Chapter 27: Traitors in Payon
Azaroth continued to skip backwards, avoiding the wild, mad swings Aron kept swinging at him. Azaroth wasn't sure how the significance of the sword 'opening' its eye would help, but now Aron had the ability to slice through metal, so he didn't really want to try. Without any means to defend himself, he was forced to continuously dodge his blows. Aron was laughing, giggling more like, as he continued to swing his broadsword, Dirge, completely at random at Azaroth.
" What's this?! What's this?! What's this?! What's this!?" Aron scream gleefully. " I thought you wanted to fight me. Fight, don't run, human!"
" Aron, you are just running wild. What kind of fighting is this?!" Dirge spoke, the voice somehow sounding metallic and hollow.
" I'm giving him a handicap, Dirge. It's no fun if I cut him up in two seconds," Aron replied.
" I see..."
Azaroth wasn't too sure what the sword actually understood from it, and he was a bit confused at what exactly was going on at the moment. There was this strange person who popped out of nowhere and attacked his platoon all of a sudden, and was now hell bent to kill him. He did figure something out: from the way he moved, his strength and the way he kept addressing the rest of them as 'humans' probably indicated he wasn't human himself, even if he did look like a regular bloke.
Moron, that's already a given!
Azaroth suddenly placed his foot upon a slippery surface, and he lost his balance instantly. He gave a short gasp of surprise as he hit the floor, feeling a bit dizzy. As soon as he got his bearings, he immediately spotted Aron leaping right over him, his broadsword raised over his head as he came jumping down upon him.
Azaroth rolled aside just as Aron came crashing down on him. He didn't hear the sound of his blade hit the floor, no resounding crash, no cracked floors due to the impact of a heavy piece of equipment on the ground. The blade merely went through the solid ground floor as if it was cleaving through butter. Azaroth's eyes were fixed on the blade that had sunk into the ground, cleaving through rock as if it was nothing. Aron slowly got up and pulled his blade along with him as he stood up.
" Damn, missed again. I thought I had that one for the win," Aron muttered.
" Apparently..." Dirge replied.
" Don't mock me..." Aron snarled.
" I was merely repeating what you said..." Dirge argued.
Something exploded, or it felt like it did. All of a sudden, there was a sudden blast of wind within the cave, followed by a flash of light. Despite feeling like an explosion, it carried no sound. Even the wind itself didn't make any noise as it passed through the area. Whatever it was, it lasted only a while, and soon enough, it died down.
" Hmm, what was that?" Aron mused.
" Watch out!" Dirge exclaimed.
Aron spun around, only to see Azaroth having moved several feet away from where he originally was, in a crouching position, and his sword arm behind him, his sword held behind his back. Aron merely caught a glance, before Azaroth whipped his sword right in front of himself. Aron felt a rush of wind pass him, before feeling a sting in his arm.
" What?!"
Azaroth's Last Strike managed to hit the joint between his forearm and upper arm, the slice tearing his muscles. Aron seemed to lose his strength, and he dropped his sword to the ground. Vaguely surprised, he immediately reached for his sword with his other hand, but Azaroth came right up towards him, and whipped his sword right at Aron's face. Aron leaped back, but when he did that, Azaroth threw another flying slash, and this time it struck his left arm, rending it useless as well.
" Ho...so you disabled both my arms..." Aron replied.
" That was my plan. Without your sword, I hardly see you as a threat," Azaroth replied, raising his bloodstained sword at Aron's face. His blood was surprisingly red. Azaroth figured since if he was some sort of being that wasn't human, perhaps his blood would be different.
" This is surprising. From the way you attacked me with the peculiar skill of yours, it seemed that you have a fairly good aim. Why didn't you aim for my chest, or somewhere more vital, than my arms?" Aron asked.
" With that amount of strength, I can hardly consider you human. Besides, my strikes are capable of severing of limbs. Considering that your arms are still in one piece, I doubt hitting you squarely in the chest would do too much of a difference. I decided to deal with my main threat: your weapon," Azaroth replied. " Besides, you still sound overconfident..."
