire doesn''t fall. "WAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!!" The noise of the next wave is sounded over the hill, as orcs covered in warpaint charge at a thin line of skeletons. The orcs carrying goblins on their backs like mounted knights would, the orcs crude attempt at intimidation fall on dead ears. A sickening glittering fog envelops the land, a cloud of spores that enhance rage. Had the orcs been fighting a human, the spores would turn the fight into a crude brawl. Shifting the fight to favor the more physically inclined orcs. Instead of facing berserked humans, they face the armies of the Lichdom today. The bones do not feel emotion, and the spores do nothing except for making them glitter in the sun. Unfortunately, disciplined bones can only do so much, and the greenskins smash through the lines with ease. The greenskins roar victoriously, and I give the signal to deploy the Knechts. The celebrations of the orcs is short lived, as heavily armored corpses burst from the ground. Striking at them from below. Most goblins are still high on top of their orc steeds from the fungal spores, and victory. Even as the orcs below them fall to the ground. I myself shift into death mana shaped like a cloud of bats. Most plans rarely survive contact with the enemy, but the plans of the undead have always been rather resilient. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. A lich enters the battlefield alongside me, blasting death magics on the beleaguered greenskins. It quickly devolves from a frantic melee to a slaughter, and more are added to our number for every that falls. Until the lich gets hit by a blast of fire magic himself, and is forced to retreat out of the battle. A goblin wearings skulls surveys the battlefield, and a disgusting life spell is cast. Dying and dead greenskins each stand back up, they lock their weak gazes upon each other. The dead are kept moving by the lich, while the dying are kept moving by the shaman. The lull in battle is interrupted by the Knechts. Systematically cutting a way through the horde. The living versus the dead. The shaman starts blasting life magic on the Knechts, aiming to cripple our armored core at distance. His casting is interrupted by an angry cloud of bats forming into a pale woman. "֧ ֧? ѧ! ? ?ݧѧ ѧݧڧڧߧ ? ?ڧߧէ? էէ?, ҧѧ!" I say it in fluent greenskin, and I recognize his garb along with his terror. That is an acolyte of the great shaman. (I found you! You''ve caused a lot of trouble for the Coalition of Nations, brat!) The goblin takes a pouch out of his rucksack, and sniffs at it. Disgusting. Some shimmering powder is left as residue on his nose. "VAMP?R!" The shaman screeches it, growing more enraged by the moment. He starts flinging many different types of magic in my direction. I dodge to the sides to the best of my abilities, despite me being a superior being to this green little shit, he is still chosen by the great shaman. Underestimating the magical capacity of mortals has been recorded to be a frequent demise of cocky undead. The goblin proves my assessment correct, when he never seems to slow with flinging spells. This is how Esstrey must have felt when she fought The Demon Lord. All my effort is being spent on evasion. The shaman, as powerful as he is. Is not very capable of forward-thinking. The goblin believes he has me backed into a corner, only for him to get hit by a death beam. The goblin managed to deploy a barrier against it at the last moment, but the dying skin on the goblin speaks volumes of how close it was. A lich emerges into the battle, the same one as before. It is only now that the shaman notices I have been leading him away from battle, away from his forces the entire time. He gets enraged, and starts hitting both me and the lich with a renewed offensive. Snorting the entire contents of his rucksack while doing so. I can hear his heartbeat speed up beyond mortal limits. He will not survive this battle regardless of the outcome, but before he can fully make use of it, he is decapitated from shoulder to side by a knecht. It had snuck up on him after they were victorious in the battle below. The knecht gives a short bow to both me and the lich, and takes his leave. I dust off my clothes a bit, and the lich approaches me. "I do not often enjoy things, but seeing greenskins die in such large numbers does bring a smile to my skull." Brynkarr was my assigned backup for this section, and has a large preference for offensive magics. "Thanks for the assist Sir Brynkarr, the greenskins are a greater threat than I had foreseen." Before we can prepare for the next wave, a new signature enters the battlefield. Another of the living approaches the land of the dead. Brynkarr is already charging up another spell in preparation. "Hold your fire, it''s a friendly." A harpy with light blue armband, and a crudely painted blue kettle helmet on her head. "I bring message from scary fish! Is for... uhhh... Lady Sucky!" I sigh, yeah, that sounds like Esstrey alright. As much as The Coalition has aspects of it that I would prefer that don''t exist. The sheer fact that Xygar has been telling me about Warden defectors joining his ranks is most baffling to me, and more than makes up for the... crude language my allies so frequently employ. "Yeah that''s me." Brynkarr is doing his best to hide his smile, but his lack of lips is not enough to hide it from me. I try to read the letter, only to be interrupted by a new noise in the distance. "WAAAAAGHHHH!!!!!" "Goddess dammit!" Chapter 32: War in the North The Imperial family has shown its true colors! Emperor Wilnius kills our children, and the children of our loved ones. Now his son declares his allegiance to the very foreign powers who we fight! May the central nobles breach his palace, and place his head on a pike! I''m sure this invasion of norththings is also at his hand. The leader of The North is one of these things, they must have called forth some foul ritual to bring the sky on our heads! Goddess preserve us! -Duke Northspire, at a speech in the city of Northspire POV c???????????????t??????????????????h???????y??????????????????d???????????r???????????r??????????????????????''???????????????g????????????????????????n?????????????????a????????? This world burns. It was inevitable. The materials are fighting amongst themselves. They do not realize the threat brought forth by the interdimensional connection to this planet. So far only wild ones have reached planetside, but no doubt will one of the more organized groups make their landfall. Only Lady Esstrey seems to have realized the extent of the threat, and I have kept in close communication with her to provide information about their combat strength. Lady Esstrey is not happy with the information provided so far, especially when I revealed that one of the corpses she found is from the organized groups. The squid-like face, and pink-purple skin could only be a mindflayer. Regardless of the threat these interdimensionals provide, the more current threat is Duke Northspire. His army has been building up for an offensive with the goal of splitting my forces up. My forces consist mainly of the native barbarian population, fiercely loyal to the being they had summoned forth to lead them. The Coalition of Nations has also provided me with additional forces. Quintillian pirates patrol the western flank, disrupting supply lines for the Duke''s forces. Mazurio''s contribution is a battalion of harpies to ensure communication are up to standard. Weapons have been supplied in great quantity by the Crystalspear enclave, which is still insistent that they do not have the manpower to engage directly, but will keep us supplied with the finest weapons. Eden''s royalist faction has sent a general with a small army to ''reclaim'' the north region of the Empire, this action keeps us supplied with a steady stream of defectors, and most importantly legitimacy to make takeover''s smoother. The lichdom sent one of their more experienced liches, he has been hard at work recycling the fallen wherever they are. The Duke''s forces are a much larger, but less capable force. His own men have great deals of experience against my Northmen, and even some against Quintillian pirates, but completely lack experience for dealing with the Empire auxiliaries, or the undead. The bulk of his army is made up of the Noble Alliance troops, units that have experience fighting the Empire auxiliaries, but lack against everything else. They have also been provided with a Dalkan mage core, and Theocracy clerical support. The Dalkans according to the Shadow Hand report have attempted to warn the Noble Alliance of the varied capabilities of our Coalition, but were dismissed due to poorly constructed arguments by the mages, who insisted that whatever Mazurio were to sent is the greatest threat. As usual, they are fools. The greatest threat isn''t any of my forces. With the lowering of dimensional protection upon this planet, spatial movement has become much more... cost-effective. The weakened borders of reality aren''t only being used by Xen wildlife to find some new grazing grounds. "Outer One, the preparations are made. The ritual stands ready for usage." A Northman informs me, and I don the sentient armor. I step into the center of the circle, surrounded by sacrifices, and chanting cultists. The circle lights up, and the light clings to my flesh, strengthening it beyond the usual. The real greatest threat at my disposal, is me. I rip open a gash in space, and slip to the other side, where I am met with... "W-what the fu-" A man loses his head, before he could finish his word my arm had already eaten his neck. His armor clatters to the ground, no doubt alerting others to my presence. I rush through the opulent hallways, searching for my goal. I run into more soldiers, who all take combat stances. One of them breaks a small gem, and a noise erupts through the hallways followed by the voice of a man with a distinctly Dalkan accent. "Dimensional breach in the upper mansion. Mansion personnel are to report to their commanding officers for suppression." The voice sounds calm and practiced. Despite the alarm going off the people here are anything but alarmed. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. One of the soldiers charges at me, but his life gets extinguished when I grab a hold of his leg. I eat my way towards his vitals through his leg while he screams the whole way. Another shoots a crossbow at me, and he is rewarded by the sight of the bolt embedding firmly into my mass. Puncturing me at this scale is useless, I estimate he would need to be able to fire two bolts per second to be able to start damaging me. The man looks in surprise at me absorbing his comrade, and the enchanted bolt. I fling the magic absorbed from the bolt through his upper body, and he collapses on the ground gurgling. The remaining two men who didn''t have time to act, decide the time to act is now. One of them flees back to where they came from, while the other hides in one of the rooms. I chase after the latter, and find him attempting to hide under the bed. Dragging the man screaming from under the bed, I decide to apply what I learned from Lady Esstrey. "You will [tell/talk/sing] about the one known as Northspire. You will do so [quickly/rapidly/with haste] lest I grow ravenous. Failure to do this will result in [death/final breath/being devoured]." I hold the struggling man close to one of my mouths, which gives him a lick across the face like I have seen canines do so often in the imperial capital. The man seizes up, and attempts to shield himself with his hands, but I grasp his hands with some tentacles, and pull his face close to mine. "My patience is [thin/fragile/weak]." I attempt to improve my odds by recreating Esstrey''s teeth right down to the detail, and bare them at him. She makes it look so easy. "T-the Duke is currently in his tent discussing the coming offensive! He pays for thirty percent of our wages, and there is a rumor going on that the Duke is planning to become the next Emperor! I don''t know anything more than that! Please don''t hurt me!" Most of that information is useless to me now. "Where is his [tent/forward operating base/hideout]?" Fortunately, most of it is not everything. "In the center of the camp!" The man is not telling something, but I do not have the time to figure out how torture works. I simply throw him aside, and I feel vibrations approaching my location. Multiple footsteps, roughly ninety kilograms each. I slip out of the nearby window, and crawl up to the roof. I look around the mansion, and find what I had been looking for. A large warcamp is before me, the Duke at the center of this few army strong camp. Troops are still heading to the mansion to intercept me, and a barrier is stabilizing space in this region. A normal interdimensional would have difficulty breaching this barrier at long distances. None of those features apply to me. I tear open another gash in space, and jump through. The other end has humans in armor, and cloaks standing around a map. I am greeted by the sight of a woman with the religious markings of the goddess, a wizard that reeks of experimental magics, and a great deal of humans in high-end imperial armor. Before any can make a move, I make the move first. Growing to a size more advantageous to me, I engulf the cramped tent. Tentacles move around rapidly, and are cut down almost as quick. Every tentacle that gets through claims a victim, turning the nobles into effigies on the spot. If they fear, they will not think clearly. "Helga! What is this thing? It isn''t like the others!" A large imposing man manages to scream it towards the woman in the chaos. "I don''t know, the signature is much more powerful than anything I have seen before!" Of all the looks of panic, there is one that stands out. One man looks at me with unfiltered hatred. "Its one of the false Emperor''s lapdogs! The norththing itself! This is our chance to end the northen'' menace!" His words themselves are a simple truth, containing no useful information, but the weight behind them is obvious. He is the highest authority here. Advancing on the frail man draws attention, and the wizard and cleric change from attempting to keep me from the nobles, to protecting what can only be the Duke. Instead of playing along with their little game, I redirect and slam into a group of nobles at the side. Their swords are swung around a few more times inside my mass, before coming to an abrupt end. Soldiers are also pouring in at this point, but I have my own tricks. I rip open another hole in space, and Northmen high on Halshroom emerge from them. Their reddened eyes see no friend, only foe. They charge into the largest mass of humans, and in the confusion I launch a piece of myself at the Duke. It is disguised like a projectile, but actually contains my true condensed mass. The mass I leave behind loses cohesion, and starts turning into nothing more but another wild beast. I myself reform to my usual self in midair, and before I can be intercepted the Duke''s head is in my hands. I am about to drop his head to the ground, but stop myself at the last moment. Beheading isn''t always lethal for materials, just usually. I rip open the last hole, and sacrifice some mass to block attacks from the cleric and mage. I throw the Duke''s corpse through the hole in space, and eat his head while staring at the duo. I will need to remember their faces to make sure to eat those later. Arriving back at my nest, one of the Northmen approaches me with a letter. "Outer One, a letter arrived by harpy a moment ago." I take the letter in my tentacle, and feel its contents I already know what the letter speaks of, and that it is a letter from Lady Esstrey. I do not need to read the letter like materials do. I do not need to open the contents to know the message Lady Esstrey has for me. I open the letter, and read. It is only nice to do so for a fellow interdimensional after all. Chapter 33: War in the central Empire - POV Eden Civillis, Emperor The world burns. It hurts to watch it all go. What I heard from the fronts of my allies is that the war goes well for them. Dalka is overrun, Northspire is neutered, and the east holds. My side was going well at first, with the river secured by mermaid strike teams, and heavy weapons coming in from Crystalspear things were good for a while. However, this wasn''t enough in the end. It was pretty obvious my position in the capital wasn''t one I could hold. Magnus stopped an uncountable number of assassination attempts on my life. Many of those attempts were desperate citizenry that feared the alliance, including the Empire''s former greatest enemies. It does gladden me greatly that while those people were many, those who sided with the Coalition were in greater count. "The path is clear mi''lord, those scouts you sent were right." No, what eventually destroyed our position weren''t the incompetent nobles or internal strife. "Excellent, from this point on we could use every bit of fortune bestowed upon us by either of the goddesses." The defense of Beirlitz quickly devolved into a disaster in the making when an organized attack came from squid-faced interdimensional forces. They rapidly took the walls while sending monsters into urban area''s. Many of my generals said that we could repel them with time and effort, but it would cost us dearly. Not to mention, the noble faction would not doubt use the moment to take the capital. So instead, I ordered the complete evacuation of the capital. There were protests of course, but the capital is its people. As long as the people survive, we can rebuild. The invaders seemed more than happy seeing us leave. "How is our caravan looking?" I direct the question to the governor of the capital, who is now in charge of the people on the move. It is fascinating to learn so much from nomadic travel from a short conversation with some greenskins. "Food is dwindling, but moving across the river and forest is keeping it plenty stable for now, and while spare parts are in high demand to fix the wagons, the storage of parts is still plenty higher." Good news on that front then. Once we began the evacuation, we took everything with us that wasn''t nailed down, and I also took command of the mermaid expeditionary force to cover our flank while also providing fish for the fleeing city. We effectively sacked Beirlitz, and if all goes well, my enemies will find a surprise left. "Your majesty, your order has been fulfilled successfully, glory to the Empire." A member of the Shadow Hand says it through the thin fabric of the wagon. He probably intended for the message to be only heard by him, but the thick walls of the palace are no more, and my council overhears it. I suppose the time for hiding has now passed. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Look! The capital!" One of the escorts points behind us as we ascend a small hill, from here everyone can see what happened there, and my council can see what I ordered. The Beirlitz palace can be clearly seen at this distance, especially considering it is on fire right now. Nearly all of our explosives were used to set traps at vital locations, and many of those bombs were incendiary. Invading forces would simply find themselves in a ruined city. A city that those damn squid-heads and the nobles can fight to the death over all they like. The governor and the general of the vanguard stare at me wide-eyed. Seemingly at odds with believing I could burn our own capital. "I think congratulations are in order for me, I am not only the first emperor to sack Beirlitz, I am also the first to raze the largest city in the world." It is fascinating to learn so much about nasty tricks from a short conversation with an otherworlder. I''m surprised that people still get shocked so easily from stuff like this. They know we are ''heading west to rally with allies'', which can only mean The Demon Lord. My other allies are dwarven bandits, mermaid pirates, barbarian cultists, and the undead. After a minute, the first few sparks of comprehension dawns on the men. I don''t want to be here to hear their questions that they themselves can easily answer, so I take the time to get a horse, and move closer to the river. The pirate ship sailing with us mostly carries supplies, and while its guns are mostly for show, what is below the ship is certainly the real threat. Moving closer to the water, a shadow appears from under it, and a mermaid carrying a crossbow emerges from the water. "Greetings Emperor Civillis, what do you need?" The mermaid looks around in suspicion. It really doesn''t take a genius to figure out they take after their leader. "What has Esstrey been doing to all of you to get such... disciplined troops? I wasn''t expecting pirates to have any guards, let alone a rotation." They have been patrolling the river even at night, like we get attacked every night from the river. "She mostly just has us locked up with some of the starving mongrels commonly found on the streets in Quintillius. I think she said something about making people desensitized to close quarters combat, but our ship bound comrades tend to jump at shadows from the training. They seem to think there is a threat lurking under the water wherever they are." The mermaid gives a large smile as she says the last bit, thoroughly enjoying seeing humans scared, no doubt. "Right, I''m going to go see if I can talk to someone more mentally stable." I move my horse away from the water, and slightly more to the center of the caravan. Some dwarven smiths have made mobile smithies in the wagons, and are constantly replenishing ammo for our foraging parties to use. "Hello lads, how goes work?" I pick up a small metal globe next to an anvil. Urist''s people sure make some weird stuff. "Careful yer majesty, yer nae wanna lose yer fingers, aye?" "Why? It doesn''t look too dangerous." It kind of looks like artwork of a fruit that was all the hype some years back among the nobles. "It be a bomb, ye push tha'' lil thingy right there and kaplooey!" I carefully put the death-fruit back where I found it. Alright, the sanity isn''t here either. I look back to my capital, the capital I burned down. Do I even deserve sane company? As I start to ponder the legitimacy of my rule, I am interrupted by the flapping of bird wings, and a harpy lands on top of a nearby wagon. "Massage for uhhh... Eddy Civilian? It''s from scary fish!" Goddess, I could use a massage right about now. Chapter 34: Hostile Spotted Battle of Myrmidens: Close Sultanate victory, Southern imperial forces scattered. Battle of Dalka: Decisive Coalition victory, Dalka destroyed as an organized force. 17th battle of the northeastern plains: Stalemate, Coalition forces and The Great Shaman remain tied up in combat. Battle of castle Streitzburg: Pyrrhic Alliance victory, Coalition forces fled the region and are reported to have joined up with existing groups. Battle of Northspire: Crushing Coalition victory, Alliance forces have been annihilated in the region and northern Coalition forces now move unopposed. Battle of Beirlitz: Decisive Coalition defeat, Coalition forces successfully withdraw their forces and raze Beirlitz on the way out. Battle of Crystalspear: Decisive Coalition victory, Mindflayer forces turned into calamari by use of new ''landmine'' weapon. 4th battle of Quintillius: Decisive Coalition victory, Elder Things navy sunk by mermaids killing their boats. Addendum: usage of the word ''killing'' is correct here, their boats are sentient. Eternal forest expansion halted by Mazurio dominance in the region. Theocracy withdraws to their own borders due to Mazurio threat. Central Empire being consolidated by noble forces. Northern Empire overrun by Coalition forces. Greenskins and Lichdom stuck in eternal war. Southern Sultanate ransacks imperial south. Jungles still a mess of civil wars. -Report on Esstrey''s desk in Quintillius POV Esstrey The Mad Queen of Quintillius This world has figured out world wars. A conflict so big, there is no one who isn''t feeling it. There''s some real art to destruction of this scale, sadly I''m no artist. I am a soldier, a mutant, a monster, a ruler, and one hell of a good shot. That last one isn''t bragging, the pirates are just that terrible with firearms compared to me. I gave the guns to a group of my most experienced men, and I am bringing along a few strike teams of mermaids with me as well. We head for the most strategically important location of this war. One not on any known map except for the scribbles of a two thousand old journal of a man who thought he could create ''the ultimate race''. Like that hasn''t been done before. "Cory, stop pointing the shotgun at your eye unless you want to lose that one as well." The pirate in question is looking down the barrel of the shotgun that used to belong to the most paranoid man on this planet. Speaking of paranoia, I have been training my blood magic in complete secrecy. The only ones who know are the ones that were present when I decided to pilot my body like a puppet. Even Lychta doesn''t know, because Mazurians apparently tend to speak to all Mazurians informally, yet Lychta has always been incredibly formal with me. She might not see me as a Mazurian, I don''t know why, and I don''t exactly care either. The old memories are useful, but not seeing me as a Mazurian is hardly grounds for betrayal. The surrounding men are something else in that regard. "Lady Esstre'' are ye sure t''was a good idea to give me men those blasters? I may be a upstandin'' individual of class, but me men might try an claim tha bounty on yer head, see?" Admiral Nosk looks with worry, he knows a surprisingly large amount about keeping discipline for a pirate. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Alright you sealegs, if anyone thinks they can claim my head with the guns I gave you, listen well. I suggest when you shoot me, you make it count. Better make it hurt, better make it count. Make sure I don''t get up. The things I''ll do to your sorry asses if I find out you failed to kill something at point-blank range while having the advantage of surprise is gonna be worse than what I do to traitors." The men look a bit shakily as I tower over them. Good, we aren''t swimming in bullets, and they shouldn''t be wasting valuable ammo. The ship casually goes onward to its destination. A small lake is near to it, where my forces will be stationed while I scout the location. The men have a slight downcast expression on them as we move. "Oi boozemonkeys listen up! Same goes for the mermaid teams down below, I know you can hear me. In my delicate little hands here is the journal of a two thousand old dead man, and the treasure left behind by his friend. His friend was someone from my world, which means that the deathsticks you hold in your hands equate to ancient treasures, and when this is fight ends you get to keep the guns if you shot all those bullets into enemies. The treasure in question holds an ''unliving weapon'' that is capable of summoning the very goddess to even the playing field with the fucking invader scum. This is gonna be something for the history books, and is sure to earn you a few rounds in the bar. Chin up lads, and give me an urah!" My short speech visibly invigorates the men. They grip their various weapons in determination. "URAH!" The men aboard the ship sound off. "I can''t hear you!" I gesture toward both the men, and the water. My command is obeyed. "URRAAAAHH!" The boat and the water synchronize in glorious unison.
Giving the men a quick wave of goodbye, I disembark on the smooth sand beach of the lake. I start calling for the words to draw the weapons to me. "Whiskey Echo Whiskey. Lima Alpha Delta." I repeat it a couple more time, until a hatch opens in some nearby grass. A robot reveals itself, showing significant wear from age, but moving no less slow. "" The ''friend'' of this Grand Scientist was a fucking roboticist, and he existed two thousand years ago. They both shared the dream of creating the ultimate life form, each with different ways of going about it. Were it not for an interdimensional invasion, they would have both succeeded in achieving their dreams. "Hold that thought comrade, I have more friendlies coming in for this." I sent out letters to the whole Coalition after all. Some Empire crossbowmen would already help me pull off a miracle here. "Esstrey! It is good to see you!" An oddly familiar voice sounds from the foliage, and a timid woman emerges from it. Ena Dalia. The teacher of the ''heroes'' sent by Dalka after me. "Dalia!" The robot next to me attempts to speak up, but I firmly grasp its appendage. My voice sounds cheery, and happy to see an old friend. My gun says otherwise, and the RPK lights up the teacher. My bullets phase out of existence in front of her, and a shimmering barrier reveals itself. The timid woman drops the antics, and looks at me incredulously. "How did you know?" Ena Dalia''s voice sounds cold, but I suppose shooting her on sight is a little colder. "You''ve been causing a lot of trouble for me, and would have gotten away with it too. I remember seeing someone with the exact same build at Quintillius, trying to round up the Broken Stars to do some weird shit. Not to mention Alicia mentioning that we are supposed to grow immensely in quite a literal sense by using magic, yet here you are looking as timid as ever. Now you are here, if you truly came to help to save the world, you would have brought along more than yourself." This is the kind of paranoia that is warranted. Her games end here. Chapter 35: The Witch and The Prophecy Those from a different dimension would arrive, and save people from untold cruelty. The ground will shatter as weapons will be brought to life. Dimensions once far away will close in like predators circling prey. The undead will know fear. The Mazurians will know urgency. The solar races will know pain. -The Prophecy, unredacted "I''m just going to get this up and out of the way. Why did you do it? Why did you break the spatial barrier meant to keep the bulk of interdimensionals away? Why the swarm of assassins at the school?" I calmly top off my gun while asking the question. I feel like I''ll need every bullet. "Don''t you see Esstrey? They are interdimensionals! They have a great deal of experience with interdimensional travel! We can return home, and no longer have to worry about this crazy world with monsters and dungeons!" "..." The world isn''t crazy, only its people. "You yourself told me to keep the kids safe, so I will. I always planned to. With this we can all go home, back to earth. Do you not miss your home?" "..." I''m not sure if there is a place for me to return to. "The attack on the academy was needed, and I''m sure as Spetsnaz you understand the importance of paralyzing enemy leadership before an invasion." "..." Keyword being importance, killing enemy leadership does more than make an invasion easier. "We can go home Esstrey, all you have left to do here is help me destroy this silo. The Mindflayers promised a safe ride back home for all of us. If we fight, we only endanger the children left. We don''t have to fight, you are not the enemy I want." "I am the enemy you deserve. Russia does not negotiate with terrorists, or their hostages." The RPK in my claws sings vindictive hatred in my hands, and Ena responds by shifting herself away. The robot next to me has already run off, no doubt taking a more defendable position for what is to come. Shifts in space appear along the treeline, the clearing quickly devolves into the ever familiar battlefield, as mindflayers enter through space, and leave through death. They launch multitudes of elemental attacks, their attacks rarely connect as most are stopped by a barrier of water. The attacks that do get through instead land on my scales, and fail to do much due to my sheer size. Regardless of their effectiveness, my position is still bad, and I do not need to fight alone. I slowly pull back to the lack, leaving a trail of corpses in my wake. Whenever I get the chance, I kill mindflayers with magic instead. This battle will be long, and I need all the ammo. Arriving at the lake, I hear the sounds of battle. Nosks''s cannons are working overtime to thin the hordes of Mindflayer. The fight ends at my arrival, but not by anything I did. I catch a flicker of Ena before my ship detonates, killing the whole crew aboard. Dead mermaids rise to the surface of the water, crossbows still held in their claws. Many Mindflayers were caught in the blast as well, disposed as pawns meant to keep my forces in place. "W-where the fuck is everyone?" I get no response, the lake is silent for now. "You all better not be dead!" Before I can check for any survivors, blasts of magic hit the area behind me, more Mindflayers emerge on the beach. "Alright, here we go!" Justice hits the squid faced fucks hard. Their confident attitude from seeing my forces in tatters, replaced with fear. "Kol da Nok! Bir lo zham!" Their guttural language is pain to the ears, I respond my silencing them. They want war, they can have it. I charge at a few of the isolated ones, and rip their limbs off. Turned into docile little things, I deposit the dying Mindflayers into my water barrier to get carried with it. Carrying the meat-shields, I charge from group to group in the forested area by the lake. Every Mindflayer I kill is either joining my barrier, or turning into a decoration found in a cannibal forest. By the time I reach the clearing with the silo again, I see a larger group of Mindflayers attempting to enter a hatch. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "I AM STILL ALIVE, YOU FUCKING AMATEURS!" My PKM rips into the unaware and aware with uncaring equality. Non-physical barriers are completely disregarded by the mass-produced pieces of lead. More portals appear, and I see Ena moving amongst them. Just as enemy reinforcements arrive, their reinforcements are hit with a wave of black, and leaves corpses behind. Kyla flies over the battlefield, raining down terror on the exposed interdimensionals below. A squadron of high ranking demons follow close behind her. Mindflayers come running out of the forest, and into the clearing, as another group falls to well aimed crossbow bolts. Eden joins the fight with a group of Empire elite''s, and the Mindflayers running from him quickly fall to aerial bombardment. Large flesh-beasts start appearing out of the portals now, and fire large blasts of magic at the flying squadron. Kyla gets hit in the side, and starts descending like a downed fighter jet. A few of her squadron fall out of the sky dead, and those who don''t follow her to the crash-site below. I gesture to Eden to head for her. I''ll handle the clearing. As I toss a few flashbangs at the flesh beast, I pull out the ballista sized crossbow from my back. The flashbangs go off, and all attackers are blinded. I had my eyes covered, and now my bolts tear through the flesh beasts. The bolts cleanly cut through, and their sheer size allows for multiple enchantments. The flesh beasts detonate, Urist''s enchanters being well known for their explosive enchantments. Looking at the hatch, I see that they broke it open at some point. They must be trying to head for the missile. Jumping after them, I make my way inside. The close quarters combat is no advantage to the squid-heads. The entire facility no doubt seems like one big death trap to the interdimensionals, who simply can''t read the directions scattered about. Regardless of the inability to navigate on the side of the mindflayers, the bots are even worse off. Many corpses of bots are scattered about, and their wrecks serve as a reminder that only living things can cast barriers. Most of the machines seems to be maintenance as well, but that hadn''t stopped them from putting up a fight. I reach the final door to the silo, and shred the Mindflayers attempting to breach the airlock. Behind me, I hear the voice of Ena. "You got way too far Esstrey, I should have just focused on shooting down the missile. Your ''friends'' have been causing a lot of trouble for my forces upstairs." I smile, and turn around. Found you. Ena recoils in fear at seeing me, I can smell her fear, and see her blood pump faster. Delicious blood. Of a different type of the blood covering my body, but blood regardless. The fuel of life. The delectable aroma is interrupted by multiple things happening. A more advanced robot jumps in front of me, and pushes me out of the way just as space gets shredded, along with the robot itself. A larger signature of space magic appears in a nearby hallway as well, and a shoggoth begins filling the hallway with herself. The attacks launched by Ena get interrupted by a counter-barrage of spatial magic. She attempts to retreat, but I leap into the mass of flesh that joined the fight. The inside looks like I am in space, surrounded by void, and the little stars that I know to be eyes. I quickly feel the void flesh shift around me, and I am launched. Barreling through multiple mindflayers who just entered the arena, I am launched with massive speed at my target. The crossbow and the PKM are left behind. Ena conjures spatial magic, and rips me to pieces. I am turned into chunky salsa, and Ena closes a blast door to keep Cathy at bay. The wounds across my body are numerous, normally I would bleed out within the minute. "Why did you make me do this? I never wanted you to hate me." Ena looks on me, and I reach a clawed hand out from one bleeding body to another. "I don''t hate you, only slavers get that privilege. I''m simply stopping a genocide." Ena''s eyes grow wide at the realization that my voice is still calm. It is too late for her, all the blood on both of us turns into tiny spears, and eviscerate her body. The blood of her troops covering me, my own blood, and her own wounds pouring out all dig into her. Her wounds explode, as my blood magic blitzes across her skin. Using my own body as a puppet again, I shove my claw into her chest, and pull out her heart. That''s one less problem in the world. Chapter 36: Red Star Rising God keeps those safe who keep themselves safe. -Russian proverb I rally with Cathy, who is now wearing her mockery of a Victorian-era maid outfit, and she opens a portal back to the outside. Specifically, a small wasteland of destroyed trees. Zombies patrols the area, and ignore us as we enter. Mindflayers, Mermaids, pirates, imperial elites and high ranking demons make up for the undead patrolling the area. At the center of the destroyed clearing, a group of survivors stand. Cathy and Eden among the living, along with an old man that raises another imperial from the dead. Everyone around him looks tense. "Jimmy! I''ll be damned! It is damn good to see you." The old man turns to face me in a small bit of panic, but his expression softens quickly. "Esstrey! I thought of returnin'' tha'' favor for breakin'' me out a while back. These fine folk'' just dunno how to treat the elderly." It looks like he''s doing much better than he used to. A robot joins our little camp, and somehow it manages to not look too happy. "" "A lot can happen in fourteen days, that would simply take too long." Eden looks at the robot in annoyance as he says that. He''s right... too much could happen if we waited for another fourteen days, not to mention the squids knowing where our ticket out of this mess is. I clench my claw, I know what has to happen next. "How long would it take to get me ready for space travel?" Eden and Kyla both look at me as I say it, they don''t like where this is going. Unfortunately for them, preventing genocide at all cost is part of the job description. "<2 hours for making the suit, 6 days for training, this facility was designed to be used by biological entities in the case of total failure.>" The robot makes some bleeping noises, and the others are now looking at me with suspicion. "Skip the training, I have had plenty of that." Before anyone can protest, I turn to them and continue. "Relax, I will be back. We need to handle this as soon as possible. Quick ride over to the goddess and back. No biggie." I glare at the robot while I say so, it better not say anything now. It doesn''t, and goes off towards the silo. I follow, and wave a quick goodbye to the others. They don''t need to know that the missile most certainly isn''t designed for two-way trips. Better for everyone that way.
It has been three days since liftoff, the bots got me a spacesuit, and were even kind enough to get me some... utilities. Anything a cosmonaut could use readily available. I left the PKM behind, but I am bringing my crossbow, and my shovel with me. The crossbow should help in poking this thing awake, and the shovel... is nice. There is also a large red flag I wanted to bring with. Americans planted one first back on earth, but with this the Americans will be roundly defeated in the space race. Them being second place isn''t enough to simply stop winning. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. My internal ramblings about Americans are halted by the sight of the moon, or what the people down below think is a moon. At closer inspection, it becomes clear that the world below was always living at the edge. The moon''s surface shifts constantly, and it consists of large tentacles. Closed eyes dot the surface all across, and the entire thing gives off a sleeping god vibe. That vibe is clearly the correct vibe, because that''s exactly what this thing is. It was a shame that I was right about my guess on the missile, since it doubles as a nuclear payload. Completely intended to wake the sleeping giant with extreme force. I move to the airlock, with everything I need on me. It should be enough to wake this thing up, and not enough to piss her off... hopefully. "Here it goes." If nobody can hear my nervousness, does it really exist? The airlock opens, and I rapidly drift to the ball of flesh. The missile keeps going into the distance, set to detonate far enough away that I won''t be hurt. Reaching the wriggling surface, I find a thick tentacle, and stick the pole into it, halting my momentum. "Take that Americans! Take that Jimmy! I have proven crime to be a universal constant by being the first pirate on the moon!" The missile disappears from sight, and detonates in the distance. I see light, but there is no noise. "Wake up Luna! Your planet needs you!" I launch attacks on the eyes of the planet, and it doesn''t take long for the eyes to open. At first, they all glare at me, but it quickly calms. I hear some odd noises coming from the planet, and I think I hear some very old language in there too, before the goddess switches to something more known. "֧ԧ ֧ ާѧݧ֧ߧܧѧ ҧܧ?" " The goddess says it with the voice of a babushka. "Another interdimensional invasion. Can you wipe out this one like you did two thousand years ago?" Instead of responding immediately, the eyes of Luna look around rapidly in... fear? She seems to be trying to find something, until some of her eyes are staring in a direction that does not exist. "You brought something dangerous here, fate-eater born of Void magic. Something beyond the greatest machinations of those who use Celestial and Void power." Luna reaches with a tentacle to me, and I try to dodge. My attempt is futile, as the tentacle holds me still, and another reaches for something nearby. The world begins to creak before-
Something snapped, and Luna lets Esstrey go. Whatever Luna was looking for is no longer attached to the mermaid. "It is too strong for me cursed fate-eater. I cannot allow it to say here any longer, it is too dangerous." It is clear what Luna is looking at now, she''s looking at You. Luna opens a tear in space, not one like the invaders. A tear, not one between dimensions, but outside of them. She reaches with a tentacle to Esstrey, clearly intending to shove her inside. "Wait! The invasion! You need to halt it!" Esstrey isn''t giving up without a fight, and she manages to deflect a few of the incoming tentacles, detonating one with blood magic after tearing into it with a claw. While Luna doesn''t seem to care, those tentacles do draw back. "You have my word fate-eater, I wouldn''t allow a bunch of arrogant squids to ruin my bed." With those words Luna slams Esstrey into the extradimensional tear. After Esstrey is gone, all her eyes go to You. For a small while, she just stares. Only one emotion is present in her eyes. Fear. Epilogue Vol. 1 ?The end had come, of that we were certain Carnage and pain, the world was hurting? ?The witch and the prophecy, fighting below Luna Vying for dominance, while one is a tuna? ?The world will tremble, The world will fear But today belongs to us, for we can cheer? -Excerpt from ''the song of the end'' On a small island, somewhere in the ocean north of what used to be Dalka, a dwarf sits in a bar, emptying another of his mugs. Outside the tavern, crime runs rampant as usual. Gangs intimidate local store owners, and fight for dominance between the scraps available. Pirates used to raid every ship in sight, now they mostly scavenge around, and occasionally set out to raid the southern lands. A tall scarred woman enters the bar, her horns scrape at the top of the doorway. The few that recognize her hastily get away, those who don''t look warily at the Mazurian. The changes that did hit the island have been noticeable, and not all for the better. Kids play outside, warned by local caretakers not to go to the beaches. The orphanages were organized by the local government, and many of the caretakers are Dalkan refugees with nowhere to go themselves. They warn the children not to go to the beaches, because that''s where captured slavers go. It isn''t actually dangerous there, but the mermaids who put the slavers there tend to hang around, and they aren''t the most social bunch. The tall woman sits across the dwarf, even if she can''t see him too well from the small wall of mugs he made. "Hey Urist, how is business?" He empties another mug before responding. "Tha usual, boomin''. South still be a shithole, an'' me boys make that place cleaner one barrel bomb at a time." Urist takes a good look at the woman across him. "Kyla, ya look like dung, have ye been sleepin'' well?" He shoves some of the mugs aside, some fall on the floor, but the bartender would rather not get too close to either of his costumers. "No, Cathy has been making weird noises with her rituals again. I try to ignore her rituals, but its hard to when she sometimes summons mindflayers." Urist almost spits out his drink at that, almost. "I thought the fuckin'' moon made sure those bastards couldn''t get ''ere anymore. Esstrey died for tha'' ya know." He swallows his drink properly this time, and already picks up the next. "She told me they aren''t from other dimensions, but stranded ones that went underground. I let her do it, because I really hate those squid-heads." Kyla''s voice grows cold at the last few words, and just then a group of mermaids in wheelchairs enter half-drunkenly, being pushed by some obvious thugs. They wave at the bartender, and order some drinks. "Ya know, Lychta been glorifyin'' Esstrey, made the lass look like some saint that came to save mermaid-kind." Kyla looks unamused at the dwarf at that. "Eden has been doing the same, although he more heavily weighed into how divine intervention was on his side, and one of his allies made direct contact with the Goddess." Kyla takes one of the mugs herself, and takes a deep swig. "It''s ripe lard tha'' is, Esstrey''s saintly will currently decorates tha'' beach." Despite his words, there is an undeniable warmth in Urist''s words as he says it. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The odd duo take a few mugs together, but Kyla seems to remember that she isn''t a very heavy drinker, and that she actually had something to say to Urist. "Oh yeah, the reason I came to find you was because Cathy found something. Relating to Esstrey that is." Urist chokes a bit on his drink, but still adamantly refuses to spit out a single drop. "Ya should''ve opened with tha'', ya willy!" "Like I said, I haven''t been sleeping very good. Anyway, Cathy said she couldn''t find a trail of Esstrey anywhere, not just that she got eaten by The Goddess or something, but more like the local interdimensional has no idea where someone went. You know how much Cathy liked Esstrey, and if anyone would know this stuff, it would be her. Cathy said that if Esstrey disappeared like she did, she could have gone somewhere instead of being dead. Cathy said it''s likely Luna shunted her off somewhere instead of killing her." Despite the many mugs of alcohol at the table, Urist still nods in actual understanding. "Aye, but tha'' just means she really is gone, least she ain'' dead again." Another empty mug joins the wall, and the bartender makes a daring trip to bring more alcohol to the dwarf. "I''m just surprised the Coalition of Nations hasn''t dissolved yet, I was sure the whole Solar-Mazurian rivalry would start all over again the moment the squids got fucked off." Kyla leans back, and yawns. "Lass, we awoke the damn moon, who turned out tha'' be Luna herself, stopped invadin'' squids, an'' t''was revealed it was tha'' second time this happened. Tha'' people responsible were all our enemies, an'' tha theocs still be in a civil war bout'' tha''. Folks want us ta stay united." The dwarf goes to down another mug, but stops himself for a moment, and reaches to a small pile of fish sticks. "When you put it like that I guess it makes some sense, by the way I thought you might want to know, but the kids from the summoning are all still fine. They were really shaken up about the whole ''hey, your teacher tried to sacrifice this planet to bring you guys home'' thing." "Well, let''s hope those lads won''t follow in her footsteps, a''d hafta'' blow ''em up otherwise. Since ya knew, I''m assumin'' ye been spendin'' more time with fancypants?" Urist very slowly munches on a fish stick, while staring at the mermaids who entered. Kyla''s face goes incredibly red at Urist''s words, but he doesn''t notice it as he''s too busy staring at larger fish sticks. "Y-yes, we made it official, our classroom is invited for it, you included of course." Urist''s stare at the mermaids is noticed, who at first look confused, then offended, then terrified. They know that anyone who could have been a friend of lady Esstrey had to have some screws loose. "Did Xygar evah figure out tha'' cancer thingy? He invested into tha'' a lot." Urist keeps staring at the mermaids who quickly signal for their escorts to leave the bar, the fish stick in his mouth and eyes on the mermaids the entire time. "Yeah, he did, at least most of it. He said in a seminar that the disease is too complicated to universally fix, and that it isn''t technically a disease, but that it has become treatable now. The old Emperor really is a gracious man, since he apparently arranged for funds to be allocated en masse for Xygar''s project." Kyla rubs her hands in nervousness, and Urist isn''t nearly sober enough not to notice. She has said a few things too much. "Ya know, ya nevah did say what ya used tha'' favor of tha'' old emperah for." Urist narrows his eyes at The Demon Lord, who tries desperately to hide from the gaze of the small man. "I-I may have asked the Emperor for a b-blessing of a sort. The main thing I had always wanted was peace, and he told me that this was the best way for a lengthy peace." Urist''s facial features are normally rather well hidden beneath his beard, but there is an unmistakable smile coming from underneath. "HA! Fancypants didn''t stand a lick of a chance! Where tha party at? Ah need ta know if I need tha bring bettah booze." The dwarf empties another mug, having finally finished his small snack. Kyla straightens herself, and stands with the confidence only The Demon Queen, and one of the leaders of the Coalition of Nations could stand. "We both felt it was only natural if we held it right here at Esstrey''s landing." Prologue Vol.2 Extradimensional space is... funky. If one were to imagine a portal to another dimension being much like portals are often displayed, like holes in space with a weird glowy ring to constitute a border of where the hole begins and ends, then extradimensional space would be that exact line. Or at least, that''s how it would look from the perspective of... materials. For those within extradimensional space, it is more similar to regular space in the conventional make-up than any self-respecting scientist would care to admit. To explain it completely, dimensional travel would be akin to walking through a museum, and admiring the artwork displayed there. The walkways are your portals, you don''t really interact with them, and they are really only built to get you from one painting to another, some paintings vary greatly, or could be much of the same. Some could be magnificent pieces of art drawn long ago, some could be simple glorified blotches of paint. Some of the artwork aren''t painting at all, but statues or abstract statements. Like usual, interdimensional travelers don''t tend to stay in one place. They have the option to go elsewhere, and will damn well use it. After all, if you aren''t stuck in the painting, why bother staying in it? Extradimensional space is none of that, it is the wall that holds up the painting, the floor below the statue. Always there, and there where the art isn''t. It isn''t so much like the walkways where they are there to facilitate the dimensions, but more like acting as a foundation that allows the art to be displayed to begin with. No one looks at the wall, no one admires the wall, and no one lives in the wall. Well... that last part isn''t entirely true, Esstrey is currently living inside the walls. She hadn''t been needing to eat, because things don''t exactly change in extradimensional space, so that bite she took from one of the squid faces? She still has bits from the calamari looking bastard drifting around in her stomach. The Goddess slapping her into this place, or rather out of real space? Yeah, she still feels a bit of a mark left behind by that nasty old lady. Luckily, extradimensional space consists of a sort of semi-solid material. A solid that has much less density than water, so she is kind of feeling like that old duck from western comic books that swims through his ocean of coins. Or a mole that has found particularly soft dirt. The area does this without actually having any material there, just like space is vacuum in its base stage, extradimensional space is made out of the weird non-material. There is also some life here, usually in the form of fish or odd bugs that seem to ignore each other and Esstrey, but frankly a desert would have more life than this place. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Esstrey did try eating some of the weird looking fish, but she couldn''t pierce their scales. That most likely has to do with the whole ''nothing changes in extradimensional space'' part, because it certainly didn''t feel like the scales were too tough. Eventually, after doing some more tests on the fish, she let it go. It quickly swam off after that, and actually entered one of the dimensions. Which isn''t particularly hard to do around here. The reason Esstrey hasn''t entered another dimension yet? It''s more of a matter of why she would rather than wouldn''t. Most dimensions aren''t looking too bright, or are looking a little too bright with their supernova''s. She did see a few that were vaguely familiar, one where she even saw her old mother Russia. She would have gone there... if everyone on that planet wasn''t clearly eating the faces of others... Unsettling corruptions of realities aside, swimming through extradimensional space is pretty comfortable, not to mention therapeutic. It kind of reminds her of the times it was her turn to clean up the barracks, calm sweeping while no one bothers you. Esstrey doesn''t even know how long she''s been here, time and distance are all very relative when you are quite literally not located on any maps. Esstrey''s calm swimming is interrupted by some sort of deep visceral rumbling, and as she looks around spots a massive worm circling her position. This would be the biggest life form she encountered by far, it must be the size of a whole building! And any creature capable of growing large in extradimensional space must be an impressive predator. Esstrey fires her massive crossbow at the worm, testing its skin. Alas, the worm is as recipient to change as the smallest fish here, and the bolt deflects off of it like it''s hitting a T-90. It doesn''t even detonate, since the bolts used to rely on her mana to initiate any magical effects, and there is no mana in extradimensional space. The worm doesn''t appreciate the attempt regardless, and launches multiple... things at Esstrey. She deftly dodges most of the black tentacled projectiles, but one that would have been a near miss extends its sharp tentacles instead! It grapples Esstrey, and throws her off balance by sheer force of speed. Esstrey tries to throw the thing away, but it has embedded itself into her skin, somehow bypassing her scales totally. There is no evidence of damage being done to her, as if her skin is merely a suggestion when it comes to hampering its reach. It quickly crawls over her head, and digs into Esstrey''s upper spinal column. This isn''t a predator! It''s a parasite! Esstrey attempts to dig it out of her, but her skin works against her in the situation. " է֧ ֧ҧ ܧا ӧӧ ӧ ֧է!" Esstrey talks big, but she''s panicking. She has no way to deal with a non-material foe, but there is something she can do. She has plenty more experience in the material plane than the blasted parasite, so she will face it on her terms instead. I will rip off my skin and rip out your heart! Esstrey digs into the weakest looking barrier between her and real space nearby, speed is of the essence. Chapter 37: Struggle for Dominance Somewhere far away on a planet that isn''t known for many things other than some upstart creatures causing trouble once in a while... which is every world, there is an unnoticed swamp completely devoid of the fun stuff in life, like extradimensional parasites, transmogrified spec ops... or dimensional rifts. That changes now as a rift opens, and out comes the largest mermaid anyone will have ever seen, barring perhaps some aquatic gods themselves. Cursing up a storm, Esstrey immediately feels the mana in the surrounding air, and begins tearing at her own back to get to the blasted little thing digging into her spine. [The Central Governor welcomes the- "ݧ ֧ է֧ާ!" The mermaid screams out in a deep, guttural accent. She completely ignores any other stimuli as she''s desperately trying to tunnel toward the cursed being stuck inside her. Fuck you eat shit! Her attempts are in vain, whenever she tries to grab at the black carapace of the parasite, her hand cleanly phases through it. Despite it''s immaterial properties, it seems to have no trouble holding on to her, it hasn''t even damaged any of her flesh. Regardless, the parasite isn''t very appreciative of Esstrey''s attempts at evicting it from its new home, and hijacks the nerves in her spine to stop her from flailing about. Esstrey falls to the ground, completely paralyzed by whatever the creature did. If it can hijack her nerves, her brain must be part of that process. She can feel the thing crawling up higher, trying to make its way upward from the spinal cord. Fortunately for Esstrey, and unfortunately for the parasite, she isn''t disabled by such petty concepts like ''oxygen loss'' ''major back injury'' and ''total body takeover''. Her blood is still within her body, and as such firmly within her sphere of influence. The parasite recoils as it is suddenly assaulted from all sides, blood nearest to it begins to explode into sharp spikes. Some of it actually catches it off guard before it can safely shift out of space, the nerves no longer respond, as they lack the blood to fuel them, and as Esstrey gets up from the disgusting swamp, she begins shoving heaps of trashy mud into the open wound that is her backside. If she has to inflict Tetanus on this thing to win, she will. The parasite tries to go on an offensive to hijack the brain, taking it over would allow it to endlessly pilot the body, but it''s clear that that''s going to be difficult. Esstrey in turn notices it slithering further toward her brain stem, and start withdrawing all her blood away from the parasite, while forming a wall of retaliating blood between her brain and the rest of her body. Both sides bet their all on their plans, Esstrey wants to starve it out, and the parasite seeks to break through her defenses. Even its extradimensional nature would ensure difficulty in bypassing those defenses, neither side is sure that they can win, only that they can destroy the other. The parasite could easily kill Esstrey right now, but that would mean its own demise. Esstrey could potentially kill the parasite, but that would most likely result in her own demise. She can''t even properly circulate blood to her brain right now like when she did when she was beheaded, only lasting on the small reserves she has. It is with this conundrum, when two people have the power to instantly destroy the other, both decide reasoning and empathy trumps overwhelming force. "I propose a truce." The voice comes from Esstrey''s own mouth, but it barely moved at all. The parasite is speaking through her throat and mouth, using none of the vocal cords. The sound of the voice is not unlike that of an undead lich. "Give me back my limbs, and you have a deal." As Esstrey agrees, she feels the influence of the parasite recede a bit, and hands over control of her nerves back to her. Esstrey for her part releases her hold over her own blood circulation, and has it go to all corners of her body yet again. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Stretching from the internal battle, and fixing some internal issues relating to it, Esstrey finally gets her bearings. She looks around the swamp, and unsurprisingly doesn''t notice anything too special. Although she still wonders where the fuck she is. [The Central Governor welcomes the foreign entity to [The Veil]] Esstrey looks around her as the message reverberates inside her head. "Oi parasite, was that you? Did you hear that?" "I felt something, it is native. It knows." Esstrey doesn''t fail to notice that her new roommate has some odd knowledge, considering she''s pretty sure that thing was birthed by the big worm in extradimensional space. "Knows what?"