" Not really, just impressed at the amount of brains you have..." Aron laughed. He instantly shot up and ran off in an unspecified direction. Azaroth wanted to run after him, but he paused when he remembered he had his platoon to attend to, and to check on Melanie and Princess Reinne. As he kept his sword, he noticed that Aron's broadsword which he had dropped had disappeared into thin air all of a sudden, gone from the place.
What the hell are we facing here?
-
First thing Melanie felt when she came to was a made rush to the head, as if she suddenly went on a high or something, which caused her to have a tremendous headache. As she groaned due to the pain, she slowly got up and took deep breaths, calming her pain slightly. She wasn't sure what happened, but only that she was hit by some mass of extremely bright, white light.
She took a look around her. Apparently everyone else had been knocked out flat by the blast. Camelia laid in a crumpled heap, and a few feet away Flick was sprawled out on the ground, his hands and feet all over the place. The rest of the remaining surviving members of their platoons were all over the place, seemingly unconscious but nevertheless, still alive as Melanie could still see that they were breathing. It took her a while before she finally turned her attention to Reinne.
Princess Reinne was lying in a crumpled heap in a pool of her own blood. Melanie was curtly reminded of the undead monster that managed to stab her just before she finished her spell, whatever that spell was. Melanie picked herself up, her body feeling heavy somehow, but she forced herself to her feet, unsteady at first as she hobbled over towards Reinne.
Her crimson white attire was soaked in her own blood, and she was barely alive, breathing ever so slowly and shallowly. There was a puncture wound in the middle of her chest, where all her blood was seeping out from. However, upon closer inspection, Melanie noticed that her injuries were healing at an accelerated rate, the wound getting smaller and smaller by each passing second. Melanie was quite astounded that Reinne still managed to pull off a self-healing spell despite the situation. Melanie did the only thin she could think of at the moment: pressing the palm of her hand on the wound and healing it with her powers. Crusaders were not specifically trained to heal wounds, but they can still utilize healing spells if necessary, albeit less effective than other Holy magic users.
" Ouch…what just happened?" Melanie heard Flick's voice echo around the place, groaning loudly.
The rest of them started to wake up, some of them slowly while others getting their bearings much quicker. All the undead monsters were gone, not even a trace of them was left. No mangle corpse, no decaying smell, not a trace. It was as if they were never there before. Melanie wasn't sure what Reinne did, but she somehow managed to get rid of all the undead and dark monsters in the vicinity in a flash. Incidentally, the odd red glowing seal on the floor was now missing.
This just doesn't seem physically possible…
" Hey, where did all the undead go?" Flick asked.
" Forget the damn undead, Reinne's seriously wounded!" Melanie exclaimed.
Some of the remaining priests go up to Melanie's side and took over taking care of Reinne's well-being. The rest of the soldiers got up slowly, retrieving their weapons and equipment. Melanie broke away from Reinne and surveyed the area. Only nine of them remained, the rest either too injured to get back up or dead. They had a fine stroke of luck when Reinne casted that spell, but she didn't like to linger around the place.
" Alright, to the rest of you who can still move, get up and get our wounded comrades to one side so we can treat them. We can't carry the dead back in this situation, so we will be forced to leave them here. Flick, get up and around, check the perimeter for anything suspicious, least any of these undead scum make a comeback," Melanie ordered, before turning to the two remaining priest and priestess, who were tending to Reinne. " How's is her situation?" Melanie asked.
" She's been seriously wounded, but I think she'll make it somehow…" the priestess replied.
" Good, once you've stabilized her condition, I want you to immediately tend to the rest of our injured comrades, so we can get out of here immediately," Melanie replied.
" But, we…"
" First and foremost, Reinne is a soldier of Rune-Midguard. I highly think she would be displeased if you gave her too much attention when it isn't necessary. Tend to the rest of the troops when you are done," Melanie rebuked.
The priest looked hesitant, but the priestess nodded her head to signify that she understood. She then headed off towards the surrounding area, trying to find any surviving members of her squadron, when someone from a distance suddenly called out to them.
" Would this be a bad time to ask what the hell just happened here?!" Azaroth called out.
-
" You were occupied by some maniac who was wielding a broadsword one-handed, who had the ability to cut through absolutely anything, and you only barely managed to shake him off, which caused you to be late in coming to our aid?" Melanie repeated herself.
" Hey, you said you were attacked by a swarm of zombies, and I take your word for it, despite not having seen a single corpse around the place," Azaroth argued.
" Where's the rest of your platoon?" Camelia asked.
" I asked them to get the hell out of the place. I can only assume that since they didn't come to find you, they got to the outside of the caves…assuming they didn't run into anything else. I just hope not," Azaroth replied.
They were now heading out of the Payon caves, each of them hauling one of their injured comrades along, two in Melanie's case. The healers in their group looked rather tired, with the amount of healing they had to perform. Melanie was walking along with a female acolyte clinging to her back while she carried Princess Reinne carefully in her arms.
" I'm sorry for the trouble, Commander," the acolyte apologized when she had the chance.
" Don't sweat it, kid. I'm not going to eat you for this," Melanie replied.
" Yeah, at least not until she cooks you," Flick replied, in which Camelia gave him a boot to his shins.
Finally, after what seemed like an arduous track, they spotted the exit. The sun seemed to be settling down in the horizon, and there was just enough sunlight in the horizon to guide them towards their goal. A familiar figure stood by the entrance, looking in at them.
" Good to see you again. I knew you'll make it out alive," Vardred replied, breaking into a grin when he spotted Azaroth. " The Devil's luck never fails, and looks like you've got plenty of it, Captain."
" Stop calling me…you know what, screw you…" Azaroth groaned when he exited, with the rest of the remaining members following from behind. However, he paused when he heard loud crying noises when he exited the place. " Wait, who's crying…no, don't bother answering, I know who…"
The rest of his platoon members were gathered to the east side of the entrance of the Payon caves. Raymel was kneeling over Remant's still body, drenched in a pool of his own blood, his eyes staring lifelessly upward, crying loudly as large drops of tears ran down her face. It seems neither Raymel nor Mir managed to save him from his fatal wounds, and seeing that they were only acolytes, Azaroth wasn't too surprised. He'd find it fairly surprising if even Selene could fix such a wound. The rest of his platoon members stood around Raymel, not sure if they should go and comfort the distressed acolyte.
Azaroth set down the knight he was carrying aside next to a nearby tree and walked up towards Raymel, who just continued howling noisily over the dead body of her boyfriend. Melanie watched quietly as Azaroth squatted down next to her as she continued to cry. It took her a while to realize that Azaroth was next to her, and she turned her head to him, her eyes slightly swollen from crying so much.
" Why…" she sobbed as tears ran down her pitiful face, her hair in a slight disarray. " He didn't have to die like this…"
Azaroth had no quick answer or solution to the problem, so he did the next best thing by hugging and embracing her. Raymel buried her face hard on his chest as she continued to sob tearfully as Azaroth patted her on the back, giving Melanie a sad look just before she left to deal with other matters.
-
Tryzen took the cup gingerly and took a sip. The refreshing taste of fresh, hot tea was invigourating and inspiring all at once, the Payonese leaves certainly living up to their standard, but this was something more than that. This was the first time he drank Payonese tea with such a kick.
" You certainly know how to make your tea. Pray, tell me, what did you do with it?" Tryzen asked.
" Oh, nothing much. The tea will taste better when soaked in hot, but not boiling water, and I added a hint of lavender and ginger into the mix," Meillienne modestly replied.
" Amazing, simply amazing, I can barely taste the extra ingredients yet they are at the perfectly right amount to enhance the tea to bring out its optimum taste," Tryzen exclaimed, full of praise as Meillienne merely blushed at the comment.
" I am sure getting a strange vibe from you today, my dear," Sapphire replied.