Name: Esstrey
Race: High-ranking Mermaid
Ballistic Mastery Expert Blood Mage
Expert Aqua Mage Parasite
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Esstrey looks at the sloppy piece of coding work, this was made by both a very powerful and incompetent existence. Although... it shouldn''t know these things. Sure, she can argue it doesn''t do much to describe her, but it still got things right it shouldn''t know. Least of which being her name, she never even used ballistics or water magic here, how does it not only know about her ability, but also correctly described blood and water magic being roughly equal? What does some of this stuff even mean if it''s meant to describe her? [High-ranking Mermaid] [This one is a Mermaid of a higher caste, there are many varieties, but it can always be guaranteed in the case of beast-kin that a higher caste means better capabilities.] [Ballistic Mastery] [This one has extensively trained in the art of ballistics, this trait increases overall handling with ballistic weaponry.] [Expert Blood Mage] [This one has been using blood magic for years, this trait increases the holder''s affinity for [Blood] magic.] [Expert Aqua Mage] [This one has been using water magic for years, this trait increases the holder''s affinity for [Water] magic.] [Parasite] [This one is plagued by one or more parasites, a powerful doctor is needed to get rid of any parasite. Unless user wishes otherwise, or the [Parasite] has a specific trait for it, data about this creature remains hidden. An appraiser of high enough strength is always needed to identify that this user has this curse. The information floods into her mind, with even more incorrect things in it. Esstrey hasn''t been using magic for years, and the last two entries just... disappeared. Not to mention it referring to the parasite as a curse, curses involve magic, and the parasite was born in a magicless environment. Deciding that this Central Governor is clearly malfunctioning, Esstrey simply resolves to focus on more material matters, it''s not like she can rely on the extradimensional parasite to forage for some food around here. Esstrey quickly finds her target of surprise foraging in the form of a shack with a busted open door, and signs of recent struggle. Chapter 38: Chicken Soup A creepy shack, made from rotting wood, stands alone in the swamp. The shack is rather large for what appears to be a lone dwelling, indicating that the owner has a profitable hobby for being a hermit. That wealth has clearly not gone unnoticed, as the door has been busted down by thieves, and smoke is still rising from the chimney. It is unlikely that if the thieves were successful in subduing the owner, that they have left in time. Esstrey is about to make sure that any thieves left will never leave again. Carefully entering much quieter than any being as large as her has any right to, she scans the poorly lit room for occupants. A dead harpy... no, the corpse on the ground has arms as well as wings, and their head is that of a bird. A dead [Avian-kin] according to The Central Governor lies on the ground, fresh blood still pooled around the corpse. Loud rummaging is coming from two places in the shack, and as the figures come into the light, as they make contact with Esstrey they freeze up. Two dog-like creatures stare at the massive mermaid, and she stares back. Then one of the [Kobold]s begins to speak in a drunken Bavarian accent. "Piswijf..." The magic of the old translation spell has clearly worn off, or simply doesn''t work here. Or perhaps both. Dried up wench... "Piswijf inderdaad, dat tyfusding is enorm!" The bandits hurry to stand together and have their crappy spears point at the latest intruder. Dried up wench indeed, that fucking thing is huge! Esstrey simple smiles at the gibberish of the bandits, and positions herself wide to block them from leaving. No one leaves the shack today, not alive. The dogs whisper some more between each other, and charge at the mermaid blocking their path. Esstrey countercharges them, and slams one to the back of the shack with her tail, while clawing the other. The one that was clawed falls screaming to the ground, as massive rends have nearly torn him to shreds. The fact that he''s still alive is impressive. The one that was thrown back rises to his feet, a bit concussed. As his vision clears up, he readies himself to go again. Esstrey repeats the first trick, intent on turning them both into screaming whimpering wrecks bleeding on the floor. Her plan is halted when the remaining dog gets a thick layer of stone as armor just before the strike connects. The [Kobold] winces as the strike tears off chunks of stone, and he staggers from the sheer force of the attack, but manages to remain standing. Esstrey is surprised, some random bandit knows magic? Being able to make rock armor is a rather high-end magical usage of earth magic, and it should be especially hard to do under pressure unless you want to end up crushing yourself. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Esstrey''s musing''s get interrupted by the spear of the [Kobold] striking at her tail, but due to the shape and hardness of the tail it gets deflected. She quickly counterattacks by grabbing the dog by the leg, and squeezes. The dog screams in pain as the rock that used to protect it is currently digging into its legs, and to finish him off, she uses him as a flail, crushing the floor with him. He falls unconscious on the spot, and his spear clatters to some corner of the shack. Now that the thieves are dealt with, Esstrey can properly analyze her surroundings. The dead [Avian-kin] on the ground is wearing some odd clothing that would often be worn by evil witches in stories, which frankly just looks a bit ridiculous. The entire shack is lined with bottled ingredients, and a large pot stands in the center. The pot is still on top of a fire, and it seems to be just boiling water. The roof is rather high up, which is the only reason Esstrey can even stand up straight here. There is also a hatch, which seems to lead to a rather creepy basement. Not for it seeming to be dark and abandoned, but more because it looks like the basement of satanic cultists. An obvious ritual area dominates the center, and there are even restraints down here for visitors. Going back up to the shack itself, she begins grabbing the dogs and carrying them downward. One is completely still but alive, the other is still writing in pain while whimpering. She begins to chain the dogs up downstairs, and the concious one mutters and whimpers in what is obviously begging for his life. Esstrey doesn''t speak his language, and he doesn''t speak her language, but that doesn''t mean she can''t get a message across to shut him up for a bit. "I wonder if the lady upstairs begged for her life before you guys killed her, I wonder if you even gave her the chance to." Esstrey points in the direction of the corpse as she says it calmly, and the dog seems to understand as all hope seems to leave him. With that done, Esstrey heads back upstairs and begins taking stock. If the thieves were desperate enough to attack a magical chemist, there must be some valuable potions or ingredients here. Its not like the witch will miss them. Esstrey''s stomach gnaws at her as she''s checking. Right, she hasn''t eaten in... damn how long was she even out of the dimensions? Things don''t change in extradimensional space, but that doesn''t mean she was meant to be there for very long. Who knows what kind of effects such extreme displacement could have on the body of a material. Esstrey tries to find some edible things, but the pantry of the witch was severly lacking. She looks around for anything to eat, and her eyes go over the corpse of the [Avian-kin] next to the cooking pot, which still has boiling water in it. "I wonder if avians taste like chicken..." Chapter 39: The Uneasy Truce The host has a voracious appetite, that being an appetite at all. The parasite didn''t know anything about the material world, but the concept of destroying something, and then break it down to its base parts is a novel one. The body of the host uses those broken down components to fuel itself, which is a necessity in material space. The father never spoke of the material realms much, other than that they are filled with dangerous things that could give even him trouble. The parasite has to acknowledge that the host knows much more about the material realm, and the more the parasite learns, the more it sees how much the host has its knowledge ingrained by time. When it faced the dog-like scavengers, every move it made was made to intimidate. The host stretched her facial muscles to reveal her teeth, which should easily pierce most things in the material realm. A threat, a simple one. The host also stood as tall as possible all the time, despite the muscles in her tail not being meant for this purpose. The parasite didn''t know why the host was being more careless than usual with her own body, until a spear deflected off of her tail. Had she stayed closer to the ground, the scavenger might have been more inclined to hit a less well protected area, or even the host''s precious cranial cabin. Then the parasite watched as the host captured the scavengers, and from what the parasite could tell from the nerve connections, done so with the intent of learning their language, and interrogating them. The reading of surface level thoughts went undetected, confirming the parasite''s theory that while the host''s control of their bloodstreams is absolute, they are completely deaf to the other workings of her own body. Right to the point of not knowing something is happening within her if the nerves aren''t telling her. Expanding further into the host wasn''t trivial, but it was completely unnoticed. The parasite had to be careful not to trip on any blood vessels as it expanded its influence throughout the body, and the nerves wouldn''t tell the host anything if the parasite didn''t want them to. The parasite was so absorbed in expanding, it didn''t even notice what was happening until the chicken soup entered the system. The host had appropriated some carrion, and began the process of breaking down the components. The parasite itself was eager to try this in its own manner, and started siphoning resources acquired by the host. Turns out, the blood carries over these nutrients rather quickly, and in the parasite''s haste accidentally devoured some of the blood cells itself. This act didn''t go unnoticed by the host, but she didn''t seem too inclined to punish the parasite either. As the parasite fed on the resources with calm for the first time in its short life, it wondered why the host didn''t greatly value the blood cells if it was its main weapon. As it traced the cells to the source, it was surprised to find that the blood cells were produced by a spongy material within the bones. It was quite interested in this process, as the host''s weakness could easily lie in the source of its strength, but the bone marrow was heavily defended. Thick streams of magically enhanced blood flowed around the bones, along with an unusually high amount of the security blood cells. It has frequently witnessed these cells combat other tiny foreign lifeforms that feed off the host as well. The parasite decided to leave these factories alone, but they wouldn''t go unobserved. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The host is now asleep, put to an unconscious state by the grueling effort of staying conscious in material space. The parasite can move much more freely now, but killing or hijacking the host completely is out of the question. It will die without the host as it lacks the knowledge and the strange power that gives the host greater control over its own blood than even the parasite, and hijacking it will fail as the host demonstrated it only need the brain to stay functioning to fight using this. Rising the body to its tail, the parasite quickly notices that movement like this is exceptionally strained, maybe this body wasn''t meant to move on this terrain? She certainly seemed more mobile in extradimensional space. It matters little, the parasite may not have magic, but it has other tricks in its arsenal. It''s long legs phase out of the back of the body, and extend to the ground. Eight shiny black legs materialize their points as they touch the floor, and push the body to suspend it in the air slightly, the body is too large to stand up properly, but the force it can exert like this is enough. The parasite will need information in the no doubt short time the host sleeps, and it knows just where to get it. Opening the hatch to the lower levels, the parasite carries the body to the prisoners collected by the host. "JAN WORD WAKKER ER IS IETS MIS MET DE VIS!" The loud noises made by the prisoners could potentially wake up the host, if the ears weren''t currently non-functional. No nerves will be reporting anything to the sleeping host on the parasite''s watch. JAN WAKE UP THERE''S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE FISH! The parasite approaches the restrained prisoners, very happy that they are restrained right now. It makes things so much easier. The parasite gets close to one of them, and quickly jabs its tongue through the cranium and into the brain. This should be the place where it houses the memories, and thus information on this material realm. The other screams at the sight of the extradimensional parasite''s tongue. It''s a long, barbed and flexible thing, meant to pierce even the thickest of hides to extract whatever it wants to. Soon enough, both of the dogs now lie dead on the ground. The parasite returns to the cabin, and references the recently acquired information with what the host has been doing. As expected, the host has done excellently so far considering she doesn''t know the local languages, a little too well, perhaps. The parasite crawls the body to a nightstand with a book in it, in the book are various notes the host managed to write down. Geographical location, local forces and their strengths, potion recipes that she managed to decipher, and notes on a certain parasite with its potential weaknesses. The parasite destroys the notes on itself, careful to not damage the rest, as incomplete as it is. It must have the host as focused on the locals as much as possible if it wants to take over one day after all. Chapter 40: The Little Things in Life Waking up from the best rest Esstrey had in a long time, she immediately regrets taking her nap. Her latest real estate acquisition is absolutely trashed, as if a giant spider clumsily strode in and knocked most things down. Roots and mushrooms are scattered all over the place, and a jar full of glittering powder smashed to the floor as well. The powder doesn''t look dangerous, so Esstrey decides to check up on a more important matter first. Descending into the basement, she finds that her captives have been utterly slaughtered, with their heads looking drained of fluid. She quickly has some blood from the corpses flow through to the heads, and finds that all the brain matter is missing. If Esstrey knows anything about her situation it''s probably the parasite gathering information while she was asleep, since it didn''t kill her when it very much could it seems to be planning something else. Heading back upstairs, she checks through her notes on the thing, and finds that as she predicted, it did indeed destroy the notes she had on it. Such a shame for the parasite that this notebook was a decoy set up to discover more about it. Pulsing a wave of blood magic through the shack, she finds the true notes still carved in blood beneath the nightstand. Using a nearby jar of blue liquid (which is apparently blood) she carves more information in the nightstand. It wiped the notes on it indiscriminately, regardless of language used. That means it must have gotten some sort of imprint on basic knowledge Esstrey knows, but it didn''t know more advanced things like the nightstand carving. Furthermore, it didn''t wipe anything else. Whether they were things as trivial as the surrounding area, or as vital as what the witch had in storage. Esstrey fondles a small bag of magnesium hydroxide as she considers that last part. She knows a few more applications of this that don''t involve curing heartburn or used as a laxative. Determined to fully translate the books, she picks up another recipe book of the witch, and opens it to where she left off. That''s odd... it seems... readable somehow. Combine bloodroot with the leaves of dying kraz fig tree to create cough medicine, boil said cough medicine in slime extract and add dried pieces of the heart of any animal to create a basic health potion. Many more recipes that are simple to make are contained within the book, and the title of the book also becomes readable to Esstrey. ''Potions for Beginners, by the Witch of the Swamp'' is the name of the book, and is most likely written by chicken wings or her predecessor. Esstrey''s research is interrupted by a life signature approaching the hut. Judging by the streams of the blood vessels, most likely a child. 1 meter in height, long snout, short and stocky build, and cold-blooded. Esstrey keeps reading through the books as the unknown creature closes the distance, contact will happen at any moment now. At some point, the child runs faster toward the shack, most likely seeing the busted down door the [Kobold]s made. Esstrey grips her shovel loosely as the creature stumbles inside, it looks like a small lizardman, with some more drake-like features than is usual with their kind. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Great witch! Brood mother sick! Me wants brood mother not to die yet!" The small thing speaks in warbled tones of a different language, but she can still understand the lizard. "What the hell are you?" Esstrey asks the lizard, and it just now sees Esstrey properly. The titanic mermaid towers far above it, and her tone is commanding. Esstrey doesn''t know how she understands the lizard, or why she can talk to it, but such questions are for a different time and place. "Me [Kobold]! Me descendant of mighty [Dragon]! Me Kuda!" Kuda states it with impressive pride, considering the mermaid currently looking down on the ''great descendant of mighty dragon''. "[Kobold]? Again? Really? How many damn [Kobold]s are in this place? You know what, don''t answer that. Here''s a better answer, the witch you are looking for is dead." Esstrey returns to reading her book, and gestures for Kuda to leave with her claw. "Where is body of witch?" Kuda doesn''t get the hint and starts looking around the hut. "I ate her, now get lost kid." Esstrey gets mildly annoyed, but quickly distracts herself with the contents of her book. "You ate witch? That means you witch now! You cure mother! And Kuda not kid! Kuda great hunter in tribe!" Esstrey closes the book she was reading with an annoyed look on her face. "Such confidence, to be making demands of me. I thought you were a kid because you are so small and incapable of recognizing the situation, but you really are an adult, aren''t you? Fine, bring your mother over, she sounds like an excellent test subject." Esstrey has a predatory smile plastered on her face as she looks at Kuda, who seems wholly unaffected by the attempted intimidation. "Yes, yes! I get mother now!" Kuda is still oblivious to the situation, and still very small. Her little clawed feet make rushed tapping noises as she runs out of the shack in some random direction away. "Am... am I not intimidating anymore? Have I lost my touch?" Esstrey''s pondering gets interrupted by a stab of pain coming from her tail, she swiveled around rapidly with a furious look on her face. A small black cat that had embedded itself in Esstrey''s tail sees that it has been spotted, and flees away into some dark corner of the hut. Esstrey for one, is simply left wondering multiple things happening during that entire debacle. The [Kobold] bandit was capable of advanced magic, Kuda was completely unaffected by her intimidation attempt, and now a cat somehow managed to approach Esstrey completely undetected even when Esstrey can sense blood. What kind of dimension did she step into that the only thing that makes some sense is the one she''s carrying in her spine? Chapter 41: The Infernal Host Esstrey is reading through the books the witch owned that detail various magical concoctions, rituals and items. There are notes at specific items detailing what she wanted to use them for, a container for magical power that could work as a bomb, a concoction that muddies someone''s mind and makes them susceptible to suggestion, and a... peculiar item considering the other items on the list. A slime core, one apparently capable of sapience and being attuned to a rather uniquely described element. The way of acquiring it simply states ''trade with basement'', but the only thing that was in the basement was a goth''s attempt at contacting the beyond. Esstrey rethinks on that last thought, in a world of magic such a thing could easily be real. Magic is a conceptual force, and such attempts would bear actual fruit as long as the intent behind it is large enough. Filtering her searches in the book down to rituals, it doesn''t take long for her to find the symbolism in the book that matches the basement. Details on contacting what seems to be organized demons called The Infernal Host. Esstrey compares the section and time of writing with the slime core and The Infernal Host. Quickly establishing a timeline at which the witch did things, Esstrey finds out with some small investigating that the witch somehow had contact with The Infernal Host who had offered her the slime core. Considering most pages afterward are research on what demons value, and subsequently how to acquire powerful ritual reagents, it goes to show that she never succeeded in acquiring everything needed for payment. Esstrey is about to dismiss the project entirely, as she herself is certainly not planning to die trying to appease actual demons, when she finds one of the powerful reagents acquisition plan. Kidnap a royal, or a high-ranking noble, and bleed them dry. It details how, at a certain point, the blood of royalty becomes valuable to the divine and the infernal. Of course in a world of magic the mandate of heaven would be a tangible thing, Esstrey can''t help but sigh. In a world with heaven and hell, churches that suppress the influence of their opponents by resource denial is the logical next step. The witch never even considered keeping a royal or high-ranking noble captive for long-term blood harvesting, the tracking methods of their counter terror operations are most likely rather well-built. In the field of royalty, Esstrey does have a few advantages over the witch, that being that Esstrey is royalty herself. She scoffs at the thought, everyone praises monarchs acting like a benevolent ruler is the norm. Feudal scum. Regardless, everything is a weapon if wielded right, and she would be a fool not to exploit such an obvious target. Granted, buying out the demons entirely is probably a bad idea. Wouldn''t want anyone to get any ideas that Esstrey might be undefended royalty ripe for the taking after all. Making the necessary preparations, she begins making her way to the basement. The books she found on the topic indicated demons being extraordinarily tough, and only magical attacks having any effect on them. Esstrey brings a few jars of blood, her crossbow, and some of the heat-resistance potions. The demons along with their magical toughness prefer to use fire magic, and according to the witch ''never deceived when it came to their magical aptitude''. When Esstrey came to the section of how to contain the demon during summoning, or otherwise prevent it from trying to harm the summoner, she found that where the protection measure should have been that that specific section was blanked out. Erased on purpose, perhaps the witch leaving a nasty surprise for anyone going through her stuff without her supervision. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. No matter, Esstrey is confident in doing it the old-fashioned way. The corpses of the dogs are still in the basement, and they will now serve another purpose than fertilizer. Esstrey lets her blood magic take a hold of the corpses, and they rise with a savage and hungry look on their faces. Ghouls. They will be adequate as backup. Ordering the ghouls to pour their own blood in the pentagram, it begins to quickly glow with an eerie red light. Esstrey loads her crossbow and points it above the pentagram, expecting a visitor any moment now. A red clawed hand appears in bright light at the center of the formation from the ground, as if trying to pull itself up from a hole. Fire envelops the formation for a moment, and a scantily dressed woman with red skin and horns stands at the center of the circle. The creature spreads out its bat wings, and opens her mouth before she opens her eyes. "?My my? someone is being daring by doing a summoning without prot- what?" The demon locks eyes with a giant mermaid pointing what amounts to a handheld ballista at her, two dog-ghouls flank her on either side with hungry looks on their faces. "Hello redskin, you and me are going to have a nice long chat about business opportunities. I recommend you put on some nicer clothes, rather than looking like a stripper." The demon quickly recovers, and switches to a suit that wouldn''t be out of place on Wall Street. "That''s odd, our system has you tagged as a man, I didn''t know I would be visiting one of the famed witches instead. You guys don''t usually summon us." A quick word and a sway of the hips is usually enough to convince many to lower their guard around demons, but not for this one, not today. "Cease the chitchat, I have brought you here for a deal on this item" Esstrey brings up the book with the picture of the slime core drawn on it with one claw, while keeping her other claw firmly on the crossbow. "Oh? That one? I don''t think you could afford it. It''s a rather important item, after all." The demon pretends to look offended by what is practically a window-shopper to her, but is clearly entertained by the idea that this massive mermaid could have some tricks up her sleeve. The demon is proven right, when the mermaid puts down two large jars filled with blood. A quick inspection reveals it to be [5th Tier Royal Blood], the blood of a powerful royal. The demon launches a quick inspection on the mermaid, but doesn''t find much special other than... a peculiar creature acting as her spine. It feels like a space-attuned monster, but is clearly something different. It''s no big miracle that this mortal managed to capture herself such a large quantity of excellent ritual material, what''s the real miracle is one interested enough in the deal to contact demons. "Quit staring at the blood and hand over the core, then we can all be on our merry way." The demon regains her composure, and thinks to herself for a short moment. No doubt trying to think on whether to betray the person she''s dealing with at this moment. "Fine, by the way, my name is Zha''klos. If you ever need the services of The Infernal Host again, do not hesitate to call me using my name." The demon reaches into the ritual circle, and pulls out a gem covered by rock, the slime core. An ally truly only limited by one''s creativity. "Well, Zha''klos, I''m Esstrey. It has been a pleasure doing business with you. I look forward to further fruitful endeavors." Esstrey shoves the jars forward as the demon hands over the slime core, both parties being somewhat surprised the other side stayed true to their word on the deal by the end. By the end, Zha''klos has gotten herself great prestige with a deal like this, while Esstrey doesn''t even try to hide her greed as she takes a hold of the rock. Chapter 42: Doctor, What Big Teeth You Have! In a lonely shack, out in the middle of... some godforsaken swamp. A large pot boils with an alchemical concoction. The person stirring the pot can hardly be called a person, a rumor has it that thing used to be human. She was already ruthless before being thrown to the storm, now time and hardship has eroded most morals. The death of her team, the death of most of her ego, the death of the skin holding her head and torso together, all of them factors to build the monster that now inhabits these worlds. She is just done consorting with one of the most vile sentient races known to the worlds, demons. For many, meeting a demon would already be a monumental event in their lives worthy to pass stories to their children to. For Esstrey, she feels like it''s a real Wednesday. "Ugh, this smells disgusting. Why does imprinting some basic knowledge on a slime core have to smell so bad? Is this what teachers feel like around snobby brats?" Truly, a monument to all the sins of mankind. Esstrey takes a strip of water-resistant parchment, and dips it into the bubbling gray liquid. When she takes the strip out, lines of mana run across the strip, leaving small roads on it. A paranoid observer would usually believe it to be some strange language, but Esstrey has knowledge from one of the books, cluing her in on what it really is. An attempt to transfer knowledge, currently without placeholder. "Next ingredient... brain? Who the hell tested these recipes?" Esstrey thinks back on the kobold prisoners she used to have, those would have been great for this, unfortunately someone ate their brains. Just as she prepares to chastise the parasite inhabiting her for gluttonous behavior, she feels something well up in her throat. Searching around the area where the parasite is acting, she notices it making some sort of breach in her trachea and... proceeds to puke out a heap of gray matter. No prizes for guessing what kind of gray matter. Esstrey dry heaves and rapidly begins rubbing her tongue while spitting, trying to do everything in her power to get the taste out. Eventually, she resorts to downing a jar labeled ''ice honey''. Rubbing the freezing substance over her now numbed tongue, she finally relaxes a little. "dho dha again, anh A wi'' buwy ahs ah''ive" Esstrey has some trouble speaking with a numb tongue, but she''s certain that she got the point across. Do that again, and I will bury us alive. Not one to waste what is perhaps one of the worst experiences she''s ever had, she dumps the gray matter into the cauldron. The substance glows for a bit, and the next time she dips in a strip of water-resistant parchment, it is instead decorated with miniscule descriptions on how to clear out buildings filled with hostiles in various languages. Esstrey quickly gets worried, fearing that the parasite stole a chunk of her brain without her notice, but an inspection with her blood reveals no missing pieces. Leaving that mystery for another day, she unceremoniously dumps the dormant slime core in the sludge, stirs for 10 seconds, and carefully extracts it with some sort of trash picker. The old tool which has seen plenty of wear is now covered in bomb-making instructions, it would be much less worrying if those instructions weren''t in French. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Dropping the core on the wooden floor, it doesn''t react to any stimuli yet, or more accurately can''t. Esstrey picks up a bucket of the blood harvested from the ghouls, and dumps that on the core as well. The blood starts congregating around the core sluggishly, and the slime is clearly having some trouble controlling it. Adding a bit of her own magic, Esstrey stabilizes the core into a coherent shape. The slime stays still as Esstrey works, and doesn''t try anything else. It doesn''t take long for Esstrey to have molded the slime into a smooth ball of blood. Once Esstrey stops the molding, the slime slowly starts to shift its body to mimic Esstrey, but the weight of the blood causes the slime to not be able to change her lower body to fit, so she roughly imitates Esstrey''s upper body instead while keeping the lower body in a blob. "Who are you!? And why am I so heavy?" The first words of the nascent little creature are instant demands for clarification. Where did she learn to have an attitude like that? "I''m a damn good blood mage, and you are heavy because you aren''t really attuned to blood. It''s kind of like trying to move around with half your muscle strength. Now hush, I have to go talk to some adults." Before the slime can protest, the door bursts open to reveal Kuda carrying a kobold covered in bone decorations. "Great witch! I bring mother! Cure mother!" Kuda throws the apparently elder woman? (The kobolds look identical other than the decorations) on the ground, some of the bones snap and the brood-mother seems to grunt more in anger at the destruction of bone than being dropped like a sack of potatoes. Esstrey instantly gets to work by stabbing the kobold with her claws. While impaling the kobold on the ground, she gestures for the slime to get closer. It does so, and looks to the small amount of blood leaking from the impalement. "Right, I''m not going to be calling you ''slime'' the entire time, do you have a name?" The little thing does its best to imitate a shrug, but some of the blood from the arms falls to a lower section. "I dunno, I just got here." Esstrey thinks to herself for a bit, and Kuda begins grabbing at the liquid being while failing. "Congratulations you are... Sofia. Now, for your first lesson, check the blood here and tell me what is wrong with it. You should be able to without having the affinity." Sofia just looks at Esstrey confused for a bit, before crawling on the kobold and seeping into the wound. Esstrey herself doesn''t back away, and keeps her claw embedded firmly in the kobold. "She... no... hold on... is that... ok... I think there is something in her blood which isn''t blood. Like it isn''t as pure as it should be?" Sofia looks to the titanic Esstrey for approval, who gives a so-so handsign. "Something like that, her blood actually seems to be rotting while still inside her body. A rather common ailment called sepsis, life magic doesn''t work that well on this since it also strengthens the bacteria inside. What we can do, is give her more blood to fight with. Fetch me Kuda will you?" Sofia slowly goes over to Kuda, who is too stunned to move at all. Kuda lets herself get dragged by the tiny blood slime. Once she gets closer, Esstrey stabs and pins her down as well. For a moment, Kuda panics, but Esstrey forcefully shuts down the adrenaline response in the kobold. "Magic is so fascinating, isn''t it? Most mages I have met are so narrow in their magical practices, I suppose it''s partially because of their elitist attitudes so often getting in the way of properly teaching generations" As Esstrey works, Kuda begins to look a little paler and more exhausted, while the brood-mother noticeably begins to recover somewhat. "Mirya has seen light! Mirya thanks the dragon-kin for saving life!" Mirya sounds a lot more energetic than she looks, while Kuda still manages to give some side-eye while dozing off. Chapter 43: Civilization Arrives Esstrey moved quietly for a being so large, mainly attributed to her unique way of movement over terrain. A small stream of water is always between her tail and the ground, holding her upright while she moves forward. In her arms, she carries two kobolds, one sleeping, while the other keeps tripping over her own words in an attempt to praise her. On the sleeping kobold is a blob of blood, doing its best to imitate angry pacing. "Why won''t you tell me what element I am?" Sofia slaps Esstrey''s ears, making them twitch a bit. "Because it would serve you no purpose, we lack the materials for you to actually follow that path, and as long as that''s true such knowledge is a liability." Esstrey ignores the tantrum thrown by Sophia, and simply keeps moving in the direction that the conscious kobold told her some food and blood would be. "I can''t even identify myself! It just says [Hidden] for all my traits! Why did you even configure me to your mystery element if you didn''t have enough of it? Did you set me to [Time]? [Space] maybe? Hell, it could even be [Metal]." The little slime is trying to measure Esstrey''s pulse while mentioning all kinds of different elements not commonly used for slimes, but trying to read the pulse of a blood mage is about as effective as one can imagine. "It''s called playing the long game, how long have you been alive again?" Sofia simply pouts at that, and faces away from Esstrey while crossing her imitation of arms. After some time of only Mirya''s incoherent babbling, the group finally arrives at the kobold village. Esstrey asks where food is kept, and Mirya manages to convey that the granary is in the center of the village. Esstrey makes her way through the village, with kobolds watching her every move. None dare move against her, and not just because she''s carrying two possible hostages. The sole kobold standing guard at the granary is shaken awake by the sight of the massive mermaid in front of him, and he weakly points his spear at Esstrey. "Here, hold these." Esstrey puts the two kobolds in the arms of the guard, who collapses under the weight of the two weakened kobolds. As she enters the granary with Sofia, the village gathers around Kuda and Mirya. "Mirya you live! Is good!" "I not seen Kuda this tired since sleep curse!" "Mmmm... newcomer smells like fish." The chieftain of the kobolds makes his way through the formed crowd, and looks furiously at both Kuda and Mirya. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "You brought witch here Kuda? Granary is important that it isn''t eaten!" At the chieftains words, kobolds stop looking excited and start looking more hostile towards the shack the huge mermaid disappeared in. "Foolish chief! Great one isn''t witch! Great one is mighty dragon born, child of serpent!" At Mirya''s words, the kobolds begin to bicker among themselves in awe, the newcomer had not only cured brood mother, but was also related to the dragons? As if timed perfectly, Esstrey leaves with an entire stalk of mealroot in her jaws, she easily shreds the mealroot as if it doesn''t also double as tough rope. The slime that was with her has significantly grown in size, but still seems a bit sluggish. Sofia looks warily at what must be half the village having gathered in front of their food stockpile to ambush who raided it, but she looks to Esstrey before making any moves. Esstrey for her part simple looks amused at the display in front of her, if it was an ambush they had already failed. "The state of affairs of your stockpile of food is rather sad, you won''t survive if pickings are difficult even once you know." Esstrey''s words are meant to be a comment to throw them off-balance, but instead the kobolds whisper between themselves. "Food hoard... not big enough?" One brave kobold mentions toward the titanic being. "...Yes, I suppose you could refer to it as a hoard. It''s rather pathetic, if I''m being honest." Rather than be saddened by Esstrey''s words, the kobolds all look to each other completely ecstatic. "Newcomer is drake-kin! Kobolds will grow hoard big again! Foods! Golds! Trophies!" The words spread like a mantra, and soon the entire village is scrambling about while scouring the entire swamp for everything edible. If the kobolds have this kind of vigor all the time, they would be a great power on the basis of being the most industrial race in existence. It doesn''t take long for the first foraging parties to return with all kinds of edible and inedible plants that looked vaguely like the mealroot Esstrey was munching on a moment ago. "Great serpent, my fourth partner sick with coughs. Would great one consider curing him?" "Great serpent! My foot hurt! Please make stop!" Pleas for medical aid quickly come in, along with kobolds offering food, and Esstrey eats her way through the offerings with impressive speed. She didn''t know how starved she was until a moment ago, and she feels the parasite within taking a greater share than before. Was it holding back? It mattered little, at the rate that the kobolds were collecting you would think someone would have called for a revolution. If the kobolds wanted her to fix the ailments of their kin, that was something she could easily do. Esstrey started dragging kobolds into the granary turned hospital one by one, curing disease was trivial with Esstrey''s exceptional control over blood, and curing wounds was simply a matter of using some of the potions she had acquired in combination with her blood magic. Disease is easily solved by promoting the production of white blood cells and guiding them within the diseases, while injuries were only there because the kobolds lacked the capacity to cure it in the first place. They did often show an oddly high aptitude for magic. Things would have kept going smoothly if it wasn''t for the arrival of a coach carrying the sigil of the local duchy. Chapter 44: Taxation The duchy of Malencia is an economic powerhouse within the Faerune Kingdom, it is situated in a strategically strong position even when compared to the kingdom at large. Nearly the entire kingdom is surrounded by natural barriers, with choke points that are only useable for trade in times of peace. This strategic position doesn''t actually grant the kingdom peace, but instead ensures all conflict is internal. A small kobold village is far behind on taxes? They must be made an example of, lest any of the duchies peers get any bright ideas. These [Kobold]s will pay the price of the duchy not wiping the village off the face of the planet, and it will be paid in blood if such results wouldn''t be met. Today''s target for making an example out of wasn''t chosen by chance, the representatives of Malencia had some other business in the area that could be settled during this mission. One of those was rumors of a witch living deep in the swamp. Such matters can''t go without investigating, and need to be handled in a quick manner. After all, if the duchy doesn''t act, someone else will. That is the only consistency within the Faerune Kingdom, nobles stabbing each other in the back. Rowan Campbell is the official leader of the expedition, a military man with an extensive record in inquisition work. The unofficial leader of the expedition is Kharn Loftwood, if that is even his name. Kharn looks like any hunter would, but his preferred game is man, a skilled assassin in direct employ of the duchess. Kharn is the unofficial leader since the terrain here is terrible for conventional fighting, but the troops hate his guts. Rowan is much more liked by the troops because he knows how to appease the nobles while having a slight air of nobility around himself, it helps with getting some decent equipment for operations like these. The expedition of roughly a dozen of the duchess''s finest emerge from the thick foliage to bear witness to the entire village in uproar, most [Kobold] settlements are filled with naught but lethargic lizards. Such industriousness isn''t common to their kind, and with the original plan having been to sack the settlement, wholly unwanted. The expedition has arrived now, and even with the lizards working harder than ever, it doesn''t look like they will pay off their debt to their landlord. Kharn whispers into Rowan''s ear, who quickly looks at some of the riders on the flank. "James, Zulie, go check out what has those lizards so damn riled up. There''s something more going on here than unpaid dues. I''ll go distract the chief with idle talk while you do." The two riders nod, and disappear into the foliage after dismounting. Rowan rides up to the center of the kobold village, with Kharn on his flank. Kobolds begin to gather in the area in number as time goes on, they know the symbol of the coach too well to dare attack. Even these lowly wretches know the duchy isn''t to be trifled with. It doesn''t take long for the kobold chief to make his entrance. "Lovely day for it, we were just out on a regular tax patrol when our scouts noticed large amounts of movement coming from your village, is everything alright?" Rowan''s tone of voice is diplomatic, but it doesn''t go unnoticed when his hand goes to the pommel of his sword when the presence of kobolds becomes more pronounced. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. James and Zulie home in on the large mudhut close to the chief''s hut, it has too much security for a simple kobold storage shed. The guards left the shed when Rowan approached, and the experienced soldiers don''t have a difficult time sneaking in. Inside they find an odd sight, a kobold laying down on a table with a bloodied cloth over its chest. There are various tools scattered about, and considering the large amounts of food, this is actually the granary. Next to the kobold lies a bundle of bloodied [Leech Roots], that stuff is a nasty plant parasite that inserts itself deep into the host. *CRUNCH* The corpse of James falls to the ground, his helmet caved through his skull by the stock of a massive metal crossbow. Zulie turns to face the unknown attacker, only to see a massive mermaid silently fall to the ground where James had been. She tries to draw her sword, but gets eviscerated by the monster''s claws, they cleanly cut her from shoulder to hip as if her armor isn''t even there. Zulie tries to hold on in a last fit of determination, but she falls to the ground as well not a second later. Esstrey blasts out of the granary, and blasts her way to the nearest soldier. To the credit of the troops, they respond fast. Anyone that was carrying a bow or crossbow manages to get a shot off at the exposed mermaid, but her speed and scales don''t leave much purchase for any attacks to properly land, the few that do are wholly ignored. The three mages in the expedition prepare magical attacks, but Esstrey closes the distance first. The one Esstrey closed in on swings his flail wide, but finds that his flail gets deflected by a stream of concentrated water. Esstrey quickly disarms the man, and holds him up in front of her. Not a moment too soon either, as a blast of fire lightning and water land on the human shield. The various elements wreak havoc across the armored man, Esstrey responds by shooting one of the mounted mages with her crossbow. The oversized bolt goes clean through the horse, and as the dead horse falls to the ground, it pins the lightning mage to the muddy ground. Rowan rushes forward to engage the mermaid up close, but a swipe of the rear end of the crossbow changes his mind on that style of fighting. The creature isn''t just absurdly strong, but that crossbow is solid metal. Getting hit by that would result in more than a few broken bones even for him. He opts to stay at a distance where he could intercept an attempt for her to reload, while keeping away from her magically fueled movements. Kharn moves to assist Rowan, the man might be strong but also too stubborn for his own good. Kharn''s equipment is all poisoned, and it wouldn''t be too difficult to get a hit in on the large target. His first shot gets deflected by the mermaid, but a holdout crossbow meant for surprise attacks finds its mark in the tail. It''s laced with exceptionally strong poison meant to slow even the largest creatures, and completely disables smaller entities in a matter of seconds. With how much she uses her tail, she should have trouble moving within a second. Instead of the mermaid getting floored, she simply seems to ignore the poison while the wound bleeds faster. For a moment, Kharn believes it wasn''t effective at all, but the furious side-eye filled with caution the mermaid gives him tells him otherwise. At that moment the coach opens, and a noblewoman steps out scowling at the muddy ground beneath her steps. Esstrey uses the half-second that everybody is distracted in to reload. She points her crossbow at the noblewoman, identifying a target of importance. "I am duchess Eliana Malencia, who are you to delay me?" The duchess doesn''t look too bothered about having a crossbow aimed at her, while Rowan winces upon his realization that he was outplayed. Chapter 45: Job Interview "I was in the middle of a very important surgery, you interrupted me." Esstrey looks in annoyance at the duchess, still pointing her crossbow at the woman. "My apologies, my caravan came looking for the witch of the swamp, I heard she is an [Avian-kin], have you seen her?" Eliana looks around at the damage caused by this monster, her security forces weren''t able to halt its momentum, and while they are currently using the lull in the fighting to gather the dead and wounded, her own reveal is hardly an advantage for them. "Yeah, I''ve seen her, she''s currently rather busy being dead. If you were looking for her corpse, don''t bother, I ate her. Now that your business is done here, could you fuck off?" Esstrey wasn''t lying when she said she was in the middle of a very important surgery, that plant was a fascinating case-study of a parasite extremely different in biological makeup still feeding off the host. The [Leech Roots] would focus mainly on hijacking the digestive tract of its victims, and use it to spread seeds in area''s with high fertilizer and usually more victims. The saying ''having stepped in some real shit'' became a lot worse with this nasty plant involved, especially since the seeds were sharp while covered in a mild painkilling liquid. "She''s dead? That''s a shame... say, you said you were busy with a surgery, could you tell me something about that?" Eliana''s line of questioning is all too familiar with Rowan, who gives a pleading look in her direction, not wanting her to do this. "I cut open a kobold to get rid of [Leech Roots], that kobold is currently still on my table with their chest cavity open. Last warning, fuck off or leave in six planks." Esstrey aims her crossbow squarely at the duchess''s chest, she knows the expedition won''t interfere as long as she doesn''t shoot. "Impressive, usually internal parasites are handled with medicine instead of surgery, I would like to hire you. I have a medical issue you may be able to help me with, we can discuss the details later, for now I''ll allow you to rescue your patient." Rowan looks mildly distressed at Eliana''s verdict, while Kharn is doing his best not to giggle. Esstrey looks closely at the duchess, measuring her worth and heartbeat. Eventually she is satisfied and determines that the duchess isn''t lying while returning to the granary. She still gives a gesture to the kobolds to keep an eye on them in case anything happened, they had so far watched in gaping shock as everything had gone down in mere moments. As the troops outside watch the mermaid enter the granary, they gather around their duchess with their wounded, planning their next move. "Lady Malencia, we are in a much better position to attack now, we won''t be caught off guard again." Rowan didn''t fail to notice the kobolds watching from a distance while armed, he was still confident in winning against this monster. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "I will hear none of it, we came here searching for the witch of the swamp to aid me in medical practices, and we have found our witch in the swamp that practices medicine. [Leech Roots] is a rather common issue among the poor from what I know, and if she was actually experienced with it, she would have known there are medicines which flush out the parasitic plant, instead she went about it the hard way while still solving the problem. Original witch of the swamp or no, she can still help my son." Rowan sighs at his ladies'' judgement, but still gives Kharn a signal to stand ready in the case of ''complications''. When the mermaid leaves the granary turned hospital, she has a blob of blood in the shape of a girl with her, and a cat hanging off her tail. She also looks much happier now, showing a smile with all teeth. This development hasn''t put anyone on ease so far. "So, what''s this about hiring me? And more importantly, how many resources will I have at my disposal?" Esstrey looks straight at the duchess as she says the last bit. "I have taken it upon myself to collect certain individuals and their groups as they are usually too dangerous anywhere where our noble kingdom can''t keep tabs on them, they are still allowed to practice their... methods, but are generally encouraged to supply advice on how to deal with the less cooperative of their sorts. I''m sure you could find great use in some conversations with them, no matter how off-putting they are. I would also naturally offer a greater amount of resources if you show yourself a capable employee." The duchess says it as if she practices this small speech many times, but the mermaid doesn''t seem too surprised by it. Instead, the mermaid is moving closer, some of the soldiers hold out their pikes toward her, but she simply points them away as she closes in on the wounded. One of the presumed dead, a woman that was shredded by the initial attack of Esstrey. She puts her claws to the open wound, and the corpse jolts awake. She is still restrained by the massive claws, and as she struggles against them, she drops to the ground while conscious. "Wh- what''s happening? Where am I?" Zulie is panicking while looking at Rowan, but before he can respond, Esstrey does so first. "You were legally dead, now you are not. As for what I need duchess, a proper salary and a place for these kobolds a little closer to where I will be working. Also, can someone bring this girl a healing potion? I can only keep her stable forever in theory." Esstrey is still holding her claws in the wounds of Zulie, and it''s clear she''s doing something to keep her stable and awake. "You want the kobold tribe? Sure, that''s relatively cheap. Convincing them is something you will have to do so yourself." Eliana is pretending to not be surprised by this development, but her eyes are fiercely focused on how Esstrey is keeping someone presumed dead alive with such... ease. "YAS WE STAY WITH DRAGON-CHILD!" Kuda tackles Esstrey as hard as a kobold can, and ends up bouncing off her tail. "I don''t believe that would be so difficult, they have taken a liking to me." The humans gawk at the interaction, did that kobold just call her dragon-child? That would make sense on so many fronts, wouldn''t it? Chapter 46: Duchy of Malencia The trip back to the duchy was a tense one, the [Kobold] tribe had no mounts, and were forced to pack all their things with them. They did still have a wooden cart lying around, from which they could carry ''the hoard''. Despite being as small as they are, they are very strong, having no trouble pulling the cart of necessities. The expedition was down a man, James was the only one who hadn''t been saved. Their strange mermaid doctor claimed that she could keep anyone stable and technically alive, as long as they weren''t properly dead. Eliana had no idea what the mermaid classified as dead, but she was certain her son wasn''t dead yet. If he was, then she would be giving her steward a taste of hell. Kharn''s constant snooping around the kobold''s cart did spark a few moments of trouble, especially when their doctor got involved. The kobolds were as fanatic as one could expect when the kin of dragons is involved, while the soldiers didn''t really get over the fact that the same doctor had really mauled some of them. Zulie was still mentally recovering, and would no doubt be facing nightmares for months. Esstrey''s endless prodding of the duchess didn''t do anyone any favors either, she didn''t treat her like someone of her stature should be treated at all. Eliana was clearly somewhat off-put by the questioning, but was too desperate to find a cure for her son to berate the mad doctor. For Esstrey it was annoying how stingy the expedition is with information, is everyone in this world usually so stubborn? She was barely able to find out that this [Central Governor] has been around for as long as anyone on ''this planet'' remembers. That question triggered a whole slew of questions relating to something called [The Veil] connecting many worlds with portals, new worlds frequently come into cross-world conflict, especially if they are deemed valuable. This planet is of [Common] quality, and it had been integrated long ago. A rather disgusting form of imperialism, where it seems that a machine that could be better compared to a natural disaster is the one responsible for setting up the connections. Esstrey simply hopes that Earth will never have to face this thing, she could already imagine what the ''cool-headed minds'' in charge of the nuclear arsenal would do in such a scenario. She may have lost many memories, but the sheer strategic destruction that can be wrought by nuclear war is not something so easily forgotten once you learn about it. As the capital city of Malencia, Malus comes in sight, Esstrey realizes this is one of the few long-distance trips she had in these other worlds that didn''t involve attempted robbery. Not from a lack of trying mind you, she detected plenty of heartbeats following them at various moments. The [Central Governor] seems to strengthen everyone that practices enough, whether it be raiding or driving a coach. The entire coach seems to rock very little over the rough terrain. There are other things that catch Esstrey''s eye that proves this theory, like how the cavalrymen seem to have no trouble steering their horses, who are obviously unsettled by the company of the expedition. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The duchy itself is located in a corner of the Faerune Kingdom, the entire kingdom is well entrenched due to a large amount of natural barriers, an ocean to the east, with mountain ranges to the north-west and the south-west. The duchy is located to the south, flanked by the western pass and the southern pass. The nations outside these passes are said to be savages, but Esstrey guesses that those nations simply don''t have the natural barriers the Faerune kingdom has, giving the occasional warlord an easy time. Considering the size of the city Malus, the duchy has made good use of its advantageous position in the world to strengthen itself greatly, and the current mastermind that engineers this situation is currently located in a coach not even meters away from her. Said mastermind also apparently has an issue that she wants Esstrey to solve. Esstrey can''t contain the grin growing on her face, resources are a vital part of waging conquest, and a little mercenary work for the highest bidder is an easy and safe way to get such resources. It''s unlikely she could get herself an enclave of mermaids to do piracy here, since the Faerune Kingdom doesn''t have large standing crime issues. Rowan did try to mention something about illegal religion, but was quickly hushed by Kharn. No matter, she will get information about this one way or the other. If need be she could always summon Zha''klos again, she seemed co-operative enough, albeit a bit aggressive. For now, Esstrey has more important matters to attend to, like attempting to do a little painting on the kobold cart while they move, there''s nothing really special about Malus itself that Esstrey hasn''t seen before. A quick glance reveals it''s your average, albeit large European style medieval city. In the center is a castle on a piece of high ground, while the city itself is already surrounded by walls. It all seems a bit overdone, especially considering how irrelevant walls can become against certain foes, Esstrey herself probably wouldn''t have much trouble just climbing the walls. Maybe the castle on the hill is there so the nobles can look down on the general populace? That would fit with what Esstrey knows about nobles. Esstrey''s crude painting of a certain demon lord fighting off a band of assassins with guns is interrupted by the voice of the duchess as they approach the hill. "Doctor, I would like to request you cease carving into the cart of your subordinates and focus, once we enter the castle I expect you to act with at least a modicum of decorum. I have many internal enemies that would love to spread more rumors of my dealings with the less than savory figures of society. This is where the kobolds will enter a secondary passage that leads below the castle, they can set up deeper there. Kharn, lead them." The duchess is actually mildly surprised when the witch adopts a bored look on her face, shifts her body to be stable, and seems to regard all her surroundings with a look of disdain and disappointment only a practiced court noble could normally wear. It doesn''t stop the sight of the huge mermaid picking up a kobold and patting it on the head any less ridiculous, but as she sets the kobold back on the cart, she can at least take solace in the fact that the witch won''t be embarrassing her too much during her stay here. Chapter 47: Formally Invited to Kiss my A- The interior of the castle is a lot like the other fancy schmucks Esstrey has known, overly decorated and pushing the banner in the face of all visitors. Apparently things get cluttered rather quickly when great-great-great grandpa''s lost tooth just had to be added to the collection of item''s passed down in the family, and these kinds of things are so much easier to add than to remove. Of course, the interior decorators probably lament the tragic addition of poor dental hygiene, and decide to prevent the castle from being turned into a museum by adding more banners. In Russia, there is a great emphasis on respecting your elders, but the history books really don''t do the pride of a bunch of old codgers'' justice. Watching the sheer amount of ''valuable heirlooms'' being hidden in plain sight by adding more banners to the entrance area as a whole really reinforces Esstrey''s opinion that the whole feudal system was built on pandering to the useless sensibilities of a few undeserving tubs of lard. On the other claw, the carpet does feel very nice under her tail. There are some moving decorations as well, minor nobles who considering the matching emblems with the banners are vassals of the duchess. They seemed to be very worried, considering the rate of their beating hearts, but the relief is visible upon their faces when they see the duchess. That relief quickly morphs into a short look of terror when they notice that the shadow behind the duchess is actually a massive mermaid, and they shortly shift back to worry, before finally calming their rampant emotions. "Lady Malencia! We are so glad to see you have returned successfully with the wi- the doctor! I trust that she will heal the young master?" The man is sweating bullets, yet the reason for his panic very much isn''t centered around Esstrey. "Yes baron Hatzeir, I am confident we will make progress, the good doctor has shown extraordinary solutions to medical problems that will certainly be of aid to the healer team. Lady Esstrey, up the stairs 3rd door on your left is the patient, I will catch up in a moment." Esstrey makes her way to the stairs, and notices an odd trio standing at the base of the stairs, snickering to each other. One of them is a man wearing a red robe with yellow lightning on it, another is a woman who seems to be wearing a dress made out of black ribbons, and the last one looks like a cemetery attendant in a suit, smells like one too. They notice Esstrey make eye contact, and collectively turn to face her. "She hasn''t got a clue, does she?" The robed man points at the duchess as he directs the question at Esstrey, who simply smiles back. "Do you?" The question actually catches the robed man off-guard, if Esstrey has learned anything from whack jobs It''s that you have to outdo them to get favorable results. "I like her already." The woman with ribbons for clothes comments, and the trio have switches to a stance which clearly indicates they are waiting for Esstrey to make a move without further comment. Esstrey obliges... by crushing the wooden stairs as she ascends them. The stairs were most likely an oversight on the part of the duchess, and she could theoretically scale them without leaving a trail, but if she did that she wouldn''t properly show her dissatisfaction with the area not being wheelchair accessible. The duchess looks on impassively and with a slight disapproving look, while her vassals look horrified at the mermaid wrecking one side of the stairs rather thoroughly in her ascent. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "I hope you know what you are doing mi''lady... the doctor doesn''t look like the gentle type." The baron only gets a quick side-glance from the duchess, and a toothy grin from Esstrey. Esstrey goes through the hallway and enters the room in question, it isn''t an exceptionally large room for a noble, but it certainly isn''t lacking in the decoration department with the various medieval weapons scattered about. A large group of healers surrounds a sickly boy on the bed, so enraptured in their task that only an old butler watching notices Esstrey enter. The man gives Esstrey a quick glance, before gesturing her toward the boy. "What''s his medical record?" Esstrey decides not to waste any time, considering the boy looks like he''s one foot in the grave already. "Sixteen, male, Faerunian Human. Has only gotten sick thrice in his life, once a cold, once the flu, and once [Tetanus]. No mental health issues, no allergies and has only been treated for [Tetanus]. Currently suspected to have a rather hefty curse." One of the healers responds to Esstrey with practiced ease. Esstrey shoves some of the healers out of the way, while brining her claw up to the kid''s forehead to pretend to take his temperature, with her other claw she quickly draws a drop of blood for a preliminary analysis. She does some more useless actions to keep the healers distracted, who are now slowly beginning to realize that a giant mermaid is checking up on their patient. Esstrey might not be a doctor, but she has dabbled in keeping people alive, both magically and mundane. Some basic biology lessons begin to cement themselves into her mind, even if it''s only the raw information. She can''t even remember if it was held at a school or not. The results she got from the drop of blood are... bad. The blood cells are showing severe degradation, and the symptoms he has line up with quite a large assortment of diseases. There are also traces of multiple aggressive organisms of different kinds attacking the blood cells. Considering all this from just looking at the patient and a drop of blood, it''s probably harder to count the diseases he doesn''t have than counting the ones he does. As Esstrey is pondering how to go about it, Eliana enters. "Well, ''doctor'', how does it look?" Eliana''s tone is somewhere in between insulting exhausted and hopeful, an impressive combination no doubt achieved through rigorous tea parties where she was forced to smile out of courtesy to people she would rather have thrown down an oubliette. "Frankly, I''m pretty sure I have seen people that were run over by high-speed traffic in a better condition. His organs are absolutely fucked, and most of your population probably can''t even count high enough to count all the diseases the kid has. It''s a testament to your resources that he stayed alive for as long as he did, but I estimate that the current path will mean his demise within the week without any change." Esstrey begins looking around the room for various resources, and also gets a little handsy with the now very nervous healers. "And you believe you can cure my son?" Eliana ignores the antics of the giant mermaid rather expertly, the life of her son is worth more than the pride of some healers and a stairway. "Yes, but I''ll need some stuff. Equipment to make potions, a lot of water, Sofia here as my assistant... and a few people who don''t mind being in a coma for a while." The healers all look at the mermaid with their mouths agape, especially at the last request. Is she going to sacrifice the lifespan of others? Some kind of deal with the devil? The elderly steward merely watches with passive indifference, and the duchess actually looks... relieved? "I won''t stand by as you commit heretical rituals fiend!" One of the healers speaks up, and almost immediately regrets it as the room looks at her. "You are right, you won''t. Lady Eliana, I will also need you to get all these people to take a hike. If someone barges in here off visiting hours, I will kill them." Esstrey says it with the same professionalism as a doctor would talk about a surgery, and she means it too. Her blood magic isn''t something she wants to be revealed, lacking knowledge about it saved her life once already, after all. Chapter 48: Ignoble Operation Esstrey moves stealthily along the wastes, her comrades move at her sides. Their target? She doesn''t actually know, they never get told much anyway. As another shade falls, attempting to block their path, Esstrey has a passing thought, wondering if they would one day be that shade. She wouldn''t blame anyone if they were. Low and behold, Esstrey is proven right as a blast of... something wipes out her entire team. They never saw it coming, no one could have. Esstrey looks to her sides to see what remains of her team, only to find ashen silhouettes of where they used to be. A vague idea of what they are, but no details to speak of. The ground beneath her feels so soft... too soft. She tries to claw into it, but the ground gives way and regenerates. At this moment, Esstrey realizes that she doesn''t have a silhouette, no marker of her having been here. She digs harder into the ground, her claws having grown to accommodate her ambition, but it still leaves no mark. It takes longer for the ground to reform, but it still isn''t enough, she needs more power! She tries to dig into it with a gun, but the bullets merely disappear into the ground, she tries to shoot her crossbow into it, but the bolt fizzles and pushes out. Lastly, she grasps her shovel, and swings at the ground.
Esstrey wakes groggily from the makeshift bed she made, she had ordered as many supplies she could think of. One of those being a large pile of pillows, so she would at least be a little comfortable in the room of Jake Malencia. The diseases he has are crippling, and while it''s understandable that the healers couldn''t fix him, it being understandable doesn''t make Esstrey trust the life mages. When Esstrey first got to work, Jake''s body looked like a Petri dish. Something only a life mage could accomplish. Only Sofia and Kuda are allowed entry off visitor hours. Sofia did an admirable job of keeping Jake stable, while Kuda was the perfect candidate to act as supplies liaison. As long as Esstrey referred to the materials as part of her ''hoard'' Kuda would obtain the items with incredible efficiency and accuracy. "Have you slept well, doctor Esstrey?" Jake is also awake, and is both rather polite for the heir to a ducal throne, and calm for someone who was effectively turned into a biology student''s pet project. He quickly got used to the odd company Esstrey kept, not that he had a choice in that regard. "It was the usual, nothing special." A small black cat is clinging to Esstrey as she rises from the pile of pillows, while Esstrey is either oblivious or uncaring to the presence of the ferocious feline going for its largest catch yet. A knock comes from the door shortly after Esstrey begins preparing some surgery tools, and half a dozen people enter escorted by Kuda. The little kobold is wearing what seems to be a military medical uniform, which is just slightly too big for her size. She gives a sloppy salute to Esstrey with the sleeve being noticeably longer than her arm. Esstrey immediately goes for the people brought in by Kuda, and begins pricking them all with her claw. They recoil after each small stab, but none flee or shy away from the massive mermaid. "Excellent work collecting them Kuda, are they all volunteers?" Esstrey rubs some of the blood collected from the people, and mentally compares their blood types to Jake. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Yes! Yes! Kuda very good at collecting valley tears! This humble servant of mighty one requests one one-tenth of spoils from tribute." Esstrey doesn''t know specifically what Kuda is on about, but she gets the general gist of it. She grabs a sweet roll from a nearby table, and tosses it toward Kuda, who quickly begins to devour it. "You and you, stay. The rest of you are dismissed and can inform the duchess you fulfilled your purpose." The four that were dismissed leave in a variety of speeds, with the remaining two; am old soldier and a maid, realizing they are to stay. The maid begins to mutter to herself while sobbing, while the soldier moves to comfort the maid. "Don''t worry, I''m sure the duchess will take care of those we leave behind. It''s a small consolation." The soldier utterly fails at consoling the maid, who actually begins to cry a little louder. "Here, smell this." Esstrey holds a claw covered in glistening liquid in the direction of the duo, and the soldier now wears a frown on his face. "And what is that supposed to do?" If Esstrey cares for the suspicious attitude the soldier is giving her this late, she isn''t showing it. She vaguely remembers field medics telling stories of patients reacting to treatment in hostile manners. Not that the treatment that the field medics gave actually had a very high chance of saving them, mind you, it was usually just making someone comfortable while they are dying. Wouldn''t do for morale if someone died screaming while holding their guts, after all. "It makes things easier for everyone involved by knocking you out, now smell it." The soldier can tell from Esstrey''s tone that her patience is already growing thing, but he stands tall while looking directly at the giant mermaid. "I would like to be awake when it happens, face the end with dignity and all that." The old soldier balls his fist as if he''s making the decision of a lifetime, why is everyone being so dramatic? "That''s hardly up to you." Before the soldier can respond, Esstrey dashes and holds him in a headlock. She covers the soldier''s face with her claw, and the struggling quiets after a few seconds. She repeats the process, albeit a bit gentler on the sobbing mess that is the maid, but her stuffy nose drags the process on for longer than either party is okay with. Esstrey then hauls the two unconscious bodies to Jake, and drops them at both sides of his bed. "You didn''t have to be so callous, it wouldn''t hurt to explain yourself, you know. Usually people are more cooperative if you explain things some more." Jake looks at the witch doctor with a mix of disappointment and worry. "For one, I didn''t have to be nice either. I''m here to cure you and hardly need their cooperation. I also don''t want anyone to know that I''m a blood mage, so I don''t want them to be conscious for the procedures, your mom is hardly the only or the worst schemer out there, and I like it better when people don''t fear stepping in puddles of my blood. As for the reason I''m telling you all this? I''m throwing in with you because I believe it''s the safest bet to secure a future for myself, giving you a bit of leverage like knowing that I''m actually a blood mage makes that deal a little more appealing to you. ??? ???? ??? ??????''? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ?? ???????? ??????." Jake doesn''t hear the last bit, as Esstrey mumbles it to herself. "I hardly see why I should accept the services of a doctor so uncaring for the lives of people." "Because I''m damn good at what I do, and only half the stuff I ordered is unrelated to cure you. Now have a whiff of my claw, unless you want to be awake as I''m rummaging around your guts." Esstrey throws one of said unrelated orders into a chest, a bag of powdered rust. Chapter 49: Discharged "He''s safe?" Eliana asks in a tone and position that makes her seem uncaring, but considering the contents of her questions for the last ten minutes, she is anything but uncaring. "Like I said many times already, he was safe the moment he landed in my care, your healers did an admirable job keeping him alive before that, but only his own body could truly flush out that much disease. It simply needed a stabilizing factor." Esstrey responds lazily, while reading a book on voodoo magic. The many operations were a success, Sofia helped keep Jake stable while Esstrey was using the blood of the volunteers to act as a blood bank. The body of the boy did an admirable job flushing the disease out, while Esstrey manually controlled cells in places to prevent the diseases from dealing too much damage. The volunteers were incredibly surprised on still being alive, silly humans thinking they would ever die on Esstrey''s operating table, she could have just killed them anytime before that. Jake himself was kept under anesthetic for as much as possible, the boy had too much energy for someone infected with... [Miscolousis]... whatever the hell that is. All Esstrey really needed to know was what the disease''s methods of spreading through the body were, and if the body could deal with it if given time. There were a few diseases that would eventually coalesce into parasitic lifeforms too large to deal for the body to deal with, a fascinating study on magical parasites if Esstrey had anything to say about it. Said diseases are now stored safely on her request, hidden away somewhere for later study, somewhere where Esstrey doesn''t even know where it is. Wouldn''t do if these suffered unfortunate accidents now, would it? Speaking of unfortunate accidents... "While I did say your healers stabilized him, he will worsen once they get their hands on him again, the various illnesses he had should never have gotten as far as they did. Someone was encouraging their growth, something that only life mages are capable of, with the care he was getting. He can probably be discharged from my care, as my job is done. Keep him away from the healers, and he should be fine." While Esstrey says she''s no longer needed, she noticeably doesn''t get up to leave, and she seems rather engrossed in the book about voodoo magic. Eliana doesn''t spare Esstrey a glance, simply looking at her child like she''s looking at the monument to all her sins. Her eldest son had almost died because of her failure to keep assassins at bay, Malencia has some of the best counter-intelligence operations, and there were certainly ways to fix her child without resorting to the aid of a witch, but those methods are... worse. Even with those already being in her employ. Rowan and Kharn are good retainers, but their skills are decidedly conventional. Rowan is a master tactician, and knows how to avoid the ire of other nobles, while Kharn''s skills are precisely where an assassin would have theirs, but the witch has shown a consistent way to deal with problems in an unconventional manner... perhaps... Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "There has been a minor incident, it''s rather unconventional, and I was wondering if you could deal with this matter... for additional pay." Esstrey turns another page on hearing the offer of the duchess, while looking slightly annoyed. "I''ll need more information than that." Her tone is abrupt, and if it was any other commoner, it would be downright insulting, but she''s also the person who saved her son''s life with it only costing gold. Her posture turns grave, and she properly faces Esstrey. "Right, you will meet them regardless, so I don''t see why not. This duchy didn''t stay great because of teaparties and some clever political maneuvering, it''s because we host the biggest black market in the Faerune Kingdom, on top of some... less savory figures. It turns out that when you give crime a place to go, and tax them for it, you don''t only get a lot of tax income, but also significant oversight over what said criminals are doing. One of my more ambitious ancestors applied this on a greater scale... with cults." Eliana watches the mermaid carefully to gauge her reactions, but she stays stubbornly unresponsive. "Of said cults, only one of the three that are currently active could really be called a cult, it would be more appropriate to call them cliques. One is effectively a collection of mages with more ambition than sanity who seek power through contact with the Infernal Host. Another is a proper cult of eldritch worshipers calling themselves the Beyonders, there have been many purges of these cliques, but the Beyonders ones managed to avoid getting purged since the start. Lastly there is a group of necromancers, they are the most recent addition, and tend to keep to themselves." Still checking the mermaid for reaction, she got exactly what she wanted, while getting nothing at all. There were slight twitches in the eyebrows and her fingers at the mentioning of the names of the groups, meaning that she has at least some experience with their sort... all of them. "The incident they caused has to do with my son, after his condition deteriorated they were tasked with finding a way to cure him. Each of them had a way on how my son could be saved, the Infernal Host offered to make him a demon, the necromancer wanted to turn him into a lich, and all I remember about the Beyonder cultists is... something similliar, their magics can get a little finicky like that. All the way mentioned are of course highly illegal, and came with ways to hide Jake''s condition, but forcing him into a body like that could easily spell disaster down the line. The Infernal Host and the Beyonders had a disagreement on what would have been the better outcome, and attempted to enact testing on some... test subjects without approval, something like this was normally overlooked... if the Beyonders didn''t sabotage the already poor security measures of the mages which resulted in more deaths. I would like you to enact a fitting punishment on both of these cliques which don''t fear death." Killing the ones responsible was easy of course, but practically never worked against the cults. It barely even worked on regular criminals. "That''s great and all, but I was more thinking information along the lines of stuff found in a library or something, I haven''t been in a proper settlement in forever." Esstrey would say the last proper settlement she was in was in Russia, as all these places look like medieval backwater villages to her, but that wouldn''t be very conductive to negotiations. And maybe the mermaid enclave was the last proper settlement, native mermaid architecture had a very appealing look. Eliana simply sighs, she barely knows the woman, but already has the feeling that letting her talk about the most important state secrets uninterrupted is rather typical of her. Chapter 50: Esstrey Writes the Glossary [The Central Governor] This system is here for the safety of your planet(s). This system will provide numerous functions, from classifying threats to life, to strengthening life against those very threats. This system would like to welcome all new users! [Traits] We all know life isn''t equal, but don''t you fret! With this handy guide, you will know exactly how outmatched you are in all scenarios! Traits are dependent on as the name implies, how rare a trait/species is, and how strong that trait/species is. [Common] is easily found as the name implies. [Farmer] [Raccoon] are some examples. [Uncommon] is where people become relevant, and are a must-have for warriors. [Guard Sergeant] [R.O.U.S.] are some examples. [Rare] is where the bulk of the big leagues are entrenched, and the benefits are quite nice! [Guard Captain] [Mutated Rat] are some examples. [Epic] is the realm of the strong, higher ranked adventurers are usually at this level. [Guard Commander] [Rat Ogre] are some examples. [Legendary] is so strong it becomes dangerous! Many national conflicts always arise to acquire anything of this rarity. [Guard Marshall] [Rat King] are some examples. [Mythic] lays in the realm of myth, and planetary invasions have been done to acquire the more useful of these. [Mucalinda] [The Black Plague] are some examples. [Cursed] is a negative, and all negatives are [Cursed] by default, regardless of rarity. [Crooked] [Allergic to Dairy] are some examples. [Traits] are hidden by default, and are more visible the lower the quality, as a rule of thumb. Curses are almost always visible, with few exceptions like [Vampirism]. They are also only hidden if they are considered socially unacceptable by the people around. A high enough buildup of these hidden modifiers will result in a [Facade] which stealthily hides the ne''er-do well beneath a cloak of disguise. [The Veil] is an invention from the core worlds, and is what keeps things from other dimensions at bay. It slowly incorporates planets with high mana count underneath it for integration. May it provide all with eternal prosperity below it! Esstrey barely got started with digging through inquiries, and when she idly wondered what the hell the [Central Governor] really is, it seems to have responded itself. Even if it doesn''t seem to be the smartest, considering she wasn''t integrated with a planet, and she wasn''t kept at bay by [The Veil] in the slightest. Quickly sidelining the entity that seems to govern reality, she goes to more important matters like who her potential enemies and allies are. The Faerune Kingdom is a kingdom that has stood the test of time, literature boasts how this is due to a combination of great heroes and excellent policy, but Esstrey still simply sees a feudalist backwater. The map gives a much better perspective on the true reason for its incredible stability, namely it being surrounded by natural barriers harder than china. Much like china, in such a situation the only relevant threats are internal ones, with external threat made irrelevant by unmovable mountains and an ocean that stretches across the eastern portion. Information on the other regions is terrible, a heavy isolationist policy has had the kingdom in its grip nearly since the dawn of its inception. The last information pertaining to the outside world in written form speaks of an empire that erupted into chaos shortly after it had its sights set on the Faerune Kingdom... about a hundred years ago. Trade is minimal these days, and where there is trade it is done by dwarven intermediaries in the mountains, as they are the most viable option for crossing mountains. Most in the loosest sense here, apparently the mountains are filled with horrors of the deep, and only the high value goods of a kingdom with no external threats makes the path worth it. Artifacts and silk are the favored export of the kingdom, with the dwarves being the sole trade connection, mainly for metals. Esstrey underlines the part about the dwarves being the best source of metals, she will need that information later. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Surprisingly, information on other worlds is in much higher amounts. This world is called [Brynya], and is considered a low value world of no importance by the rest of [The Veil] like so many others, a classification that suits Esstrey just fine, as nothing she reads about those interested in rarer planets is ever good. Usually the planets are quickly invaded, and a strong power is immediately made clear with the community as a whole agreeing on claims staked on new planets, but a recent calamity on a planet that spiked in value caused the death of 99.98% of life on it, resulted in stricter treaties on planetary invasions. Esstrey distances herself from the various maps and books to really take that number in... the way it was noted down so casually as a recorded fact, and the part where she doesn''t know how strong magical entities can truly get. If Luna was any indication, they can be plenty strong to strip a planet bare of nearly all life. Another sin of magical imperialists. There is an extensive map of the world, and from what Esstrey can tell is that there is a massive archipelago to the far east, with the area west of Faerune being a scattering of mountain ranges and rivers. Some maps dating back four hundred years show that countries developed along the mountain ranges and rivers, indicating that Faerune isn''t some exception when it comes to natural barriers securing a nation''s hold. Books on monster logs are the solution to this conundrum, a lot of the powerful magical entities prefer such area''s for habitation. The book speaks of dryads in the forests, water elementals in the rivers and dragons in the mountains. The underground is also extensively explored, but the more has been explored, the more said explorers know they know. For every species properly understood, seven more are discovered. Esstrey does not envy the dwarves that go toe to toe with said monsters. The adventurer''s guild, or from what Esstrey can read about them proffessional meddlers instead. A pan-Veil organization not so much bound with each other by any bureacracy but by common goals and circumstance. Generally, guilds are very hands-off with their adventurers, letting them run free unchecked. There have been plenty of cases throughout history to tie them to nations and bureaucrats, which generally end in rather spectacular failure. The wet dream of capitalists worlds-wide no doubt as money with a small sprinkling of morality seems to be the only thing that makes this guild move, but its members are not to be underestimated considering their wide history of clashing with nobles. The Perrenian Matriarchal Coalition, or the PMC. An odd name for something that passes for the Coalition of Nations of Esstrey''s last world. A coalition meant for the protection against world-ending threats, their track-record mainly shows impressive feats thousands of years ago, with no known members alive from that date. Documents indicate this coalition works like a council to discuss matters of importance, and are still active to this day. However, Esstrey finds it worrying that something claiming to be a coalition for the preservation of the planet has an all-female tradition. A true coalition isn''t picky whether a body is warm or cold, just concerned with who they fight against. Lastly, is a book dedicated to the gods. Esstrey didn''t think much of it, more theological misunderstandings of magically mind-boggling entities. That is, until she notices an odd page, one that speaks of avatars of gods, and how they frequently interfere in mortal affairs. Unique to the world of [Brynya] is how their gods have more direct intervention, [The Central Governor] usually stops divine intervention of such a scale, but the gods of this world have found a work-around. Esstrey looks at some of their exploits, and actually has to read a few times to make sure it isn''t some written comedy or illusion. Genocide of Kfira; God of Death, Mortimer destroys heretical settlements of alleged necromancers. Forest Bluehenge incident; Goddess of Life, Vivificania tests new fertilizer causing uncontrolled forest expansion, after a coalition manages to contain the forest the growth implodes in on itself, reducing the region to a husk of its former self. Ascension of fort Crysthill; God of Shadows, Umbrackus gives literature pertaining to the Infernal Host to high ranking members loyal to it, experimentation results in the of all personnel, who proceed to grow and slaughter nearby villages, estimated casualties before containment 17,000. The text on the God of War, Belluzoar is more similar to an entire list on every war that ever happened, with that god frequently helping the losing side, prolonging the conflict. The gods also frequently compete with each other for power and influence. These abberant forces of nature are nothing like Luna, who deserved her title of God, as she was in quite the literal sense above everyone else. These ''gods'' are nothing but trouble, and Esstrey hopes she never has to encounter them. Chapter 51: Russian Roulette Esstrey has been preparing for this moment for a while now, not that there''s a chance she would ever admit it out loud. She was tasked with finding a proper punishment for insane cultists that do not fear death. To this end, Esstrey prepared a dimly lit room with a table in the center, on that table is a gauntlet with a retractable spike. She invited the accused, and the leaders of all the cults, to her little game show. Necromancers included. The leader of the Beyonders for this is the woman with the black dress made out of ribbons, it seems she switched out to something more cult like with a spiked robe. She looks around the room with an entertained look, and introduces herself as Plynka. One of the accused on their side follows confidently after her, apparently entertained at the sight of Esstrey''s initial intimidation attempt with the room. Plynka''s small group is followed by a man who introduced himself as Ronald Flester, the head of the Infernal Host research division. He''s treating it much more like a business trip, and was also there when Esstrey first entered the castle. He''s still wearing his usual robes, red robes with lightning on them, he''s also wearing some accessories this time around. His accused is twirling something in his hand, but Esstrey can only see the movement in his bloodstream, not what he''s holding. Lastly, is a representative of the necromancers, they apparently act much more on a council basis without a head honcho, their representative was specifically picked for his observation skills from what Esstrey heard. Esstrey gestures for the accused to have a seat, and their representatives to take places behind them. The necromancer stands further away against the wall, far enough so that he''s standing fully in the dark. The representatives and their accused are on opposing sides of the table, with the gauntlet in the middle. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining our little game show today, the rules of the game are simple, last one of the two accused alive gets to go home. Our method of determining a winner will be using this gauntlet here, modified by the workshop to suit my needs." Esstrey puts two of her oversized fingers in the gauntlet, and puts the gauntlet to her temple. She triggers an internal mechanism and- *Chik* "This gauntlet, has a one in six chance to trigger a spike emerging, if five charges were empty, the sixth will always be a hit. You two will be playing until someone dies, if the gauntlet hits the fifth charge, I will reset it and we will play again. Who wants to go second?" Esstrey looks over the table, the Infernal Host accused looks serene, while the Beyonder looks excited. The Beyonder eventually raises her hand like a child who just found out the answer to a teacher''s question. She puts the gauntlet to her temple, and- *Chik* Nothing... the Beyonder outwardly looks as excited as usual, but Esstrey picked up a small spike in her heart rate. It''s working. She puts the gauntlet in front of the Infernal, and he picks it up while giving the others he can see a wary look, he puts it to his temple, and- The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. *Chik* Nothing... he looks at the gauntlet with some curiosity, keep looking, who knows what that gauntlet will truly do? He shoves the gauntlet back to his opponent, who puts it to her skull silently, she''s a little less excited now. *Chik* Nothing... a small sense of relief goes through the Beyonder as her heart jumped, her lungs let out more air than usual. She forgets to slide the gauntlet to the Infernal for a moment, so Esstrey slides it over instead. He''s now looking at the gauntlet like one would at a breaching charge set on their own front door. He slowly puts the gauntlet to his temple. *Chik* He puts down the gauntlet a little fast, it clatters a bit as it hits the table, a visible sense of relief going through him. The representatives have small bits of sweat coming from their foreheads as well, if Esstrey is smelling it right, oh she so does love the smell of fear. "Well done... looks like you made it to the second round without any winners." Esstrey picks up the gauntlet to reset it, and also removes the safety. What? Did you really think she would put that thing to her skull without some sort of safety precaution? Besides, it wouldn''t have done if someone died on the second charge, this would have ended too quickly. Esstrey puts the gauntlet in front of the Beyonder. She looks at it with visible fear in her heart, the room is still too badly lit for anyone to make out details of each other, but the lack of details is now attributing to their collective fear, giving off a sense that the only others in the room are silhouette''s. She puts the gauntlet to her temple while her hand shakes slightly. *Chik* This time, she doesn''t hesitate in sliding the gauntlet over to her opponent as fast as possible, wanting it as far away from her as possible. The blacksmith told Esstrey that it seemed very weird for an assassin weapon, one that only activated once every six times, one that made too audible noises, one with a safety. The safety is there for obvious reasons, but the audible noise and one in six is vital. High enough chance to be a high chance of death, low enough chance to not be guaranteed. The noise is also vital to the game, a loud click that doesn''t deflate tension all the way, it only staves off the fear. *Chik* In her idle thoughts, Esstrey didn''t notice how the Infernal had played again. His breathing is borderline hyperventilating, deep focused breaths are coming from him to the point that the audience notices it as well. He stares at the gauntlet in front of him, if he feared it earlier, that feeling has only increased. Esstrey takes the gauntlet and puts it in front of the Beyonder. She just stares at the gauntlet, her hand shaking without reaching for it. "Play." Esstrey''s tone is cold and commanding, and the two lock eyes for a moment. The Beyonder visibly swallows, and picks up the gauntlet, she puts it to her temple, a singular tear going down her cheek as she maintains eye contact with Esstrey. *KACHUNK* A spike goes into her skull, her corpse falls to the ground, while everyone except Esstrey winces at the inevitable development. The Infernal is holding his chest, and the representatives have an elevated heart rate now as well. Esstrey grabs the gauntlet, and sloppily shakes off the corpse attached to it. Then she grabs the corpse, and holds her hand high. "We have a winner! Congratulations!" She looks at the infernal as she says that, but he doesn''t feel like a winner, it feels much more like the person who died and escaped this room is the real winner, especially with how Esstrey is holding up her hand. Esstrey flings the corpse of the woman toward where the necromancer is standing. "You guys all love recycling, right? Well, the corpse is yours, enjoy." Esstrey waddles out of the room, leaving the various representatives to stew in the consequences of their actions. She does so love the smell of fear. Chapter 52: Settling the Boundary Esstrey has an office! Granted, it''s an office as far away from regular human contact as possible, but for someone in Esstrey''s position that''s hardly a downside. The layout of the castle of Malencia is...odd. The hill it''s on really is hollow, connected to the sewer system. Below the castle is a massive black market, supposedly the biggest hive of smuggling operations in the entire Faerune Kingdom. Access between the castle and the market is highly restricted and secretive, with the ''main'' entrance to the market being the sewers themselves. Kharn handles the black market, and it''s security, with Rowan handling the more surface level security. Deep within the most secure sector of the black market is a spiral staircase (why did it have to be stairs) that goes further down, past a small hallway is a door that leads to the sector used by the cults. That quaint little hallway now contains Esstrey''s office, first door on the left. Past an incredibly thick metal door on the other side of the hallway, lies the horrors of the duchy. Mad wizards, insane cultists and unhinged men of the sciences. All safely locked away not by force, but by resources. They have everything people of their stature could want in there, force could not contain them anyway. How a man like Rowan who loves the law and what is right so much can tolerate the existence of this den of evil is a question for the ages. That all changes today, outside their access to their precious resources now lies the sleeping sea serpent they fear. A massive fishbowl not unlike the one she had while imprisoned so long ago, now underground again, just like that dusty old place. This time, however, she is the warden. Her official position is liaison of the paranormal division, apparently all the loonies had been classified as a whole ass division, with a fitting reputation concerning the military to boot. That being one of getting the job done at a cost no one directly involved wanted to pay, good thing the duchess rarely involves herself in military affairs other than siccing the paranormal division on her problems, else the entire division would be out of work. The direct actions of the paranormal division are highly classified, but their indirect actions can be seen by someone in the know in the after-action reports. An item stolen from the duchess somehow ends up back in her room, with the apparent thief a slobbering rambling husk of a man ranting about eyes who eventually resorted to randomly biting people. An infested mine taken over by giant worms, and shortly thereafter all the worms are brutally killed while a neighboring county is facing a wandering demon. An undead horde controlled by a necromancer taken out by a force of elite cavalry... who apparently just weren''t getting stopped by the undead. There have been investigations of course, but Malencia always had a lot of resources and dedication to not let assets it has just get taken away, sacrificing pawns sets a bad precedent after all, in other words these people are the perfect employers for Esstrey''s own experiments. Even if she also accidentally ended up as a mediator for issues due to a mutual respect through fear, and her general experience with all the subjects that are involved by the paranormal division. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Again, the noises they make late at night are highly disturbing! My fellows are trying to sleep, not hear a bunch of buffoons go at it with sex demons! Esstrey, this is a clear attempt at poaching, and I demand you stop their late-night orgies!" The necromancer pleads his case with Esstrey, while pointing as aggressively as an old bag of bones could point at the colourfully dressed man. "With all due respect colleague, our activities are legal by section 7b of the contract, which clearly protects the freedom of non-harmful acts within one''s own walls, ?? ???? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ????? ? ????? ?????? ?? ??????." The Infernal acolyte talks confidently, but still backs away a bit when the necromancer gives him a seething look when he says the last bit. "The necromancer''s concerns are valid, but I won''t shut down the orgies over it. You can be as loud only as the walls are thick, you will either need to have quieter orgies or thicker walls, if you don''t like it I''ll start asking the necromancer higher-ups to start letting the undead have very loud orgies back." The necromancer snickers a bit at Esstrey''s verdict, while the Infernal pukes a little in his mouth, but manages to keep it inside. Esstrey for one is simply rubbing her forehead at all the unresolved conflicts between the loons. "Lady Esstrey! He has stolen my star chalk! I can''t commune with my patron like this!" An infernal woman immediately follows after the earlier group, who is followed by a Beyonder who is the accused of this crime. "Have not!" He firmly rebukes. "Have too!" The adults have clearly talked a lot about this. "And you are certain you two cannot resolve it amongst yourselves without me?" The Beyonder gives a lazy shrug, while the Infernal is doing her best impression of an angry Karen waiting for management to come to her defense. "Alright, how about his, you both split the costs evenly for new star chalk, and you share it for whatever you need it with. I''ll send a message to... Greg to hold on to the star chalk, he will also make sure none of you abuse the sharing part." Luckily, Esstrey has Greg. A completely forgotten janitor who somehow keeps the paranormal division clean. No one apparently even knew he existed, he just got paid through the papers. "T-that''s a horrible resolution!" The moment the Infernal finishes that sentence, she already sees Esstrey looking at her with a look of ''congratulations! It''s yours.'' "Esstrey! Esstrey!" The one called in question looks on in fury as she''s interrupted a third time within an hour with inane issues caused by generations of neglect, but it quickly melts as she notices the petitioner is small and scaled. "Kuda bring paper! Fancy lady says paper is part of hoard! Kuda steal paper anyway for hoard!" Kuda is still wearing some uniform belonging to the duchy, but this time the insignia indicating allegiance to the paranormal division is included. "let''s see here... an invitation to... a meeting with the PMC? What the hell are private military- nevermind it''s actually the Perrenian Matriarchal Coalition?" Esstrey taps the letter on the table a few times... she did see something in the library on this, but didn''t deem them too relevant due to a lack of exploits in centuries, how the hell do they even know she exists? From the small bit she read, it seemed like a regular invitation, and Esstrey got an invitation to join one of their meetings? Sure, sounds like fun, they might have snacks. Or maybe some good soup. Chapter 53: This is Nothing Like Wagner! Esstrey can already tell this is one big farce cleverly disguised as something special. When she accepted the invitation, she was not long after picked up by a spatial mage. The young master Jake was very excited about the idea that one of his direct staff members was involved in the PMC meeting, but his enthusiasm abated when being reminded that Esstrey was that specific staff member. Esstrey made sure to check with the duchess on whether her people had a concept of OPSEC, but she clarified that the invitation was most likely addressed to ''the witch of the swamp''. A position that Esstrey absorbed rather effectively. Arriving at the... meeting, Esstrey found it was just another place of decadence hidden beneath the veneer of magic. It was effectively a noble gala, but all the participants were women that wouldn''t be found out of place in fairytales. Goat-like mages, oriental kitsune, giantesses that looked about as uncomfortable in massive frilly dresses as Esstrey feels about this entire affair. At least Esstrey wasn''t alone in her thoughts, as it was rather easy to identify outcasts that were here mainly here for purely selfish reasons. Reasons Esstrey can get behind, and the kind she expected from a society boasting powerful figures. Come on, defenders of peace? Ridiculous, such organizations always corrupt with time, and this one was no different. However, instead of corrupting towards the path of the paranormal division, the PMC seems to have become... tea-sipping nobles. Esstrey looks around, trying to find somewhere a belligerent militant like her could at least somewhat blend in, and she finds it in the form of a small circle of attendees that look bored out of their minds as a woman that has some plants for clothes is holding up an organic shingle. A [Dryad] if that old book the sergeant told her about was correct. The people she''s ranting to appear to be a [Naga], a [Sheep-kin] with robes who is thoroughly engrossed in her book, and one of those oriental [Kitsune]. The naga is very red, with a temper to match it, the sheep-kin looks like a bored wizard with paler skin than a vampire, and the kitsune looks she wants to be anywhere but there. "Hey girls, don''t mind me, I''m just here to hide." Esstrey squeezes into a natural position between them, with the naga here she should be relatively unnoticed due to similiar size and build. "Same" The kitsune replies, while slumping against a pillar, she looks like shit. "Well howdy stranger! Do you wanna hear about the fascinating world of magical engineering?" The overenthusiastic dryad instantly latches on to a new conversation partner, eager to pitch her ideas to anyone she can get her vines on. "Uh... sure?" Esstrey answers hesitantly, and regrets it immediately as the others all gesture back and forth across their necks with their hands. "Great! Did you know that them shrooms handle communications with trees? Well I here found a way to-" Esstrey tunes out the babbling bio-technician rather quickly, as something within the dryad gets noticed by Esstrey. While the massive mermaid has no trouble discerning blood of creatures around her, like those ninja-guards hiding in the rafters above, the dryad''s blood signature is... weaker? Esstrey begins grabbing and inspecting the dryad, who doesn''t seem to mind as she keeps on yapping about fungal telecommunication and solar power. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "You seem like a creature that understands the importance of communication in war, do ya think deployin ma'' fancy shrooms in war would be good?" The dryad looks at Esstrey''s weapons as she mentions it, her accent and demeanor reminding Esstrey of that american state of glorified weapon dealers in the south. "Radio is a powerful weapon, but if you have a central hub for communication it will become a major target for the enemy, failing to protect it properly would do more harm than good." Esstrey looks closer at the dryad''s arm, and finds that her blood is... thicker and slower, is it treesap? If the dryad is fueled by treesap that makes an odd sort of sense... but why can Esstrey sense it even if only slightly? "I said that it''s not appropriate to brandish weapons at such an esteemed event, not to mention discussing such vile topics like tools of war!" Esstrey''s thoughts are interrupted by the voice of someone behind her, she turns around and sees someone dressed like a noblewoman with an entourage to match, the people around her have gone silent, even the dryad stopped talking for a moment. Esstrey gives the woman one proper once over; human, no significant deviations, no enchanted gear, no martial training, a squad of rafter-ninja''s shadowing her movements above. Not a threat. As Esstrey turns back to inspect the dryad, she clearly let her body language show a bit too much, as she senses the noblewoman put a hand in front of her mouth as if greatly offended by Esstrey wordlessly dismissing her relevance. Whispers are already spreading nearby, and if Esstrey has learned anything about court politics, it''s that there''s about to be a problem. "Do you not know who I am cur? I am emissary of the kingdom of Rila, Marquess Slygia Farmeen! I could make life rather difficult for a barbarian like you." The noblewoman is clearly enjoying enacting a powerplay against the mermaid, who has gone from looking uncaring to scowling in disgust. Esstrey grabs the noblewoman by the face, and lifts her up as she lets out a yelp. The people walking by her side back up in fear, while dozens of needles are already embedding themselves in Esstrey''s joints and tail. The shady guards of the woman try desperately to save their charge from her predicament, but Esstrey completely ignores them. "I thought this place was one where actually powerful people met, yet the one everybody fears here is some bitch hiding behind the authority of a nation? It''s rather sad, I hope not all coalitions are doomed to rot like this." Esstrey looks around the crowd to see if anyone relevant is preparing to stop her, but she had already ascertained that the weapons of the guards were too shallow to pierce her skull. No others move to actually stop Esstrey, it seemed that the little power-drunk tyrant wasn''t exceptionally loved. "Y-you should be paralyzed!" One of the attendants manages to speak up against Esstrey despite all the odds. "Oh? These needles are poisoned? I''m sorry, I didn''t know." Of course, you would have more luck asking nicely to poison a blood mage. Thoroughly disappointed with the PMC, Esstrey flings the arrogant noblewoman away, she gets saved from a bad landing by some guards, who have ceased attacking Esstrey while she moves to leave. Esstrey moves toward one of the spatial mages, who gets the point and opens a path back to Malencia for Esstrey. She may not be great at making friends with everyone, but Esstrey doesn''t need friends in the PMC, not when she could have enemies like these. Chapter 54: Raid! Esstrey wakes from her fishbowl to the sounds of footsteps, and senses a warm body rapidly running towards her office from the direction of the black market. It runs with a limp, and slows done as it reaches her doorway. A soldier stands in it, looking as a massive mermaid groggily climbs out of a small aquarium, and approaches him while grabbing a pack with some sort of gem in it. Blood is leaking from his side, but he doesn''t seem to care much for the wound. "L-lady liaison! We''re under attack by an unknown force! We need to-" An arrow pierces him through the neck, and he falls to the floor, drowning in his own blood. That''s odd, Esstrey doesn''t sense anyone else in the hallway. She goes to the poor soldier, and rips the arrow through his neck. As she does so, a large group of unknowns appear at the start of the hallway, with a few still coming down the stairway. An [Elf] woman dressed in green with a bow reloads her weapon, and a [Dwarf] with metal plates as thick as the door behind Esstrey stands next to her. Another arrow flings in Esstrey''s direction, and she uses her arms to block them from reaching any vitals. At first the duo staring at her relax a bit, but when they see Esstrey throwing away the arrows like toys they tense again. Esstrey''s bloodsense recovers, and she can detect the full group now. A [Human] man with a greatsword is with them as well, along with a woman who seemed to have been the source for the nullifying effect, a caster if her robes are any indication. Before they all line up ready to fight, Esstrey slams into the wall at her side, and a figure becomes visible as she barely dodges out of the way. A female [Wolf-kin], armor and weaponry indicating a rogue that planned to get behind Esstrey. "That''s a big fuckin'' lass, dibs on the head." The dwarf twirls his axe at the mermaid, boasting in the face of the creature. "HISSSSS KRRRRRR" A hiss followed by a clicking noise is all the response the dwarf gets from the mermaid, an unearthly noise that shouldn''t be possible to be made with the vocal range of mermaids. She lifts the assumed corpse of the soldier, and it shudders for a moment. Blood stops leaking from the man, and he begins looking around in shock. "Tell the paranormal division to burn evidence and evacuate on my orders." The mermaid doesn''t actually have the authority to hand out such an order, but whether people will care about that is up to fate now. Another duo of arrows fly down the hallway, Esstrey moves her body to shield the soldier, one arrow lands in her tail while the other gets slashed out of the air by her shovel. Esstrey fires back, her bolt uncaring for where it flies in this narrow hallway, the mass of the shot lands squarely on the dwarf, who staggers despite his heavy armor. The swordsman moves in for a stab, but almost gets his head squashed like a pumpkin for the effort as the back end of the crossbow almost hits him. Esstrey moves to finish him off, but gets put on the back-tail as a barrage of magical attacks hits her. Icicles pierce her tail, lightning makes her scream in pain, and the fireballs are ignored as the intense heat makes the hallway smell slightly like roast fish. The rogue goes in while the mermaid is staggered and with her eyes closed in pain, yet despite the mermaid having her eyes closed, she still manages to almost hit the wolfgirl in the ribs with the crossbow turned club. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. A door closes loudly behind Esstrey, followed by the noise of a metal latch falling in place. The door has a lock on both sides, since escaping creatures tend not to be intelligent. Esstrey herself slowly backs up to the door, now that the soldier is properly gone she has some more breathing room, figuratively... and literally. The dwarf moves up, his team behind him as they move to end this nightmare. The dwarf stops at the opening for a bit and sees... a giant fishbowl? The bowl of water slams out of the doorway, crushing it as the bowl comes to life. The mermaid leaps forward as a small flood of water and debris clogs the hallway, as she makes contact with the water the threat amplifies thrice-fold, the archer is forced to take cover behind a magical barrier conjured by the mage as debris flies her way, and the mage is doing everything she can to stop Esstrey''s assault. The dwarf is stuck in the magical whirlpool, safe from everything except the water in his suit of armor. The wolfgirl tries to hide from the attacks, but shards of glass target her and she too hides behind the mage. The man with the greatsword blocks Esstrey''s advance, and as the mermaid tries to engulf him like she did the dwarf... ... she gets slashed across her chest, a wide diagonal gash. The corpse of the mermaid getting carried a few extra meters toward the stairway before stopping from the sheer mass of the body. The group quickly recovers from the bossfight, and the mage is rushed by her teammates seeking healing. "Asahi, I told you we need a healer, preferably before assaulting what amounts to the most concentrated source of heretical magic in the entire Faerune Kingdom. If their guard-fish messed us up this badly, that doesn''t say great things on what we will encounter once actually in there." The mage looks to their swordsman with mild disappointment while removing a glass shard from their rogue. "Nalia, That thing... it shouldn''t be here, I have never even heard of that thing, hell I know how mermaids looks and... it isn''t like that." Asahi looks with worry to the corpse of the mermaid as if it could get up at any moment, but it''s still just a corpse. "Well Asahi, it just goes to show that you don''t know everything, no matter what Larielle claims." The wolfgirl winces as another glass shard gets pulled out. "Really Xyrashi? He did rather accurately predict the day and methods on how you planned to kill your owner, along with all your fantasies about strapping young- iieep!" Larielle dodges a piece of debris thrown her way by the wolfgirl, and the two start bickering. No one notices during the bickering as the dwarf approaches the mermaid, eager to claim his prize. He lifts his axe, and... A shovel embeds itself between the plates in the rear of the dwarf''s armor. The dwarf gets lifted by the assumed dead mermaid. The entire group gets into combat positions as the mermaid uses the dwarf as a living shield to get to the stairway. Yet, here Esstrey''s greatest weakness becomes visible. She already has trouble climbing stairways, but now she has to while carrying a heavily armored dwarf and keeping her body from falling apart at the seams. Her rescue comes into the form of spider-like legs emerging from her back, and slowly helping her climb up as she keeps the dwarf between the magically powered lunatics and her. Once at the top, she throws the dwarf down the spiral staircase and flees the scene, she delayed past what her paycheck demanded of her, time to bounce. Chapter 55: OPFOR Cleans House Tolbert IronBeard of Montagne-peaks clan was having a good day. One of his comrades knew the location of the source of most if not all evil in this region, a duchy-back triumvirate of mad wizards and evil cultists. The lad had told them of this place, and most wouldn''t have believed it if we all didn''t trust him on a more personal level before this. Now he had gathered what is probably the strongest force of elites in all the kingdoms, and it''s much needed as well. At first, they faced a group of assassins in the sewers, led by a slippery man their expedition lead identified as Kharn, right-hand man of Eliana Malencia. It was a lot of annoying work, but they eventually cleared out the team and sent Kharn packing. While the team was hoping on finishing him off, the bastard got away before they could strike any finishing blows. Asahi seemed to have known this, as he tends to do, so he wasn''t too disappointed, saying that we would get him another time like it''s an inevitability. Next they faced the most lucrative black market anyone had ever laid their eyes on, it would''ve been a mighty fine affair if Tolbert was actually able to do some shopping, even if some of the goods weren''t up his moral alley, most goods were merely there to dodge the kingdom''s tax. Tolbert can appreciate not wanting to pay tax to anyone other than the dwarven high-king, and even then doing so begrudgingly, but this black market too was simply a facade to cover up the crimes perpetrated here. They faced a garrison of ''untrained thugs'' led by someone that looked rather unwashed but moved like an experienced knight. Asahi called him Rowan, the public face of the guard of the duchy. His thugs moved like a trained unit, and he was able to delay their team long enough for the majority of the black market traders to flee, even managed to get a messenger sent to their goal once he realized they weren''t here to raid a bunch of penny-pinching merchants. Rowan and a few of his troops disappeared later as well, seemingly into thin air, which is odd considering he didn''t strike anyone as the slippery type like Kharn. After that was the empty hallway with a small storage room leading to their goal, the den of evil. Larielle had dispatched the messenger before he reached the enemy hideout to warn them, but then things kind of started going sideways. A massive mermaid showed up and just... revived the messenger. Did some no doubt heretical magic to make a man stand up like that. Asahi couldn''t pin down her identity, which was the weirdest out of all this, she certainly didn''t seem like a figure one could just forget. That all leads to the crux of the issue, Tolbert was having a good day, it all started going downhill after the fight with the mermaid, and Tolbert being thrown down a flight of stairs by said mermaid. The messenger managed to make it to the cults, and now their team was bogged waist height in the guts of demons, zombies, and... things. Tolbert hacks away at another black mass, Asahi said that if the messenger was killed they would face scattered resistance, and if he made it through they would have to be facing all the cults one by one, yet now the cults are attacking with some level of coordination. Another thing today that their rather so far infallible oracle failed to predict. Not to mention the fact that the main hub they had been cutting towards is on fire! They were meant to get evidence of the crimes of the Duchess here, but all they see is a strike team of demons supported by liches and covered by eldritch horrors carve a path through their objectives, and Tolbert knows they won''t find anything incriminating as the last cult base is razed to the ground, they barely even fought any of the cultists themselves. Tolbert watches as their fearless leader sits on a finely carved stone bench, somehow seeming more exhausted as the time when he fought off a dragon. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "I-I didn''t expect such a large difference... the duchess brought someone in that could reign in the cultists... somehow. That mermaid gave the messenger an order, and I''m confident that without that order the cults wouldn''t have reacted this prepared... they would have been arrogant towards our entry. Did my actions really...?" Asahi states it like he''s saying the sun will rise tomorrow, confidence not being lost in his tone, while he still looks defeated. The messenger in question didn''t get off easy, his revival was short-lived as it seems the magic that kept him running for a while ran out, his corpse lying in a puddle of blood fifty meters away from where he should have died. "Cheer up lad, we still just about destroyed the effort the duchess has been putting in this place for a while, there is also enough evidence to force a crackdown, these bastards won''t be active for a wee bit again." Tolbert puts his hand on the boy''s shoulder, it must be hard to know things others don''t and carry the weight of the future. "The dwarf for all his faults is right, you said that the heir is tainted by a host of vile magics, we can go scout him out." Tolbert scowls at Larielle, and she sees him scowling even with his helmet on. "Aye, and the elf is right that the pansy noble isn''t just affected by vile magic, but if yer predictions keep goin'' like this we will most likely face a stronger Jake. Can we call for reinforcements from Rila? They have always been ready to throw a rock toward Faerune." Despite Tolbert addressing Asahi, he still looks with fury towards Larielle. "Rila... Rila won''t be able to help, PMC will also act too slowly. Belluzoar will probably help, he''s set to arrive soon." Asahi rubs his forehead, and Nalia quickly rushes over. "The God of war is coming? And you are planning to ask for his help? Do you know how dangerous the gods can be? Belluzoar isn''t exactly known to be very... empathetic." Nalia sounds worried about them, her caution with her words isn''t unwarranted either. "Relax, he will help with his. The Faerune Kingdom won''t take kindly to his presence, but we need him nonetheless." Asahi grips his sword tightly, and the look in his eyes is grave. "Whatever ya say lad, it''s gotta be real scary if the avatar of the war god is ''needed''." Chapter 56: Remnants of a Bygone Era (Yesterday) The air is quiet as Jake''s carriage slowly moves along. He was ordered by his mother to return to his studies after his recovery, and today is the day he finally left. Not a moment too soon, the entire paranormal division is still odd to him. Not in the sense that he feels threatened by them, he knows the deal they have with his mother is too valuable for them, but the walking political nightmare each of them are. Plynka has no sense of social self-preservation, and seems to enjoy giving people predictions which are only accurate half the time. An eccentric even by the standards of other eccentrics. Sir Flester is probably on a list of sex offenders somewhere, and few things give me nightmares like him being unattended near nobles, this is odd considering he is rather polite despite not understanding the concept of social boundaries. Kreif Brotbacker is the one that usually acts as a representative for the necromancer council, and he is the worst of all of them combined with nobles, he''s humble and usually wears rags. Somehow Esstrey, his mentally unstable doctor, has managed to keep them all in line. She... isn''t actually too bad with nobles, but appeasing them seems to be very much a suggestion for her. It''s rather obvious she holds nothing but contempt for them when given the chance, and cares not for the enemies she could make in the process. Kharn has the aura of a weasel around himself, and nobles are experienced with sniffing out those types of people, while Rowan is an excellent choice when dealing with nobles in a friendly environment, making him the usual go-to. Jake thinks of all this as he sits idly in the bumping carriage, a stream passes the road, but nothing particularly interesting. He will have to know these things as the future duke of Malencia, these are his most... trusted advisors. He rubs his forehead as he thinks of it, half is mentally unwell, and the other half is too predictable to use against his rivals. However, none of their skill sets are anything to scoff at, his doctors skills go without saying, but the entire paranormal division was kept around by his mother precisely because of the powers they brought to the table. Rowan is still a great guard captain despite being a doormat to nobles, and Kharn still manages to deal with more troublesome obstacles despite being suspicious as all hell. For all their strengths, Jake can''t help but think it might be best to distance himself from his mother''s henchmen for his own sake. "Brother Jake, tell me another story!" His younger sister Valeria pokes him at his side, and he can''t help but look at her a little sadly. Right, if it wasn''t him keeping an eye on them, it would be someone else they would cling to. His thoughts are interrupted by loud splashing coming from the water, and the escort of his carriage shouting into an alert position. He hears the sergeant assigned to this trip bark orders to get in formation, and Jake watches out of the small window of the carriage what the commotion is all about. Oh no... out of the water comes a massive monster that has already dismissed Jake''s entire escort as a non-threat. Valeria tries to look out of the window as well, but Jake makes sure she doesn''t see anything. She''s here... his doctor. A tapping on the glass as the mermaid''s clawed hand makes contact with the door of the carriage, she knows he''s in there, she senses his blood. Jake opens the carriage door slowly, not out of caution, but more out of unwillingness. "Young master Jake! Fancy seeing you here! I was just taking a nice swim in the area, and I just happened to be in the area! Say old chap, can you tell the men to stand down? Their stupors will end any moment now." Right, a lot of the rank and file don''t know her yet, and it would be troublesome if the sergeant got good men killed for nothing. Jake gives a signal from the carriage to the men to stand down, just in time too, as he could already see some aiming crossbows. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Esstrey what happened? Why are you here?" Jake whispered it so no one else could hear it other than his younger sister, who was doing her best to hide behind him, and normally such a question would be a faux pas, but Jake quickly learned to be direct with the insane witch was better, and he very much did not want her here. "Just a minor little incident, nothing too concerning." As Jake digests her words, his eyes wander across her chest. A rip in the clothing previously not very visible to him, beneath the rip is a massive bloody gash that isn''t leaking any blood. Before trying to interrogate her further, he grabs a health potion from a hidden cabinet in the cart and hands it to her. As she chugs the health potion, a small black dot exits her body, it wanders away from the carriage for a bit before expanding in size. The entire escort re-aims their crossbows at the expanding hole in space while still wary of the mermaid, none let it show, but they get a little relieved when the mermaid turns around and aims her ballista sized crossbow at the portal as well. Jake pokes his head out of the carriage window as well, worried what the commotion is about now, and three familiar figures step out of the portal. "Woah... it actually worked..." The woman with a dress made out of black ribbons comments. "You didn''t test it beforehand?" The colorfully dressed man comments. "Well, we didn''t die. No need to test other spells today then, can I count that as a success? Excellent spellwork Plynka." A man in rags notes, slightly disappointed at the lack of anyone dying. "What are you three idiots doing here?" Esstrey fortunately asks before Jake has to. "We figured you were the safest place after the destruction of our... assets." Kreif is calm as he just told Jake of the strongest faction his mother has... is destroyed. "Not to worry, our members are all practically alive, we can rebuild with some time and *cough* funding." Ronald Flester is still as shameless as ever, already knowing that the duchess''s heir has plenty of assets. "This is good that you are here young master Jake, we believe that it is important to stick close to you during these... troublesome times." Plynka may seem like an airhead, but she is smart enough to understand that being near the duchess during a raid that discovers cult activity below her ass is a bad idea for everyone involved. Jake looks at Esstrey, who looks away while whistling casually, this was her plan as well wasn''t it? She''s practically part of the paranormal division, and the only one that can be slightly understood. The guards have already lowered their weapons and are patrolling the perimeter in an obvious attempt to avoid being involved in a conversation far above their paygrade. "What about my mother? What about the kobolds? And your... pet slime?" Jake looks to Esstrey, who actually opens her mouth for a bit, before closing it again and thinking. "Dunno, but I''m sure they''re fine. I made sure to order the destruction of evidence, and their presence here indicates they took that order seriously, your mom should survive with that. The kobolds are a resourceful bunch and will probably hide out in the deeper parts of the sewers for a while. As for Sofia, she''s with me. " Esstrey taps her bag nonchalantly, but doesn''t open it. The guards may not want to see what their charge is doing, but that doesn''t mean Esstrey will give them something to gawk at anyway. Jake retreats into the carriage, and begins massaging his face. Rowan and Kharn will probably be stuck helping his mom with the political fallout, and these powerful figures all need to stay far away from her to make sure this doesn''t end with her being declared a heretic. Her most powerful people, who are as powerful as they are political failures are stuck with him while he tries his best to go back to his studies. Sensing his distress, Valeria rubs his back. Great, now his little sister is consoling the heir to the great duchy of Malencia. At least something is going right. Chapter 57: They are legally not allowed to kill you if you say no It''s downright baffling for Esstrey with how much these feudal monarchies love their centralized magic learning centers where nobles are given major advantages. Jake was apparently to resume his education in the capital Faeyra as soon as he had recovered enough. A school for kids to learn magic in theory, a place for the spawn of snobs to build connections in practice. Most of the school''s budget probably goes to warding off would be assassins if the kingdom''s internal security doesn''t have even half the strength ol'' Civillis had at his disposal, and he still died from an internal plot. Esstrey herself can''t even help but think how the assassins were sloppy. Had it been her, she would have probably made some plastic explosives and riddle the place with them, then have the biggest batch be in some collaborator''s backpack and convince them the explosives will open a portal for troops to flow in through if you enchant them. That way some magical payload can be added and whoever detonates the bombs will try to position themselves close enough for the "troops" to have effect on the target without giving them time to respond. These are all passive observations as they just... walk through the front gate. The biggest criminals in the entire kingdom, and they just walk in as if they own the place. None of the eccentric individuals in the party has ever done anything illegal in the open, and their relation with the duchess ensures plenty of official documents. Esstrey rubs her chin at the thought of sloppy security, she heard Dalka had enough mages to easily identify and suppress dimensional breaches, but Faerune just seems... sloppy. "Say Plynka, how do you even call things over for your ritual? Do you just have an open call?" Esstrey''s question catches Jake off-guard, as mages rarely discuss magic in public, not to mention the type of magic being VERY illegal. "Gods no! That''s just asking for encountering the nasty stuff that gets kept at bay by [The Veil] for good reason. No, we have special artifact-like beacons that are usually something like small statues of what we are trying to summon, the statues actually exist on multiple dimensions, making them very visible for beings. Imagine if you saw a statue of yourself being built in some village, you would go check it out too, wouldn''t you?" Plynka answers heedless of the people around, Jake desperately tries to put a stop to the conversation, but knows that if a noble sticks his head out of a carriage to stop something it was worth something. "So... how do you make one of these beacons?" Some of the guards are listening in now, albeit unwillingly, and start to form up to bar people on the street from hearing parts of the conversation. "You can''t, powerful beings make these things and scatter them across the cosmos so they can get called over by sentient beings finding them, I heard it''s to stave off boredom. You would need a material receptive to dimensional effect, the image of the being you want summoned, and an interdimensional being to increase the dimensional presence of the item. This stuff is very dangerous." Esstrey mentally skips over the warning signs and things that could go wrong as she digests what Plynka says, material, the image and dimensional blessing... Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Her plotting is interrupted by a distant shout, one very specifically directed at her. The familiar voice of one of the raiders, as she perks up to look in the direction of where she was called she sees a group of adventurer-types rapidly approaching their location, they probably saw Esstrey sticking out of the crowd. How did they get here so fast? Of the entire caravan, the only other one aware of the danger seems to be Ronald. "Ronald, get Jake to the academy, I''ll handle the meddlers. Kreif, you are now my humble attendant that does his best to keep me out of trouble without insulting me." Ronald nods as he ushers the caravan forth, who all remain confused as to what is happening. Kreif for one does an excellent job of acting by already becoming visibly nervous. Esstrey for her part begins to stand fully straight, and looks around her with contempt a bit before hiding her shovel and putting her beret sideways. Time to ''act''. "Vile creature! What are you doing to these poor people?" Asahi shouts in the direction of Esstrey while pointing his sword, but he goes completely ignored. "Kreif! Where are the baths!? I feel dry!" Esstrey''s voice sounds like a haughty noble making impossible demands, which is precisely what is happening as Kreif is still sweating from both wondering what the shouting is about and where the hell the baths are, he sure as shit doesn''t know. "Answer me!" Asahi''s warcry is accompanied by an attack from above, he leaps toward Esstrey to slash her behind, but she dodges smoothly at the last moment, letting him fall face-first into the ground. She doesn''t follow it up with any attacks, and made the dodge seem completely accidental. "Guards! This peasant is bothering me! Where are the guards? KREIF CALL THE GUARDS FOR ME!" The mermaid''s demanding attitude catches Asahi''s party by surprise, and before Kreif can do anything, guards are already pushing through the crowd that backed up when a madman with a sword just attacked the mermaid. "Oi oi oi, what''s going on here!? Wot''s this all ''bout?" A gruff man with a few rookie guards arrive at the scene. "I want this man beheaded for bothering his betters, that is all." Esstrey turns to admire the scenery afterward, very pointedly ignoring the whole situation. The sergeant isn''t very amused, but tries to get a statement elsewhere either way. "T-that man attacked my lady Sir guard captain, I-I understand if her presence could be seen to be offensive to some, and it is within my power to offer compensation for bureaucratic obstructions. The duchess of Malencia wouldn''t want the unconventional needs of her guests to trouble the capital." Kreif does an excellent job ''playing'' the role he''s meant to be, that of a sniveling coward, a weasel of a man. The sergeant quickly recognizes him as such, and looks to the last group to get testimonies from. A group of heavily armed adventurers that are doing a terrible job at hiding their hate for a ''noble''. "Roight then. Lads, take these ''ere hotheads to the brig to cool off." The sergeant''s verdict is clear, and the rookies move to apprehend the troublemakers. "W-wait! She''s in league with cultists! She''s a threat to the city!" Asahi meekly resists the rookie guards, not wanting to go against the law. "Yeah yeah, that''s what they all say. Now keep moving!" The group is carried off, leaving Kreif slightly baffled at the display he had just taken part in. Esstrey simply rubs the back of her head, that elf had a bow trained on her skull nearly the entire time, judging from the paths of her blood vessels she could sense. "I need a helmet..." Chapter 58: Beyond Comprehension It has been roughly two weeks since Jake and his entourage re-entered the capital, the adventurer party that had accosted them at the start showed up quickly after arrival again, but they mostly seem to be observing vigilantly for now... as well as participating in the magic academy. In that two week time, the paranormal division has been re-establishing like only insane madmen could. Esstrey is no exception, even if her only following is a village worth of kobolds currently in hiding. However, a following matters little to Esstrey if she can''t be absolutely certain of their loyalty, the kobolds may seem loyal, but she knows that illusion will end if they ever find out she is not actually draconic, her methods are just draconian. "Esstrey, what in Mortimer''s name have you done to my room? Why here?" Naturally, the person that got the paranormal division here is incredibly stressed as he believes they will be found out any moment now, that and he isn''t very happy with Esstrey appropriating his room for a ritual. "Your room is the safest location I can think of, furthest away from... prying eyes. Here, hold my shovel." Esstrey throws her shovel lazily toward Jake, who fumbles with it slightly but manages to get a good grip on it anyway. "What kind of ritual are you even doing? And what''s with the helmet?" Jake has already given up on actually stopping anything the paranormal division does, these people only ever sided with his Eliana for the resources, they didn''t exactly sign up to follow orders like some sword-wielding schmuck. She''s also wearing some kind of metal helmet with a bolted on visor made of thick glass, there''s a special spot at the sides where her ears can stick out, but the clearly incredibly thick faceshield covers for this weakness. "Demon-summoning ritual, I need something most easily acquired by a demon. The helmet is for protection, an orichalium Altyn helmet, how does it look?" For some reason Jake still had better expectations than Esstrey treating a new helmet as a more important matter than a demon summoning ritual in his room. "I-what... you know what? You look like a fucking juggernaut." Even Jake has his limits it seems, but that won''t make him go up against the mermaid who is currently pointing a crossbow at the center of the summoning circle. The circle begins to light up as it gathers power from its surroundings, and a form begins to take shape in the center. The form of a busty woman that wouldn''t be found out of place in a brother if it wasn''t for her red skin horns and tail. She isn''t clothed scantily opposite to Jake''s expectations (and a little his hopes) like the demons he heard of from Ronald''s endless tirades that should really get him written up for sexual harassment for talking about it alone. No, she is instead clothed in a black business suit with a tie and rectangular glasses, she holds a folder of sorts, but it''s clearly all decorative considering her smile. "Why if it isn''t my favorite costumer, pointing a crossbow at me again it seems. Tell me dear Esstrey, what kind of juicy deal do you have for the Infernal Host this time?" Zha''klos takes a quick note of the kid holding the shovel, sizing him up, and quickly identifying him as the child of the woman who''s backing a cult on this planet, typical. She just as quickly as appearing turns her eyes back to the proverbial monster in the room. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "I heard demons are experts at energy and matter conversion, I would like you to transform this wooden figurine into something that is more receptive to spatial magic." Esstrey puts down a figurine of... herself. Specifically, her full equipment of the time she fought Magnus. Despite the eldritch armor, flaming blade and ornate buckler, anyone that has met Esstrey can still see how that''s her beneath the armor. "That request is surprisingly common, but...well, let''s say that normally there are rather large restrictions on spatial material conversions because of our highly competitive market. However, considering it''s a figurine of yourself and..." Zha''klos trails off as she inspects the figurine in earnest. There''s something Zha''klos is familiar with within the figurine, a pulsing of power with exactly the same signature as those buckets of royal''s blood she gave her. A figurine meant to represent Esstrey, full of blood that Zha''klos knows comes from a royal being. "You motherfucker..." The helmet makes sense now, a minor security measure in the eyes of most, but if she so freely uses her own blood... she must be a blood mage as well. She had actually tricked a millennia old being, if even only for a while, by blinding the demon with desire for something. A tactic demonkind is all too familiar with. Usually, the blood of royals from the ''civilized races'' loses its royalty factor once said royal is no longer recognized as such, but Zha''klos knows for certain that no one on this planet recognizes her as royalty from information bought from the local cult cell. Either someone somewhere else still recognizes her as such, or the definition of monster is much more literal, is she even a mermaid? "You fuckeeerrr." Zha''klos rubs her forehead, which is it? Hidden following or monster? She doesn''t know, the millennia old being doesn''t know. The thing stuck in her back answers a few of her questions, Esstrey is clearly not of this world, probably not even from [The Veil]. She''s not immortal, doesn''t act enough like one, that means somewhere out there, there is a civilization both foolish enough and advanced enough to produce a mind like Esstrey''s. "I-I want a copy of that helmet, or the blueprint. I also want to copy your clothes." The shovel is too simple in design, and the crossbow doesn''t seem too foreign, but the helmet has some overly foreign quirks. Getting the design would get the Infernal Host insight on this interdimensional traveler, and more importantly, the civilization that produced her. The same goes for the clothes, now that she looks closer the material seems too... precise. A demon''s senses are excellent, but the clothes have no marks on them from faulty tailorwork, the only marks on the clothes is overly crudely patched up damage. "Deal." Esstrey slowly backs up to a cabinet and starts rummaging through it while keeping her crossbow aimed at Zha''klos, she finds the blueprint she gave that blacksmith, and throws it towards the demon. Next, she inspects herself a bit, before stabbing herself and using her blood to hold the crossbow while she strips. Jake looks away red-faced at the display, and Esstrey throws her clothes along with the wooden figurine at Zha''klos. The demon uses some sort of magic to turn the figurine from wood to some kind of burning rock, and creates a spectral image of Esstrey''s jacket which solidifies after a small bit, afterward she gives a small bow, and leaves with the blueprint and the copy of the jacket. Esstrey picks up the jacket, and puts it back on while Jake stares slack-jawed. "Where were the protective enchantments in that circle? And why didn''t you sign a contract with the demon to make sure she would hold up her end of the bargain?" Jake doesn''t know much about demons, but even he knows that much. "Protective enchantments? Contract? You can do that stuff?" Esstrey however, never learned how to enforce her will by using magic. She''s just been applying her social manipulation capabilities as much as possible. Chapter 59: Beyond Power Jake manages to calm himself down as the even where he came face to face with an unchained demon quickly becomes a memory. He can only imagine what the rest of the paranormal division is up to while he''s not actively paying attention to, despite not wanting to. The mermaid is currently playing around with a now flaming idol of... herself. From what he understood, these are usually meant to summon something, as he can imagine someone calling your name at an interdimensional level would make one quite curious to go check it out. For a moment, Jake works up the courage to ask what he actually wanted to ask her. "Esstrey... I do need your help with something, I believe a set of nobles is using a get-together as a disguise to plot against me in room 3-F, and I need a way to know what is going on in there. Do you have a way to investigate it?" Esstrey turns to look at Jake with a predatory look, she puts the idol down next to some books about beacons she got from Plynka. If she works on this, it might slow down whatever it is she''s planning. "Yes... yes, I believe I can help with that. Give me a second." She looks around for a bit, and slowly wanders through the room. Right up until she stops at a random point, slowly gets her claw ready and... smashes a hole into the wall. In her claw coming from the hole is a rat, a small one that must have made the walls its home while preying on the kitchen. Now it has the unfortunate experience of meeting the good doctor as well. She puts the rat on a table, and begins cutting it open. "You see young master Jake, power comes in many forms. What you asked of me just now was information, information, after all, is half the battle. The other half is violence, they do go so well hand in hand. As the future Duke of Malencia, it is your duty to know how your subordinates handle power. Had you asked this of Rowan, he probably would have sent one of the guards to spy on them directly, a method so crude it just might work. Kharn would have probably sent a spy to cling to the window or something, while the paranormal division would... I actually don''t know what they would do." Esstrey begins to dig into the rat with gusto, tiny organs are removed as her blood magic killed the rat at some point. "My specialty is blood magic, something normally only found in vampires. When possible, I try to abuse this to the maximum that I can, since it''s pretty hard to find a teacher in blood magic that doesn''t suspect you of trying to overthrow them. A lot of this is a learning experience for myself as well, and in my studies I found something interesting. Tree sap counts as blood, do you know what this means?" Jake simply looks at Esstrey to wait for her to explain things, he only knows some degree of dark magic and only ever had blood magic performed on him. "It means, that blood magic isn''t about the blood. An incorrect term, it would be more accurate to say that blood magic is about... fuel. A useless distinction in practice, but a distinction nonetheless. It is also the self, you can have someone else''s organ, but they will never function as well as one''s own. Even the organ of an identical twin is... not perfect." The rat she''s working on begins to show noticeable mutations, its fur falls out while its skin becomes unnaturally pale. The cranium begins to bloat, and Esstrey begins to close up the rat. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Get up soldier, scout 3-F in this building, and report your findings." A rat ghoul, an undead resulting from blood magic, the enlarged cranium existing to accommodate the brain, while most organs were removed as to not burden the rat with any other concerns than its mission. It gives a curt bow, and runs off much more polite than ghouls are thought to be capable of. "Power takes many forms, yet I have never seen a power stronger than good teamwork. If humanity got its head out of its ass here for just five minutes they would put every noble to the torch and conquer this world under a singular banner, the same can be said for non-humans." Jake looks at Esstrey like she''s truly babbling now, overthrow the nobles? Fat chance, after all the power of nobles is... Esstrey then shows Jake a newspaper, one with a big headline and a flashy picture of a noble getting beheaded. The headline leads as follows;''Revolution in Rila! Dangerous men have declared the second Rilan Republic, and this time is even bloodier than the last! The Rilan forces loyal to the crown were quickly overrun by these agitators, and the Republicans have declared intentions to invade their neighbors, no doubt thirsting for more righteous blood!''. The newspaper scare Jake, despite not knowing which country Rila would be. What does Esstrey mean by this? "See those weapons they are holding in the picture? Those are muskets, it allows a peasant to blow a hole in a knight at great distances. They look a little different than the muskets I knew with the glowing underbarrels, but they very clearly serve the same purpose. I want those weapons, when every man can pick up a weapon and become a knight''s worth of power, can dragons really stand up to anything at that point?" Esstrey seems to have minimal interest in the Republicans at first glance, but her ideology has far more overlap with them than anyone in Faerune. The nobles will import the muskets, they crave power after all, but muskets are the prelude to revolution. Jake isn''t given much time to think about Esstrey''s proposition to import these weapons, not that Esstrey has any doubt he plans to accept it. Soon after Esstrey finished the scurrying of a rat could be heard, a rat with a skin far too pale. It makes a little salute in Esstrey''s direction before painting with it''s blood. The picture it paints is a very bloody one indeed, as it depicts people sitting around a table with a map in the center, pictures adorn the map, and with some help from Esstrey the rat manages to draw as close as possible as to what it saw. The map is Malencian terrain, and the pictures depict various members of Malencian court. A plot in the making exposed by a rat, one that falls dead the moment the task is accomplished, and is carried of by a black cat that came from...somewhere. Esstrey didn''t even set the rat up in a way to convince Jake to import muskets, nobles do the whole plotting against one another all on their own. Chapter 60: Beyond... in General Finally, Jake is gone and won''t return in a little while, distracted with new shiny things as he is. None of those goodies aren''t valuable mind you, and what Esstrey is planning certainly isn''t that much higher in scale than importing guns or her ever-growing deals with The Infernal Host. Humanity has stagnated on this planet, maybe on the other planets belonging to [The Veil] as well. Overly reliant on private contractors called ''adventurers'' to solve internal security problems, while at the same time the standing military rots under the lack of competition. The capitalists were right about one thing, competition breeds innovation, there were few moments where humanity learned as much as when it was very busy killing itself. The Romans were natural engineers, and better conquerors, the Thirty-years war cut a bloody swathe across Europe so badly it permanently severed the ties between politics and religion. The first world war saw a grown man dulled by war turned fearful as the ground shakes and a metal titan enclosed on his position, what Esstrey wouldn''t do to see that... If humanity can''t unite, and if they can''t compete, then what the hell are they doing? Trick question, they are being kept down. The gods, [The Central Governor], magic as a whole. It all provides the end of questions, humans are problem-solving creatures by nature, if these things end their questions, what will they have to ask? Nothing. For they now live in the destitute knowledge that beings beyond comprehension exist, and leave it all to ''greater powers far more qualified'' to find the answers to their questions. Esstrey doesn''t know much... but the little she knows tells her that a civilization with thousands of years of recorded history shouldn''t be this primitive. The answer to her question lies in the palm of her claw, a figurine of herself made of burning rock. "Parasite, I need you to enchant this, I will compensate you, but I believe you aren''t one for gold." There is a certain distaste in Esstrey''s voice, not for having to work with the parasite, but for having to rely on magic she doesn''t understand yet has to accept. "The host bumbles and trips around in the presence of its fellow materials, but I see the trick you try to pull. There will be no deal until the host guarantees it will not use the results against me. A... contract written by blood should suffice for this if the host''s memory serves this one correctly." The unnatural voice returns from within Esstrey''s throat, it''s much higher pitched than her own voice while still using her vocal cords to aid it. "That is... acceptable, I''ll write one up now." Contrary to popular belief, you don''t need to actually write your entire name in a blood contract, for the contract is made through the blood. Only a sufficient amount of blood needs to be voluntarily applied to any writing aid, and the terms written there at the time will be enforced upon the being, with the punishment of failing to uphold the contract being death by boiled blood. Something that Esstrey can only survive for as long as she can stay awake, and the parasite can only survive it by all fleeing material space that has a concept of blood contracts. These contracts aren''t used often, mainly because the punishment always being death by boiled blood. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "This is acceptable, but it is not payment I want... I want a name, materials make them so easy underestimating their power. I also want more biomatter, taking nutrients from one who controls blood is nerve-wrecking. I do not require a blood-contract for these things, I trust the word of the host on the supply of biomatter." The parasite applies it''s blood print to the paper, confident that Esstrey hasn''t hidden any clauses by grace of being connected to her nerves. It''s price is cheap, but certainly the only thing the creature could be interested in when dealing with a shared body. "A name? Hmmm... you are... Katerina. As for the meat I''ll just occasionally shove some food at my back, if I make this gesture it means it''s for you. Now little girl, you and me are gonna wreck this place." Esstrey watches in glee as Katerina fulfills her end of the bargain by enchanting the figurine to have a dimensional presence. "Why am I a girl? I am not capable of sexual reproduction." "Because you are in me, thus you are me. No complaints, no one gets to choose. Hush now, this next part requires concentration." Esstrey adjusts her Altyn helmet to make sure it''s on properly, and powers up the figurine. The figurine begins to glow, and somehow becomes more... pronounced. Some afterimages are next to the figurine, and it begins to pulse with power. [Dimensional breach detected by beacon of locally made origin, containing source.] It seems [The Central Governor] didn''t like that, as the figurine begins to disintegrate under the weight of it''s power, if the corrupted system was meant to stop the dimensional breach, it did a shitty job of it. A portal appears in the room near the beacon, one connected to a different dimension. Out of the portal comes an eldritch monster of a high rank, it''s flesh undulates as it get accustomed to the new dimension and faces a large mermaid with a helmet pointing a crossbow at her. The mermaid drops her crossbow, and charges at the creature which has taken on an odd shape for even its kind. "Comrade Cathy! I fucking knew you would make it! So good to see you again!" Esstrey tackles the little maid of tar, begins rubbing her head and gives a big kiss. Her entire face becomes messed up in Esstrey''s bear hug, but she manages to stay as standing as a shoggoth can. "This one is also [liking/enjoying/good time] being with its fellow interdimensional, this one wonders how Esstrey is doing." Cathy seems as stoic as ever, even if her face did get a shade of purple darker after getting kissed. "Good, better now. Soon I will be doing great, wanna mess up some bastards with me?" Esstrey just now realized how lonely she felt without someone that understands other dimensions, although Katerina did help some with this. "This one is looking forward to [assisting/aiding/reinforcing] once again." Cathy wasn''t exaggerating when she said she liked being with Esstrey either, for Cathy the mad mermaid is the only one who accepted the shoggoth''s many peculiarities. Chapter 61: Mana Signatures Detected "The agitators are all around! Open thine eyes my people, the rotten falloff of demons has infiltrated our great society and poisoned the minds of many! Crusade! Crusade!" A man on a podium speaks to the crowd outside, he is dressed like a member of the church of life. People from every rung of society except nobles are attracted to the speech, peasants selling their goods, guards on patrol, workmen wondering what the commotion is all about. "People have gone missing! Kilograms worth of Adamantine gone! Demons south of us as if it is normal! The local cemetery in revolt as our fathers and mothers are corrupted by vile magic! We are being preyed upon by vile things, but worry not! Belluzoar''s avatar has arrived to strike down the heathens! He can protect his flock with much greater ease if the faithful were to make a small donation for the cause, all profits go to purchasing supplies for our crusaders." Esstrey munches on some mystery meat she found in the kitchen while looking outside of her window at the shameless preacher. Sure, plenty of the profits would be going to crusaders, but he never really specified what kind of supplies to which crusaders. Who knows, maybe the hard-working priests need to hire a girl to keep them warm at night as they worry in their comfortable beds as the cemetery they were sworn to protect is trying to eat the visitors. As interesting as the zealot shouting outside is, Esstrey is more worried about the avatar of the war god, that one has caused plenty of trouble according to some very illegal books. Books that speak of a terrifying being with six arms, all with adamantine swords. A lithe golem so heavily armored that it actually takes off the armor in more public environments as to not scare children too much. A being that wraps itself in flames, punishing anyone daring to get close, quite the cause of conundrums for the close-quarters favoring Esstrey. Not that Esstrey has to fight him, officially the gods are friendly with all the civilized races, and Esstrey is a subordinate of the duchess. Officially, Esstrey doesn''t know anything about any demons or missing people cases, but officially there is no war in Ba Sing Se either. Officially, Esstrey and her entire team were pronounced dead after having gone missing, and most of her life was spent as an apprenticeship to a carpenter. In reality, the gods are suspicious of the mortal races, and Esstrey''s real resume looks kind of like documents on the relations right-wing politicians have with Israel. "Esstrey! Were you listening?" Jake snaps his fingers to get the mermaid''s attention, who stops looking outside the window. "Huh? Uhh... what if, hypothetically speaking, I wasn''t?" She faces Jake properly now, who simply massages his forehead. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "An expedition was called for, a demon has taken control of a church to the south. Ronald said that while some of the demons around are related to his cult, the one that took control of the church is not. When the demon was initially spotted, it wasn''t a cause for a large fuss, but that adventurer group that had caused so much trouble for you guys revealed evidence that this demon is trying to summon... something. They also revealed that resistance would be heavier than any predictions, and the longer it takes, the worse it gets. Belluzoar corroborated this, stating that [The Veil] is thinnest around churches, and any major summoning taking place there would have an easier time. Malencia was drafted by the king to provide aid, but I need to return to Malencia as my mother doesn''t want me near Belluzoar when anyone of the paranormal division or their activities are close. The other members of the paranormal division will be returning as well, and I would like you to represent Malencia in this expedition. Quick expedition, in and out. No big deal." Jake says the last part with more hope in his voice than certainty. Esstrey bites through something hard from the mystery meat, bone maybe? As is crunches under her teeth, she taps her shovel, pondering on what Jake said. "Right, I think I have some time, will I be getting reinforcements?" "A captain and his men are assigned to you, but your participation is mainly formal, the duchy has no interest over spilling blood over some clearly blown out of proportion issue. I''ll take my leave so you can prepare now." Jake leaves Esstrey behind, who goes back to looking outside the window, the moment the door closes, a figure moves out from beneath the closet. "Are you [planning/plotting/scheming] something?" The shoggoth takes her usual form, and Sofia begins to form enough to listen in as well. "I''m always planning something, but telling too soon would ruin the surprise. As a matter of fact, I think I may be plotting something extremely devious. Say, the preacher said kilograms of adamantine was stolen, that doesn''t sound like a lot..." Esstrey tries to think of what the paranormal division is planning as well, but as expected, trying to decipher the thought processes of the insane is a fool''s errand. "The [tales/stories/classification] of adamantine was no idle boast, it is incredibly light. I wasn''t [spotted/seen/observed] while acquiring this, as commanded by the lady." Cathy spits out a LOT of adamantine from some pocket dimension, or in other words, roughly a few kilograms worth of adamantine. "Good, with that we are almost ready. I''m guessing we won''t be able to stay for very long here when shit hits the fan, but we won''t be leaving empty-clawed. Get the adamantine in a barrel and assign it under ''special provisions'' before handing it off to our dear captain. Sofia, I need you to track the movements of the paranormal division until they leave for Malencia as well, can''t have their interference making things any more dangerous as they are. As for me? I''m making our guest of honor some ''high quality padding''. Chapter 62: I Dont Want to Set the World on Fire "?I don''t want to set the world on fire...?" Esstrey floats through the camp full of her enemies. Zealots, opportunists, nobles and the gullible, all gathered in one camp. Even the avatar of a god is here, and he already doesn''t like her. The golem is exactly like all the stories, but the stories never told of his cunning. She knows he can tell there''s something wrong, but without solid evidence, he won''t turn the Malencian delegation into ash over a hunch. "?I just want to start a flame in your heart?" Esstrey is busily making herself known to the camp to make sure this stays that way, she hardly believes politics to stand in the way of the war god too long. She''s currently accomplishing this by checking up on the troops and equipment who all set out on this expedition while humming a tune. "?In my heart, I have but one desire?" Plenty of demons have been spotted as of late, every second that passes it becomes clearer that the adventurer team dubbed ''the hero''s party'' wasn''t just talking out of their asses. Even more impressively is the force they had effectively mobilized against this threat, Esstrey''s colleagues of The Infernal Host would most likely not appreciate their plan being foiled this quickly. "?And that one is you, no other will do?" Esstrey has eyes for something other than some adventurers who seem to know everything, and that''s a literal avatar of something proclaiming to be a god being involved. A being that from up close has confirmed Esstrey''s suspicions, there is roughly a liter of blood within that golem, god-blood would be the natural conclusion. The opportunity that lies in such a large amount of god-blood is great, almost as great as the chance of getting annihilated by the golem surrounding it. Six arms, each wielding a blade of adamantine imitating fire, the bastard is almost as big as Esstrey, and many times more armored. Or at least he would be, currently he''s posing for some camp whores. It seems that the war god isn''t some being beyond the temptations of the flesh, despite the ''rock'' in ''rock hard abs'' being quite literal. The whores catch Esstrey staring, quite hard not to when her gaze is locked on the avatar, when his entertainment flees Belluzoar looks back to Esstrey. For a moment the two share what some could loosely describe as an intimate moment, they do all the things intimate couples could do in that situation. Both also realize what the other really wants, and neither is scared of it. The complete and utter annihilation of the one opposing them. Both will get what they want eventually, time has a way of righting all wrongs. For now, the two split ways, both aware of a fellow predator having spotted them. However, unlike actual predators in nature, neither of these individuals is as forgiving. There will be no delineation here. Esstrey finishes her rounds of the camp, the expedition force consists of roughly two-hundred Faerune elites from the capital commanded by a few royal guards, with various levels of auxiliary support from nobles either significant or close enough to provide it. Captain Crendell is among the auxiliary forces, but his allegiance lies with Malencia, not the kingdom. Various churches of the gods have also provided paladins, holy knights numbering a few dozen that apparently rival the royal guard in skill. The entire force is supplemented by roughly fifty adventurers, it''s hard to get solid numbers on them even with some clever talking as they tend to act much less organized. None of these groups come close to the skill of the Hero''s party, but they are a step above the standard elites. Belluzoar is also with these figures, and is bound to be a source of trouble for any opposition. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Facing this camp is an unknown and ever-growing number of demons of various degrees, Esstrey requested Crendell to capture one of the more sentient figures, and he obeyed without too much fuss. She was planning to interrogate said demon, and didn''t want anyone to know she was. Demons are from an immaterial realm, and no threat can make them talk. Or at least, no threat conjured by the priests and soldiers of the kingdom. Everyone has fears, everyone bleeds, everyone dies. Moving out of the camp, Esstrey heads for the dead drop she agreed upon with Crendell, sure enough at the dead drop is a hulking, winged fiend chained to the ground with various objects radiating light magic nearby. How the hell Crendell managed to capture this thing is a small miracle, Esstrey will have to write a letter of commendation for him. Approaching the thing, she can already tell its breath stinks to high hell, and interrogating it will require a very advanced technique. "I hope my boys didn''t treat you too harshly, sir...?" Esstrey emerge from beneath the trees, but if the fiend is surprised, it isn''t showing it. "Bar''kof, and what kind of cursed being are you?" The demon is still a curious being by nature, and Esstrey is a curiosity all on her own. "I''m Esstrey, I was hoping to get a chat with one of the Infernal Host officers currently active in the region. I was curious as to what you guys are doing here." Esstrey sits herself across from the fiend, just outside its reach. "And oh tell me, why should I tell you anything? Who knows who could be listening? I''ll whisper it to you if you get closer." The demon smiles at the mermaid, whether the attempt to get her within arms reach is a genuinely pathetic attempt of manipulation or if it''s just mocking her, only the creature knows. "Because we are allies? Are you in any way familiar with Zha''klos? Or the cult in Malencia? I frequently make deals with Zha''klos and work as a form of overseer for said cult, hence why I''m wondering why I wasn''t informed of such an operation like this." The fiend thinks for a bit while staring at Esstrey, giving the words a thought. "Probably because the one who organized it doesn''t get along very well with Zha''klos. To me, as long as she gets results, she''s fine in my tome." The fiend said it as an afterthought, but Esstrey now knows about some interservice-rivalry going on. "Really? I''m assuming their doctrines vary wildly and are also incredibly restricted as a result." The fiend relaxes somewhat, no longer seeing Esstrey as a threat. "That would be a correct assumption, Zha''klos heavily prefers a slow and cunning approach like at [Hyldra]. That was a great victory for demonkind where the mortals practically tore each other apart with minimal cost, while Kly''zar prefers a quick and brutal approach, [Zanbar] and [Fujinrai] fell as a result of the portal invasion doctrine, a more costly but guaranteed method of success, because of the costs incurred the latter was reclaimed by zealots from a neighboring planet. From a practical standpoint, I prefer Zha''klos''s method, but ended up joining Kly''zar because it''s more fun. Speaking of fun, release me. There are many more mortals out there that require destruction." Bar''kof sees no reason not to tell the mortal any of this, what is she even planning to do with that kind of info? "Alright, be a dear and inform Kly''zar of my presence, I care little for the internal politics when it comes to the benefits." Esstrey cuts the chains on Bar''kof, who sizes Esstrey up for a moment before deciding that delivering said message is better than trying to kill her for now. Chapter 63: Chaoskampf 1 The plan of attack was brutally simplistic in nature. There would be a spearhead of the most powerful individuals of the expedition roughly a few hundred meters ahead of the main force, this way speed would be the highest as the cream of the crop can effectively move on the main objective while their rear is covered. It was just a damn shame Esstrey was assigned to be part of this group, but it was nothing unpredictable. The others part of this group was Belluzoar and the Hero''s party, and it doesn''t exactly take a genius to guess who''s responsible for these changes as Esstrey can feel the gaze of a war god pierce her from behind while the Hero''s party occasionally looks behind them with paranoia. Not that she can blame them, she''s made a lot of enemies in such a short timespan. Just when Esstrey thought things couldn''t get worse, a massive shadow flies overhead. She looks behind herself to see the avatar smile in victory, while she senses the nerves of the adventurers relaxing, they must have been talking behind her back, how rude. The shadow gives form to a large dragon as it lands on a nearby boulder, looking down on those present in disdain. The large red dragon bears plenty of scars, and is clearly accustomed to war, considering his gaze lingers on Belluzoar for a little while longer than the others. "Belluzoar, Asahi. It is good to see the both of you in good health, you called me for a surprisingly small matter of some demon enacting some vile ritual. It is unlike you both to ask for aid, let alone for something as minor as this." His voice is deep and regal, giving a sense of standing before a high-ranking noble with the typical snobbishness that comes from those born into power. It isn''t surprising Belluzoar knows him, but if Asahi knows him, it means that the ''Hero'' has been very busy for quite a while. "Normally yes Asher, but we would like you to keep an eye on a cousin of yours." Belluzoar points at Esstrey, implying he heard the rumors that Esstrey is dragon-blooded. Asher looks at Esstrey for a while in clear confusion, completely bedazzled by what he''s seeing. "That... that thing is no cousin of mine." As the words leave Asher''s mouth, Esstrey tries to reach for her weapons, but is already too late. An adamantine blade goes straight through her midriff, and she is tossed aside. "Knew there was something wrong with her, it was better to keep her close in case she tried something with the army. Well, that''s that done, let''s keep moving." Belluzoar''s words confuse Asher slightly, but the Hero''s party stays in a combat position facing Esstrey. "She isn''t dead yet lad." Tolbert is proven right as Esstrey climbs back to a standing position, her wound doesn''t close, but it isn''t bleeding either. The wound does begin to close as she drinks a position, and tosses it to the side. "I was hoping to last a little longer than that, but I suppose sometimes things just go wrong. Honestly, I''m still surprised you needed another opinion before deciding to deal with me, what kind of pathetic excuse of a god are you?" Esstrey looks specifically at Belluzoar as she says it, not with the look someone has for an enemy, but the look someone would usually reserve for a turd with legs. "What manner of vile creature are you?" Belluzoar''s hostility towards Esstrey grows to the point Asher also takes a combat stance, but no one attacks yet. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "Look who''s talking asshole, I''m just one of many consequences of your actions." Belluzoar then notices the blood on his blade beginning to move off his blade, confirming his growing suspicions, while also growing increasingly agitated. "A blood mage? I didn''t know non-vampires could be blood mages, you must have led a very sinful life." Blood magic derives a lot of its power from other people and sacrificial rituals, after all. "You seem so confident in judging me, yet your sins outnumber my own. How many have you killed, you aberrant elemental?" There is some real hatred in Esstrey''s voice now. "I will not be insulted like this! I am a God!" Belluzoar grips his swords tighter, preparing to attack. "You are no god, you are a pathetic little creature helplessly dependent on the beliefs of others to survive. You ain''t a fucking concept, you are just another thing born from mana, just another common beast that somehow escaped its cage using the very blood magic you seem to despise, did you kill the one who let you out of the cage too?" Esstrey''s words strike a nerve, and hard. Belluzoar activates one of his signature abilities, the flames of wrath. Wrapping himself in flames, he charges at the smirking mermaid, but suddenly the heat escalates rapidly and doesn''t stop. Belluzoar doesn''t just burst into flames, he melts under it as a white-hot light comes from him. He tries to protect himself from... something destroying him, but it seems to come from within his armor. The powerful armor that used to protect him now serves as his doom, since it is now protecting the fire within him from his own attempts to stop it. Soon enough, the avatar of Belluzoar is now slagged, a still smoking half-molten golem laying at the mermaid''s tail. A mermaid who can''t hold in her laughter. "HAHAHAHA! IT ACTUALLY WORKED! I HOPE YOU LIKED YOUR GAMBESON!" Her laughter only makes everyone witnessing the event in shock, there are very few who understand what she did, while she went and made herself noticeable in the camp she had Cathy fill Belluzoar''s gambeson with thermite. A surprise Esstrey has been cooking up for a long time now, and one that would trigger as long as the avatar activated its flames of wrath. Magic is a fundamentally conceptual force, something called the flames of wrath is doubtlessly triggered when the god would grow furious. Asher, however, isn''t very amused. The dragon looks at the mermaid rather miffed at being ignored, it would admit the gods are strong, but Belluzoar was bullheaded, and his avatar limits him. "Are you done laughing? Then it is time to crush you for colluding with otherworldly forces." The dragon exhales, letting out a puff of smoke. "Are you sure you want to do that, Sir Asher? Do you think that if I had something that funny prepared for the avatar, I wouldn''t be prepared for a mighty dragon?" For a moment, Esstrey sees something in the dragon''s beady eyes, a hint of doubt. "Nonsense, nothing you have could harm me." Esstrey pays close attention to the dragon''s wording, and notices an opportunity. "No... probably not, say how is your kin nowadays? Have they been sleeping well? I sure hope nothing bad happens to them..." There too, Esstrey''s words strike a chord. "You stay away from the little ones!" Asher''s fury becomes palpable, and he''s tensing up to destroy this arrogant jumped up fish now. "I''m afraid it''s a bit too late for that, if you hurry back you might be in time to save them, who knows?" Esstrey takes a defensive combat position, making it clear that the dragon has to choose between destroying her now or increasing the odds of saving his children. "I''ll be back for you, mage, and I''ll make your death painful." Asher takes off, leaving the combat zone has he fails to call Esstrey''s bluff. She didn''t know shit about draconic intervention, but they are as arrogant and paranoid as the books sarge had read to her said they were. She then looks at the Hero''s party, who stared at the entire scene slack jawed. "Two down." Esstrey spreads her arms wide, and shows her palms as if to say ''come at me''. Chapter 64: Chaoskampf 2 Asahi stares at the monster before him, this creature is solely responsible from turning what should have been the easy suppression of a demonic incursion into a phyrric victory at best, his allies slowly fan out to cover a larger area. The monster ignores them for now, and reaches into her bag, Larielle thinks of shooting her, but with that helmet she doubts she could deal significant damage. Nalia is magically appraising the environment, looking for any traps on her teammates, she doesn''t find any, which only worries her more. Xyrashi has already disappeared from view, no doubt looking for her moment to strike. Tolbert takes point, if he can''t take a hit from that monster, no one can. The team moves as one, prepared for anything the mermaid might throw at them. Right up until she grabs a blood covered gem from her bag, and holds it close to her helmet. "Get to the captain, inform Cathy, and take the barrel labeled special provisions. My gift to you, make sure to eat it all." The monster launches the gem in the direction of the camp using her blood magic, the stream of blood leaves a flare-like effect. Xyrashi launches out of the foliage, aiming to strike at the monster as she''s distracted, Esstrey strikes at the rogue, easily identifying where she was. Larielle uses the opening to pin a few arrows in the spine of the mermaid, while Tolbert charges, unstoppable force meeting moveable object. Esstrey back off from the charging dwarf, wanting nothing to do with that bundle of metal. She rips moisture from the nearby trees, and slips the dwarf on it. Before she can capitalize on the metal boulder rolling over, Asahi comes from behind him and swings wide, Esstrey barely dodges the swing, only to get hit by a bolt of lightning fired from Nalia, the lightning courses through her nerves as the veins refuse its entry. The arrows embedded in her spine detonate as they react to the lightning, some kind of alchemical concoction having been hidden in them. Xyrashi strikes from the shadows again, seeing an opening as the monsters lets out a scream of pain while being electrocuted, the heft of a crossbow meets her as Esstrey pushes her blood to move her body instead, crushing a few ribs on the wolfgirl. She gets launched back to her team limp, and a smile grows on Esstrey''s lips, she can win this, she can outlast. Then a bright light envelops Xyrashi, a master''s usage of light and life magic. A tall woman wearing a nun''s habit is unveiled from invisibility at that moment, having been cautiously hiding from combat until she was needed. Xyrashi gets back up in a gasp, as her ribs re-locate to make room for the reversion of the crushing of the lungs. Xyrashi doesn''t look well, but she''s moving again. "Thanks Fadunia, I owe you a quality trophy after this." A healer, and a good one too, has revealed herself as an ace in the hole. Esstrey swallows nervously, perhaps she won''t be outlasting, not today. The offensives continue, Tolbert blocks Esstrey, while Asahi covers him. Everytime Esstrey tries to counterattack she gets hit with magic, every opening is reward with alchemically enhanced arrows, while every time Esstrey punishes her attackers they are healed by Fadunia. Even Esstrey''s tough body can''t stand under the onslaught of elements and attacks, at this point the only thing keeping her in one piece is pure magic. She gets colder as death is near, she won''t survive the next offensive. "You will disappear!" Asahi moves on Esstrey, clearly knowing her imminent demise as well. "BUT I WILL NEVER FALL!" Esstrey charges, determined to burn bright. Tolbert moves to block, and is rewards by a head on collision with Esstrey''s crossbow. Nothing that deals permanent damage, but certainly enough to cause a concussion. Asahi slashes at Esstrey, and his slash strikes true. It bisects Esstrey, but rather than back off from the damage she ignores the attack, keeping her midriff attached to herself the magical way. A shovel finds its way to Asahi''s hands while he''s still recovering from his attack, and chops his hands clean off. Nothing lethal with Fadunia nearby or their massive stock of potions, but enough to make him back off instead. Esstrey fires her crossbow between the trees, neatly pinning Larielle to a tree as the bolt goes through her shoulder. Before Esstrey can move on the backline, she gets carved into her tail by Xyrashi, who holds on to her rear tight, counting on the fact that the massive mermaid should have trouble reaching so low. Or at least, she wouldn''t be able to if she wasn''t currently a bisected blood mage, turning her upper body one-eighty degrees Xyrashi gets a whole second to regret the life choices that brought her there. Esstrey headbutts the girl with the full force of her helmet, the wolfgirls face has been turned unrecognizable as an imprint of the Altyn helmet now exists where her face used to be. "I''M SO CLOSE TO THE EDGE!" Tolbert recovered from his concussion, and a feeling of horror overcomes the stoic dwarf for a moment. He resists the urge to flee, and stands between the one thing that would recover them. Esstrey slams into him with the crossbow, and his shield buckles. She slams again, and the shield falls. Just as she aims to crush his helmet next, Asahi stands in front of her fully recovered again, and she sees that the mage somehow brought everyone over to the nun quickly for healing. A reforming frontline, and Esstrey is running on fumes. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. "Katerina! I offer you an accord! Work with me, fight with me, share this blood with me. I offer you symbiosis, be a parasite no more, and together we will reach greatness as comrades!" Katerina responds, joining the fight and lifting a literal burden off Esstrey''s back in the form of supporting the annihilated remnants of her spine more actively. [A facade breaks under pressure! [High-ranking Mermaid] Esstrey is revealed to be [Esstrey, Extradimensional Horror]!] [Weak children weep at night, and strong men shudder on their walls! [The Nightmare] has arrived on [Brynya] to bring fear to all!]