" I can't help it, Meillienne's a great cook," Tryzen replied. " Arguably, you do make great cakes…"
" Least you still had some sense in saying that, despite it being an obvious lie…" Sapphire replied, rolling her eyes in amusement.
" That is so not true, and you know it…" Tryzen replied seriously.
" Tryzen, I will never marry a man whom which I cannot discern whether or not he is lying to me or not, and you, my dear, despite being the genius that you are, is not an exception to this rule," Sapphire replied.
" Well then, what if I prove you wrong?" Tryzen asked.
" Would you like me to leave you?" Sapphire suggested.
Tryzen threw his hands up and sank back into his chair, his body sinking slightly into the cushions. " I give up, never argue with a woman, they always win. Mind-boggling geniuses at psychological warfare, I tell you. If the world was run using brains, women would be leaders by now," he replied.
Sapphire and Tryzen turned around when Meillienne started to giggle all of a sudden. " Sorry about that," she replied apologetically, although she didn't stop giggling. " It's just…well, is this what married couples do all the time?"
Tryzen raised an eyebrow in interest. " Oh, why the sudden interest?" Sapphire asked teasingly " Could it be that you are interested in someone else as well?"
The fact that Meillienne turned completely red at the question told Sapphire she was correct. " How sweet, who is this guy?" Sapphire asked.
" Ah..it's not…urm, someone…" Meillienne replied embarrassingly. She was holding the tray in which she had served Tryzen and Sapphire tea and cookies for a snack close to her chest, as if she wanted to hide her face somehow.
" Tell us who he is," Sapphire asked.
" Is it a must for females to gossip about such things?" Tryzen muttered to himself quietly, keeping his voice low enough to avoid Meillienne or Sapphire from hearing his outward comment.
" Urm…he's nice…" Meillienne stammered.
" All of them are nice. That's why we get them in the first place. I certainly didn't get Tryzen as my boyfriend just because he was nice," Sapphire replied.
" Hey, that was my most outstanding character," Tryzen replied. " Also, if I remember correctly it was I who proposed, not…"
" So, how is it coming along?" Sapphire asked.
Sapphire realized that Meillienne was feeling uncomfortable with all the questions. " I'm sorry…but he's taken…" she replied quietly, before bowing slightly and walking away. Sapphire wanted to say something to apologise to the young maiden, but she caught the sight of Tryzen frowning, as if in deep thought. " What now?" Sapphire asked.
" Strange, I was always under the impression that she fancied Azaroth," Tryzen replied.
" She could be…"
" Highly unlikely with that statement. Azaroth, as far as I know from the last 2 hours, isn't taken," Tryzen replied. " Guess she found out someone else besides Azaroth that she fancies."
" What's the discussion about? I saw Meillienne walking out of the room, looking flustered. You know very well what will happen if I find out you have been bullying her," Grimjaw's voice floated out from the back. Tryzen spotted him leaning next to their room's door frame, having arrived as silently as a ghost. Tryzen wondered whether it was a prerequisite for rogues to always walk this stealthily.
" We may have been teasing her a bit too much…" Sapphire admitted.
" Grimjaw, I know you well enough to not even consider wanting to do anything remotely funny with…"
" Azaroth! Something's wrong with Azaroth!" Meillienne's voice suddenly howled loudly in a terrified voice from the hallway.
-
" Shit!"
" Relax, Tryzen, this blood isn't mine…" Azaroth replied.
" Meillienne came out of the house as she said she saw you walking across the inn covered in blood…geez…" Tryzen replied.
Azaroth was mainly covered in Remant's blood, which he received mainly from Raymel. His attire was in a mess and fairly bloody, bloody enough to mistake him from having sustained grievous wounds, so he wasn't surprised that Meillienne was alarmed at the sight of him as he was now.
" Azaroth, are you really alright?!" Meillienne demanded.
" Don't worry, Meillienne. You've taken enough care of me this past few weeks. I'm not going to give you that experience anytime soon, alright?" Azaroth replied, before walking off.