Name: Esstrey, Extradimensional Horror
Race: Mazurian Royal Mermaid Paragon
Terrifying Presence Ballistic Perfection
Extradimensional Symbiote Expert Aqua Mage
Expert Blood Mage
A small boost of strength from [The Central Governor], and a cartload of future problems to go with it. The party recoils in fear for a second, before light coming from Fadunia and Nalia dispels the unnatural fear. It bought a mere second, but that second was worth its weight in gold, as the real threat takes a combat position now. Katerina''s profane legs emerge from Esstrey''s back, and slashes in front of her. The air shimmers and fragments, while attacks launched seem to utterly disintegrate, pieces of mana and arrows being sent to extradimensional space. Asahi tries to move around the broken air, but Katerina slashes again, blocking him off. In a small gap between destroyed space, Nalia manages to cast a spell, and hits Esstrey''s crossbow with it. The crossbow suddenly becomes many times heavier, and Esstrey is forced to drop it. The moment of confusion is enough for Tolbert to force Esstrey away from her boxed position of destroyed space, Nalia casts the spell again while aiming for the helmet, seeking to break the monster''s neck. Esstrey manages to take off the helmet just in time, and her face is properly revealed to the party. Beneath the helmet is no extradimensional horror, merely a tired woman doing her best to live with her ideals. There might have been beauty beneath that helmet once, now is merely the face of someone thoroughly beaten and defeated. Asahi points his sword at Esstrey, wordlessly demanding a surrender. "I didn''t hear no bell." Esstrey spits out one of her teeth into the ground, not hard considering she''s falling apart as is. Tolbert and Nalia were both the wariest and most ready to attack at the refusal, Nalia launches another heavy metal spell, while Tolbert charges to claim his trophy. Esstrey charges to meet Tolbert, and as the spell collides with her shovel she strikes it downward on the dwarf, the shovel goes through the metal, but Esstrey''s aim is sloppy this far into the fight. Instead of cleaving into his skull, she only manages to remove the right side of the dwarf''s body. The dwarf screams as Esstrey looks around drunkenly, all of her equipment is gone, her clothes are completely shredded, and most of her is splattered about the place, yet she doesn''t fall. Suddenly, Tolbert''s half-body gets slapped aside by a thick whip of metal, Fadunia is already on the dwarf, who looks too out of it to scream anymore. A massive slime made of adamantine emerges from around Esstrey, who is no longer registering anything happening, she can currently only think of fighting the enemies in front of her. The [Adamantine Slime] pushes Asahi back, and before Nalia can get a spell to support him, she gets counterspelled by a thing erupting from a portal. A being of tar eyes and mouths in the crude shape of a maid. "Retreat! We are too late!" Asahi might not have been able to predict this outcome, but it doesn''t take an oracle to know the tides have turned against them. Cathy allows the Hero''s party to retreat as she rushes to Esstrey''s side, who is currently leaking a lot of blood for a blood mage. Sofia simply makes some shapes as she tests her new metal body, she had been forced to manipulate the iron in blood to act like a blood slime the entire time, so being able to use metal feels like she just took off some major weights. Chapter 65: Chaoskampf 3 Katerina was shocked at the display of the host, such a wanton lack of self-preservation could only be seen in materials, yet it is of no doubt that it strengthened her greatly in combat. What''s even more surprising is that the host wasn''t lying when she offered an alliance. Even now, Katerina''s presence seeps through the nervous system of the host, aided by her blood. She doesn''t try to pull control from the nerves, instead merely supports them while being merged. The host has displayed excellent skills that do not need improvement, no need to attempt to wrestle for control. Although by the end of it she did require some... ''aid'' to remain standing. Katerina did her best to attend to the internals of the wounded host, while the shoggoth attended to her externals. Cathy had to ask Sofia to carry Esstrey for a while, who only managed to point a finger at the slagged avatar of Belluzoar. Cathy deducted that Esstrey wanted the glorified container of god-blood for some reason, and brought it along while tending to Esstrey to the best of her ability. Using a generous amount of healing potions, she managed to piece Esstrey together somewhat, but the blowback from the potion-based healing kept her incapacitated on Sofia for a while longer. She would stand by Esstrey''s side until the end of time if need be, interdimensionals should stick together. As Sofia held the surprisingly light Esstrey in a bed of metal, she found herself wondering what was actually going on in her mind. She was somehow given a memory template of her by her, something which normally requires someone''s brain, yet Esstrey doesn''t look too lobotomized. What was somewhat surprising was the choice to make Sofia a metal slime, something which is paying dividends now, but clearly had cost a lot since Sofia could only reveal her true form once enough metal of good quality was gathered. The shoggoth was kind enough to assist in this, it seems that with the both of them being slime-like beings she could understand some of Sofia''s hardships. Not to mention that Cathy is really helpful when she wants to be. For Esstrey this was a complete victory, albeit a close-cut one. Now she drags along the corpse of the proxy of the pretender god, a mouthful if she ever had some of those. She left behind orders with the captain that the spearhead of the operation was destroyed, and he was to do his best to use this information to delay the main army for as long as possible. Once he would no longer be able to delay them, he was to be recalled back to Malencia for an ''emergency situation''. Something that would no doubt politically hurt the duchess, but Crendell has been of great help so far, it wouldn''t do for him to get caught in the crossfire. In front of Esstrey is a monastery, one crawling with demons. The demons left Esstrey alone after the battle with the Hero''s party, having been informed by their leader of her arrival. Esstrey opens the massive door, and is greeted by the sight of demons hard at work. Kly''zar sits at the lectern, having drawn an extremely intricate and ever-growing portal. Every few seconds, the portal spits out another demon. "I see you made it here safely, and with tribute no less. The carcass of a God-finger will be of great use." Kly''zar doesn''t waste any time, and gestures for Esstrey to get closer, which she does. "That it would, but the main army will notice. With the spearhead scattered you should put the army under siege to pin it down, if you take down that army it will take months before a relevant force can be organized against you." Esstrey gestures to the demons around the monastery, implying that they won''t be useful here. "I suppose so, Zha''klos did mention you a few times, said you had a military background. I was never one for military movements when the priority is to have fun, but staying here isn''t that fun for my boys either." He gestures at the demons flying about, who all immediately leave to ''go have fun''. Esstrey waits a moment, watching the last demons leave, and then looks Kly''zar, she then grabs his horned head in her claw, grasping it firmly. "Sorry, I got my own plans." Esstrey slams Kly''zar into the lectern, destroying it and disrupting the summoning ritual. She then repeatedly smashes his head into the rock floor while he''s too dazed to do anything. She keeps going until his skull finally breaks under the punishment, and his brains lie scattered across the floor. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Cathy, prepare a summoning ritual for Zha''klos. Sofia, I want you to start preparing the ''bloodstrike'' ritual." Cathy gives a curt bow at the order, while Sofia begins carving into the floor. It doesn''t take long for Cathy to finish the simple demon summoning ritual, and it is powered up. Zha''klos appears in the church, initially a bit miffed that she was being called over to the site of her rival''s success, only to see his head being scattered across the floor. "What the fu-" "Zha''klos, I need the strongest force multiplier the demons have, I''m doing a bloodstrike ritual against a god." Zha''klos looks around a little dazed, but quickly catches on. Magic is a fundamentally conceptual force, there isn''t any magic more connected to the self than bloodmagic is. To have blood is to have power, to have someone else''s blood is to have their power, this means that blood requires some form of connection to the original. This is where the bloodstrike ritual comes into play, a way to use blood as a route to strike at the original. Letting a bloodmage have your blood is like giving a watermage water, or an earthmage rocks. You are putting your life in their hands. "I-I think I know what you need." Zha''klos doesn''t care about Esstrey having turned Kly''zar into a mosaic, she was summoned for a deal, then she will make a deal. Not that she''s planning to ask for payment, this all seems like so much fun. As Esstrey is pouring her blood into the ritual formation carved out by Sofia to fuel it, Zha''klos returns with a shard of some gold-like metal. A [Fragment of [Judgement]]. "This piece was somehow retrieved by some scouts, [Judgement] was an angry seraphim who cared not for power, but their sins. She was a corrupted being who hated sin so much that it practically became a power for her. The perfect catalyst for striking Belluzoar with. If this doesn''t make him hurt, I don''t know what will." Zha''klos smiles brightly at Esstrey, clearly being joyous as she speaks of the angel. The fragment gets inserted into the ritual, and begins to light up the room. Katerina and Cathy sense something powerful traversing dimensions, before coming to a stop at a specific location. "Well... that''s the end of that, back to-" [ Please stand by while [The Veil] resolves the situation...] "Esstrey.... what''s that? What did you do?" Zha''klos looks to Esstrey, who is just as confused as she is. "I-I don''t know?" [] "What do you mean you ''don''t know'' you made the ritual!" "This wasn''t supposed to happen! It should have merely exploded some of the bastard''s blood! How powerful is that fragment you gave me!?" [DIMENSIONAL MERGE IMMINENT, 2 UNKNOWN CONTACTS MERGING...] "It''s VERY powerful, especially against that rotten war-god, why the hell is there a dimensional merge? Do you know how dangerous that is?" Zha''klos can barely hold in her anger, she can barely hold herself in place as [The Veil] weakens her connection to this realm. The ground begins to violently shake as the entire planet seems to lurch in response to the catastrophe. "It appears that the gods have [died/perished/ended] from the attack, congratulations on accomplishing your objective in one fell swoop milady." Cathy is better connected to dimensional affairs than most, and her assessment seems accurate. "The servant speaks in truths, the ones that held power in this world while being in another had it severed at the source, this dimension has grown weak with their destruction." Esstrey''s mouth moves, but the words are not hers. [The world of [Brynya] is now known as [Brynya, The Amalgamation].] "Enough dawdling! Cathy can you get us out of here?" Cathy gives a curt bow confirming Esstrey''s order, and begins to prepare a teleportation circle targeted at Jake. "Where do you think you''re going!? You can''t just rip apart the dimensional barrier keeping us relatively safe and run away!" For a demon, Zha''klos seems rather concerned with dimensional integrity "Yes I can! Come on ladies, GO GO GO!" Esstrey ushers Cathy and Sofia into the portal, and leaves for somewhere a bit further away from ground zero, leaving Zha''klos behind for the army to find, or more specifically something that isn''t her. Epilogue Vol. 2 King Johannes Richter XXII is known to be a just king, or at least that''s what every news outlet partially funded by the crown will happily tell you. He is also the king of a kingdom that has faced a recent disaster. The entire planet was... merged with other planets. Frequent visits to the bishops were of no help, the gods have been quiet ever since. Whispers in dark corners say the gods have abandoned us, but Richter knows that of all the gods under [The Veil] those of Brynya were the most active. They would never just abandon them. Not voluntarily anyway. Recently, Malencia was at the center of yet another scandal, that troublesome duchy had a habit of accruing a reputation for getting away with things. Richter always told his supporters that he simply couldn''t get enough evidence against them, and that it looks like they would be getting away with it this time as well. Behind closed doors, the king found that having such a shady duchy under his thumb had some... advantages. His spies have done plenty of research into that cursed place, and found that one of the figures in the midst of it all was... an ex-inquisitor. A high ranking one at that. His spies had managed to covertly question the man, and his words convinced the king''s suspicions. The duchy was meddling in illegal and heretical practices in order to counter them efficiently. Initially, Richter suspected the duchy''s negligence to be at fault for this disaster, but after calming down, he noted that [The Central Governor] had given them a lead in the form of a [Mythic] class being arriving shortly before it happening. Those types are practically professional trouble-stirrers. He would have to tell his spies to keep an eye out for [The Nightmare] so he can end it and sleep easy once more.
Maximilien Marat stares into the distance that has become ever-longer. The revolution was at the brink of failure, the servants of the churches had expressed overwhelming disapproval for the purges. The information on magic they had purchased from Faerune was one of the reasons they managed to get this far in the first place, and the churches revealed that they were in fact heretical magics as well. Then suddenly the world cracked under pressure, and the gods were nowhere to be found. While the priests and paladins were in deluge, the Republic struck back, a grand offensive saving the failing republic of Rila. Maximilien was even promoted to [Lieutenant] during the chaos, something he didn''t perform nearly as horribly at as the nobles always said peasants like him would have. A creature that goes by the title of [The Nightmare] had ironically saved the republican dream, but from the sick land he could already tell what the future had in store for them. Gaunt, skinny beings rush from the newly formed forest, something that wasn''t there before. His squad fires a volley into the beings, and after too many hits they finally go down. It seems they have exchanged one evil for another.
Esstrey stares out of the observatory in the top of the highest tower in Malencia keep, all the while Cathy is preparing more armor for Esstrey. Something Cathy insisted herself, stating that just because Esstrey can''t die unless her brain is destroyed doesn''t mean she should openly invite attackers. Esstrey wanted to protest, stating that no primitive plate armor could protect her like she would want it to, but both Katerina and Sofia insisted as well. The former wanting their shared body to have some protection so it wouldn''t be on its own in the spine, while Sofia wanted to test metallurgy capabilities. Cathy is now working on the finishing touches near Esstrey, armor reminiscent of 6B45 ballistic vest complete with shoulder and groin protection. Stolen novel; please report. Esstrey meanwhile watches the expanded land, yes expanded. It seems that with the dimensional merge haphazardly stuck planets together, now the planet is substantially bigger. Esstrey guesses that the reason gravity isn''t affected is some bullshit with magic and [The Central Governor] but what''s more worrying is the creatures spat out by the other worlds. Creatures that looks like regular mutated animals, but they are completely missing skin, showing their innards and sinew to all who face them. The land nearby has also become sick, Cathy says that the red trees and grass lineup with the mana signature of Belluzoar, but that''s about it. The trees look like they are made of flesh and blood, and citizenry has been advised to stay away from it while the paranormal division keeps the stuff at bay. Who knows what else is out there? Well... Esstrey and Cathy know what''s out there, everything is out there. Dimensions were pierced, and even now [The Veil] hasn''t been able to fully recover. Both of them have seen what happens to a planet with a weak dimensional veil, but its unlikely to become another full scale invasion because of various factors. One of which is the latent interest of foreign planets building on the planet, an old treaty is preventing more direct intervention, but they aren''t going to idle around over some piece of paper. "Esstrey." It seems Jake entered the top of the tower at some point, intent on finding his troublesome doctor. Esstrey isn''t too worried about his actual health condition, as he''s clearly fine if he managed to climb all the way to the top while carrying some books and only be slightly exhausted. For Jake, things have been exceptionally difficult. He is expected to keep giving direction to the paranormal division, and sometimes it feels like they are the only thing preventing a complete collapse of Malencia, trade is dead in the water as trade routes have elongated and become dangerous. Aid from the kingdom has a whole is impossible as they are the ones who have requested aid, and people are scared as the priests and bishops no longer provide the guidance they used to. "You know something, don''t you." He takes a moment to catch some more breaths before continuing. "You came back looking like you had entered a shredder, and you always seemed to look so dejected whenever the Gods were mentioned. There are certain taboo''s that are highly specific and guaranteed to get the attention of the God''s, perhaps even they smite you on the spot. I had the necromancers turn one of their own into a lich in the church of Mortimer, and there wasn''t a single response. What did you do?" He drops a book on the religious ideals of Mortimer on the floor in front of Esstrey, looking at her with suspicion. She picks the book up, and reads through it for a bit, not hiding her disgust. "This book isn''t rules set by a god, it''s an obituary." She throws the book back at Jake''s feet, and the reality of the situation finally dawns on him. There are many theories that can''t be confirmed by even the paranormal division, but calling a book specifically about someone an obituary is a very specific claim, one said with utter certainty. Prologue Vol.3 Somewhere in a flat grassland, an unnaturally massive heart beats. Every beat is timed with a small bit of growth by the heart. Flesh is attached to the heart, and some abomination made from the flesh emerges from a veritable wall of it. Another of the creatures drags a dead deer over, and throws it into the wall. The wall grows larger and faster for a moment, and a crude imitation of the deer emerges from it. This heart used to be dormant, unable to find enough sustenance to grow, now the very air is filled with it, and meals nourish it more than ever. Somewhere relatively close to the north of the heart is a bustling settlement, unaware of the heart''s growing ambitions. The people in the settlement are scared, they rightfully fear what is out there, as they had heard stories brought by the guards on patrol. Invisible creatures that assaulted patrols, unnatural darkness leaving claw marks on pieces of armor, men screaming as they are devoured by massive worms that stalk the land. None of those rumors are the worst, as word has it that losses in the guard inspired the duchess to ''supplement'' the security of the duchy with additional troops. Kobolds already roam the city scouting out hives of anti-establishment activity, and the churches are still as silent as ever. Far more land-inward lies the capital of the nation this city belongs to, training drums beat as the people that fled here are being trained up to a standard that Faerune can use to take back their country. It had requested troops from all its nobles, and only a few of the closest ones even bothered to respond. Only family could help family now as the thin veneer of a united civilization falls. The saving grace of the capital would be its proximity to a planetary portal, a behemoth of a creation meant to regulate travelers from [The Veil]. Today, like most other days this month the place is flooded with adventurers seeking riches and body parts of creatures to sell to the highest bidder. Their survival chances are bleak, and the pay worse. Yet these people see not the wealth the kingdom offers, but the wealth that could be attained from the pieces of creatures or lost ruins. Some even plan to go above and beyond, trying to find [The Nightmare], and sell everything about a [Mythic] to the highest bidder. Such titles aren''t handed out easily, and always indicate some unique strength that plenty would kill for. To the far west lies the Republic of Rila, beset upon by all sides. Initially it was a counterrevolution, but it wasn''t just the religious folk that were repulsed during the disaster. Neighboring countries seeing the republic as an existential threat have been completely disjointed, and in no state to wage war. Rila is now attacked by gaunt, skinny creatures every night, and every night veteran revolutionaries repel them using a weapon recently invented in the region. A fiend tramples this assault to pieces in exchange for a part of the spoils, The Infernal Host had found its own wealth in the disaster through both the effective destruction of the gods they fought so much, and Esstrey sending information on them to Rila. They have no qualms making deals with the devil when they are already in hell, and the disposable demons that just need to be re-summoned are the perfect counterpart to the expensive long-range elites of Rila.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Not far to the east in the mountains are the dwarves, they seem to be the least affected by the disaster, but that isn''t saying much. Some dwarves of the Montagne-clan ride their mine carts with all haste, seeking to evade their pursuers. "Kill everything with more than two legs!" A dwarf yells while firing a blunderbuss behind them, the blast lights up the tunnel shortly revealing it to be crawling with massive insects, the shrapnel from the shot kills a few of them, and staggers all of them as intended. "I think we''re actually gonna make it!" The dwarf who sounds very happy at their continued survival checks to see if their cargo is still attached to them, much to his dismay one of the bugs was attached to it as well and leaps for him, only for its head to blow and scatter blood all over the group as another blunderbuss shot saves him. "Those ''umies at Malencia better darn appreciate the republic guns! Rerouting and repairing all the broken rail sections was difficult enough already! Now we got a bug infestation down ''ere as well! Couldn''t this order go over land?" The dwarf grumbles as he reloads his gun, and throws a lit cigar to check if they still have pursuers. It seems the bugs have given up the chase for now. "Not a chance boy, surface is crawling with livin'' horrors. These bugs are perhaps the tamest of the bunch. ''Eard that Rila is facing nightly raids of ''umie like beings, while in Malencia they cannae walk outside in tha dark no more without being mauled by somethin''." An elder dwarf answers, no less grumpy than his fellows. "Forced to walk out in the blasted sun? Glad I ain''t no caravan weenie." All the dwarves nod in agreement, dying to hordes of monsters is in the job description, but no one ever says anything about long walks in the sun. It certainly doesn''t help that they are short vertically challenged, and have trouble moving at the quick paces the surface dwellers are such fans of. "Strange fings ''ave been ''appenin in Malencia as well, ''eard that the streets are patrolled by monsters, and criminals get fed to them. Those magic nuts out there probably messed up badly and are bein'' ruled by creatures now." The dwarf looks around conspiratorially, wary of someone unauthorized listening to his ramblings. "If they were bein'' ruled by monsters, why would they buy guns meant for ''umies? Besides, tha entire world is gone to the shitter, Malencia pays well, that''s what matters." The dwarfs cheer at that, raising their weapons as high as the cramped tunnel allows them. Republicans to the west, monsters to the east, who cares? Gold is good. Chapter 66: Long Night in Hell Fergus is having a large payday soon, or at least he better have. The dwarves that gave him the package were incredibly rude, and sent the usual barrage of insults dwarves reserve for elves his way. Loading the shipment on the armored carriage was easy enough, and the large bull-like creatures that pull it are deceptively quick. Fergus may favor plants over animals as an elf, but he can appreciate the human taming abilities as of now. His party that protects this caravan consists of two brothers who use long spears and teamwork to keep things at bay, a currently depressed priest, a runaway noble from Rila who combines fencing skills with magic, and lizard-kin assassin from gods know where, who also happens to be their sole female teammate. Fergus himself wields a bow like many elves, but he can see the reason why Malencia is buying a large shipment of guns when he is forced to shoot at his enemies in the dark. "Fergus! Six coming from ahead!" Fergus shoots a few arrows ahead of them, just because their bulls charge through the enemies doesn''t mean they can afford for them to slow down, not now. "Good callout!" The screams of the creatures seem to intensify as their wicked bodies become visible under the lantern-light of the carriage. It''s night outside, and the creature''s oily carapace becomes visible under the faint light as the carriage rushes past. Claws of some metallic substance, and it chitters in the dark if their rear is correct. Walks-the-moon, or Walks as she''s called by her teammates, has always had good night vision, and currently her skills are best put to use spotting for her team. "Jules! Blast our pursuers! Aim to distance them! How are the Bretti brothers?" Jules nods, and lazily throws a fireball behind them. These creatures are certainly dangerous, but their affinity for the dark leaves them easily hurt by bright light. The fireball doesn''t even need to hit for the shrieking to intensify and the things chasing them to back off in fear. Bram and Beluscie Brettie wipe the sweat from their brows, they had been posted in the back of the carriage and the endless tide of creatures finally seem to relent, they accomplished what an entire squad of spearmen wouldn''t have been able to accomplish by holding those things back. "We''re good! No wounds here, so it looks like Father De Vries will have it easy!" De Vries is their priest who for safety reasons is located within the carriage with the guns, he''s not the greatest combatant, but his excellent healing capabilities are combined with the generally slippery man to make an annoying threat on the battlefield none would want to deal with. "Good! Let''s try to keep it that way!" Hope begins to bubble within Fergus, as the unnatural dark that plagued their last encounter begins to lift. They exit from the trees, and see the moons shining above them. There''s plenty of light thanks to the moons, and that forest should not have been as dark as it was. Their environment shifts from a dark forest to flat terrain, hope melts off their faces as they get to see their foes thanks to the immense light, crude imitations of flesh charge at their wagon, aiming for their steeds. Fergus and Jules attack the incoming creatures, needing to keep them away from their lifeline. If the bulls fall, they will be stranded here. At first, it seems that the Bretti brothers and Walks won''t be of much use here, until the brothers leap from the back of the caravan unto the bulls, and begin using the bulls as a new defensive platform. Their faith in whoever tamed the creatures is great, but the bulls have still built up wounds from disgusting things.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Walks! Get De Vries over here! We need those bulls in top condition!" Walks-the-moon throws a hasty mock-salute, before doing some impressive acrobatic stunt to enter the moving carriage. Walks enters the carriage, and sees the depressed priest watching out of the window. There isn''t much to see there other than ugly looking creatures getting shot in the face by the people on top of the carriage. De Vries doesn''t seem like he sees them, even while looking at them. "What have we done to cause this?" De Vries looks saddened by the state of the world. "The gods work in mysterious ways, now get topside, you bum. Fergus needs you to save our ride out of here." Walks knows they don''t have time for an existential when their existence is actively being threatened by things that will probably eat them at the very least. "It wasn''t the gods..." De Vries keeps muttering, but doesn''t waste time as he climbs out of the carriage towards the bulls, the Bretti brothers are doing an admirable job deterring the flesh-creatures, as it seems that they somehow have a better survival instinct than the night-creatures. De Vries mutters some more as he heals the bulls, who find a road to charge over, the poor cows have been charging non-stop for a while now, but it seems they will have to go on for a while longer. Fergus was now seeing why that odd-looking employer gave them so many stamina potions, the bulls are in an endless sprint and the party can''t afford to slow down, so that means no sleep either. It wasn''t this bad on the trip over here, but there were certainly signs. Up ahead is the most visible sign, and the predicted greatest obstacle. The terrain itself here is made of flesh, not completely unlike the skinless creatures of the plains, but certainly similar. The grass has a red veiny texture, while the trees here... have skin. The entire party gets ready for the next onslaught, only for it not to come. Their treck through the flesh-ridden forest is only interrupted by a light from the distance, no, a glow. It''s right on track from their exit, and there they see mutated animals throwing themselves at a group of demons, who are cackling maniacally as they burn everything around them. Neither party seems interested in the caravan. They are left completely stumped as they see the lights of civilization in the distance. "Gods... someone... anyone... what the fuck is happening?" Fergus collapses on the top of the carriage clutching at his heart. Caravan duty is usually the most boring part of any adventurer''s job, and his team had to plough through at least four different forces capable of causing serious damage to a city alone, the only reason they made it through was the sheer inexperience half of those monsters had with organized resistance, and the other half was too busy killing each other. *CHUNK* A massive bolt coming from the city pins what appears to be a mutated bear to the ground, it was surprisingly silent while charging at the carriage. On the wall Fergus sees his salvation in the form of their employer, a massive mermaid wielding something far too large to be a crossbow. She''s been around on the occasion dealing with the latent incursions of creatures, and the local taverns have started placing bets related to her. The most popular of bets is usually started by the more depressed alcoholics, a bet on whether the monster incursion will win or Malencia''s monster will. Fergus isn''t a betting man, but if he was, he knows where he would put his money. Chapter 67: Guns! Guns! Guns! Esstrey reloads her crossbow after having taken a shot at another mutated creature running around outside Malencia, all contact with the people west of Malencia was rapidly lost, luckily most had managed to flee eastward. The only thing sent out west these days are ''soldiers'', with the caravan being the exception that proves the rule. The people hired to defend it were adventurers, those were Jake''s idea. Apparently adventurers tend to be stronger, but disproportionally more expensive than the regular guard. Thus, they were the best option to act as security for a small high-value shipment that has to go through terrain as dangerous as the upper-mountains. Apparently the western mountains the dwarves live in that separates Malencia and Rila is home to drakes, lesser dragons that make travel over the mountains nigh-impossible. Ex-captain, now colonel Crendell walks up the now ruined stairs carrying one of the muskets in hand. He''s a competent officer, but since he is of common birth never had a chance to rise high in the ranks. Or at least, that was until he decided to side with the only big-shot of the paranormal division that has a concept of politics. He had somehow made it back with his men after causing a sufficient distraction, and once the kingdom as a whole reconnects with the duchy, he is sure that the kingdom has some questions for him. Yet, as he looks at the titanic mermaid flanked by a creature of the stars and a slime completely made from adamantine he feels like if he keeps sticking with her, a way out, nay, a way to the top will present itself. He had never imagined himself being ambitious, but having risen to a rank no non-mage commoner has in a hundred years awakened something within the man. "Thank you Crendell, how did the auxiliaries do?" Esstrey begins inspecting the musket he brought, it seems to be a flintlock musket as she had initially guessed, but there is no powder. Instead, it seems that it relies on the glowing crystalloid underbarrel for providing firepower. Lead musket balls are still preferred, and if the manual she had received earlier is correct sometimes orichalium mithril or even adamantine shot is sometimes used, albeit the last one is complete overkill for anything that isn''t a full-blown dragon. After firing, the crystal underbarrel charges using magic from the surroundings, it also comes with the handy ability to adjust charge to increase the power at the cost of charge. A standard shot is 30% charge and still able to accurately hit a target at 100m, more power is less fire-rate, but increased range. "They were... enthusiastic. I predict a significant decrease in mutant activity, but the popular panic that can happen once our ''auxiliaries'' return mutated themselves could be...drastic." Esstrey keeps fiddling with the musket, and seems to break it in two which shocks Crendell a little, only to realize it''s meant to do that. The ''fiddling'' she was doing was trying to figure out if it had to be reloaded like a musket as well, and it seems there is a break-action system in place to make reloading easier at the cost of needing some more complicated components. "Good. The time comes soon for our many auxiliaries to take to the field more openly. With the complete and utter collapse of trade, getting regular troops out on the field will be difficult, and I don''t believe it would be the best idea to deploy the auxiliaries against the inevitable hunger-riots." Esstrey loads the gun, and tries to aim it at one of the more distant creatures, but her finger doesn''t properly fit the musket, and the entire things is too small for her.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "I... worry about the future of humanity, ma''am. I don''t want to do riot-control for the rest of my life! Us mere humans have other needs." Crendell seemed genuine in the first half, but as he realized he was the only thing even somewhat human on that little piece of wall, he quickly tried to brush off his worries. Esstrey''s response is to shove the musket in his hands instead. "Crendell, hit that mutated human." Esstrey points at some unfortunate farmer who must have been at the wrong place and the wrong time, there''s plenty of other targets, but she specifically pointed at the former-human. Crendell takes aim, and quickly finds that the sights on the musket help with aiming, despite the rather large underbarrel, the thing is well-balanced. He takes a moment to really look at the creature before shooting it. A straw hat has rotten and fused with the top of the man''s head, and the overalls are completely tattered. A piece of former-wood is also balled in one of the hands of the man, he must have had a tool in his hands at the time of his demise, and a small piece of flesh is all that remains of whatever stood between him and a horrible fate. *BLIING* *HSSSSS* The shot hits the mutant in the leg, and it crumples over soundlessly. It doesn''t seem to have much of a concept of pain, or if it does, it expresses it differently. The mutant keeps trying to slowly crawl to a distant patrol that hasn''t noticed it. Regardless, the shot missed, and now Esstrey will- "Nice shot! I wouldn''t be able to tell this is your first time holding a gun if I didn''t know you. As for your worries, I have a few fixes regarding the whole trade issue, so the hunger-riots are a temporary problem. They will have to happen for me to be able to enact some reforms, since I don''t think people would agree to what I am planning to do if they weren''t starving. Once the issue is solved, I want you to lead soldiers into battle with these muskets instead, there ain''t nothing in the world a sufficiently big wall of guns won''t stop. Remember Crendell, there is no such thing as a mere human." Esstrey is completely oblivious to the anxiety of Crendell, as she is currently still wrapping her head around the odd noise the musket made. "Lady Esstrey, this one believes the [noise/sound/auditory effect] is different from what you know due to energy-based propellant instead of chemical propellant. In addition to the [reload/recharge/feed] system requiring access to the air." Cathy, always seemingly omniscient concerning Esstrey correctly guesses what she was thinking. "Right! Cathy can you get the smithies, the carpenters and the enchanters to see if they can work together to mass-produce these things? Take Sofia with you in-case any smiths need help being shown how the more complicated parts look, or if those parts even need to be made by her directly." Cathy bows, and already begins dragging Sofia with her who was looking at the patrols move about idly. Her metallic mass stands no chance against the might of a secretary given an order. *KA-CHUNK* A bolt is let loose from Esstrey''s crossbow, and it hits the prone human mutant right on the head, spreading the insides of it in a small pool around it as it was very slowly crawling toward a patrol it was never going to reach. "Yes! Bullseye! Drinks are on whoever gets me that corpse last!" Esstrey can tell Katerina wants something to eat, and she heavily prefers nerve-dense meat. Esstrey yelled it loud enough for the entire gate garrison to hear, and they have both enough confidence in the mermaid and too little pay to care for the oddly-quiet mutant forest or why the mermaid wants one of their corpses. Chapter 68: Cold and Hungry Esstrey, along with many other officials had all been called to the keep to discuss a crisis, the price of bread was skyrocketing, and the death of trade saw a once stable and prosperous economy ground to a halt. Mass-migration from farms compounded the various problems, as the farmers seek refuge from roaming beasts. Desertion rate among the now unpaid troops was... low. Apparently, deserting isn''t very enticing when you have both nowhere to desert to, and the threats your people face is quite monstrous. There have been some deserters that made it to Malencia from surrounding vassals of the kingdom, who were surprised at the low casualty rates of the duchy. Apparently, when you don''t really lose a lot of troops to monstrous attacks because the enemy backlines are consistently purged by demons people don''t desert that much. Not that anyone but the inner circles of the duchy knows or needs to know that. The head-honcho''s of the paranormal division weren''t invited, most likely on probation after their antics in the capital. Esstrey wasn''t held under suspicion for any of those actions, because Cathy is a little better at covering tracks than whatever the other''s can cook up. It also helped that Esstrey was capable of social navigation, especially around snobs that believe they are the greatest. Said snobs were currently sputtering their inane idea''s to save a city under siege, not quite understanding that it will be their heads mounted on spikes if the situation continues. Apparently the Faerune Kingdom hasn''t come under threat in so long that it''s vassals have forgotten how to deal with the problems now that shit has hit the fan. Esstrey isn''t heartlessly watching it all happen, of course, she caused this. "I believe this situation will blow over with a show of force from the military, our troops haven''t been having much trouble keeping the enemies at bay." As much as Esstrey really wants to help, words like that are spouted from what appears to be one of the highest-ranking officers in Malencia. Perhaps she overestimated the military here after meeting Crendell and Rowan. One of the highest-ranking officers saying he can fix a hunger strike with military force has to be one of the stupidest things Esstrey has ever heard. "We should divert troops to guard the caravans instead, and restart trade! There is no way this city will last without fresh imports, I heard a caravan came in from the west a couple of days ago if I am not mistaken." A slightly more educated take from a merchant, but the woman in question doesn''t realize that that specific package came with liters of stamina potions for outrunning everything out there, and that''s not even mentioning all the other problems. "Nay, that is not sustainable, we should focus our efforts on constructing growable areas within the walls, this place is the only safe place from what''s out there! Perhaps even a larger walled area, using refugees as fuel for the construction, my people would be willing to labor for this." Esstrey pauses for a bit at that, not actually a terrible idea coming from one of the vassals of Eliana that had fled from a farmer village that provided food. With such a policy Malencia could potentially hold out until the Kingdom as a whole arrives to relieve this siege with some luck, but luck isn''t in the cards for this world, and the man''s standing with the others clearly isn''t great as he receives scathing looks from his city-born counterparts. This method would see Malencia stagnate as its aim becomes survival, and is also a direct threat to both the army and the economy as both would be stretched and focused on maintaining its own life. Perhaps a more radical option with clearer benefits is required to sway these hotheads?This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "The paranormal division can offer two safe trading partners, and four additional sources for troops to defend Malencia with. As for a solution for food, well... the entire forest outside Malencia was effectively turned into meat. Just because the berry bush has no more berries, doesn''t remove the fact that it''s edible. Not to worry, as long as you don''t eat it raw you should be fine, I checked." Esstrey receives various stares of intense disgust as she makes her presence quite known. The officer especially as he heard how she had ordered one of the human-mutants to be delivered to her personally, and the troops were already making wild bets what the monstrous woman from the paranormal division was cooking. "Doctor, do you believe these trading partners would be safe?" Eliana looks at the mermaid suspiciously, but so far recognizes that Esstrey offers the only good option. The old duke of Malencia had drilled a lot of old teachings about rulership to Eliana, starving people rebelling was one of those. Apparently those specific teachings were inspired by the first Rilan revolution, which ultimately failed to do anything but bring about the end of the Rilan Empire, which was so strong it was actually poised to strike at Faerune. "I have faith that the paranormal division can keep their end of the bargain, I am merely concerned with the response to our trading partners. We will not be able to hide their existence from the weak-minded populace." Military officials present are suspicious to the mermaid doctor''s intentions, but the religious individuals simply believe she speaks of some historical enemy of Malencia. They aren''t completely wrong either, there are very few nations who haven''t been wronged by demons, eldritch entities, or the undead at some point. Esstrey herself couldn''t give two flying shits about some ''disaster'' or ''massacre'' from centuries ago, humans do that all the time. "Fine then, I will inform some loyal men to aid you, you will be granted a blank check with my seal on it. I''m certain it doesn''t need to be said, but do not disappoint me doctor, Malencia has enough issues, and the reliability of our most flexible force cannot be brought in that set of issues." As much as it sounds like a threat to the entire room, it isn''t a threat to either Eliana or Esstrey. The duchess can simply only hope that the assets unique to Malencia are what will pull it through, while Esstrey knows enough about courts to know that the duchess is her only ally in this room. A blank check with the duchess''s seal on it... such favor is already drawing the ire of envious eyes. "My thanks duchess, I will order my retinue to act immediately then, ta-ta!" A small cheeky wave is added at the end by Esstrey, openly daring said envy to act. They would probably tell the duchess how a mere doctor can''t be trusted once she leaves, and how she would use the blank check for her personal gains. Well, not that that isn''t her plan, she is certainly going to abuse the power she was just handed on a silver platter, and to think all that was needed was a populace headed for starvation. Chapter 69: Nice. Esstrey had sent out a few orders using the blank check, all with seals of approval from the duchess. Sofia was to go bring the news to the kobolds, and Esstrey expected no problems on that side, as Sofia''s child-like attitude to things fell in line nicely with that of the kobolds. The kobolds were to be informed that they would be in charge of anything digging related, and would make for excellent defensive sappers. All they needed was some slightly more official training from people who knew how to dig trenches. Cathy was told to ensure the loyalty of the crafter guilds once news inevitably reached them, specifically the smiths, carpenters, and enchanters. Anyone else would have to fall in line the old-fashioned way. Colonel Crendell has been given roughly two dozen of the muskets and told to ensure the adventurers don''t cause any trouble, while Esstrey herself would be visiting one of the biggest churches to start the domino process. All this had to be done effectively during hunger riots, which would bring advantages and disadvantages to this situation. The military had already been informed of the paranormal division doing things, but they simply hoped that they wouldn''t be forced into lethal actions against the rioters soon. Floating with a small detail of black marketeers loyal to money, Esstrey moves up the hill towards the church. There would be a brutal example made from them indeed, and she even brought some of Ronald''s people to help supervise the later stages. As the group arrives with minimal issues at the doors to the church, Esstrey simply opens without knocking. A priest looks up from a book he was reading, while a group of nuns who were quietly talking with each other stare at the people entering. Out in the open it''s harder to sense, but in a formerly holy place like this, both Esstrey and Roland''s people have the stench of heretical magic on them. The goons of the black market standing with the group deters the priest from attempting to chase them off with a broom, but their stature as professionals in shaking down people for cash does not deter the paladin present. The man takes heavy footsteps towards the group that entered, but he is only armored as bringing a weapon within the church is considered blasphemy if it is done without reason, or done by people not affiliated with the church. A memo that Esstrey''s group didn''t receive, as the goons carry blunt weaponry typical for their occupation. All that is not even mentioning Esstrey herself, who is decked in her full war gear, she stares at the paladin in front of her through her faceplate for a bit, before reaching into her armor for the greatest weapon she brought a long. "By order of the duchy this church has been requisitioned for a magical ritual, get out of the way." Esstrey shoves a piece of paper in the face of the paladin, who snatches it out of her claw, all credentials seem legitimate. "The duchy has no right to claim a holy place as its own, Vivificania would strike the duchess down for this!" The paladin crumples the piece of paper and throws it back at the monster in front of him, the piece of papers simply bounces off the helmet and falls to the ground completely ignored. "Maybe if your goddess did something more than dispense idle threats, you opinion would be taken note of. As it stands, the people outside starve in a city that has remained loyal to the gods, their empty stomachs indicative that the goddess of life has failed. This church will now be used by something other than a cabal of glorified mobsters, and put in the trustworthy hands of someone who can actually help humanity." Esstrey is having trouble holding in her laughter, half of what she said is utter bullshit and the other half was just to insult the entire church. The paladin balls his fist, but is unable to present a solid obstacle as he is pushed aside by the group. The priest present offers a small prayer wanting to know what to do about these heathens, but his prayer like every other goes unanswered.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Esstrey begins bloodletting herself at the lectern, and the priest rushes off to a storage closet rummaging for something. Ronald''s people set about using Esstrey''s blood for drawing a pentagram, the unmistakeable signature of summoning The Infernal Host. The nuns recognize it, and rush over to disrupt the setup, but are pushed aside by the black market goons, and kept at bay, forced to watch. The paladin rushes over preparing to sock one of the men in the face, but instead finds himself staring directly at a massive crossbow pointing right at his face. "You will watch, or you will join the ritual. I heard paladins like you make excellent material." The paladin backs off at the threat of Esstrey, he may seem intimidating but losing connection with the gods has hit all paladins hard, now they are merely bundles of magic respective of their gods, without any of their god''s direction to refine it. The ritual continues unoppossed, and soon enough a demonness emerges from the pentagram. A demonness with red skin, and fiery horns, her long white hair reaches to her midriff, and her bat-like wings terrify the nuns. Zha''klos, the trickster and negotiator for the Host in this region. She analyzes her surroundings, seeing her favorite trading partner completely ignoring various church officials. Zha''klos takes a guess to Esstrey''s intentions, and switches from a business suit to something more official of the Infernal Host, not as skimpy as the usual clothes demons usually use, but skimpy enough to show the Infernal Host''s... ''liberal'' nature. Then a priest comes out from the back, carrying a bucket of water. He charges, and empties the bucket in the direction of Zha''klos, who sense that it''s a bucket of holy water. Something very dangerous if allowed to come into contact with her skin, as it will start boiling her alive. However, the water stops before hitting Zha''klos, blocked by Esstrey''s water magic. Esstrey herself still refuses to acknowledge the priest, who is now scared shitless as his last ditch effort didn''t work. "Zha''klos, what do you think of The Infernal Host setting a permanent settlement here in Malencia? Malencia has been facing a lack of trade lately, and the regular troops are barely enough to keep order in the streets. I dont believe people will be going hungry, but the death of the economy is inevitable without a healthy circulation of goods." Esstrey holds out a large folder containing details on the entirity of Malencia, trade, population, security, and infrastructure information is all included. As well as a small clause that states that the one responsible for managing The Infernal Host outpost from the Malencia side would be Esstrey herself, not Ronald or the duchess. Zha''klos is all too familliar with ambition, and knowing Esstrey she knows she will be allowed to accomplish The Host''s no... her own objectives with no cult or bureacrats looking over her back to make sure they are getting as much as possible out of the deal, as long as Zha''klos sticks to the few rules Esstrey has set. Rules such as no wanton destruction of Malencia assets, rules that are not bound by restraining contracts, allowing for some... leeway. "I am looking forward to this Esstrey." Zha''klos gives a big smile while shaking Esstrey''s claw, and she knows the mermaid is smiling as well behind that faceplate of hers. Chapter 70: Thunderous Reforms Crendell marched with a small piece of paper in his hands that legalized practically anything he would do for now, at least until the duchess herself or his boss would come and tell him to back down. Right now he had the power to legally execute everyone except for two people, and it felt intoxicating. Normally when he patrolled the streets of Malencia, he had to watch out for any nobles that would make his life sour if he didn''t bow to them at first sight, right now he marched with his team straight towards their destination, and made it clear to his men that no one would be hampering them. Protestors on the streets did occasionally throw rocks, but they didn''t try to pick too big of a fight with a dozen armed guards not coming for them. Crendell''s objective was in the outer district, the adventurer''s guild. Esstrey was handling the inner district, and starting the domino''s. Her secretary who still gives Crendell the creeps would handle the middle district. The nobles were mainly located in the inner district, and Esstrey being the highest of rank of their little group was best suited for handling them, not to mention that she wouldn''t hesitate to pile drive uncooperative individuals into the ground. The crafters, factories and merchants were located in the middle district, Crendell wasn''t sure how the maid-thing was well suited to that location, but she seemed to have confidence. Crendell''s outer district was by far the largest, and the hardest to handle, luckily his team wasn''t there for the impossible task of restoring order over the area. With how widespread the riots were, he doubts the full might of Malencia could properly quell them, especially as they were only bound to get worse for now. Or at least, they would if Esstrey wasn''t planning on letting demons, creatures from the Beyond, and the undead to help the guard more openly. One dozen men, possibly up against every adventurer currently in the guild, if he''s lucky they won''t act rash. Crendell is never lucky, he has always had to rely on skill. He couldn''t bring more men so that he could actually break through the protestors, and considering the absolute ocean of them, he''s surprised they haven''t broken into the inner district yet. Worst part is, waltzing inside the adventurer''s guild with his men will get him beaten up by them, he''s heard plenty of stories of soldiers marching into the guild to know that they tend to feel threatened by things like bureaucracy in force. Thus, his men will wait outside while he walks into the dragon''s den... alone. The doors to the guild swing open, and Crendell''s shit for luck begins to show as it''s busy in it. Adventurers tend to be better set than everyone else in the outer district, and are enjoying burning through their savings for booze and food until the riots and hunger issues blow over. Few seem to notice the lone colonel entering, thoroughly engrossed in whatever inane games they are playing to keep themselves distracted from all the ruckus outside. However, even the strongest alcohol Malencia has to offer isn''t enough to dull the wits of people who survive mostly out of paranoia. Those who land their eyes on him keep them glued there, and his presence gets less and less unobserved as his rank isn''t something usually seen around these parts, hell the guard rarely patrols these parts without the riots already, usually sticking to the walls. Then Crendell marches up to the notice board, and begins tearing off every request related to destroying undead, missing criminal cases, demon hunting practice commissions, and countless dead-end investigations into the black market. With all the notices in his hands, he marches up to the desk counter, where the only person sits who watched him like a hawk from the moment he entered, the receptionist. A cat-kin who looks at him like he''s the tax collector during a particularly harsh season, even if he''s something worse this time around. "By order of the Duchess of Malencia the Guard is enforcing the fifth rule for the establishing of the adventurer''s guild; No commissions targeting individuals representing the city, illegal activity conducted by specified personnel is to be documented and reported to the Guard." Crendell does his best impression of the quartermaster, who always happened to seem to have a stick up his ass whenever he was forced to give out supplies he didn''t want to give out.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Colonel... these are all quests for handling... demons... undead... and other monsters of such nature. I do not believe the guild is in breach of contract, unless the nobles have suddenly become much more honest." Crendell isn''t sure which of the creatures mentioned fall under nobles, and considering the lone snicker of the now quiet guild, he''s certainly not going to ask either. "Incorrect, these mentioned... groups are now all registered soldiers under the Malencian Guard." Considering the shifting expression on the catkin, she had hoped the colonel wasn''t serious with his claim, that hope was unfounded. "I see, I will take these quests and this information to the guild master, and see how... quickly we can give you your response." Or whether to give a response at all, depending on how idealistic the guild master is it could go badly, but that''s no longer Crendell''s concern. Turning to leave, he''s confronted by a large bear of a man, literally. He stands a solid two heads taller than Crendell, and looks like he''s been in plenty of fights. The bearman snorts in Crendell''s face, looking down on the man in every way. "You are the mere human that follows that mermaid around, the big one that wormed its way into high society, are you not? I knew there was something off about her the moment I saw her, should have disposed of her then and there. How about this, you deliver a message for me to her, tell her I''m coming for her in that little keep of hers. That would serve her right for consorting with creatures that prey upon the weak." Many adventurers raise their mugs at the speech of the bearman, clearly intending to help in bringing about justice. "If that is what you wish, so be it, but I recommend anyone agreeing with this sentiment wholeheartedly to voice such concerns outside in the coming five minutes. Anyone who doesn''t want to die to accomplish this is recommended to stay inside during that time." Crendell is putting up a brave front, but is sweating bullets right now. Nobles tend to forget faces, their rage is undirected. Standing in front of the agitated bearman who could crush him like Esstrey could, he really doesn''t feel that that applies to people who have plenty of personal power. Good thing that the bear is only laughing at his audacity while he quickly walks away like the scared little bureaucrat he is, leaving the adventurer''s guild. Crendell hasn''t even left before the large bear is gathering people to ''stop the insanity of the duchy'' with, plenty sign up with the help of their booze and the endless games getting on their nerves. The dreaded receptionist every adventurer fears is also absent to keep them in line, but one group noteably speaks out against it. "Don''t do it Addelar, you will lead these people to their deaths. I saw the mermaid on the wall myself, and I don''t think she hasn''t accounted for people like you." Fergus stares down Addelar, who snorts in his direction, and spits on the ground. "Didn''t take you for a coward Fergus, your people especially so, isn''t the old man a rather devout follower of the gods?" Despite Addelar''s scathing remark, some adventurers who were previously hesitating remain firmly seated, and the party members of Fergus pointedly ignore Addelar. Addelar decides to strike while the iron is still hot, and after gathering a few parties he sets out for the door, ready to bring the crazed city to heel. . . . "VUUR!!" *BLIING* *BLIING* *BLIING* *BLIING* *BLIING* *BLIING* A hail of lead turns the bear man lands in the bearman, having gone straight through any metal plating he was wearing and into the people behind him. One of the shots landed cleanly in his cranium, and Addelar''s crusade is brought to an early end. "Squadron one reload! Squadron two ready!" The men of squadron one reload their break-action muskets, and walk behind squadron two on orders of their colonel. The adventurers inside are divided into multiple lines of thought, fear, panic, and screaming their lungs out. The sheer volume of fire means a few shots went past Addelar and found other marks, while most went straight through him into the unlucky ones behind him. Healers tend to the screaming ones, the silent ones need healing no longer. No one dares get close to the door, lest the guard casts another hail of lightning on the wounded, who are now very much sobered up to their great discontent. Crendell waits outside for a few more minutes, not needing to fire another volley. He was certainly scared when he faced that bear, but his boss is many times more terrifying. He is now certain he saw some hungry ambition in her face when he had hit the mutant outside the walls. A single shot is a mild threat, but a group of men armed with muskets becomes a dangerous thing indeed. So much for ''mere'' humans, they only outnumber and outgun everyone else. Chapter 71: Step 6, Wield A Fist of Iron The lady practically had a plan to commit a coup on a city, and Cathy found herself impressed that said coup included an entire cultural upheaval as a byproduct. It was a logical conclusion from her perspective, and from the perspective of the lady, but apparently no one in this dimension had seen this coming. Turn the entire city into one dependent on the things so hated by the rest of the world, combined with the dimensional merge, and Esstrey has practically separated the humans of Malencia from Faerune permanently, calling them human, elf or dwarf no longer seems fitting. They won''t be treated or acknowledged as such anyway once Faerune finds out what kind of things Malencia is consorting with in the name of survival. They won''t find mercy anywhere else, and soon enough there will only be ''the Malencian''. For now however, Cathy has been asked to handle the difficult task of keeping the crafters working on guns specifically calm, Esstrey said that she didn''t care much for the others, and that they would fall in line eventually, but the people working on making parts for guns are vital. No interruptions would be permitted in the production of guns, and that''s exactly what will happen if Cathy wouldn''t step in. The shoggoth elected to take Sofia with her for this cause, the metallic slime has become quite the object of drooling for every dwarf, which amounts to 81.429% of all smiths. Sofia has also been instrumental in the creation of the most difficult parts of guns, and Cathy has a feeling that if Esstrey wasn''t able to acquire a worker''s base, she would have simply relied on the slime to mold the guns for her. Cathy enters the bazaar-like structure that is now being used to house the various branches of the workers. A large building that was bought up for cheap by Esstrey when trade died, the various crafters can still work on things that aren''t guns, but were told that every gun of acceptable quality would be bought up by the administration, and blueprints for the weapons were freely handed out after being reverse-engineered. Cathy quickly receives some odd stares, as a shoggoth is an odd sight for anyone not familiar with what the locals call The Beyond, but Sofia''s presence turns all looks of suspicion into that of happiness. Dwarves with some spare time already start to gather around the slime, partially in awe of her being made from pure adamantine, and partially in awe of the fact she''s sentient. There''s also not a single smith not aware of Sofia''s natural ability to make complicated parts with ease, and the rudest things they have done so far is attempt to buy her off Esstrey in an organized effort, to which she simply responded to by asking for their entire families as slaves instead as equivalent exchange. None have attempted to buy Sofia after that, but after receiving a shipment of booze ''in exchange for treating her nicely'' all parties involved treated that incident as water under the bridge. "Ma''am, I presume yer with the Bean an Locha? What can the forge do for ya?" An elder dwarf approached Cathy, correctly presuming that someone lacking in the legs department while looking more like something from outside the walls would be an associate of Esstrey. "This one was [sent/deployed/put in action] to maintain the operation of this place while Esstrey returns order to the city, have there been any issues?" Only a few eyes look at the elder dwarf while Cathy speaks, none of which are on her head, the other eyes scan the former bazaar for signs of inefficiencies.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Nuffin'' major ma''am, there have been some supplies stolen meant for the forges, but it''s less of a problem than the food markets nearby shutting down over fear of getting raided." The dwarf takes a piece of cloth to remove the sweat from his brow, it isn''t sweat from the forges, but fear at what the Bean an Locha plans to do to anyone who would interrupt production. "Nothing major? That''s bullshit!" A human interrupts the dwarf, the tools hanging off his belt indicating skills in the carpentry department. "Shipments of timber have completely halted, and once people find out we are still getting food shipments they will lynch our families! The riots will soon overrun the entire middle-district, and then even the nobles won''t be safe anymore! What will our ''oh so titanic'' benefactor do about this!?" The dwarf gestures at the carpenter to calm down, but Cathy simply stares at him with the eyes on her face. "Your worries have been noted, this one has also noted the [supply/goods/fuel] theft. Such a matter may seem [trivial/minor/non-issue], but this is a weapon factory, nothing is safe." Cathy''s calm demeanor forces the carpenter to back down, especially considering his rage causing Sofia to get a bit too close to the one he ranted at. Mentally, Cathy makes a note of how the volatile behavior seems to be common with humans lately, and will recommend Esstrey to launch an investigation into it. Katerina might be able to get some clues to their behavior if she eats a few brains, she''s their best specialist when it comes to that. Cathy goes around getting more acquintances with all the workers, most of the enchanters appear to be elves, who didn''t have too much energy with her interactions with them, but their situation also appears to be nominal. Then the screaming and yelling starts. "There... there be undead outside!" A dwarf loudly yells through the factory, alerting everyone currently working. The dwarf quickly gets swarmed by his kin, while less familial crafters wonder what the ruckus is all about, right up until a few open up the curtains they closed to keep the dreary and desperate people away from their sights. A few of the elves even notice demons flying through the sky and... things traveling over rooftops. "What''s the meaning of this? Why in the blazes are monsters overruning the city?" A few of the more observant crafters note that the monsters did not come from outside, but from the direction of the keep instead. Said crafters quickly rally their fellows to the representative of the duchy that just so happenend to visit. Sofia stands next to Cathy, and grows some sharp spikes to dissuade any lynching attempts. "The duchy has decided to supplement its forces with additional troops, it has also found a viable solution to the food [problem/issue/conundrum]. Please remain calm, this one can only answer one [question/query/inquest] at a time. [Failure/declining/lacking] compliance will result in punitive action." At first Cathy goes ignored, but another small show of force by Sofia when the spikes she formed become more weapon-shaped cause some of the dwarves and elves to back off, which cascades into the crafters losing the will to lynch their local government official as some back out. Slowly Cathy starts answering questions, while reassuring everyone present that no, their families themselves are not the solution to the food problem, and yes, all those creatures are with Malencia. The protestors outside have no such luck when it comes to explanations, undead don''t talk, Beyonders are incomprehensible, and demons dislike talking. On the bright side, no lethal actions are taken against the protestors, and roughly ten minutes after the monsters roll through an area it is followed by kobolds and the guard who are stuck in between being nervous about walking outside with so many ''civilized beings'' around and their newfound allies respectively. Chapter 72: Step 7, Unleashed Hell Esstrey sat calmly on the rooftop of the barracks, watching the troops do drills. Her tasks were finished for now, the duchies experience with heretical practices exposed now forces the hand of the nobles to fall in line or get chopped up and served in cans to the new guard. The military adapted the fastest so far, showing full compliance with the new allies, most likely due to the new equipment being handed out ensuring they aren''t at risk of being replaced. Esstrey reinforced this by making it clear only the guard consisting of civilized races would be training with guns. The guard, which is now being split into four separate divisions, and merged fully with other military institutions. The Malencian liquidators, the division in charge of everything gun-related, and as such all former guards fall under this category as a standard. Malencian Surveillance, which consists of everything that specializes in speed and stealth. It mostly consists of small and medium-sized demons, small Beyond creatures, and some civil specialists. Malencian Devastators, who are too strong to use in situations where collateral is a concern. These mostly consist of the large demons, higher-tier Beyond creatures, and some powerful mages from the keep. The idea is that everyone''s capabilities are cataloged, and subsequently given a place in one of these divisions, even if not actually active combatants. This would make militia''s more effective eventually, and refusing cataloging is completely allowed, even if incentivized. Currently, Esstrey is classified as a devastator, along with Sofia. Cathy and Zha''klos are part of surveillance, while Crendell and Jake count as liquidators. Jake is no doubt currently helping his mother with the fallout, and trying to keep nobles as far away from Esstrey as possible, while Zha''klos is probably out doing her best to keep her kin in check when it comes to civilians. "Dammit Bartosz! Move those legs, you will never outrun anything like that! Pestrowe, it''s aim and shoot! Not aim and aim and aim! Lazal! Quit looking at the pretty ladies AND CLIMB LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!" The drill sergeant below is doing his best to ignore the mermaid that classifies as a general as they are doing drills, mistakes are always made when the generalship is watching after all. It doesn''t help that they are now testing their drills in new specialized suits. The biggest threat posed by new-world threats aren''t in their physical attacks, but in biohazards. Anyone that has spent more than five minutes patrolling the walls will be intimately familiar with what happens to the weak and dying, dragged into the corrupted forest to the west. It''s great to know the duchy cares for its mortal men, less great that said suits are practically thick insulated raincoats that don''t feel great during any weather that isn''t winter. Esstrey isn''t too interested in the actual performance of the troops herself, she''s mainly just watching as a form of entertainment. She knows that in the end, a human would do anything to survive, a trait that is suiting Esstrey just fine when it comes to the pacification of the riots. Munching on a piece of mealroot, she plots her next move. There are already plans in set to convict the nobles who are most likely to raise concern, anyone that favored working with Faerune or getting donations from the church being on that list. It''s impressive so far how the military has cooperated with Esstrey''s antics, but investigations by Katerina show a mutual contempt between the nobles of Malencia and the average trooper, and despite general censorship being enforced, somehow news of the successful revolution of Rila did reach the lower rung people of Malencia... ''somehow''. Esstrey grins at the thought, is this how imperialists felt? Pitting populations against each other, and then favor one side heavily to break the stalemate? She probably won''t fully overthrow the duchess, as every resource should be used, the more compliant the better. The duchess herself might plot against her power-hungry doctor in return, but she''s welcome to try. Esstrey will make it clear that the price of attempting it won''t end at her neck alone. It helps that Esstrey is actually planning the best for the duchy, and not just selling the entire thing to foreign interests. That Faerune is now classified as a foreign interest is hardly her concern.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. A spatial tear opens up, and Cathy crawls out of it. She spares a few eyes watching her surroundings, but most eyes are focused on Esstrey as she chews while staring off into the distance. Without saying anything, Cathy starts retrieving a set of cups, some hot water, some tealeaves, and begins to prepare tea on the roof. She hands one cup to Esstrey, who takes it without looking. "This one reports the heart of the lady''s [army/force/war machine] to be functional at acceptable levels, the biggest worry is the lack of wood provided for the carpenters." Esstrey sips cautiously at the tea, in order to not get scalded. The faceplate of her helmet isn''t lifted all the way in order to stay safe in a situation where disgruntled people are likely to take a shot at her. "The trees out west are really fascinating you know, some sort of magical infection has completely hijacked everything in that area, and the trees are a victim of it much like anyone unfortunate enough to step in there." Cathy watches silently as she imitates Esstrey''s cautious drinking of tea, waiting for her to continue. "It wouldn''t be appropriate to just say anything in that land gets mutated into some fleshy horror, that completely dismisses the plant life becoming flesh-like, while that should be a much more complicated process. The very cells of the plants themselves use their own cell-walls to fuel the transformation to the cells of creatures, while somehow maintaining trace amounts of DNA from the plants. This infection doesn''t just mutate the living, it turns it all into a crude imitation of animal-based life. As such, the trees are actually large enough to have quite a bit of bone in them, can you believe it? Bones in trees, and every time I think there isn''t anything that can surprise me, something like this appears. I will now forever have to specify regular trees as ''boneless trees''." Esstrey chuckles a bit at the thought. "Wood has historically always been a great material for building and crafting quaint little things, but mainly so because of its availability. Wood doesn''t run or attack back, wood comes in a large base form, allowing easy manipulation. Now we have been granted a goldmine in front of our noses, a chance for crafters who put aside silly things like personal preferences. Bone is a far stronger material than wood, and the only issues with it currently are the danger in getting it, and getting slightly less of it due to the whole fleshplant thing, but we CAN get bone in large quantities now. Tell Crendell when he returns to organize woodcutter expeditions to cut down trees en masse. The forest will yield its bounty by gunpoint if need be." Esstrey thinks to her last statement, it would be much better if the forest itself cooperated with her. Anything is possible with magic after all, but who could make something like that happen? "Say Cathy, do you think you can open a spatial portal to the meeting place of the PMC? I don''t think they would invite me after I nearly crushed the neck of an important official, but they certainly still have stuff I could use. I also don''t believe for a second that those hags wouldn''t resist holding constant meetings in this situation." "As the Lady commands, this one is happy to be of [help/service/aid]." Cathy bows, and already starts prodding Esstrey''s body for traces of other spatial magic used on her in the past. It would technically be better if she went to the place where the spatial mage who transported her at the time came and went from, but Cathy much prefers this way. Chapter 73: Bolshoy Terror Various nobles look from their estate''s to the chaos happening further out of the city, demons haven''t started patrolling the inner district yet, but it''s hard for their movements to not be visible. Most of the big names among nobles have already gone to the keep to protest the actions made by various institutions coming to light, many more nobles are being left behind in their estates. At first, they felt relatively safe in the inner district as a whole, until carriages with the military showed up. With riot control being taken off their hands by various monsters, these men now have new orders turned inward. Led by one of the many men who sided with Esstrey and Crendell, they have been assigned to clean house from within. Captain Krenkov was assigned for this, an ideologically motivated man that held great respect for Crendell, and despised the aristocrats for their laziness. The carriages spread out across the gated community of the nobles, and some stop in front of the estate of Bleizwer Malencia, a distant cousin of the duchess. A man who knows that power not held closely is sure to disintegrate, and as such has the largest personal guard of all the inner district nobles. As such, two carriages have stopped in front of his estate especially for him. He himself looks out of the window with great suspicion, but his chance to run has already passed. The gate-guard do their best to stop the men, but the captain simply orders their arrest. "I have been picturing this moment every day for the last three decades." The guards put up little resistance once held at gunpoint by the liquidators, they have seen what the new toys of the military can do, and it''s only available to Esstrey''s people due to ''lack of supply''. The men break through the gate, by shooting the lock off, nearby garden personnel who were watching the entire exchange realize too late they are caught in the political crossfire of the military storming in. People are grabbed and brought to the carriages, loaded up for transport. "Hey! Halt! This estate is-" *BLIING* "By order of the keep, anyone obstructing liquidators in their arrests are to be dealt with accordingly! Arrest the staff, arrest them all." Krenkov isn''t a very empathetic man, a trait he knows he has all too well, and a solid good reason why he respects Crendell. Here at this moment, this trait will not be a curse of his, but it will be his blessing as he does the dirty work of people with a vision for the future. The liquidators rush inside the mansion as they shoot open the lock, at the end of the hallway stands Bleizwer with a bodyguard of his, the two men gaze at the entry of the military with open hostility.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Ready, aim!" Krenkov doesn''t even try to negotiate, he was sent to this estate specifically, and the people above him know perfectly well what he would do. Bleizwer''s eyes widen as he''s not even offered an explanation, and his bodyguard only gets enough time to position himself in front of Bleizwer. "VUUR!" *BLIING* *BLIING* *BLIING* *BLIING*
Zulie has recently been re-deployed, and having to work in conjunction with demons and undead is certainly a new experience. She would complain, but her and her old partner James always got the shit jobs. It was always dirty cleanups of opponents of the duchy, this time the cleanup is simply a little bit closer to the keep. Honestly, she isn''t sure whether she actually opposes this kind of work closer to the duchy, ever since James had his skull cratered by a monstrous creature of legend. That little realization shook Zulie to her core, even if said monster now hangs around the keep as well, there will always be dangerous things lurking around the corner just beyond the walls. At least within the walls, Zulie knows what kind of dangers there are. *THUD THUD THUD* "Open up! This is the Malencian Guard! We here for an inquiry!" An old lady slowly opens the door, and peeks through the gap she made. Her eyes stay locked on the demon that is with Zulie for a while, before her eyes fall on Zulie. "Ma''am, we heard you claimed to have information regarding this individual." The demon speaks much softer than Zulie doesn''t, and he holds a wanted poster of one of many non-compliant individuals causing trouble. "Y-yes, I saw him frequent the neighbor''s house, and I-I don''t want any trouble." The old lady points her hand out of the door to the house next door, barely realizing what kind of fate she just consigned her neighbors to. "Thank you for cooperating ma''am, we''ll get this mess sorted." Zulie moves to the neighbor''s house with the demon attach in tow. *THUD THUD THUD* "OPEN UP! This house is under investigation of The Guard!" Zulie is noticeably less gentle with this house as she was with the house of the woman who cooperated. "Shit, the guard''s here, what do we do?" Muffled noises come from inside, the panic within the voices of the inhabitants is easy to hear. Zulie gestures her demon attached at the door who begins kicking at it, at first it doesn''t budge, but it slowly begins to give way under the repeated abuse of the demon. The mild panic inside escalates, but before they can take action, the door breaks off its hinges. "In the name of the guard, get down or get dead!" The demon screams it in joy, and leaps on the hapless inhabitants. Zulie lets him go at it, since he knows he has to restrain them for questioning. She tries to confirm their faces with the wanted poster of the criminal, but finds that he''s not here. She rushes through a door that was left wide open, and finds a ladder to the roof. Climbing it, she discovers a path was made to travel over rooftops easily, and sees the perp escaping over the roof of the old lady. She won''t reach him in time for apprehension, so she will just have to do the next best thing. Leveling her gun, she aims at the criminal trying to escape. *BLIING* The corpse of the wanted man falls off the roof loudly. The old lady from before watches from her window as a man was turned into a corpse by her very own actions, realizing far too late what she had done. Chapter 74: Step 8, Freedom The members of the paranormal division did not often meet up, but it wasn''t often the city... any city was thrown into the midst of a coup. From what Ronald could gather from the keep, the duchess was supporting the coup for some reason. The proud house of Malencia which had resisted the corruption it nurtured for so long falls to a single woman of substantial size, and said nurtured corruption doesn''t feel victorious at all. The cults of The Host and The Beyond have been completely bypassed, Ronald is lucky if even one eighth of the demons required for their usual ''activities'' show up, and Plynka is slowly starting to be unable to communicate with The Beyond like she used to. The necromancers are the least affected, but their newly granted resources are quickly appropriated by the military for use in patrols. Initially they were very happy that Esstrey was so quickly gaining power, the scent of demons eldritch and death oozed off her while not being any of them, yet now it has come to the point where she is turning them obsolete on nearly all of them on every field. Something had to be done to limit her power. "She contacted a high-ranking demon, and now no matter how favorable the terms of the contracts I offer are, demons just don''t accept them anymore. The only thing my cult still has is Infernal magics and the occasional demon motivated by politics, yet still never enough to tell me what kind of deal they are getting from the witch!" Ronald is noticeably agitated, his precious things being taken away do not sit well for someone who bears the stresses of using Infernal magic. "I am certain the loss in my connection with The Beyond is related to a servant of hers, it was very entertaining to watch the maid-shaped being skulk about at first, now it merely reminds me of what I lost. I am not sure how it had done it, but to have already kept the secret of its existence from me for so long..." Plynka has always been a bit of an airhead, which was very useful when dealing with eldritch horrors as they aren''t things you should think too much about, now that she barely has a connection with The Beyond left it only serves to show how little she takes care of herself. Her dress of black ribbons is torn in numerous locations, and her frail looks betray that she hasn''t been eating much. "We haven''t had a moment''s rest, our necromancers have been getting worked to the bone. It isn''t as bad for the liches, but our mortal personnel has been complaining to me about the workload, citing that they are practically being worked to death. We had to cut back on security to ensure the number of liches wouldn''t start increasing over it." Both Ronald and Plynka stare at Kreif at that moment. The fool was played, they all were. "If you lessened security, who is keeping this place safe?" Plynka''s question causes Kreif to seize up, they had always kept plenty of things around them to make sure Rowan or Kharn didn''t just get rid of them whenever. Now there is... nothing. "W-we need to strike fast against Esstrey if we want to-" *THUD THUD THUD* Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Silence. No one moves an inch closer to the door. No one was supposed to interrupt them. No one is supposed to have the authority to interrupt a conversation between the three right now. Pynka''s arms leak a black fog, Ronald''s hands light the room in the reddish color of infernal fire, and Kreif begins chanting for a powerful attack of death magic. The door slowly opens to reveal... "Lord Flester! We are in trouble!" The gathering relaxes as an Infernal cultist barges in instead of the mermaid they were expecting. It would have been a little too paranoid to think it was Esstrey knocking on the door. Regardless, a servant still interrupted their gathering, so it must be important. Ronald gestures for him to speak quickly, as the three cult-leads have important matters to attend to. "The military is-" *FFF-CHUNK* The servant collapses to the floor as a ballista bolt pierces him through the heart, Plynka moves first by attempting to cast her magic into the dark, but a chair is launched full speed in her direction instead, causing her to seek cover. Ronald successfully casts his magic onto the magic figure emerging from the dark, but the flames fail to stick to the mermaid looking down on them. The face hiding behind her transparent visor still has the exact same emotion plastered on it as she had in every one of their interactions; a satisfied smirk. Kreif tries to open his mouth to say something, but is cut off by Esstrey, who somehow seems to be the most interested in communication in this scenario. "If you want something done right, you call the army." She snaps her fingers, and figures at her sides level their weapons. She isn''t alone, and Ronald, who is standing with his hands on fire, makes for an easy target in the dark room. *BLIING* *BLIING* Ronald falls dead to the floor. Kreif can only stare in momentary shock as one of the strongest people he knew died just like that, while Plynka is still trying to recover from having a chair thrown at her. She will never recover, as Esstrey uses magic to take hold of Ronald''s corpse before the resident necromancer can, and flings him full force on Plynka, breaking most of her bones. The last thing Kreif sees is Esstrey''s loaded crossbow pointing at him. While the liquidators move to finish off Plynka, who is groaning on the floor underneath the weight of a corpse, some cultists enter who were wondering what the ruckus was all about. Esstrey prioritized dealing with the leadership of the paranormal division first, the cultists would follow soon after. The entering cultists belonging to The Beyond cult stare at the scene for a moment as they witness two liquidators executing their incapacitated leader, and come face to face with Esstrey. "S-sorry comrades... wrong room." The terrified men quickly close the door, and run off to hide deeper in the lowest level beneath the keep. "Go and kill them, will you?" Esstrey gestures for some of her men to go after them, and Crendell should be moving with a larger force to round up all the cults in one go. The Beyond and The Infernal Host will all be shot, while the necromancers and liches will be arrested until it''s proven if they will be more useful than a hassle. Esstrey herself had things to attend to at the next meeting of the Perrenian Matriarchal Coalition. The liquidators eagerly give chase to the cultists. Many commoners were lost to these cultists, while the losses were declared accidents by the duchess. Esstrey gave them guns and promised them vengeance against both the nobles in Malencia and the wretched people causing the disappearances to fuel their personal power, and all they needed to do was consort with demons and monsters. Chapter 75: Nature and the Machine Esstrey floats slowly through the gathering hall of the PMC with Cathy by her side, very few of the matriarchs are paying attention to the duo, but the ceiling ninjas acting as security haven''t forgotten Esstrey so soon. Their wariness of Esstrey and useless attempts to stop her last time caused them to adapt their weaponry. It now includes throwable hooks on strings which they can use to hook any unstoppable forces and physically restrain them, it would have been a good weapon against Esstrey in such a large number if she didn''t come fully armed and armored. The hooks may be able to find initial purchase in her armor if they are lucky, but the strings aren''t tough enough to be able to hold back Esstrey herself, and she doesn''t need to care as much for the integrity of her armor as much as her skin. Using a net probably would have been a better idea, but it''s hard to act as ceiling security while carrying around a net heavy enough to keep the biggest of catches down for more than a few seconds. Esstrey makes a mental note of the worried looks on the faces of the ones attending today''s event. The dimensional merge seems to have these people much more shaken than even the more worried officials back in Malencia, and she herself doesn''t believe they committed a coup on the places they inhabited, they seem too tame for that. This organization was supposed to be the light in the darkness for the people in this world, but now with their own lives in danger forcing them to act, Esstrey can''t help but feel that they were even more pathetic than her initial estimate. Hushed whispers of foreign creatures haunt the halls, corrupted beings that do not work like the usual magical beasts. Shallow perspectives from those who have worked with magic their entire lives, and thus fail to comprehend the creatures and their actions. Esstrey did her own research, and the corrupted flesh-forest outside Malencia is actually related to the gods, one of many results of a powerful being closely connected to mana dying. Every dream and nightmare of such a being made manifest right outside their doorstep. At the very least noble attendants have become much less popular, many of them did originate from Rila, apparently they were funding the PMC to prioritize Rilan problems. This organization was never meant to have a concept of priority, and was probably a large factor in the reason why the Rilan people decided to chop off the heads of the nobles. It might also be one of the few reasons why Esstrey isn''t getting jumped by ceiling ninjas. The only thing that the true leadership of PMC hates more than Esstrey''s contempt for them is the fact that the Rilan revolutionaries have ensured the nobility most vocal about funding the PMC had every record about them edited to refer to them as past-tense. She would have to send a nice thank-you card when she can to them, maybe something practical as well, like a Spetsnaz tactics manual. Esstrey''s thoughts are interrupted as she spots her target talking to some other attendees, they all look incredibly bored with the explanation given by her, but begin to shake out of their stupor as Esstrey and Cathy approach. Before her target notices that she''s now in someone''s shadow, Esstrey grabs her target and begins continuing the inspection she was forced to drop last time, much to Cathy''s dismay.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "Well, if it isn''t my favorite American plant, the Industricus Texanicus." Esstrey''s smile is visible behind her faceplate, and the [Dryad] is momentarily surprised by being subjected to a medical inspection all of a sudden, before recovering quickly. "Well howdy to you too lady fish! I ain''t too sure what them fancy words mean, but they sure sound funny! To come look me up must mean you want to hear my wonders about green energy, greenskins would be jealous!" The dryad quickly begins ranting about a world she envisions after introducing herself as Jesse. One not unlike the one Esstrey comes from, but every copper wire is replaced with a root, and every lamppost is lit with bioluminescence. One where GMO takes a whole different meaning, as the walls between engineering and biology collapses, but Esstrey can''t help but feel like Jesse is trying to sell her something. Now that she thinks of it, Jesse has always talked like this. "Jesse, you sound like a real estate salesman, why?" Esstrey gets straight to the point, and as expected the overly joyous dryad clamps down for a moment before continuing in a somewhat more grim tone. "I was hoping that someone here would be willing to take me in, the soil around my tree got acidic because of my earlier experiments, and no one wanted me before the dimensional merge over their fears of me ruining crops. Now, no none can even afford to accept me, at this rate my tree will starve." Jesse has told her sob story many times hoping to inspire sympathy, but usually people would just look sad and back away from there on out. Potentially poisoning crops through acidic soil is no joke, people''s lives depend on those crops after all. Yet, instead of looking sad and offering condolences, the smile on Esstrey grows wider, showing her sharp teeth. Her grip on Jesse instead of slackening tightens slightly, and her eyes seem to relish in the misfortune of the dryad. "Jesse, how about a deal? I happen to own a city at the moment, and I believe the future you envision could start nicely there. We fixed the food crisis recently, and security gets stronger by the day. We also still have functional trade with two major factions without needing one of [The Veil]''s dimensional portals. Of course, any food you bring to the table would be nice as well, an all meat diet isn''t great for your health you know. What do you say?" Esstrey extends a claw to Jesse, while the other attendees look on in shock. Esstrey seems some other familiar faces as well, the [Naga] isn''t here, but the [Sheep-kin] and [Kitsune] are. "W-Well gee lady, that''s a mighty fine deal you offer. That... that there be almost too good to be true. Almost." Jesse takes the claw of Esstrey, who then gives it a firm shake before rising back to her full height. "Cathy, can you help the madam here move her stuff to Malencia?" Esstrey didn''t pay much attention to what Cathy was doing, but at some point she started standing very close to her. "This one will do it on the [condition/requirement/prerequisite] that the lady does a medical examination on this one." Esstrey looks at Cathy in shock for a moment, she doesn''t often want things, but she never believed that the [Shoggoth] didn''t have wants. "Sure, I can do that." Chapter 76: Its Wet Outside Returning to Malencia should have been something grand. The future problems had been disposed of, the economy was safe, and with the help of Jesse Esstrey could drag this city kicking and screaming into the industrial revolution. Instead, it''s wet and quiet outside, fear is on an all-time high after the frantic raids that saw soldiers, demons and eldritch horrors busting down doors. The only ones that are having true fun are the kobolds, who integrated nicely into the liquidators. Their propensity for setting traps makes them excellent ambushers, paired with the equipment given as a standard to liquidators. Well, the fact that the rain is all blood might also have something to do with it. Holding out her claw from the balcony of the keep, Esstrey notes that the blood doesn''t seem to belong to a creature at all. Blood is usually magically linked with its source due to the nature of blood magic, but it''s just... blood. Furthermore, it''s actually charged with a small amount of blood magic in each drop. An amateur bloodmage might not recognize the spell engraved in the blood, but Esstrey knows it all too well. Bloodrage, every singular drop has a small piece of distilled anger. It probably wouldn''t take even five minutes of exposure for the average human to go berserk. Most people must have rushed to get indoors when blood started falling out of the sky, but arrogant demons, oblivious horrors, and the poor might become an issue concerning this. "Cathy! Get a message to Crendell! I need every liquidator out there YESTERDAY! Set the curfew to include everyone not capable of covering themselves fully against the rain, anyone who doesn''t comply will be arrested, anyone who resists will be SHOT!" Esstrey is incredibly happy that they rushed production on those suits, albeit initially meant for the corrupting forest, the makeshift hazmat gear should do well against the rain. "Tell Kharn and Rowan to get some people to keep the sewers clean while you are at it, if those get clogged the streets will be running red with blood in more ways than one. Make sure to cover yourself against the rain as well, I don''t think you are immune. I''m heading for the adventurers guild to make sure those arrogant nutjobs don''t go on a mass stabbing spree, mind giving me a ride?" Cathy gives a quick bow, acknowledging her ladies requests and worries, and makes a portal to the adventurers guild for Esstrey to go through. Arriving at the guild through the portal, Esstrey sees some adventurers taking a smoke break outside. A mage between them keeps the blood away from them, but considering their lax attitude, they most likely don''t know about the bloodrage spell engraved within the drops. "Fuck it reeks out here, I get that things have been a little apocalyptic lately, but does the weather really have to act this goddamn melodramatic?" The adventurers aren''t shocked when Esstrey emerges from the rain drenched in blood, the entire city has gone through some stuff lately.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Greetings gentlemen, a mandatory curfew will be announced soon for anyone not capable of fully protecting themselves against the rain, I would request of you to head inside after your break." Esstrey keeps a close eye on their reactions, attempting to find any irate behavior, but this lot seems properly protected by the mage with them. "Something wrong with the rain? Other than... ya know..." The axeman leans on his axe while tossing the butt of his cigarette aside, he gestures to the rain while staring at Esstrey. Before Esstrey can answer the man, someone leaps out of the dark and begins clawing at Esstrey. She shoves the figure on the ground, where the snarling man desperately tries to turn around to bite in Esstrey''s claws. In response to the man''s continued resistance Esstrey begins to lift and vigorously shake the man, after some seconds of shaking the man like she''s an opportunistic entrepreneur shaking the hands of an oil baron, the man falls unconscious. The axeman that watched the display approaches outside the magical bubble to try and help, but Esstrey''s glare freezes him in place. "GET BACK IN THE BUBBLE NOW! DO NOT TOUCH HIM!" Esstrey''s previous sophisticated demeanor melts as the axeman withdraws back inside the bubble. Grabbing the ragged man, she throws him inside the guild for them to deal with. As she floats back outside, the sound of footsteps comes closer, a squad of liquidators tense from the atmosphere. Their trained movements and wary looks at Esstrey indicative that their coats protect them from the blood. "Captain Krenkov reporting for duty ma''am, we got reports of a free-for-all in sector D7. Surveillance tried to count the casualties, but couldn''t risk getting close. Casualties are almost completely restricted to the lower district so far, but there have been some demons and horrors that had to be put down in the middle and upper district." Krenkov tries to get a read on the superior of his superior while he gives his report, despite being absolutely drenched in blood the mermaid looks... healthy and of a good state of mind. It makes sense to him that such a wet environment is good for an aquatic being, but he didn''t expect her to be immune to the magic that even affects the strongest mage after some time and exposure. The bell tower sounds in the background while Esstrey thinks their situation over, Krenkov must have been close by already to get here so fast to support her, but with less than a dozen men going into that brawl at D7 would be endangering their lives. Not to mention, Crendell is most likely putting together a concentrated effort to subdue that situation. "Captain, we will be heading for sector D2 to suppress the situation there, if possible bring the afflicted to me, I can decrease the effect of the rain. If anyone gets any tears in their clothing, prioritize getting inside." Esstrey''s decision confuses Krenkov for a moment, they aren''t going for D7? "Ma''am, the afflicted in D7-" "Are a self-solving problem. Bloodrage this concentrated doesn''t make the afflicted distinguish between friend or foe. We will move to an area that we can suppress, Crendell will mobilize a force for D7" The men shuffle nervously at Esstrey''s reasoning. Many of them participated willingly against the nobles for their ruthless and alien decisions. They can understand Esstrey''s logic, so now those decisions are only ruthless. They aren''t sure whether that''s much better. Chapter 77: The Attack of the Dead Men Esstrey smashes another of the afflicted into the ground, breaking plenty of bones in the process. She can certainly not harm them in the process, but doing so is difficult when there are many of them around. Krenkov''s men aren''t as nice as Esstrey when it comes to that department, they know that if they get holes torn in their coats they will join the mass of afflicted. However, as many problems the rain caused, Esstrey knows that overcoming this will strengthen Malencia. Sure enough, the rain begins to slowly subside. Esstrey holds her claw up, relishing the last bit of moisture invigorating her skin. Just as she''s thinking about getting herself a mobile shower to permanently feel like this something other than a drop of blood falls on her claw. A small and black flake, as if someone started painting snow black. The particles have completely replaced the rain, and the cheers of the subsiding rain get replaced with the realization that this nightmare hasn''t ended yet. One of the people on the ground begins to shudder violently, before slowly getting back up. Esstrey loads up her crossbow, she was... is certain that that person is dead. A trait maybe? Perhaps an aftereffect of the blood rain? She loads her crossbow, things are never so nice to be that simple. *CA-CHUNK* The ''bolt'' crashes through the woman Esstrey shot, piercing the lower abdomen and pinning her to the floor. Despite missing the lower part of her spine, the woman still tries to scrabble off her pinned position and rip apart the one who put her there. Other bodies begin to shudder violently as well, and notably none of the living ones shudder. Necromancy. "Zombies! Clear them out!" At Esstrey''s order, the men begin to fire everything they have now that their target is finally not human for once.
It was supposed to be a simple information run, drop by some acquaintances and head back to the keep. Instead, Jake is now surrounded by the dead, weren''t necromancers on their side? What the hell was Kreif doing? Jake fires a javelin made of shadows behind him, and blasts the head of a zombie clean off. Despite the momentary euphoria of getting a clean kill, Jake''s celebration is cut off by five more taking its place. Deciding to live for another day, he runs to a nearby alley, trying to cross into an area less populated. Hearing shouts up ahead means that there are people there, living ones. Arriving at the scene, Jake sees a group of liquidators trying their hardest to defend a group of barely conscious wounded from a veritable horde. His arrival at the scene is like cavalry running down the enemy, as the magic of the heir of Malencia cuts through flesh and bone with ease. As the frontal assault of the horde lessens, the men begin to fan out to cover the flanks, one doesn''t need to see the faces behind their masks to know that they are filled with desperation, fear and determination. Unfortunately, it is all for naught, the noise their battle made attracted the rampaging people that were killed nearby by this very squad. This time the horde comes from all sides, the scream of one of the men acts as a signal for retreat. One of the liquidators was grabbed from behind while facing the ones in front, and quickly gets dragged to the ground and eaten alive. One of the wounded being defended had died due to poor treatment, and had joined the opposing side as a result. Some of the zombies that were previously taken down begin to shudder violently as well, turning their position from a stable defensive circle to a situation where everyone is surrounded and alone. In better news, the sergeant of the group is still alive, and a rallying call is made for the soldiers to head to Jake. They don''t know he''s the heir, but a mage is their best weapon in this scenario. More men fall trying to reach him, a singular walking corpse being enough to seriously slow someone down, and a second one can drag down those of lesser caution. As the men abandon their position in an attempt to survive, the wounded civilians injured as a result of the blood rain are left completely undefended. The survivors are forced to watch from a more defensible alley as their colleagues and the ones they defended are swarmed by the devouring swarm. They don''t seem to care much for houses with properly closed windows and doors, even if Jake is certain there are still people in there. If it''s this bad in one of the better parts of the lower district, how bad is it in the slums?The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Salvation from the gruesome display comes in a stream of fire falling out of the sky engulfing the street, a group of winged demons indicating that the paranormal division hasn''t betrayed Malencia just yet. Despite the fire, the zombies don''t scream in pain, and only begin falling to the ground once their very bones get blackened. One of the demons lands, and gives a piece of paper to the sergeant. After reading it, he nods and gestures for his men to follow him, but stops Jake. "Thanks for the help mage, but we need to help some people trapped in a nearby building surrounded by the fucks. If we involve magic, the chance of collateral is too high, and we have relied on the help of a civilian enough so far." Jake thinks of coming with anyway, but refrains from speaking up. His informant is still at the location deep within the lower district near the slums. Running through alleys and dodging the larger groups is surprisingly easy for Jake on his own, magic makes little noise compared to the guns of the liquidators, and he hasn''t been falling back on his lessons. The political influence the paranormal division holds over Malencia is terrifying in his eyes, and now they have practically committed a coup. As Jake runs through Malencia he comes across an odd sight, a group of undead soldiers shambling like the zombies around, in the middle is a necromancer judging by how he''s dressed, along with some liquidators. All of them dead, with the undead soldiers barely being damaged. The flakes falling from the sky must have hijacked the undead troops from the necromancer''s control, turning the military escort in a killbox. He had experienced something similar not too long ago with the wounded camp, individually the zombies are pathetic, and in a group only amount to a mild threat, but in a combat zone the dead are everywhere. Jake''s staring at the undead is interrupted by a wretched snarling noise coming from nearby. A dog runs full force at Jake, and is instantly blasted by dark magic. Looking in the direction of where the dog came from, Jake sees... a kennel. More zombie-dogs stalk the area, and some have taken note of him. He looks around in panic, for anyone to help or routes to escape, only to notice as a nearby aerial squadron of demons seems to be getting harassed by undead birds. Running from the kennel is a hasty affair that doesn''t go unnoticed, the former patrol notices Jake, and begin to shamble after him. Half snarled barks and biting noises are right behind his heels, as some of the dogs have already begun catching up. As he fires more blasts of magic on his pursuers he has to stop, the short moment he stops proves fatal as another group of zombies cuts off his escape route. The loud snarls of so many alerted dead attracting even more. Jake is forced to run into yet another dangerous alley, sure enough this time he gambled poorly, it''s a dead end. Out of breath, out of mana, so dies the heir of Malencia. At the hands of his own people and soldiers, eaten alive. As should be the fate of those who collude with forces beyond their understanding. *THUD* *CRUNCH* Were it not for a singular figure standing between him and the approaching horde right now, a towering figure that came out of nowhere looking down on the zombies like ants, a silhouette that seems to inspire fear in even the zombies if only for a moment. Covered in head-to-fin in blood, she wields her crossbow backwards. A zombie lunges as high as it can for her, impressively just barely reaching the bottom of her armor. It gets clubbed with the rear end of the massive metallic crossbow for its efforts, and down it goes. The horde tries to use its mass to drag down the mermaid, but her slippery scales completely prevent it from finding purchase, and their teeth aren''t strong enough to go through her scales. Every time Esstrey raises her crossbow, it comes down on the skull of a zombie, every time a zombie gets close it gets grabbed at the head by her claw and gets crushed. Esstrey isn''t even using her magic for combat, she just occasionally re-applies the blood covering her by draining the zombies of theirs and dumping it over herself. *CRUNCH* *KRRK* *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* *KRRK* With an emotionless efficiency the horde begins to reduce in numbers, the armored plating of the undead soldiers fail to change the titan''s approach for dispatching them, and the undead dogs get swept aside when being faster than their target is useless when the target wasn''t planning on moving anyway. As the noise of snarling dead begins to die down, Esstrey turns to the exhausted Jake. "I didn''t know you were that charismatic Jake, you accumulated quite the following. I would recommend next time you don''t run into danger like this, it''s not good for your heart to do stuff like this on a constant basis." She doesn''t even bother to wipe the blood off her visor, and simply floats off toward sector D7. Chapter 78: Yesterday was Shit, Tomorrow will be Worse Sector D7 was nearly completely destroyed, the newly promoted general Crendell handed the area over to the Malencia Devastators. The few powerful mages that joined up on the promises of forbidden knowledge made sure to be very thorough in their destruction after witnessing the resilience of the shamblers, pit fiends bouldered through the sector, crushing anything in their path. The eldritch devastators weren''t much better either, as they were larger than Esstrey and five times as hungry for the insides of their prey. Liquidators covered the advance of the devastators, mostly ensuring their less discriminatory colleagues weren''t getting hit from blind spots. During it, all the surveillance teams in the skies and the shadows were providing data on the location of hordes, and forwarding said intel to their friends on the ground. Esstrey herself left out west to find some kind of heart of flesh after hearing that the Faerune Grand Army was closing in, the army that would no doubt plan to reconquer Malencia from heresy after securing the territory of a nearby count first. Apparently, even with the latest incident, Malencia was doing unusually well for itself compared to the rest of the world. The only areas that do remotely as well are near world portals that seem to provide an endless stream of prospectors looking to make a name for themselves. Jake wondered why Esstrey would leave so soon after one disaster, and so soon before another, but she herself stated that to survive tomorrow will require them to secure today. Or at least, that''s what Jake tells himself what she said to make himself feel a bit more secure in the future, her actual words were ''gonna go grab that fucking heart those adventurers saw out west, it might solve some problems if I throw it at Faerune hard enough, I should be back before the party starts''. All that makes sense in its own way, as the county subjugation the grand army is planning is predicted to take at least two weeks, so they still have some time for preparations. If only the bloodrain was something they could have seen coming, then Jake would actually believe in that kind of luck. Jesse was moved to sector D7 as it became prime real estate for a sapling to grown, and Esstrey told the kobolds specifically to take good care of her as she values the dryad greatly. The only reason she could have possibly done that would have been to ensure a fast growth, as the kobolds are very one-minded. It certainly worked, as with a dryad''s fast growth and the backing of quite a few forces they might be able to put fruits and vegetables on the table soon again. Duchess Eliana had sent complaints, apparently the projected crop yield is much less than could be, and the foliage from the dryad is instead rampantly spreading through the middle-district already. The complaint had worried Jesse initially, right up until one of the kobolds tore up the missive when the scaly creature noticed the piece of paper had upset someone dear to their precious Draconic lord. Crendell in the meantime hasn''t been idle himself, since Esstrey would be gone for a while he would be in charge of the security in Malencia without an unstoppable force backing him. That would have worried him somewhat if he wasn''t given such valuable groundwork in the form of Cathy and Zha''klos. The duo of monsters had taken effective charge of major affairs, Zha''klos proving herself to be excellent in political maneuvering, while Cathy made for the perfect government official. The general appreciated Esstrey''s eye for talent more than anything, and could see why she goes through such great effort to keep the people she values satisfied. While not knowing how she kept Cathy satisfied with current affairs, it''s easy to see how Zha''klos stays loyal with her gone. The concessions given to The Infernal Host practically align with what closely allied nations would have. There''s even a clause in the treaty with it stipulating freedom of movement for migrants, which seems rather redundant considering the home dimension of The Infernal Host is energy-based, and thus is not very suitable for non-mages to exist in.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The people themselves have been doing rather well, the efforts of the new leadership has been producing plenty of wealth and job opportunities. As it turns out, people don''t care much about whether things are heresy or not when the groceries become more affordable. There is certainly still dissent with the administration''s associations, but the recent decommissioning of undead saw a reduction in said dissent when people were assured their loved ones will be given appropriate respect in the afterlife. Some liches and necromancers are still alive and in prison as of now, being treated rather well considering their position. Every day guns and cloaks for the liquidators are made, more demons and horrors join up with the city, and the plants grow further over the city. Life is improving, even with the regent off besieging a flesh-devouring heart. Or at least, it should have been until Cathy entered Crendell''s office. She never approaches Crendell out of her own initiative. "General, the punitive force sent by Faerune has cancelled its detour for the [nearby/proximity/arm''s reach] county. It is estimated to [arrive/reach/walk in] Malencia in two days." Crendell puts down his pen in shock, this wasn''t how the war with their former lord was supposed to go. "Thought we had more time... if we fold to their demands, most of our heads will be rolling as well. The entire city might be put to the torch if Faerune will stick with pre-merge behavior. Should we recall Esstrey? No... she''s solving a future problem, and adding it to our arsenal." Chewing on the feathered end of his pen, Crendell looks at the city outside his office. It has become unrecognizable from the Malencia it once was. Foliage, demons, moving shadows. Everything in Malencia has become built to last, built to survive. Troops have already begun training with experimental communication equipment made by the dryad. "Cathy, can you send a message to Esstrey? Inform her to return as soon as possible after retrieving that flesh-heart. Inform her of The Grand Army redirecting, and our intent to make them pay for every step of the way." Upon Crendell''s mention of the mermaid, Cathy has already gotten a stationary from... somewhere. He himself join in on writing letters to everyone involved in the defense. They would have to set up shelters for the civilians as well, his defensive plan would be incredibly risky even with Esstrey around. The next days, Crendell would have to pull everything hidden by the various powers out of the shelves, and get it all to the front. More supplies would need to be piled in the eastern sectors, bone cutting operations wrapped up, barricades in major streets set up. Sometimes he regrets the promotion to general, but those regrets are shoved aside at the fact that he can finally save Malencia with his own hands. Chapter 79: Clashing Beliefs On one side of the wall stood the forces of Malencia. A total of roughly 10,000 liquidators, a mass production of guns, providing enough weapons for one every man woman and kobold in the force. Not all the guns were produced locally, a significant amount was purchased from Rila thanks to Cathy''s spatial magic. It''s not something that can be relied upon, especially not for transporting beings not familiar with traversing space, but the niche and Cathy''s expertise proved to be plenty in this category. In addition to the liquidators are 1,000 from surveillance, 200 destroyers, and 3,000 auxiliaries. The walls are too thin to station many liquidators or even some of the destroyers, as such Malencian military command decided on a plan that factors in losing the walls. Not that the walls will just be handed to the enemy on a silver platter, they will have to pay for it in blood. Opposing Malencia is The Grand Army of Faerune, a shadow of its former self after the dimensional merge and the disappearance of the gods. 50,000 regulars equipped with high-quality plate armor, and the experience of retaking Faerune to back it up. In addition to the regulars are also the combined churches holy mission, an alliance of religions with the goal to find their gods again, 1,000 paladins with enough magical support troops to get a healer to everyone on the front in time. The source of their magic may have disappeared, but magic itself doesn''t disappear so easily. Given a few generations, paladins will be no more, so they would have to act fast to find their gods again. Along with all these forces is the Adventurer''s Guild of Faerune, a force of 3,000 locals bolstered with an additional 4,000 from different worlds seeking fortune and glory. They vary wildly in individual strength, ranging from a cut above a regular to a cut above a paladin. Recently this army was joined by a flock of greater drakes headed by a red dragon called Asher, they number less than 100. The cold wind blows, while coughing men and rattling gear are the only noise that comes from the walls. A messenger returns to the city on horseback, carrying a black flag on his horse. A signal that negotiations have broken down, and now the only course of action is violence. Before the messenger even gets inside the city, balls of fire are launched from the lines of the attackers in an arc. Trebuchets that were rapidly set up, intent on delivering their payload. The balls of fire break on a massive dome-like barrier covering the city, the men on the walls near the falling debris sweat in their suits, but that is the only issue as the debris is dumped outside the walls by the smooth barriers. The captain on the walls raises his arm signaling the men to get ready, they adjust the range on their muskets to compensate for the massive distance between the armies. On full capacity, there are few things with a longer range than a musket, but the long recharge time could have proved to be a problem had the army decided on a rapid advance instead. "Ready!... Aim!... Fire!" *B L I I N G* A line of smoke erupts from the walls, and the smoothbore barrels do find purchase despite operating far out of effective range. Just because a gun shouldn''t reach a certain range, doesn''t mean it can''t. Some people on the attacker side fall over dead or wounded, the attackers themselves already have their resolve shaken. They saw in very simple terms just now how their own attack at this range was ineffective, while the attack of the defenders did plenty.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Officers of The Grand Army sneer at the cowardice of their troops, they might not have had it easy with the monsters invading their precious world, but now that they face something completely familiar they are shaken. Fortunately for the troops, field officers don''t dictate battle strategy. A command comes from the rear, and new weapons are brought to the front. Ornate cannons mounted on wheels, escorted by groups of mages. A larger design than the Rilan musket, a harrowing symbol of wars to come. The cannons are loaded with orichalium ammo, powered by mages. Such a force could take out the walls given some time, time high-command isn''t willing to afford. Along with the usual stuff given to these new weapons, each of them is also being powered by holy artifacts given by the church. To say they would be using their beliefs as ammo today wouldn''t be inaccurate, but all worth it to get rid of the Malencian scourge before it grows too powerful to remove. *BOOM* A premature fire blasts an entire manned section of the wall away, the troops on it buried beneath the rubble. Horrors stationed nearby quickly move into the shadows of the rubble to extract survivors. Before the other cannons can get properly ready, the bulk of troops are evacuated from the walls to prevent more catastrophic failures. A token force is left behind to take shots at the attackers to keep them on their toes, and said shots are now primarily aimed at the well protected cannon crews. Over the next hour, the two sides play whack-a-mole with each other, trying to inflict as many casualties on the opposing side as possible while not overreaching themselves. A horn resounds over the battlefield during a lull in the firing, and the attackers begin to move. Camps that were set up are quickly torn down, and people that sought fame and glory quickly clamp down on their rations as they fall in lockstep with the rest of the army. On the defending side a green flare is launched, it detonates a total of three times before going silent, signaling the troops to assume the position of ''green three'' as it is so uninspiringly named. Soldiers rush to their posts to receive the enemy in their formations, most are to head deeper into the city where the urban environment will naturally disperse the enemy. Significant holdouts barricade themselves in some of the sturdier towers, with tunnels leading to the inner city to guarantee an escape plan. In the skies, fliers on both sides hiss at their opponents, not daring to leave friendly territory to fight for dominance over the skies. The demons of the sky look dull and savage, but are led by high-ranking demons that have greater cunning than all humanoids. The dragons are more cunning than the lower ranking demons, but the true terror of the skies is Asher himself. His gravitas keeps the greater drakes to the plan, and within the safe range of their own ground support. As ground troops finally begin reaching the wall breaches, the first skirmishes start. In between the attacking force is a group of heroes, one of the few that know the true identity of the [Nightmare], but for reasons only known to themselves did not disclose it with others. Asahi gestures his comrades to follow, the drakes joining their punitive force was a fortunate event, and his chances of forcing Esstrey to reveal the location of the gods has increased drastically. Once the location of the gods is revealed, they can start restoring the world. Chapter 80: Poor Mans War The devastation in the lower district from previous disasters was the greatest, along with it being the effective first contact with the enemy, the area became a bloody affair. Malencian destroyers were frequently deployed, and their supporting units mainly composed of whatever can throw a lot of problems at their opponents. What the lower district did have in spades was foliage. It spread quickest in the areas where existing infrastructure wasn''t a major factor. Plants controlled by a dryad would normally have direct combat applications, but not these plants. These plants exist to support the main force in Malencia. A pit fiend blasts its way through one of many brittle walls of the lower district, a corpse slowly sliding off one of its axes as it does so. A contraption of fungus rests upon its bull-shaped head, muttering into the mushroom as he talks. The mushroom itself flakes off some small pieces of itself, which get absorbed into the ground. After a short while, the pit fiend holds its head against one of the plants, listening to the noise coming from it through the fungal device. A war cry sounds from the east, more troops to feed into the demon''s axes. The initial waves consisted of the weaker troops, fodder to walk into the many traps set by the defenders. The pit fiend charges to meet the advance, and finds a terrified infantry square. Prime prey for the coming slaughter. It barrels into the group, breaking spears as it does so. One of the men in the group sounds a horn in desperation, for his bravery he gets cut down to size. Fear dominates their minds, where did this thing come from? Where are our reinforcements? Did they even hear our call over combat? Will they even respond? Thoughts like these plague them as the fiend is upon them, cutting into their rapidly dwindling numbers. The beast is clearly wounded, but shows no signs of slowing down as its blood mixes with those of the men. Half a dozen decapitations later, a blast of light nearly blows the fiends head clean off. It didn''t dodge due to some supernatural instinct, it was just lucky the shot missed this time. The source is a soldier clad in full plate armor, priests and nuns take up his rear. "Begone foul creature!" The sight of the paladin brings a moment of hope to the soldiers that are still in the fight, specialists in dealing with heresy are worth their weight in gold within the confines of this rotten city. "Devastator requests reinforcements in the north of sector D5. Enemy elite spotted." The odd way the demon speaks makes the paladin frown, rand and file soldiers of Malencia had displayed similar levels of speech, were they truly corrupted to the point that their very voice was being taken away? The paladin wastes no time pondering the implications of heresy. Listening to the whispers of madmen is a bad idea. He charges at the fiend, who has now taken a defensive stance close to the standing armymen of Faerune. The poor bastards are too shaken and dazzled to display their previous bravery, at least they aren''t running away. As the fiend and paladin battle it out, sword against dual axes, a few things become clear. The paladin is skilled, while the fiend is more cunning than is often given credit to the more physically inclined enemies of humanity. It tries to lure the paladin close enough to the fodder so it can always choose to jump the terrified soldiers.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The paladin''s nightmares come to fruition, as the fiend launches an attack into the men. Fortunately the attack is blocked by the priests who quickly form a barrier, the holy knight punishes the demon for this action by chopping off one of its arms, but the demon merely looks a tad dejected that the paladin didn''t even bat an eye at the attack. Either he had more faith in the priests than expected, or he truly didn''t care for his colleagues. Despite losing an arm, the demon still puts up a though fight with the remaining arm. The defensive fighting style of the fiend is an unusual sight for demons, who usually prefer dealing as much damage as possible at the cost of their bodies. If destroyed by normal means they reform in their own dimension anyway, holy magic is the reliable way to permanently crush them, but since the disappearance of the gods that type of magic has become finite. The battle still turns against the demon in time, wounds building up. The loud noise of a cart approaching doesn''t stop the intense ''duel'' between elites. The paladin is too focused on inflicting wounds on the demon, while his supports remove his own during the fight. Yet, as the noise of the cart grows louder, a smirk grows on the fiend''s face regardless. Behind the fiend, a cart pulled by eldritch entities and stacked with liquidators arrives. The liquidators don''t bother dismounting from the cart, instead using the railing to steady their aim. "Twenty percent charge! Fire!" *BLIING* A hail of bullets descend on the field, the soldiers that were watching the duel in awe cut apart as they momentarily forgot that this is a warzone. Some of the priests fall to the barrage as well, not having been in time to defend themselves from the attack. The sounds of thunder and dying comrades distracts the paladin for a split second, a fatal mistake in front of a one-armed pit fiend. The axe of the fiend lodges firmly in the neck of the elite, who tries to grab at the axe in a futile endeavor to get it out. Even if he had the strength to do it, he can''t get a good grip on the axe now covered in his own blood, and he slowly sags to the ground. The fiend doesn''t waste the chance to brutalize the skull of the paladin to make sure he doesn''t get back up. The short moment of victory for the Malencians is interrupted as the head of the fiend explodes in a bright light. This time, the opening shot of a blast of holy magic was enough. It wasn''t enough to permanently kill the fiend, but a lengthy banishment would have to suffice for now, as the headless corpse falls to the ground. Two more paladins with their retinue''s have shown up to the fight, and the remaining liquidators choose to flee with their cart rather than stand and fight. Listening to their fungal radio for more places they can assist combatants. As the cart rounds a corner, a group stands in their path. The liquidator at the helm alerts their team to the group of adventurers in their path, intending to run them over before blasting them to kingdom come. They run straight into the small armored adventurer, but instead of crushing him beneath their wheels their steeds crash, and their cart practically explodes into bits like they hit a cliff face head on. A mage between the adventurers blasts the stunned eldritch creatures with lightning, leaving the liquidators stranded here. In the confusion, only a few liquidators see death coming in the form of a literal rain of arrows coming from a single elf. The sergeant rallies some of the survivors to return fire, but any shots are blocked by a priestess with the adventurers. A man with a longsword beheads the sergeant from there, and the liquidators that tried to run were all stabbed by a wolfgirl. Asahi takes a short moment to clean his blade while looking at the wreckage of the cart. Something about all this seems familiar to him, and he doesn''t like it. The tactics employed, the weapons, even the way they dress. Chapter 81: Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo The middle district would be the main front, with the lower district acting as a skirmish line. Here the bulk of troops were stationed, intent on whittling down the invaders street by street, building by building. Radio operators remain in contact with each other from here, providing support to each other with constant updates on the situation. Malencian surveillance was tasked with keeping an eye out themselves, and reporting back to the troops. Flying units also took plenty of chances, demons would usually fly by bombing the area. Most demons were held back to keep the drakes in check, going through the barrier dome surrounding Malencia is a bigger hassle than it is worth, forcing the drakes to follow the ground troops by going through the wall breaches. Magical engineers also made the barrier just the smallest bit solid from the inside, causing immense smoke buildup within. Here on the ground the situation was the ugliest, Zulie had been deployed to one of many street barricades to hold. She was pretty sure the troops stationed in the streets had it far worse than the troops in the buildings, but the buildings usually had no fallback plans. If their building was breached, it became do or die. "This is 2-3, Target is suppressed, we are moving in quickly. Take it out, take it out!" Zulie''s radio buzzes with signals from a nearby barricade moving in on one of the drakes, who seem to prefer to stride over the ground when possible. "This is 2-6, 2-4 how far are you from 2-3''s position? Over." When the barricade isn''t busy fending off an attack, Zulie also works as a radio operator, attempting to coordinate support. Initially, the plan was to have a central command within the keep, but logistical concerns regarding the plant growth in the deeper parts of Malencia caused them to be forced to rely on local commanders like herself. "2-4 here, we are stationed at the transition checkpoint and are taking heavy fire from the east, 2-3 is about a hundred meters to the south of us!" The voice from the radio sounds somewhat desperate, and Zulie makes a short prayer to whoever might be listening that her own barricade isn''t sounding like theirs. Still, it may be best to merge those units to prevent their destruction. "2-4 can you link up with 2-3 from where you are? Over." A slight crackle in the radio system indicates the strain on it, but it shouldn''t deteriorate further with the omnipresence of fungal matter. "Negative! Negative! Quick get to the f&*#or$ south of us! They are rolling us with a couple of paladins! Request Broken Arrow! Repeat! Broken Arrow!" Another voice from the radio confirms the Broken Arrow, Zulie recognizes it as the air control for this sector. "Adventurers left side left side!" "Contact left! Contact left!" Zulie is forced to drop the radio as her own barricade is under attack, sure enough oddly dressed people from all kinds of races come from the left. Her group noticed them before they noticed her, and they open fire. A few of the adventurers drop at the heavy fire, but not nearly enough to make them feel safe. In the world of war, adventurers are effectively powerful mercenaries. Various magic spells crash into the barricade, the reinforcement on the barricade takes a beating but holds on. As Zulie''s unit exchanges fire with the advenurers the radio crackles to life again alerting Zulie. "2-6! Come in 2-6! Enemy units have overrun 2-3! Pull out of that sector, your flank is exposed!" The radio goes silent again before Zulie can get to it, but it''s now clear to her that the adventurers are bait for the real enemy forces. Picking the mushrooms up Zulie yells at her troops to abandon the barricades, the adventurers shouldn''t be able to run them down with the barricade still intact. The troops rapidly abandon their positions, running in the direction of the keep. Sure enough in one of the streets is a drake charging down flanked by a small group of adventurers. The adventurers move toward the keep as well, while the drake keeps charging in their direction. Zulie gestures for the men to scatter into nearby buildings, and set up a defensive position on this street. Her radio crackles to life again as the noise of combat gets closer as well, the former barricade is taken.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Warhorse has contact on all, rolling in to sector C3. Nearby units find some cover from rolling thunder." The code for an airstrike is given, and as Zulie looks above her for the show, she notices drakes hiding in the smoke above waiting in their own ambush. "Drakes inbound! Warhorse break right!" Zulie''s warning comes a second late, one demon gets her wing bitten off by a drake lying in wait. "I''m hit! Going down!" "I can''t see him! I can''t see hi-" The other demon of the duo got the warning in time, but a panicked reaction causes this one to be killed on the spot by another drake. "Position 3-0 this is stalker, flight group warhorse is down, we see only one survivor. Position 2-6 and 2-7 have been overrun, factory in that sector is taking magic spells, it does not look good from where we are. How copy over?" "Stalker this is 3-0, solid copy on all. We do not have any close air support at this time, displace to a more secure location deeper into the city, and await further instructions, out." Just like that, Zulie and her units are abandoned, left to fend for themselves as positions are overrun. As she switches to her radio the only sound coming from it is panic from the remaining units in the middle district. She fiddles around a bit with it, and finds the frequency that belonged to warhorse instead. "*Cough* *cough* this... this is warhorse 2, does anyone read? Shit, I''m down near... fuck... I''m down near some drake that''s running through sector C3." Zulie knows that warhorse is a couple of literal demons, but as someone who worked with demons before, she can''t help but think of them as her comrades regardless of how cruel they usually are. Everyone from this city is a comrade against the horrors of the merge, whether they want to or not. "Warhorse 2 this is 2-6, we have set an ambush for that overgrown lizard, come to the sound of gunfire when you hear it." Zulie checks across the street from her own window, and sees that the buildings across are occupied by her troops. 2-6 might be the most intact unit in this sector, and as such she feels they have duty to act as a beacon that survivors can flock to. Checking the street from the window, she sees the wounded drake move through the street, it had certainly spotted them move by, but seemed to have been too wounded to blindly charge. This street is a major road leading to the keep, and with some time, some paladins would definitely pass by. The drake is most likely planning to take this street, and wait for healers to bring it back from the brink. 2-3 did a number on the drake, that much is clear as the beast gets closer. Just as it passes by the manned house, Zulie opens up the ambush by firing her gun. The noise is followed by a cacophony of gunfire as the entirety of 2-6 opens up on the drake. Despite the perfectly time volley, the drake seems to have been prepared for it. It shielded itself somewhat from the initial volley, preparing to breathe fire on the ambushers in return. Instead of successfully burning half of 2-6 hiding in the buildings, the drake staggers as it gets blasted by numerous cutting streams of water from behind. Warhorse 2 stands behind the injured drake, missing a wing of her own. The drake tries to roar as an instinctual reaction to seeing an enemy, but its distraction costs its life as desperation fuelled 2-6. They reloaded in record time, and the next volley nails the dragon in the neck. Its roar turns to a gurgle as blood fills the drake''s throat, and it falls down after a short struggle to remain standing. Seeing the threat abate, Zulie cycles through more channels for forces in the region, surprised to find a new channel make contact with her instead. "Is mushroom listening? ...Hello? This is... two ackthual? Two ackthual! Yes, I bring order from leviathan lady! In case of invasion best tactic is... gwe- gueriy- goerilla-... gorilla war! All liqqi-dators are to do ambush!" Recognizing the voice on the radio as being from a kobold, Zulie looks outside only to see very short liquidators climbing from one of the manholes. ''Leviathan lady'' certainly refers to the mermaid who is currently not in Malencia, and with the kobolds being so dedicated to her, this must have been a standing order. Watching as the newly emerged kobolds begin to dance around warhorse 2 as they witness the corpse of the drake, only on question rests on Zulie''s mind. "Where the fuck am I going to find gorillas?" Chapter 82: Guts, Glory, Respiratory Failure Marching armies, dying soldiers. The streets of Malencia run red with the blood of people so desperate to protect what''s precious to them. The innocent bystander lies dead in his home, knife in hand to protect his wife. The wife dies shortly afterward, prioritizing stuffing her kids in a closet to keep them safe from an inquisition hellbent on razing this heretical city to the ground. The inquisitor follows his victims, all he wanted was to protect the world as a whole at the cost of some comparably minor sacrifices, now a dagger is stuck in his neck as a child seeking vengeance had snuck up on him. That would at least be the experience The Grand Army has had with Malencia so far, but the upper district is a new hell brought upon them. The purge had left many mansions empty, large buildings with thick walls. The Malencia guard has seen fit to use the remains of potential traitors to good use, nearly every mansion has been turned into small forts wreaking havoc on passing enemies. Malencian surveillance and devastators have also rejoined the field of combat more actively here, this is the perfect stomping ground for both of them after all. Asahi''s Hero Party cleaves a way through one of the walls surrounding such a fort, while certainly strong when magically enhanced as they are, the walls are no match for the strongest adventurer group in Faerune. The break-in is not quiet, and the alarm is heard over the sounds of combat. Liquidators raise their guns at the intruders, bullets hitting ineffectively on the barrier created by Nalia. Tolbert rushes out of the barrier, his armor proving sufficient against the hail of attacks. Seeing the dwarf charge at them like an unstoppable force has the Malencians for a short moment, fear proving to be an ample distraction as Larielle pins a few of them in their necks. Standing troops that managed to get this far flood the breach, eager to engage the dreaded liquidators in close combat. Soon enough, the sounds of gunfire is replaced with the clattering of metal, and the groans of the dying. Looking to capture a way towards the keep, Asahi tries to move towards the mansion itself, but an odd sight catches his eye. The brave men of The Grand Army are dragged into shadows when no one looks at their melee, a quick and quiet takedown usually favored by rogues. "Xyrashi! Enemy rogues are upon the soldiers! Can you dispel their cloaks?" The wolfgirl comes out of her own invisibility from her position next to the gate, numerous corpses of the masked gunmen lay scattered nearby. She throws a bead in the middle of the courtyard, and in a flash everyone previously camouflaged becomes visible. Instead of having the effect of revealing the enemy to be able to defend against them, there are screams of horrors instead. Amorphous goo-like black creatures, eyes and mouths at places where they should not be, grotesque forms left and right. The Malencian surveillance are masters at stealth, here in the shades of the courtyard of a mansion they make for fine assassins. Terror isn''t the only thing to strike the hearts of men that second, as the liquidators were wholly unaffected by their allies physical appearance, the brief respite bought by direct intervention from the surveillance teams was enough for them to retake some distance. The creatures from surveillance aren''t so tactically inclined, their exposure proving fatal as the mages present throw everything they have at them in panic. Explosions of black goo dot the field, and the situation is looking worse for the Malencians by the second.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Throw grenades! Yellow!" The sergeant of the garrison is eager to prove that theory false, having managed to skillfully evade headhunters thus far. The soldiers of Malencia are quick to respond while they still can, crudely made canisters with yellow stripes over fly through the air. Nalia quickly provides a barrier for the people close by, the majority of troops were herded into a killzone, resulting in them all being tightly packed. Something the Malencians are now mildly regretting. The grenades go off, and instead of the thunder and metal their weapons are usually accompanied by, the grenades instead unleash a sickly yellow gas smelling faintly of... mustard. The troops inside the barrier conjured by Nalia are fine, but Nalia herself feels something scrape against the barrier as the yellow fog is identified to be harmful by her protective magic. Sure enough, the people outside the barrier quickly start making wet coughing noises. They desperately try to grab at their armor in an attempt to get it off as the gas easily seeps through the gaps in their plating. The hero''s party is snapped out of their stupor as lightning strikes the barrier, on the roof of the mansion a Malencian mage arrived, his more unique outfit denoting him as a Malencia devastator. In the time it takes to identify him, lightning strikes the barrier five more times, Nalia is holding out, but she can''t both retaliate and maintain the barrier. Asahi quickly tries to think of a plan, but nine more lightning strikes later, the lightning mage is silenced by a dagger. Xyrashi was never within the barrier, and had decided to stalk the battlefield for something worth killing. She initially thought of the sergeant, but decided to hang back instead. Something that''s now paying itself off tenfold, as the trump card in this area was quickly eliminated without much of a fuss. The corpse of the devastator unceremoniously falling off the roof is the cherry on top for the liquidators, their sergeant sounds the horn of retreat, and all liquidators quickly jump off the low wall surrounding the fortified estate. No one is able to chase them in this position, but a few of them that were too close did get a few arrows in their backs as they retreated. The noxious fog disperses as well with the aid of wind magic. Fadunia goes to the soldiers affected by the gas, all of them still alive, even if they are currently wishing they weren''t. Some managed to take off their helmets, showing off burnt skin, and bits of lung sticking to the inside of their helmets. Another round of coughing, and now those bits are on Fadunia''s dress. To her horror, healing magic isn''t doing much, the gas is already stuck inside their lungs. "Fadunia, I know what you are thinking, it would take too much time to stay here and treat them. The best we can do for these men is make sure this doesn''t happen to their family members." Fadunia looks at Asahi with tears in her eyes, she has never failed to save someone from death within arm''s reach. Even if her magic has gotten weaker after the dimensional merge, she''s certain that no matter how strong healing magic gets, these people are beyond saving. She stands back up with determination behind her teary eyes, and the dying man who was holding on to her nun''s habit loses his grip as he descends into another painful coughing fit. Now that this fort is cleared out, Asahi sees a path to the castle. The sooner they get there, the sooner they can end this. Before turning to the castle, Asahi narrows his eyes at the corpses that litter the floor one last time. Guns, and gas. Either his enemy is quite the innovator, or has done this before. Chapter 83: Fate-Eater The castle was empty of security, the forces of Faerune had whittled it down over time, and corpses litter the path Asahi''s party walks. It looks like the fighting was tough for both sides, but none got to the throne room before their party did. Asahi opens the door to the throne room, and duchess Eliana sits upon her throne across from the door. Rowan and Kharn stalk between the pillars watching the party enter, the loyal retinue of the duchess still standing strong. The duchess herself looks upon the party in exhaustion. No amount of decorative banners from the past cheer up the duchess, not that they ever did. Most of the decorations never made sense either, like the weird-looking giant collar in between them. "So my end has finally come, tell me, what is to be of my future?" She doesn''t seem to intend to put up a fight, and neither does her retinue. "You will be arrested for high treason, and beheaded after a fair trial." Asahi doesn''t see a reason to lie, and as such simply tells her what is to become of her. "I see, my children will probably suffer the same fate, considering high treason is for the entire family." A light chuckle escapes from the duchess, she would have at least wanted a future for her little daughter. As she hangs her head in defeat, Asahi makes his way to the balcony overseeing the eastern side of the city. He takes out a bright crystal, its divine shine being visible from the inside of his bag. A mighty artifact brought to them from another world, something that would bring God''s light back to a broken world. As Asahi releases the crystal, it floats and fixes itself on the balcony, the light from it engulfs the corrupted city in a warm, soothing light. A direct link to a foreign God of light, the influence of the God is enough to dispel and weaken the creatures that roam this rotten city, soldiers are blinded, eldritch entities retreat underground, and demons fall from the sky. The holy power of the God is enough to turn the tide wherever Malencians are fighting, invigorating allies during the entire process. Somewhere near the walls, a soldier finds himself unable to properly block the light obscuring his vision, somewhere in the slums an eldritch horror dons sentient armor along with a halberd while taking cover in the shadows. The light shines off metal from a slime as it glistens while workers do their best to aid in shaping her, and in the bastions of the former noble district a demon fights for her life as the light empowers her enemies. A fragile hope blossoms for all Faerunians that moment, not just hope for victory, but a hope for a better tomorrow. Once more a God is there to watch over them, once more they do not need to fear the night. Maybe, just maybe, they can even dare to hope that things will be even better than they used to be. Hope for all Faerune except Malencia, as a tear belonging to Eliana falls on the ground. "I hope you are satisfied with destroying my city and people, maybe one day I will taste that hope as well when I see you destroyed." The clacking noise of high heels leaves the throne room, the duchess rushing off higher into the castle in search for the room where her daughter is hiding. Asahi''s party ignores the duchess as she runs off, she has nowhere to run anyway, and God''s light is so beautiful at this moment. It''s even so beautiful that the party doesn''t notice the figurine depicting a mermaid starting to glow on the throne Eliana so hastily left behind. The space above the throne begins to break apart at the seams, and a crude tear in space reveals the face of a creature that doesn''t belong in this world. The monster emerges from the fracture, and rushes over to the balcony, throwing Tolbert aside. The force cracks the balcony balustrades, nearly causing the dwarf to fall. Before any of the party can stop the monster, it reaches the crystal emanating God''s light, and crushes it with its mighty claws. It quickly follows up it''s attack by charging at Nalia, but gets thrown overhand by Asahi back within the keep itself. He was too slow, and now the crystal that brought hope to Faerune lies shattered on the floor in front of him. The hated mermaid looks more armored than he last saw her, and on her face she carries a nasty look no monster should ever have, glee. Her arrival is hailed by a portal, and a knight clad in plate armor emerges from it. The knight is clearly not human, and not just for being in league with Esstrey. The plate armor is pitch-black, and instead of hands and feet it has masses of tentacles instead, within on of the clumps of tentacles is a plain steel halberd. Without warning Esstrey fires her crossbow at Larielle, who manages to barely dodge out of the way of imminent death. Tolbert moves to engage Esstrey in close-quarters, but gets intercepted by the knight instead. The knight isn''t skilled, but its unconventional movement makes up for its lack of skill. Asahi attempts to bisect the knight, but mid-swing a monstrous mouth opens up in the midriff of the armor, forcing Asahi to retreat. Another bolt flies through the room, and finds purchase in Asahi''s shin. The momentary stagger being enough for the unskilled knight to make use of. Unfortunately for the monstrous duo, Asahi is far from alone. An arrow finds purchase in the knight''s eyeslit, while a barrier blocks the strike. Esstrey is pelted with magic and smokebombs for her part, and tries to throw... something at the wolf assassin. All she ends up accomplishing is making the area around the wolf slightly more moist. The strikes of the hero''s party seem to shift in focus from Esstrey to the knight, as it becomes clear that while certainly though, it''s much less apt at defending itself than Esstrey is. Tolbert charges it while Asahi duels it, and succesfully bring its ''legs'' out from under it. Xyrashi Nalia and Larielle are doing their best to keep Esstrey busy while Asahi moves to behead the knight to end its interference. His strike beheads it, and the helmet of the knight rolls uselessly away. A momentary breath of relief for the front liners as their enemy count is reduced to one once more, Esstrey watches just in time to see the helmet leave the body of the knight, and fury replaces her arrogant smile. The air around the keep begins to grow dry, and the sewers below begin to flow in strange directions as well. Before Esstrey can enact her vengeance, Asahi and Tolbert are knocked on their asses as something slithers out from beneath them. A creature emerged from the armor, the same one that had ambushed them in the woods when they tried to defeat Esstrey last time, a monster shaped in a mocking imitation of a maid. Asahi charges forward to strike down Cathy properly, but gets his jaw broken by the heft of a crossbow for his efforts. Fadunia is quickly by his side, knowing exactly when she needs to not be seen and when needing to be present. As he feels his jaw set back into place, he thinks to himself that none of his enemies really beat him as much as the mermaid ever does, and currently she looks exceptionally pissed.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Cathy retreats behind Esstrey together with the halberd in her limbs, she opens a portal and stabs the halberd through it. The pointy end of the weapon pierces Fadunia, but misses her vitals. The priest quickly retreats while healing herself and cursing The Beyond for good measure. Seeing that Cathy isn''t a beheaded corpse right now makes Esstrey slightly less angry, but cold fury remains on her face. The fight gets interrupted by two additional teams joining the fight. A squad of liquidators along with one of the flying demons arrives from the stairs to the roof, while a squad of paladins arrive to reinforce the Hero''s party. Their loud fighting attracted more forces to the fight, as both sides fighting outside realize that the keep could very well decide the fate of Malencia. The squad fires a volley at Larielle, and the shock of their arrival nails them some solid hits. Paladins rush in to cut down the collaborators, but one is instantly killed by Esstrey as she bashes his skull in with her crossbow. She uses her magic to fling his corpse at a second, who tries to back off from the relentless assault, but he''s beheaded for his effort of desperate survival as a halberd spears him from behind. The remaining two paladins successfully back away from the monstrous duo to rally with the hero. Asahi and Tolbert attempt to get close to Esstrey and Cathy while they are still looking at the paladins, but fire and lightning blocks their advance as the demon unleashes destructive magics. The magic gets blocked by Nalia, who launches an attack of her own on the demon. Water begins to run over the floor of the throne room, tripping up anyone not accustomed to fighting on swampy terrain. Xyrashi goes invisible and jumps between the liquidators, killing one and injuring another. The quick reflexes of the liquidators allows them to make a quick stab at Xyrashi, who is forced to retreat to Fadunia lest she gets caught while weak. With the demon suppressed, Asahi and Tolbert advance once again on the main monsters of Malencia to lock them in combat. While they are locked in a melee, the paladins waste no time to move to finish off the liquidators, who retreat upstairs with their wounded comrade. One of the paladins gives chase, while the other cuts down the demon who was in a magical duel. Just as the demon falls to the ground, it becomes exponentially more difficult for the Faerunians to move. The water has risen to knee-height now, and Asahi is starting to seriously wonder where the hell it''s all coming from. He looks at Esstrey, only to find herself focused less on them, and more on the surrounding area. She spread her arms wide, and the water obeys her command. Fadunia forms a protective barrier from the water, but Tolbert and the paladin that stayed both get swept up in the current. More water pours in, carrying bodies of both sides while it does so, it seems that a fight had started outside the throneroom as the forces attempted to behead the enemy leaders, and are now all joined in the whirlpool so high in the keep. An officer Asahi knows well float by, struggling in his direction in an attempt to get in the bubble of safety. Asahi manages to grab his hand and pull him in, but as he pulls harder and harder he suddenly falls back, and finds that the arm of the officers has broken off of him. The room is fully submerged now, and Asahi can just barely get a glimpse of Esstrey who seems to be swaying side to side like a seaweed in the center of the whirlpool. Wrapped around her tail is the maid-thing, and the spiderlike legs she had in the forest are fully out now as well. The maid detaches from the mermaid, and picks up the armor that somehow managed to not get swept up. It grows over her instantly, and the knight is back while slithering over the submerged floor. She stabs at the barrier that was protecting them, and when that doesn''t work, begins stabbing in Nalia''s direction. Asahi tries to defend her, but they have been pinned down. The shallow wounds inflicted by the maid is enough to force Fadunia to focus on healing, and now Nalia is forced to maintain the defensive barrier while she is the only one who could possibly do significant damage right now. Asahi''s frustration reaches a boiling point, and he slashes back at the knight in the water. By some kind of miracle, he manages to cut off a clump of tentacles forming one of her hands, but his moment of glory doesn''t last. The area where Esstrey was is now empty, and he is now stuck with the mermaid in a submerged room. Sure enough, his fears are proven correct, as the mermaid swims close to the barrier with a small armored individual. Tolbert is doing his best to break free of Esstrey''s grip, but the dwarf was never the best swimmer. She begins to pull on his helmet, and the clasps begin to break off one by one under the sheer force. When all clasps break, Asahi sees a sad look in his old friend''s eyes for the first time in a long time, and the last time forever as Esstrey tears his head off, and thoroughly pulps it. Larielle stares in horror, Xyrashi cries in outrage, Fadunia cries in terror, and Nalia is filled with rage. They don''t get long to recover from what was practically a taunt, as Esstrey drops the heavy headless corpse above the barrier, causing it to drift slowly into their bubble. Fadunia is immediately upon Tolbert''s corpse, and the knight continues her offensive of small cuts. Asahi has trouble holding the knight at bay without the aid of Fadunia, and he knows that the knight is not the main problem right now. He tries to track the movements of the mermaid, but loses her as a small stab from the halberd cuts Xyrashi in the leg. Asahi desperately tries to defend Xyrashi, and he believes he''s dead for a moment as he can hear a slightly muffled but distinctive sound of the massive crossbow the mermaid carries. There''s no noise, no scream. He look around to see Xyrashi Larielle and Nalia safe, but Fadunia... Fadunia was pierced through the throat, her scream cut off before it ever began. She tries to heal herself in desperation, but the force of the bolt carried her to the edge of the barrier, where Esstrey''s spiderlike limbs go through with comical ease. In her last moments, Fadunia wanted to desperately scream, but she couldn''t as she was dragged into the water. Esstrey''s crossbow has many enchantments, underwater use being a logical one. Asahi tries to think of something, anything to get them out of the hellhole, but is pushed aside by Xyrashi, who gets pierced by the halberd through the chest. The knight entered the bubble while everyone was distracted, and there''s no Fadunia to save Xyrashi. A loud thud is followed near Larielle as the large mermaid engages the ranger with her shovel, she won''t last seconds, but Asahi stares at the knight in frozen shock. Eyes like stars, skin like space. One being that rips apart space, another that makes holes in them. "Asahi get it together! I won''t let this become a party wipe!" Nalia collapses the barrier in a final act of desperation, and blasts Asahi with explosive magic full-force. He''s launched out of the keep, a keep currently in the center of a storm with water spewing out of it. Lighting strikes frequently, and the death of the light seems to have reinvigorated the Malencians as they start another offensive. Shortly after standing up he sees the mermaid at the balcony with Nalia''s head in her claw. With that, he is now alone in this fucked up world. Chapter 84: On the Run Asher''s forces pierce the storm surrounding the keep, only the strongest of his flock manage to overcome the storm, and at the eye of the storm he sees the creature that tricked him holding someone''s head. The closer one gets to the eye of the storm, the harder the fighting, as anyone who isn''t getting swept up by it is determined to kill their enemies. Asher is no different in the regard, he lands on the balcony with a thunderous entrance, and sees the mermaid retreat back into an oddly submerged throneroom. "NIGHTMARE! YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME! I WILL TEAR YOUR TAIL OFF AND ROAST IT FOR MY FALLEN KIN!" The furious voice of Asher booms over the battlefield, and can even be heard outside the storm, but his opponent isn''t buying it. The submerged throneroom doesn''t reveal his opponent ready to face off... until Asher sees the outline of a large mermaid floating cautiously to the stairway. Asher puts up chase through the water, and breathes fire in front of him to annihilate the water between him and the shape. His charge is unstoppable, and as he gets closer, the shape dissipates like it never existed. Instead of the mermaid being there, it is simply something wicked in the shape of a maid, who proceeds to slither outside the keep through one of the windows. Asher realizes a moment too late that he was tricked, and feels someone putting a collar around his neck. The dragon backs off out of the throneroom in a panic, blasting fire everywhere as he does so. Esstrey is refusing to let go of the collar, even as Asher is back on the safe balcony. A passing drake sees his father panicking, and notices that the large mermaid on his back seems to be the problem, the mermaid spots him, and taunts him. A gout of fire is the response to the mockery, but while his father is resistant to fire, the collar isn''t. The collar itself and spots between the scales begin to light up as the thermite stuffed there by Esstrey serves its purpose. Asher roars in pain, while Esstrey dismounts the massive red dragon as he starts to fall down. Mid-fall, his neck is severed by the 2500C collar. Esstrey is barely inside, and a signal is broadcast to all Malencian troops through their radios. "All callsigns this is overlord actual, special order zero-five-zero is in effect, all units are clear to engage." ''Weapons'' not meant for urban warfare is cleared for usage with those words, initially the plan was to restrict the usage of heavy weapons to the depopulated slums, but that area got overrun too quickly to formulate a defense. Before those weapons can arrive, the broadcast gives a morale boost all across Malencia. Especially in the noble district does the defense turn ferocious as they saw Asher''s corpse crash from the keep. Liquidators low on magical energy affix bayonets as they prepare to make use of the morale disparity. In the chaos the drakes are hit hardest, Asher''s death has not gone unnoticed, and the leaderless drakes panic as they aren''t sure what to do. Zha''klos erupts from the smoke above the city deadset on dealing as much damage as she can while she stabs the flying lizards with her spear. Under her personal command the air situation improves somewhat, and the liquidators and devastators seeking to make a comeback on the ground no longer need to walk looking up. In one of the bigger forts, paladins have taken over and are using it as a forward operating base. Priests tend to the injured, while soldiers of all types guard the occupied fort. Here too, the Malencians attempt their counterattack, but the soldiers of Faerune are now on the defense. Bullets are stopped by raw magical power, and anyone that tries to get within the fort is cut down. The few injuries that the Malencians manage to inflict are healed off by the priest retinues, and adventurers of every stripe aim their weapons to the sky in an effort to repel Zha''klos and her offensive.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Their combined efforts are successful, the Malencians fail to break through, and pay for their failure in blood. The fortified position holds for now, and the recent addition of corpses at their gates will deter attacks for now. Zha''klos is repelled as well, with some demons even being banished midair thanks to the expert aim of the adventurers. Some of the regular soldiers stationed at the fort sally forth to scavenge weapons from the fallen liquidators, a practice seen as illegal at best, and heretical at worst by their superiors. No one mentions anything, the paladins or the local commanding officers at the front aren''t stingy with some extra firepower. "I fucking hate this... this has got to be hell with all the demons flying about, I just wanna go home." The complaints of the soldiers are ignored along with their mild acts of heresy, they are being ignored so heavily that it wasn''t even noticed that one of them was stabbed by one of the corpses. Death rattles turn to screams of pain and calls for aid as the liquidators previously assumed dead rise again to enact their vengeance upon the living. The paladins on the walls respond quickly to the new enemies, and launch spears of light at the liquidators. Rather than scorching them heavily, the spears of light cleave clean through their targets, something that doesn''t happen on normal humans. The liquidators that aren''t destroyed raise their rifles in a synchronized yet sloppier way, and the bullets bounce off the barrier yet again. "Undead! Strike them down!" The paladins are all too familliar dealing with the various profane problems plaguing the world. Yet, the undead rattles them as it is a new addition to the Malencian forces they have not encountered yet. Sure enough, all corpses in front of the fort start rising as the dead get back up to assault the living. More corpses join the assault from nearby streets as the bustling city that was once quiet is forcibly shaken awake again. The paladins ready for another attack with spears of light on the undead, but instead get hit with blasts of necromantic magic that cleaved through the barrier. To pierce both paladin and barrier requires great skill not found in the common undead or even a necromancer. "Lich!" One of the paladins calls out, and various cloaked liches begin firing on the defenders. The necromancers of Malencia included plenty of liches, and have been offered complete pardon along with backing for any of their experiments in exchange for their aid. Normally they wouldn''t consider such a deal, but even from prison these gathered old bones felt the shift in the winds, and much preferred conditional freedom over their old circumstances. Adventurers and priests rush to the walls to reinforce the paladins on the walls, and the arrival of the adventurers alone already causes the liches to retreat. They are still a cowardly bunch by nature, and would face a hard time facing a combined force of paladins and adventurers. Unbeknownst to the more combat capable defenders of the fort, the liches did not come alone. The undead brought back are a noisy bunch, their groans and screams very effective at filling the air with useless noise. The screams of the slower priests are heard too late as they never made it to the wall, a Malencian surveillance caught up to them first. The creatures shift out of the shadows and wreak havoc on the priests and wounded in the center of the camp alike, and soon enough there are no more wounded. As the adventurers and paladins return to the ruined center in an attempt to save the priests, all they find is newly resurrected dead by two liches who were smuggled in alongside the surveillance team. The rest of the liches that were outside the wall snuck inside from one of the hidden tunnels dug by liquidators, fully surrounding the Faerune troops. To make matters worse, a strike team of demons charge through the barrier to join the encirclement, with Zha''klos having her spear aimed squarely at one of the mages, sealing the fate of the defenders. One of the adventurers raises his arms high as everyone prepares to attack. "D-do you guys accept surrender?" Chapter 85: Landship The factory was being shot to all hell, crafters have started taking up arms against Faerune. There have been rumors that pierced the lines, and the ones concerning territory firmly in Faerune hands isn''t good. Blasts shake the foundation of the building, and the world the people within in return. Dwarves elves and humans work on a massive machine of metal during the attack, they will die doing what they love one way or another. A metallic slime begins to cover the machine, and a dwarf climbs atop. "Sofia, are you sure this will work?" The dwarf asks, but his worry doesn''t stop him from gearing up in protective equipment. "It should, the basic principle behind it is correct, and all the individual tests were successful. All that''s needed is a practical test, and I''ll patch up any mistakes myself." The dwarf mulls over her words for a bit, before deciding to simply get in the machine. The large door opens, revealing a behemoth of metal to the people assaulting the factory outside. The garage was one of the few places not breached, but the upper hand of Faerune disintegrates along with morale as the behemoth leaves the safety of the factory walls. A paladin slashes at the screaming metal monster, but his sword snaps clean off. Much to their horror, the machine is covered in a layer of adamantine. The adamantine shortly comes to life, stabbing the paladin like some common mook. The beast has huge treads instead of wheels, and a large turret on top. It turns to a group of stunned soldiers, and- *BOOM* "L-Landship!" The last corpse hasn''t even hit the ground yet, and the screams of terror start. The tank rolls right through the rickety wooden barricades around the factory, crushing and stabbing all in its path. A group of mages form a line, firing every element they have at the tank. Lightning causes it to make a loud and hollow scream of metal, and the mages quickly switch to that element. Just as they unleash the first few barrages, a hatch opens at the top, where a Vickers machine gun was grafted next to. Unlike the muskets, this piece of experimental weaponry doesn''t need to reload every shot. The sudden barrage of metal mows into the mages, and by the time they can get a barrier up against the secondary gun, the primary gun has finished turning in their direction. One quick blast later, a crater is all that''s left of the mage response team. An explosion erupts from the tank, and the fire caused by it quickly extinguishes as the layer of adamantine armor suffocates the fire. No one attacked that part of the tank, it just broke down at that point, and the engine momentarily halts. Seeing the metal behemoth halt like it''s wounded, the people attacking the factory quickly turn to attack it, launching attacks of all variety and effects on it. The dwarf quickly retreats back inside the tank, and the attacks begin to obscure vision as smoke covers the surrounding area. Just as the attacks peter down, and the adventurers begin to wonder if their attacks were successful, a blast erupts from one of the denser groups, shredding many in the blast. The turret has a separate engine meant as a backup to the main engine block, and the inability to move does not hinder its ability to fire. The attacks continue, but the machine ignores the attacks, unbothered. An officer takes charge of the adventurers and begins spreading them out to avoid clumping them up against the blasts. His efforts would have been somewhat successful, if the garrison of the factory didn''t intervene. People pulling off from attacking the factory hasn''t gone unnoticed, and the liquidators inside are prepared to make them for it dearly. Gunfire descends from the factory, hitting choice targets first. The officer is one of the first to go, and mages are next on the chopping block. A retreat is called, and the adventurers are all too willing to pull off of the attack, but Sofia won''t let them. Adventurers work fast, but dwarves work faster. The main engine block is repaired, and the dwarven gunner pops out of the hatch as the attacks cease. The ''Mark 1 Landstrider'' gives chase, and the coordinated retreat soon turns to a rout as the adventurers aren''t sure when... or if they should stop running.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. A flock of drakes makes their presence known, dissatisfied with something being as difficult to face on the battlefield as them. Even if such a weapon was on their side, they would be dissatisfied, even more so now that it isn''t. One of the drake attempts to swoop down, and lift the landship into the air, but the metal covering it shreds his talons mercilessly. Another covers the machine in fire, but the dwarven gunner had already popped back inside when he saw the shadows overhead. At first, the drakes watch helplessly as they can''t stop the box of death, but their thoughts are interrupted as the turret turned while they weren''t paying attention. One of the drakes goes up in smoke as he''s hit directly. The drakes begin to ascend to get away from the source of carnage, but their lapse in air superiority spells their doom. There are few beings in existence as opportunistic as demons, and multiple squads descend on the distracted drakes, shredding them in the process. Ahead of the tank is a forward operating base, a small keep made by the earth mages of Faerune, an important target to destroy. Alone it would be a difficult task, but the radio within makes contacting aid a trivial task. Whether it be contacting liquidators to provide fire support, informing aerial surveillance of prime ambush material, or... Large demons, powerful mages, horrific monsters of The Beyond rally with the mark 1. Devastators who operate in this sector. All of them are vital for holding major sections, none of them would miss a chance to take out the main thorn in this area. The mark 1 provides the gap they need to cause havoc, all that''s needed is to wait for the inevitable clash between man and metal. Multiple gunner carts join the assault, most from the slums as they retreated, some picked up by a guerilla force spearheaded by Zulie. Alarms sound off from the base, readying themselves for the incoming assault, as the devastators are hard not to spot. The devastators fan out, taking cover behind the buildings as the landstrider takes point. The carts stay firmly behind the tank, using it as a distraction so mages giving them cover don''t get taxed. Shots from the base intensify on Sofia as she gets closer, and her main gun fires multiple times on the fortification. A major barricade risen from the ground by earth mages is not easy to crack, but this isn''t just a landstrider, this is the landstrider. A scream of oil and smoke resounds from the engine, intense heat joining the exhaust as the engine goes to max power. The mark 1 crashes into the gate, denting it hard. Defenders pour boiling oil on the landship, acting more on instincts than logic. The only relief they feel is that the landship didn''t break through fully. It can''t, the engine is powerful, but the machine is still too slow to break through for now. Sofia on the other hand, can break through. The armor of the tank attaches itself to the gate, and rips it clean off from the wall. As Sofia passes through the gate away from the boiling oil, the dwarven gunner pops out for a moment to provide firepower in their shock. The fort attempts to deal with the intrusion, but the outside forces weren''t just gawking at the display. Gunner carts rush in, literally and figuratively running over their opposition, while devastators enter from various points, seeking to cause as much havoc and destruction as they can feasibly justify. One would normally think demons would take this chance to join in on the fun, but being the natural opportunists that they are also means they are wary of hostile action, and focus on covering the devastators. As the fort falls to fire and brimstone, the driver turns the landship in the direction of the walls, and brings the entire menagerie of death where Faerune lies. Chapter 86: Wald der Toten Fire has conquered the former slums of Malencia, the natural result of being one of the first places reached by Faerune, along with it being full of flora descendant from a dryad. A Faerune nobleman was tasked with handling this sector, his personal guard behind him. He spits on the ground, dissatisfied with having been considered an auxiliary, but consoles himself internally at the thought that he wasn''t just left in reserve. He looks to the few houses left here, they are all completely covered in plants. "More heresy, burn it." His voice is emotionless, but his disdain is clear. His men begin to hold their torches to one of the many houses they burned today. Screams are heard from within the building, walls thin enough that both sides know what''s going on. It matters not, this isn''t the first house burned with people inside, and it could only be considered the last as there''s not much left in this sector. The troops of Faerune stand ready outside to intercept anyone trying to flee, some have started making bets on who can throw the most Malencians into fire. As they are making bets, a group of people watch from one of the burned out buildings, as they make for the perfect cover. "There, more of them, what do we do?" They aren''t demons or Beyonders, nor have magical or conventional weapon experience either. They are the inhabitants of the slums, the many disasters that struck this region may be a natural result of its bad position within the city limits, but the ability to survive has come with that. Few within Malencia are so notoriously resilient nowadays as the downtrodden. "They don''t look too tough, think we can take them?" The man who suggested that gets a look from the others, but slowly they all start to ponder the idea. They are all armed with various sharp and blunt metal weapons, another natural result brought about by the introduction of guns. The Malencian guard no longer needs things like maces military cleavers or swords, as such those weapons all arrived on the black market at a cheap price. The men make up their minds, and prepare to move. Shifting through shadows as the nobleman and his men are distracted by the burning building, they don''t notice the men in their rear. Before anyone knows it, everyone is in position, and they all come from their hiding spots. One of the noble''s men notices something is wrong, and they are quick to draw weapons, but its already too late as the men had already surrounded them. Instantly beset from all sides, the troops are having a hard time fighting the desperate, and the noble launches a flare into the sky with what little magic he has. "Malencian troops! Fight for glory, fight for Faerune!" It would be heroic if any of that was true, but as it stands it''s merely a mockery. Reinforcements are quick to arrive, a group of actual Faerune troops that run through to quickly cut down the slum dwellers. Compared to the main forces involved in this conflict, they are rank and file cannon-fodder, but compare it to average men they are actual knights. Their officer brings a torch closer to one of the corpses to get a better look at the supposed Malencian troops, and exhales in relief as he confirms something.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "False alarm, these aren''t Malencian troops." The other men he brought also sigh in relief, plenty here are glad to be deployed to handle already taken areas. "What do you mean not Malencian troops? They came at us with weapons!" The nobleman is angry at the thought of his precious glory being taken from him. He might not rank high in the pecking order, but he certainly ranks higher than some random officer from the Grand Army. "The most human forces of Malencia are all equipped with thick coats and strange masks, not to mention they rarely used melee weapons. All of them prefer those fancy weapons from the west. Even worse, they never attack when they aren''t certain of victory." There are many things more that the officer wants to say, but he knows his station, so he prefers to leave them unsaid. Something breaks nearby, and from it quickly spreads a black fog. The officer commands his men to form up, while the nobleman still tries to think of what happened. As the fog spreads, more hidden caches of the stuff begin to detonate. Random barrels tucked between storage areas, from under the ground, and deployed by demons flying through the cover of smoke above. The officer holds his hands out to inspect some of the stuff, and notices it looks like some kind of black snow up close. For a moment he entertains the idea of the fog harming them, but if that was the case, they would all already be on the ground writhing in pain, yet, he can''t help but feel like this is another Malencian ploy. "Let''s get out of here for now, it isn''t safe he-" He''s interrupted by a scream as he watches one of his men get dragged to the ground by the poor sods they cut down earlier. Their wounds are still there, but that doesn''t deter them in bringing down one of his men and eating him alive. More corpses begin to shudder around them, and he quickly catches on to the purpose of the black snow. The nobleman tries to flee in a panic, yanking on the reins of his horse. The horse is as panicked as he is, and instead of running away, panics as undead attack without discretion. The nobleman is thrown off his horse, and quickly devoured by the horde, as the officer of The Grand Army calls for a retreat. In the end, these are simply uncontrolled zombies away from necromancers, they shouldn''t be much of a threat. The thought dies as the officer sees any zombie cut down without destruction of the head comes back up moments later, ready to tear at the living once more. The retreat goes well initially, with his men taking plenty of distance from the hordes. Unlike zombies risen by other means, these zombies prefer to grab onto their targets before going for a bite. A seemingly small difference, but if multiple do it they end up dragging their target to the floor. A horrifying way to die all in all, he would expect nothing much from the Malencians. From the houses emerge burnt corpses, their rage for the living as present as their unburned kin, a few men puke at the display, and one more is dragged down to the ground by the distraction. The officer sees an alleyway that''s clear of undead, and tries to signal to his men to retreat there for a better position. Keyword being try here, as he''s run over by a bloodied horse. The lavish decorations are still visible on the horse, signifying that it is... was the nobleman''s horse. Risen again with a taste for guts rather than grass, the horse bends down to devour the officer. He looks to his troops for aid, but they are all plenty busy with their own problems. The last thing he sees is a behemoth of blue metal coming from the alley he wanted to retreat to, crushing both the living and dead under its treads without discriminating. Chapter 87: Malencia Invicta General Crendell stabs a man through the throat with his bayonet, and throws the corpse of the man off the wall. The counterattack on the wall goes well, cells hidden beneath houses near the walls used tunnels to break back into the towers, and now the ruined defenses serve as an infrastructural barrier preventing enemy reinforcements from showing up on time. Krenkov isn''t too far off either, currently leading a strike team to hit the less-defended artillery to keep them busy. Technically Crendell and all units under his control are exempt from order zero-five-zero, but as the general of a significant amount of forces within Malencia he can''t afford to lose this chance. The units that skirmished on the wall were all withdrawn underground, while units further back used carts in combat to feign a quick withdrawal deeper into the city. Defending must have been tough with a lot less liquidators to fill the gaps in the lower and middle districts, but knowing the sheer amount of esoteric forces gathered, he knows they would survive better than anyone. "Section 0-2! Form a line and hit the tango''s coming in from the southwest side, don''t let them link up!" Now with Faerune on the back foot, Crendell''s ruthlessness begins to show in destroying the enemies of Malencia. A demonic Devastator fights below, one that somehow managed to not get banished. It doesn''t have radio contact with Crendell''s forces, but had the exact same plan for dealing with the forces of Faerune. Positioned at one of the wall breaches, it slaughters anyone getting close to prevent escape, and now the walls themselves attack the forces within, turning the entire city into one big deathtrap. A volley of metal hits the enemy reinforcements, and seeing the supporting units get annihilated is even more demoralizing for the soldiers of the grand army than having to face the demonic devastator that is currently cleaving through them. They have plenty of monstrously strong forces in their army, but they all went deeper into the city, and if the liquidators themselves are already holding off the standing forces, it doesn''t bode well for what happened to their elites. The troops of the grand army back off from the breach, heading deeper into the city in an effort to escape the wall. They surmise correctly that escaping doesn''t put them out of range of the long arm of a liquidator. Just as they retreat in the wrong direction, a flash goes through the devastator, banishing the demon instantly as it''s cleaved in two. A young man in non-standard equipment rushes through the breach, running as fast as he can with sword in hand. Liquidators take aim on the runner, but Crendell signals to hold their fire. "No point in attacking, if he killed a devastator that quickly, he''s not something we can harm. Dimitri! Get some men down there to fill that breach, but if something like that shows up again, just let it pass. You should be able to disengage easily, as no one in their right minds would dare stay in the city any longer under order zero-five-zero, even I don''t know of all the weapons our dear lady has stashed away." He''s dead serious in that last part, Crendell firmly believes Esstrey is carrying a proverbial can of worms capable of annihilating a planet with her, perhaps even in the form of a literal can of worms. The only ones who know about her weapons would be the first to face them, and someone strong enough to overrun a devastator running like that has certainly seen something along those lines. Dimitri and some of his men fill the breach, with Crendell''s men taking up the walls besides him to provide covering fire. If the artillery went back online right now, they would be in real trouble, but he sent out a radio call to Esstrey informing her of Krenkov''s mission, and wouldn''t be surprised if Malencian surveillance suddenly finds itself in his area. Men and women of the Grand Army begin returning to the breach, finding that a huge demon no longer blocks the path. Something has them scared shitless, and desperate to escape Malencia at once. They charge through the gap, harried by bullets from above as they go. Dimitri''s unit comes from beneath the rubble on the other side, impaling many of the Grand Army trying to escape on their bayonets. A chaotic melee ensues where the liquidators have the overwhelming upper hand, they may not be more skilled in melee than their Faerune counterpart, but the existence of Crendell coupled with them being terrified makes Dimitri''s men fight as a unit, while the formerly proud troops of Faerune can barely afford to fight for their lives.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. As the troops of Faerune are cut down to the last, Crendell bears witness to the sight they all ran from. A combined force of about every force in Malencia approaches. Paladins of holy orders, adventurers, noblemen, liquidators. All united as they shamble in a manner Crendell knows all too well. The black snow that landed in Malencia not long ago, weaponized so quickly already as his more escoteric compatriots no doubt deployed it. He would curse them now as he faces the undead, but those undead cant cleave a Malencian devastator in half within a second, so he sends his begrudging blessing instead. He doesn''t need to tell his troops to fire at them at this moment, they have fought this enemy before. "Dimitri! Get up here quick! You don''t want to be down there!" Dimitri responds quickly to Crendell''s order, even when not having spotted the encroaching horde yet. His men crawl over the rubble back to the inner part of the city, and lock the tower door behind them as they ascend the tower to get on the walls. "Hold them here men! We can''t let Krenkov return only to find the fields around Malencia are trying to eat him like it''s Malencia''s western flank." Some men chuckle at the light humor, it wasn''t exceptionally funny, but the attempt of it during a time like this is plenty humorous. As for holding the horde there, it isn''t particularly difficult. Their mental capacity only goes so far to crudely hold weapons, but none of their weapons can break walls. The thick door to the tower also goes completely unignored as the horde entirely lacks object permanence. The only thing the soldiers really need to do is occasionally shoot at the undead, and while they have plenty of ammo to do it all day, its still rather pointless to do when most times they just get back up, black snow still stuck between their clothing and armor. Crendell thinks of contacting Krenkov to inform him, but instead tailors a distress beacon that specifies them as ''stuck and under siege''. No need to bother Krenkov when he''s no doubt having fun in the enemy rear. Just when Crendell feels some relief in the noises of groaning dead after a long day of work, a roaring noise shakes him back alert. A house collapses, and a humongous beast crawls through the dust right towards his position. His men take aim, awaiting orders to fire. Crendell isn''t familliar with the silhouette, and nothing arrives on radio except static. He gestures for his men to fire, but all he hears is the sound of metal deflecting his shots. Just as he orders his troops to go from fifty percent charge to a hundred, while using spare crystals to fuel up quickly, the silhouette escapes the dustcloud caused by the destruction of the house. A gleaming metal behemoth of adamantine, or perhaps covered in it. He can recognize the largest stockpile of adamantine in Faerune, perhaps the world, with ease as it being part of Esstrey''s personal retinue. He gestures for a ceasefire, and the landship crushes the undead clawing at them from the bottom of the wall underneath its mighty treads. The hatch pops open revealing a pissed dwarf looking up at the liquidators. "Ya better nat have scratched anythin'' ya can''t afford ''umie prick! Call for aid n shoot at yer cavalry, why dontcha!?" Dimitri begins a verbal fight with the dwarf, scolding him for improper radio protocol, while the dwarf hurls an impressive selection of profanities back at the man. Crendell for his part simply looks at the trail of destruction left behind, and how the corpses underneath the landship being turned into stains comparable to modern art. He sighs, being incredibly thankful right now that his allies eat people, can use them as fuel, or whatever it is they do. He''d feel terrible thinking about who he would have to assign to clean the streets right now. Chapter 88: Fate of the Past Esstrey rummages about through the guts of a liquidator, the man in question was hit by a shot from a lich that went wide, and then happened upon some Black Snow. The flesh died where the spell hit, and now dead flesh fights living flesh, as the host hasn''t died yet. The fighting across the city died down, and hope for a quick victory against Malencia with it. Something Esstrey is reveling in right now, as she occasionally looks to her tied up prisoner sitting in the corner of the storage room. Doing surgery in storage rooms is surprisingly useful, as the storage of organics usually includes keeping it away from a filthy environment full of disgusting things like fungal spores, raccoon guts, and zealots. Not that her current environment lacks any of those things, but the spores are Jesse''s and the raccoon guts were carried in by a kobold-sized liquidator. The zealot tries to say something through his gag as some blood almost spurts on Esstrey''s face, but freezes just before it makes contact. She just gives the paladin one of her signature Big Smiles?, knowing that whatever the paladin wanted to say was an insult. The reasons that he''s close to Esstrey are quite numerous, attempted suicide, being strong, having actual holy power. Not the budget variant left behind and used by local zealots. Esstrey doesn''t need to be a detective to figure out what''s going on, first a crystal being escorted by the strongest group of people on the planet, then holy knights to go with it all. Another god is interfering. Crendell enters Esstrey''s shed at that moment, followed closely by Zha''klos, Cathy, Jesse, and Sofia. She could tell he was speaking with Zha''klos outside, no doubt not wanting to enter alone. A quick gesture to a table with seats is enough to tell them why she summoned them here. "I have gathered you all here today not just for a discussion on what to do with all these prisoners, but some other matters as well. I have relied on each one of you at least once so far, and plan to do so in the future. First thing''s first, I offer each of you a single wish that I will grant if it''s within my means to do so. I''m sure there''s no need to specify just how much is within my means." Crendell and Jesse look nervous, with Cathy and Sofia looking impassively, but Zha''klos is quick to jump at the chance. "I want designs from your world, I want to know what it was like. Weapons, infrastructure, production, historical records, the whole set." Or in other words, the secret to the environment that could create beings like Esstrey. Not the titanic mermaid queen Esstrey, but the cold and calculated Spetsnaz Esstrey. "Done, but I will not be divulging any knowledge related to nuclear weapons. Weapons of mass-destruction... well, let''s just say that if we release the genie from that bottle, we will not be able to put him back in." Zha''klos opens her mouth prepared to pressure Esstrey on the topic, but decides that whatever the mermaid considers to be ''mass destruction'' draws too much attention for her purposes. "I want my position as leadership of humanity under your banner to be a permanent arrangement." Crendell moves quickly after Zha''klos, not wanting his wish to be invalidated by something done by someone else at the table. "Done, I''ll... organize the requirements needed for a permanent military junta under liquidator leadership, I''m thinking of liquidator garrisons whose chain of command could all be traced back to you so no one can declare independence from you without having to fear the people standing guard outside their room." It''s the best solution either way, and it could even be encouraged if the alternatives seem so much worse. "This one... this one [requests/asks/begs] the lady for the same thing the lady did when we first met on this planet." Esstrey thinks hard for a moment, trying to remember what Cathy is referring to. Eventually she makes up her mind, floats over to Cathy, picks her up, and- Kisses her on the mouth located on her face. Crendell diverts his eyes in shock, Jesse holds a hand to her chest, Sofia tilts her head in confusion at the reaction of the others, and Zha''klos whistles like she''s watching a particularly entertaining show. After some seconds, Esstrey finally puts Cathy down, who begins to melt into a puddle of herself. Esstrey floats back to her seat, goo still around her mouth. "Alright, who next?" Jesse looks in abject fear between Esstrey and the Cathy-puddle, suddenly extremely aware that she is up for her wish soon. "I would like all the adamantine, present, past and future." Sofia deadpans her wish, completely ignoring the puddle that is starting to bubble a little.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "That''s fine, what about you, Katherine? Anything you want?" Esstrey taps her spine, indicating that when she meant everyone in the room, she really meant everyone. "I am fine, I do not understand you materials with your base desires, understanding that is my want, which you will grant." Katherine speaks from Esstrey''s mouth as confident as ever, making it clear she never needed Esstrey''s offer. "I uhh... I think I''ll just be takin'' what Zha''klos is having." Jesse is still staring at the Cathy-puddle, having a hard time getting her thoughts in order. "Now on to the next order of business, this little paladin seems to be from a different planet, and the reports I gathered about paladin presence from Zulie indicates there were plenty of them. Now I''m not familliar with the local emblems, but I''m sure one of you is familliar with this." Esstrey holds out the pommel of a shortsword, on the pommel is a symbol of a light shining on the land below. Crendell and Jesse go quiet at the sight of the symbol, and Zha''klos snatches it out of Esstrey''s claw to get a closer look. The three of them are all well-versed in politics for a variety of reasons, but only Zha''klos dares show any sign of recognition. "The Order of Melthazar, why are you here? I thought all of you had a treaty specifically against this type of intervention. If you guys are here, then I''m sure the... others are also present on this planet, tell me did you plan to do the same here as you guys did to-" Before Zha''klos can interrogate the paladin further, the short amount of time ungagged is instantly used by the man to interrupt her. "Foul beings like all of you need to be purged with utmost haste, if this planet burns alongside you all so be it, it would be a better fate for the innocents here." There''s a certain lack of remorse in the man''s voice, Zha''klos somehow seems somewhat ticked off by it. "Bunch of fucking hypocrites, you occasionally destroy some planet, but if the last planet to rank up, and this planet is any indicator, you are all going to destroy every planet that suddenly becomes valuable aren''t you?" Zha''klos''s voice carries a tone of disgust, her personal doctrine for conquering is anathema to the style of the core worlds. "If such a planet isn''t full of heretics, salvation can be earned by the locals. Brynya is simply too corrupted, just like Earth was." As the last words leave the paladins mouth, the temperature in the room drops by multiple degrees as moisture in the room gets close to freezing temperature, the blood of all beings also runs slightly slower. Cathy is quickly reforming, and taking her distance from the table. "Did you say Earth just now?" Esstrey''s smile is strained, and she''s behind the paladin now. A claw holds the paladins shoulder, and she''s doing her best not to dig in. The paladin for one notices the change, and seeks to take a verbal stab on his captors. "That''s right, Earth. Are you from that place? Your foul existence would make sense then, we didn''t even need to bring weapons capable of killing everyone to the planet, those people had enough to kill themselves five times over. I heard it was through bombs that could be launched all over the planet, if only they weren''t corrupted, they could have been an excellent addition to Melthazar. Are you mad? You must be, do your worst you disgusting fish, you will get nothing useful out of me." For a moment Esstrey ''massages'' the man''s shoulder with her claw, his clavicle feels brittle under her hold, but if he wants her to do her worst... "Don''t you worry, I will certainly do my worst. Since you seem to find my people''s self-destruction so amusing, I will take great joy myself in watching you be the demise of your own people. It''s merely a shame you won''t be aware to see it." Confusion reigns across the table for a short moment, as Esstrey backs up her words. A bright white light shines from the palm of her claw, making the man shudder. The spell has a tough time going through his internal reserves, but he has been exhausted for a while now. It''s Esstrey''s pool of magic against his, and he doesn''t stand a chance. He goes unconscious, and his body starts to change. Skin becomes scales, hands thicken and sharpen, his head morphs to accommodate the longer face. The end result looks somewhat like a lizardman, but far more savage. [Failure to defeat [The Nightmare] has culminated in additional horrors! The [Mazurian Plague] now stalks the land, seeking to turn all into it''s army!] [The Central Governor] alerts the worlds of Esstrey''s action, dooming Malencia to a few paths. One [Mythical] being could be hidden, but [The Central Governor] just marked Esstrey as a high priority for everyone. She was always strong, but the mythic classification had always felt undeserved to those who knew her. Perhaps her designation was never meant to be strong on its own, but instead worsen the situation for everyone over time. Esstrey for her part simply unties the Mazurian, telling him to write down everything useful he knows about Melthazar and its order. The lizardman bows, and leaves the room, leaving the others to stare in shock. Even Cathy didn''t know Esstrey would ever be pushed this far. "Crendell, prepare for an offensive in the direction of the capital, speed is now our only ally of importance. Jesse, set up a railway station in that direction as well, I''ll write the theory on how it works. Cathy and Sofia, I need you two to design more advanced weapons, Sofia should know enough about them. Zha''klos, I need you to bring me the prisoners, all of them. They want to watch a world burn? Fine." Chapter 89: Turning Tables Count Johannes Mercer has never been this stressed out. Not when the world went to hell, not when that hell brought monsters that ate his people, not when Malencia went silent. Malencia as a whole was always suspicious, too many fortunate things happening to it over the course of lifetimes. All nobles stayed in contact with each other through frequent letters, this was how they knew the king was coming with an army to bring aid. Around that time, Malencia dropped out of this chain of letters altogether and withdrew. After that, The Grand Army just... ditched him. They went to ''subjugate Malencia'', a phrase with many meanings that are all bad. Now to make matters worse, he hasn''t heard back from The Grand Army, they were supposed to aid him in securing his domain, didn''t even spare a single man for his efforts. It was bad enough to be at the end of the chain, yet somehow Malencia''s potential defection worries him more, what is going on there that he doesn''t know? Mercer sighs in pure exhaustion as he trots back from his office to his bedroom late in the evening, his eyes are baggy, but as he turns the light on to make ready, he can tell he''s not alone. The mermaid doesn''t try to hide, he''s not sure if she could with her size, he''s not sure if he wants to know if she could anyway. For a moment he simply stares at her, both unmoving. "Greetings count, and congratulations. I am here to offer you a once in a lifetime deal, your territory is the only other territory The Grand Army never formally took over, and as such I would like to insist you join forces with us, it would be a shame if we had to force you to." In front of the count isn''t just any mermaid, but a corrupted being. Scars in places that should have resulted in fatal wounds, armor clearly not from this world, and a great sense of... insignificance. If a Malencian that should have been killed by The Grand Army is here, then what happened out there? "G-Guards... GUARDS!" Mercer can''t handle the implications, he doesn''t even care how the mermaid got in his bedroom all of a sudden. He runs out of his room as he calls for more guards, if Faerune couldn''t stop Malencia his guards won''t either, so he just runs. "What fun!" Esstrey smiles as she watches the count''s retinue enter the room while the count flees, they were never far away. Their weapons are short, and unsuited to taking down Esstrey, but they only need to cover their retreating liege. Something Esstrey knows all too well as she simply barrels through the soldiers, bravery was their greatest weapon, but you can''t stab someone with that. The men that were thrown at the floor are engulfed by beings that step out of the shadows, Malencian surveillance making short work of the mess Esstrey leaves behind. One of the men had shut the heavy door to the bedroom, but Esstrey breaks that down all the same. The count is a quick runner, but in his panic he keeps calling for more guards to intercept Esstrey, a fatal mistake as she doesn''t even need to rely on blood magic to track him down. She swims after the voice, determined to make it sing a different tune.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A squad of guards that heard Mercer''s screams of terror intercept Esstrey, considering their pole arms they must have come from a larger room or outside, their weapons are far more suited for dealing with Esstrey, as they actually have reach. Esstrey goes down low to the floor, and rushes through their quickly formed spear wall. The weapons deflect off her armor, and she manages to get in between their formation where she pushes one side into the wall, and slaps the others off their feet with her tail. Esstrey''s rampage doesn''t go entirely unhindered. Mercer survived the collapse without committing any heresy, while never receiving aid from Faerune. Troops close-by with heavier weapons than swords is indicative of that, along with a final surprise that slams Esstrey in the face just when she tries to barrel through. Mercer shut the large door to the outside on her, and it seems he installed a door bar on the outside, locking it in place. As a response, Esstrey picks up one of the soldiers, and uses him as a battering ram. During her abuse of him, he loses all strength in his body, and his internal magic becomes depleted in the attempt of reinforcing his body against the injuries. Esstrey follows it up, by grabbing the soldier using blood magic instead, and breaks him violently through the door using it. On the other side is Mercer, and he clearly has half a mind to flee further, even as two dozen crossbowmen have taken aim around the door. They don''t fire yet, as they see that Esstrey holds their battered comrade in front of her like a shield. The poor soul looks like he''s better off dead, but these soldiers don''t have many other people than each other to rely upon. None want to be the one to put him out of his misery. "Mercer, I really meant it when I said I hoped you would cooperate. I know I will be doing plenty of forcing people to cooperate in the future." As the soldiers momentarily ponder what the monster in front of them means, a white light erupts from the bleeding man, and soon he''s a bleeding man no longer. Now there is a female Mazurian demon being gently put down by the mermaid, she gives Esstrey a short bow before making a magical barrier in front of the two, adding a little defense to Esstrey''s side. The demon looks more savage and animalistic than its Infernal Host counterparts, and lacks the innate connection to energy all the infernals have, but their talent in attaining a wide variety of magics is far higher, along with knowing some of the more advanced spells due to their genes. Mercer can only look in horror at what Esstrey just did, but he is thinking about her offer now. Will she even keep her promise? Wouldn''t she be able to just turn them all? He looks to his men armed with crossbows, while the massive mermaid is dressed in the heaviest armor he''s ever seen. She didn''t care when they pointed their crossbows at her before she had a magical barrier protecting her. Could he even truly hurt her if he tries? "I-I am open to negotiations... with Malencia" In the end, Mercer is a coward. He''s lived because of cowardice, and he knows one day he will die a coward. Chapter 90: Dark skies Dark clouds hang over the city of Pietra, the recent destruction of The Grand Army has the various nobles of Faerune scared for their lives. Their commanders insist that no movement has been spotted from the direction of Malencia yet, and as such there is nothing to worry about yet. Armies move slowly, The Grand Army was considered an allied force, and it still took a long amount of time for them to reach Malencia even when they rushed to it. Nonetheless, the air of fear is palpable in the city, no official statements were made, but whispers are heard from the dark about the western region going dark for a long time now. Thunder is heard from the clouds, and in between the thunderous clouds is a flock of demons flying towards the city. Zha''klos is with the demons, and finds the entire plan Esstrey came up with insane... and the only logical option they had left after she herself had quite thoroughly doomed the entire planet to the same experience Earth had. Her flock is composed of elite flying demons, her operations on Brynya get substantially more funding from The Infernal Host. However, taking or even damaging the city should be far too difficult for a flock this far from their base. A problem solved by one of Jesse''s latest inventions. Zha''klos never really took great interest in the dryad, a fact that has now changed, as she sees the same thing she finds interesting in Esstrey to be present within the dryad. The demons hanging about in the dark clouds haven''t gone unnoticed, their magical signature is incredibly distinct, and aerial mages are already dispatched from Pietra to intercept. Panic becomes the order of the day on the ground as mages scramble to form some semblance of an interception grid. As the aerial mages get closer to the dark clouds, they sense that something is off. Demons are never too far off from the living they could feed on, but this flock isn''t even charging at them with reckless abandon to feed off them. The mages quickly find why they aren''t attacked quickly, as seeds are launched at high velocity at them, shredding some before they can respond. A huge monstrosity of enchanted wood bursts from the clouds, Zha''klos''s flock flies close to the vehicle, and the elves piloting it from within aren''t bothered by the presence of the demons. They would be more bothered if they didn''t see the demons. Initially Esstrey had the idea for an aircraft carrying bombs, but the potential damage inflicted would be small, and the craft would have to make frequent trips back. What little firepower it dispensed could also easily be replaced with a few demons instead, even if the range of demons was smaller. So instead, Esstrey ''persuaded'' many POWs to sign contracts with demons, and chopped off their arms and legs. Afterward, they would be stuffed into the aircraft, which she promptly dubbed ''Zveno''. The mages shredded by the seeds launched by the Zveno erupt into explosions of blood, gore and thorned vines. Another monstrosity of war designed by the mermaid and the dryad, and the official Malencian solution for targets in the air. The seeds are bad against armor, and the vines aren''t good for anything but latching on to things. Something that proves itself fatally enough, as one of the exploding corpses was a bit too close to a mage further down, and the man gets dragged back to the ground screaming by the IEP. Captain Garcenqia looks to his combat unit, and then to the flock of demons still circling the Zveno. Their odds didn''t look good, now they look worse.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. "Men! Prepare to charge! Use up all your magic if you must, after that, hope that the rescue teams on the ground can catch you! Remember what''s below us!" Right... remember what''s below, not just allies, but civilians. They are the only ones who have a fighting chance against a flock of flying demons, if they turned tail and ran, or even retreated... The short break in the fire-support the Zveno provided ended, the elven gunner having unjammed the piece of experimental VegTech. Zha''klos directs her flock into a more solid defensive position as well, it would be bad if a firemage got a solid hit in on the Zveno, they haven''t tested its resilience to fire yet. Another volley of flak seeds rip into the mage formation, but the damage is far less this time. The mages are more prepared, and most shots bounce off the barriers. Garcenqia directs his men forward, fully intent on crashing into the plane and bringing it down. Instead of getting close, all of his men are rapidly speared by the demons. Zha''klos''s flock consists of elites, with she herself being practically demon royalty at this point. Garcienqa tries to reach out an arm to the demonness as he''s impaled, but she simply pushes him off her spear and lets him fall to the ground below. It matters little whether they live or die, their end is the same if they are on the ground. A single signal with her hand toward her flock is enough, and they begin boarding the internals of the Zveno. Within are some of the many leftover survivors from the battle for Malencia, ready to offer their lifeforce to feed demons, most had done so to escape the fate Esstrey had prepared for them, one where their bodies would contribute to the war-effort more directly than being used as fuel. As some of the people are drained, the elves detach the drained people, letting their limbless bodies fall to the city below. Zha''klos flies down to the city as well, closely followed by her flock. The city''s bell tower rings as hard as it can, as if ringing harder somehow improves the situation. The demonic flock flies over the city in a wedge formation, raining a fiery hell upon it. Mages desperately fire at the demons, and try to extinguish fires, but these demons have been given a recent boost of lifeforce, and hold complete air superiority. Just when the firebombing is slows down, Zha''klos returns with her flock to the Zveno to repeat the process. Every bombing run over the city does just a little more damage than the last as mages tire and the overall heat increases. During the sixth run, the natural fire in the city does more damage than the demons, the large amount of fire causing major changes in the local atmosphere, resulting in a firestorm. At this point, oxygen is in short supply, and those who were in safe areas locked away from the bombardments and fire begin to choke as the fire consumes the city. There is no seventh air raid, as Zha''klos sees no need to. When the Zveno arrives in the next city, it will drop leaflets instead. ''Today was paper, tomorrow is fire.'' A brutally simplistic demand for surrender, one tailored to the fast nature of their war. They don''t have time to thoroughly destroy every city, better to set examples and demand surrender instead. Chapter 91: Lightning War Crendell looks at the battle plan, and then looks around him. People are laying down a railway track behind him, while in front of him the various members of the military arms of Malencia prepare a patrol. A large wooden locomotive arrives at the end of the tracks, and from one of the metal flatcars Sofia drives off, having completed her own mission at a different stop. The plan proposed... demanded by Esstrey was a demand for speed. They needed to conquer Faerune faster than The Grand Army could, A difficult feat to accomplish considering Malencia isn''t seen as a friendly force by the rest of Faerune. Esstrey found human manpower in Mercer''s domain, the last bit that could be easily acquired. For the rest, Crendell would be forced to rely on the [Mazurian Plague] for most of his manpower, and the Mazurians are unsettling to him. Somehow, the Mazurians are a lot like their former selves, but their ability to deny being those former selves is impressive. Their loyalty is appreciated, but it''s squarely aimed at their ''royals''. Unlike human royals, Mazurian royalty has a much greater focus on personal strength. At the front lines, Dimitri climbs up one of the siege ladders. They would have had more siege equipment if they had more time, but much like the assault on Malencia command is pressed for time. It matters little that all he can use to scale the walls is a measly ladder with no cover from attackers, as he has confidence in his allies. A man with an axe is at the other end of the ladder, and he raises the axe to destroy what little siege equipment Malencia brought to the field. The man in question is interrupted as surveillance gets to him, and soon enough the only noise he makes is the noise of a particularly large animal eating an entire can of sardines. Once he''s on the wall, he takes out his gun to start firing, leaving the rest of the wall to be covered by the surveillance teams. More and more of his men make it to the top, and their priority targets are anyone capable of defending against devastators, with a secondary priority for clearing out AA positions. He doesn''t know the whole plan, but he doesn''t need to as his targets are explanation enough for what the plan is. Sure enough, the gate breaks down, and two pit-fiends escorting a landstrider emerge from the other side. The city of Bordenvale barely had an answer to the devastators, especially now that there is more than one landstrider. The breach proves to be too much for the undersupplied defenders, and they attempt to retreat. Their retreat is slowed as demons descend from above, focusing on taking as many alive as possible. Mazurians rush through the breach behind the devastators, and in the panic find more new comrades to add to the Malencian auxiliaries. The plague spreads quickly, and a lamia royal leads the offensive. Crendell looks from a distant hill in mild disgust at the display. It''s common for armies to sack cities, and an army of monsters is sure to have their own take on sacking, a combined army of man monster and demon is only certain to turn a sack into a raze as not a single thing not bolted down will be left behind. If they had more time, then perhaps they could have properly taken the city. It wouldn''t even be sacked as his own men are the most disciplined force in existence right now, a result of working together so closely with beings who desperately lack it, but he couldn''t even be given time to train the troops he got from Mercer to full strength. When Crendell brought up his complaints to Esstrey, rather than outright dismissing him or telling him why it''s needed, she simply gave him writing supplies and his own postal service. They both already know it''s needed, and the only way this fate can be avoided is if a city surrenders, something rather hard to accomplish when being a known demon-collaborator.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Nonetheless, Crendell does his best to plead the case of Malencia for the nobles, the case of his own humanity with the people, and the case of his usefulness with his allies. More than one city surrendered without a fight, with the occasional noble even accepting them with open arms. More than a few cases of starvation and rampaging beasts destroying their land, while the king''s response was to ask for more troops to unify the land. The cities that got visited earlier by The Grand Army felt left behind as the army moved on from them, while the later cities felt betrayed as they weren''t deemed important enough to save quickly. For many, the war with Malencia was the straw that broke the camel''s back, could they really start a war with their fellow man during such a difficult time? The most heretical of rumors going around were of course that Malencia didn''t need Faerune to survive or even thrive, and that it had found a lord more worthy of serving than the king. It didn''t escape Crendell''s notice that the stronger the presence of religion was in a city, the lower the chance of surrender, and the higher amount of dead would be found in areas where they never fought. Naturally, there were little ''miracles'' here and there. Mainly ones pertaining to Republicanism, stemming from Rila. Apparently Rila itself had been digging into heretical magic, as they had somehow acquired detailed knowledge of The Beyond and The Infernal Host. Their newspapers also cropped up more commonly in cities, something that happened in great amounts after the merge. None of that was very strange to Crendell, he already thought that Esstrey wasn''t the type to put all her eggs in one basket. What did surprise him were two things, the Rilan government got a much better grasp on statesmanship, ideological concepts, and tactics around the same time, along with Malencia and Rila seemingly being allied without any official communiqu between the two. As if helping each other was a natural conclusion. He read some of those newspapers, and they treated Malencia as a fellow Republican struggle against their monarch, and the use of heretical magic as a technology forbidden by the old order. Crendell looks at the burning city of Bordenvale, it used to be a major rival of Malencia, being one of the big cities closest to the capital, but today it would be a stepping stone and launching point. The prime position to attack their final goal. Whoever that might be. Chapter 92: Out with a Whimper The capital of Faerune is in ruins, and the enemy has yet to reach its heart. Monsters, horrors, demons, undead, and revolutionaries. All of them storm the streets, attacking the defenders as they pass. They don''t seem too concerned with destroying the enemies in front of them, they all have their orders, as their entire movement is like a conductor''s song. That conductor would be Crendell, he made plenty of attack plans, and the only things he has more of than attack plans is targets and resources. Such a situation made the man initially creative, now it makes him experienced. The wide variety of troops gives him options, and the simplistic military hierarchy and division designed by Esstrey makes plenty of those options feasible. Initial attacks are made by the air force, multiple Zveno''s circle the city, feeding an unrelenting supply of demons high off lifeforce into the fight. Devastators backed by liquidators charge into the fire and flames left behind, determined to destroy their thrown off enemies. Surveillance covers their more visible allies, determined to drag out anyone hiding for the auxiliaries to finish off. Faerune won''t go down without a fight, adventurers seeking glory, foreign volunteers seeking to halt the nightmare, mercenaries bought with the deep pockets of the king, and anyone under the king''s banner left standing. The churches lost their power with the defeat of The Grand Army, but among the foreign volunteers is an entire division worth of paladins from The Order of Melthazar. All these powers are confident in their strength against two [Mythic] threats, one a mindless infection that births armies, another a singular entity capable of leading worlds to ruin with one''s worst fears. The Hero, Asahi is missing in all this, he was last spotted fleeing to the gate, the source of power for the king, and the ultimate goal of Malencia in all this. A squad of liquidators is the first to breach the palace. Usually a group from surveillance would be the first in any situation, but Faerune has been fighting Malencia long enough to be familliar with their surveillance units. Expecting this result, Malencia had assigned more units from the various military arms to infiltration, and a group of ''lucky'' liquidators is first through. They snuck in through an unguarded hidden escape tunnel, and their entry within the palace is met with little opposition, as most of the soldiers are defending the palace outside. Stealthily evading patrols, they manage to get higher up in the palace, closer to the throne room. "Commander Zulie, I know that we are doing well right now, but we can''t enter the throne room. Without backup, we will just be slaughtered by the royal guard." One of the soldiers points out to their current command, who dismisses it entirely. "We don''t need to go after the king ourselves, just sabotage as much of the defenses from here as possible, open reinforced windows, distract guards. If we do it right, this place will be flooding with enough allies to storm the throne room." A sound enough plan, and one expected from one of the commanders with a higher tolerance rating for the various allies of Malencia. The plan would have gone smoothly as well, if they weren''t talking as loud as they were. One of the patrols noticed them, and is surprised to find them. He shouts in alarm, and a shot is fired by one of the liquidators, the odd noise of magical gunfire is far louder and distinct than the shout of alarm could be even with the battle outside. Zulie curses, and leads her troops deeper into the palace, away from security stationed at the entrance. Running through a hallway with palace guards hot on their tail, Zulie''s comrades occasionally fire a shot into the pursuers. Few of the shots have effect, but they do slow down the pursuers long enough for Zulie to begin opening windows like a madwoman. Another group of guards cut them off, surrounding Zulie''s squad on both sides. A nearby door leads to a balcony, which gives Zulie an idea. She opens the door, and storms unto the balcony with her squad, putting themselves in the worst defensive position imaginable. "HEY! HELP! HELP MEEE!" A cry for help, one filled with as much despair as Zulie can muster, her squad momentarily looks behind them as they see their commander shout like a madwoman. Unbeknownst to the palace guard, someone does respond to the cry for help. A swarm of demons, attracted by the delicious call for help and despair. They are only momentarily surprised that the caller and the people they are allowed to attack are different, usually no one dares play the damsel in distress around demons. The surprise doesn''t last as long for the demons as it does for the palace guard, their formation scatters as multiple flying demons of lower rank crash into them, and the squad of liquidators rush through the gap made to run deeper into the palace. The palace guard is dealing with the lesser demons quickly, but more stream through the windows Zulie opened earlier, slowing them down further. As for the squad of liquidators, they are currently following the shine of a peculiar rock Zulie was given for this mission. It begins to brighten as they pass a room, and within they can hear chanting. Zulie gives a signal, and they quickly stack up on the door. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "?...?...?... MARK!" The door crashes open as a liquidator kicks it down, another throws a canister inside, while Zulie and the one with free hands cover and close the door afterward. Holding the door open for a few seconds, they wait for the inhabitants to realize they are dealing with poison gas. The moment the noise of spell casting inside is heard, they open the broken door again, and fire a volley through the smoke. Any mage that is keeping the gas away from them gets shot, and the ones that wanted to focus on the liquidators aren''t able to cast spells as they fall to the ground coughing. Regardless, it''s a group of four non-mages against about a dozen mages, and a spike of ice floors one of the liquidators, disrupting their formation. Zulie throws a grenade between the mages, and retreats with her fallen comrade out of the room. More guards approach from the hallway, having heard the commotion, but before they can make it in melee range of the liquidators... Shadows erupt from the walls, what Zulie and her squad had interrupted was the spatial protection that kept surveillance at bay. Now the unleashed being from The Beyond drag the guards into dark corners for lunch, and the shadows themselves begin to morph out of the walls and take shape. Multiple mid-ranking Beyond beings, they pass by Zulie''s group and head into the room with the gassed mages. They were still recovering from Zulie''s rapid assault, and the creatures are instinctively good at dealing with mages. Zulie herself doesn''t even look to confirm that the mages are dead. "Shit... they got me good." One of her men, Jacob, lies bleeding on the floor. One of the men has already administered first-aid, and while it doesn''t look great for him, she has seen worse being brought back from the hospital...she has been worse being brought back. "Mark, you''re with me, Vincent you stay with Jacob to make sure he lives." The squad splits up, normally leaving a wounded man within the palace is suicide, but Zulie has the feeling that it would be more suicidal to on the opposing force. Together with Mark she makes it to another balcony, and looks to the skies for more demons, but not such luck. Mark points to the ground, and they see a group of liquidators made it to this side of the palace, but are bogged down by the labyrinthian design of the courtyard. She gives a quick wave, and they throw a rope to her. Tying it to the balcony, the liquidators climb from the courtyard directly into one of the higher floors of the courtyard. A quick handshake between officers at the top, and together they make their way to the throne room. Slowly the palace becomes more chaotic, as it seems the lesser demons really enjoyed Zulie''s display that they started screeching loudly while opening windows, and the disgruntled surveillance teams are annoyed that someone else did their job better than them, so they now leave mutilated corpses behind more often rather than eating them whole. Zulie''s team of liquidators doesn''t go unnoticed by enemies or allies, while making their way through the palace they encounter a group of Mazurians as well, most likely one originating from the local guard considering the Mazurians are wearing Faerune uniforms. It doesn''t take long for them to find the throne room, as it''s the only area actively avoided by all Malencians. The large door was already open, ready to invite them all in. On the throne is an imposing man looking down on their group with mild disgust, but the royal guard isn''t moving to intercept yet. Something is making them nervous. "Well if it isn''t the first visitors of the day, to what do I owe the displ-" *BLIING* A shot resounds through the throne room, the one with a smoking barrel is none other than Mark. Zulie wants to reprimand him, as its common practice for the throne to be protected by a mighty barrier, but refrains from doing so as she sees Johannes Richter XXII having gone completely silent, and clasping his heart. It seems that at some point his defenses were disabled, and he falls off the stairs leading to his throne without much fanfare. "Nice shot Mark." Zulie''s commanding voice interrupts the silence, and every Malencian except the liquidators jump at the confused royal guard. She would have to give him a commendation for defeating an entire room of royal guards with a single shot. Chapter 93: War of the Worlds Esstrey looks to the devastated palace, all of her enemies within Faerune are dead, yet she doesn''t feel any safer. The moment she brought Mazurians to this land, an unstoppable chain of events was set in motion. She looks away from the palace to the gate between worlds not far away, Krenkov''s men are securing it, as there''s no telling how many enemies it will spit out. She thinks of her future plans again, is there truly no other way? Diplomacy perhaps? No, history has shown the core worlds aren''t the type to do diplomacy when even a single thing warranting their attention is involved. Digging in and staying on the defensive? It would buy time for sure, and lots of it, but it would only be a matter of time until one of them decides to go on an offensive, and they would lose the initiative. Scorched earth perhaps? No, while gates can be destroyed, they reappear elsewhere near instantly, and that elsewhere would be out of their sight. If it''s beyond their borders, they might conquer the whole world before going after Malencia. It would really have to be an offensive, a decapitating strike so hard it would have to scare even the core worlds into caution. Even the full force of earth wasn''t able to hold against all of them, but if Esstrey can make Malencia more trouble than it''s worth... They need a target, if they attack a core world solely based on strategic and tactical advantages they would win, but it wouldn''t achieve the needed results. If Malencia is seen as truly unpredictable, it will be crushed. There is one core world which meets all the specifications, meets all the justifications. [Melthazar''s Heavenly Body], a planet home to the paladin order that was so actively backing Faerune. They had more overt interests in the region for a while now, and Esstrey doubts that the other core worlds don''t know that. The planet is also home to Melthazar himself, a being that ranks pretty high on the ''most powerful existences'' chart. It rules that world, and many other worlds subjugated by it, which further strengthens it. A god representing light, something that is ideologically opposed to Malencia, and one of the biggest reasons diplomacy is off the table. She thinks back on the other time she killed gods, it was a fluke, a stroke of good fortune, but that does make it possible. Melthazar is an existence far stronger than all the gods of Brynya combined ever were by far, but they can be killed, they can be beaten. It would take a lot, but it''s certainly possible. "Crendell, how long do you believe you could hold out on Melthazar''s backyard if you had every conventional advantage and many of our unconventional advantages?" Crendell looks at Esstrey in surprise, he''s dealt with her long enough to no longer be surprised at paltry things, but to invade a core world... "Two weeks at the longest, but considering the response they would muster, we would likely be thrown out within two days." Esstrey nods, those are good odds... good enough at least. She doesn''t need to win against The Order of Melthazar after all, just Melthazar himself. "In the event of a retreat, what do you think of the odds of being able to pull out?" If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Our forces would most likely be rather intact, the demons are the most hated by The Order of Melthazar, and the difficulty to truly kill a demon makes them an ideal rear-guard. However, I don''t believe we would have anything to retreat to, the chance of Brynya being attacked while we are away is... high. If I was a general on another planet and near a portal, I certainly wouldn''t miss the chance to hit a dangerous and valuable foe like us. We might be able to withstand attacks from a few minor planets, but we are looking at an interplanetary counterinvasion poised to strike us when it hurts the most." "I see, then we''ll just have to declare war on all worlds at the same time I suppose, infiltrate every world and every portal with small groups of Mazurians, and have them cause as much chaos as possible, that should buy plenty of time to hold a coordinated effort at bay, perhaps even indefinitely considering the nature of Mazurians." Crendell is astonished at the cold and easy way Esstrey speaks about starting a war with everyone, almost as if they are just a side-show. "M''lady, that... that would destroy us in the long-term on so many levels, we would just be delaying an inevitable demise at that point, what is really your plan?" He knows Esstrey well enough that she always has a plan, always a contingency. "If we succeed in defeating Melthazar properly, they might stay away...but I don''t think that''s the answer you are looking for. No, I have a plan, one that I would rather not implement, because it''s rather risky. I''ll write up a letter to the Mazurian officers, and tell them to prepare for insertion. They should go nuts as much as they can, and do their best to inspire terror in people deserving of the Mazurian race, to guarantee victory we need to declare on everyone. Only madmen and people with a chance of winning would do so, and we must be believed to be the latter. Fear will be our ally, it will keep them all at bay, fear of things getting worse, fear of losing." Psychological warfare on a scale of thousands of planets, true, if Malencia could be feared for it, it''s unlikely anyone would dare to take a vanguard position against them, especially if Malencia is everywhere already thanks to the Mazurians. "It''s... we''ll be committing the greatest atrocity... atrocities in history... probably ever. Trillions will die, quadrillions will face displacement if the plague was unleashed on everyone under our guidance, the scale of this operation, all for... for a decoy." Crendell feels sick, he has done some horrible stuff under Esstrey, but... "A decoy to distract every world all at once, and a decoy that will make sure that not just Melthazar, but no core world carelessly meddles in the affairs of other worlds again. I''m sure you have heard it many times already, a long peace established in a flood of blood, one that would usually end in failure, but my people had succeeded. They were backed by a bomb that was capable of wiping out cities on its own, and they had thousands of these bombs. Peace at the barrel of a gun, but a gun that is never used isn''t feared as much as one that has fired before." Esstrey puts her claw on Crendell''s shoulder, and for once contact with her doesn''t feel like an attempt at intimidation, but like consolation. They really are not so different in the end. "If an afterlife is real, we will burn in hell for eternity, even knowing the intentions, no one would forgive us for this." "I''m counting on it." Esstrey doesn''t mention which of those two situations she''s counting on, the slight sadness in her voice makes him too scared to ask as well, no one would want the answer to that. Chapter 94: God Dam the Sun Crendell feels sick, he doesn''t even know how much time passed, but he can''t even check or puke now. It didn''t take long for the plan to start, and the Malencian army to invade Melthazar''s front yard. A bomb through the portal to destroy it on their side, causing the portal to appear somewhere at random within the world. Now they have taken a nearby defensive position around an easily defendable church. A mountainous valley with the portal appearing on the inner mountain part, with a river on one side that has a dam over it on the east side. The push for the church was difficult considering how little paladin presence there is, and it is perhaps the best place they could hope for to defend. Sure enough, paladin response to their invasion was a span of hours, and the main route they would be using was across the dam. Crendell parries a paladin with his bayonet desperately, being far outmatched on his own in melee. Good thing as a liquidator you are never either of those, a volley from a nearby squad pushes the paladin back, but considering the paladin was only barely pushed back shows how elite they are compared to even the powerful paladins of Brynya. Killing his fellow man has gotten easier for Crendell, he''s already the worst human war criminal out there anyway. This dam is a vital access point for the enemy, a bridge that allows the easiest access to the Malencian forces, Crendell''s troops had tried destroying it, but even thermite did minimal damage. Considering everything, being able to push a paladin back with only five liquidators is a miracle, one Crendell did not ask for. He did not place himself in the heat of battle for nothing, the only moment he stops feeling sick is exactly one second before killing a man, when he''s most focused. He hasn''t had many of those seconds, the liquidators act more as screens in this battle for the big hitters. One of those big hitters drives past the intake tower he''s in, and he gets a clear view of the landstrider ripping into the paladins, before meeting a quick demise as a sword destroys the tank in one slash. The life expectancy of tank crew isn''t high, by virtue of actually being a threat. Demons fall out of the sky like flies to priest AA, and more than on Zveno has crashed already. More and more paladins come into the battle every hour, reinforced from the entire world, as they seek to expel this threat. They have already gotten word of the Malencian cross-planet invasion. Their will to fight is about as high as the Malencians, who have stopped caring much about anything. The one advantage Malencia has is currently in the back lines at the church, Esstrey said she knew how to reach Melthazar himself, and took most of the elites with her, while tasking Crendell with the buying of time. Crendell looks to the advancing enemy, and predicts they will have to pull back again. He shoots a signal flare to the sky, signaling another withdrawal from this piece of the dam. Paladins attempt to push their advantage, but are blocked by the undead instead. Black snow and liches are released to unleash havoc while the rest retreats, undead are normally weak to holy magic, but the Black snow appears to be an exception, and liches have adapted their necromancy to work based off that. Crendell runs out of his intake tower to retreat as well, he doesn''t want to live longer, but if he dies more of his people will die in the resulting panic. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. From one of the intake towers behind enemy lines, a priest aims her staff at Crendell. Every tower taken makes it more difficult to hold the nearby area, but the dam is big enough to retreat frequently. Right now, multiple priests are firing on retreating Malencians and the air units from their fortified position. "Retribution!" A bruised and bloodied Krenkov appears behind the priests, he had somehow snuck past the paladins, playing dead on more than one occasion. Crendell looks in depressed apathy as one of his most trusted subordinates buys him a little more time. Krenkov stabs at the priests like a madman, and takes down a few of them with precise stabs to their brains. Nothing else could kill the servants of Melthazar. Crendell runs to the next defensive line, the last intake tower of the dam, but not the last line of defense. Making the enemy bleed for every step is easy, slowing them down, not so much. Fiends are slashed like fodder, the best surveillance can do is ambush the occasional squad of priests, air forces are fighting tooth and nail to stay afloat, the undead are mere distractions. The only ones who show any promise in this battle are the liquidators and the landstriders, they are far more suited to taking a beating. Mazurians did well in Brynya due to their numbers, but they have the unenviable job of handling the war and being decoys in the war against everyone else. It takes a few hours for the enemy to push further again, to the point where the current intake tower stands at risk of falling as well. Crendell thinks of staying a little longer, who knows? Maybe someone will try taking another shot at the retreating liquidator. Then he thinks of Krenkov, a man who time and time again had shown unwavering faith in Crendell. He paid the ultimate price, all to rescue a man who lost the will to live. Crendell grips his gun and calls a retreat, he should live, if not for his own sake, he should live so that the others who have faith in him don''t need to jump in front of a shot meant for him. How will he minimize casualties on his side? How will the logistics be distributed, and which places need ambushes? These thoughts run through Crendell''s mind as his men climb on a retreating landstrider. Time, he just needs to buy time. To defeat the enemy here is an insane concept, to kill their god even more, but not his job, not his problem. His duty is the survival of his people, and he will not besmirch the legacy of the people who sacrificed themselves.