" Hey, what happened exactly?" Grimjaw demanded.
" I've got something I need to do, or Melanie thinks it's important to do and has sent me to do it," Azaroth replied as he continued walking. Tryzen, Sapphire, Grimjaw and Meillienne followed quickly, tagging along behind him, looking worriedly at him. Some of the townspeople looked at him in fear, wondering what was up that would cause a soldier of the country walk around at a hurried pace in their city. " I don't know…we went into the caves, and shit just happened…"
" That wasn't really very informative…" Grimjaw replied.
" I dunno…Melanie said her group was attacked by a large enough zombie force to disable most of her platoon members, while my group was ambushed by some dangerous madman who wielded a sentient sword which was sharp enough…"
" …To cut through metal," Meillienne replied.
" How the hell did you know that?!" Azaroth exclaimed in surprise, stopping and spinning around to face her in utter surprise.
" It was merely a guess. I assumed he cut your sword, since you aren't carrying your Haedonggum with you now," Meillienne replied.
" Right…" Azaroth mused, before continuing on.
" Tell me, Azy, when you say sentient sword, do you mean, the sword spoke?" Tryzen asked.
" Yes…"
" If so, I assume that this sword had an ugly looking eye on the place where the hilt meets the blade of the sword," Sapphire replied.
" I find it surprising that all of you know these details somehow," Azaroth replied, chuckling.
Tryzen suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around while looking straight into his eyes. " Azaroth, this is no laughing matter! Allow me to enlighten you on some information. This sword you spoke of, this sentient sword, is called a Reverent. It is a special dark sword that can only be wielded by a being we call a Death Knight," Tryzen replied. Azaroth didn't reply or react as Tryzen spoke while holding the lapels to his attire.
" Death Knights reside in what we like to call the Demon World, or the other dimension in which we scholars theorise exist somewhere within the vicinity of this dimension. Only a few in number have crossed borders between worlds, although we don't really know how they do that. However, do know this, the people responsible for the 1st and 2nd Midguard War were the ones who commanded the Dark Legion, Death Knights," Tryzen replied. " Do you understand why I sound agitated, Azy?"
" Perfectly…" Azaroth replied.
" I assumed you told this to Melanie. I'm surprised she didn't do anything more drastic than sending you alone to wander around in the city of Payon," Sapphire replied. " Or…did you conveniently forget to tell this to her?"
Azaroth thought for a moment. " I think I did forget to mention a talking sword…"
Tryzen slapped his face. " Well, you better tell her quick, after you are done with whatever you are supposed to do," he replied. " Why are you here for anyway?"
Azaroth pointed towards the house behind him. They managed to reach the Mayor's house, a simple wooden house like all the rest of the village houses in Payon. Azaroth was asked by Melanie to contact the mayor for assistance, and get a reply back to the capital to inform them of the situation. Tryzen released his grip on Azaroth, and he jogged up towards the house and knocked on the door.
" Yes, yes, I'm coming, what…" the Mayor spoke before he opened the door, before stopping when he saw Azaroth standing outside, looking like a mess with blood all over him. "…w-what, you are supposed to be dead…"
Everybody heard what the Mayor had said, but it took some time for it to somehow register in their minds. " Wait, what?" Azaroth asked.
" Forget that I even said that!" the Mayor blurted out suddenly.
Azaroth suddenly drew his Tsurugi and leaped at the Mayor, who gave a terrified squeal as Azaroth jumped on him, his outstretched arm reaching out to him and grabbing him roughly as he slammed him upon the solid wooden floor with some force. The Mayor tried to squirm around to escape, but Azaroth pressed his knee upon his back and placed the blade next to his face, which made him squeal even louder.
" What the hell did you mean by that?!" Azaroth demanded.
" I-I cannot s-say…don't force me…no…" he moaned.
Azaroth lifted his sword and slammed it hard on the ground, bringing it even closer to his face, making the Mayor wet his pants. " Speak!"
" Someone…someone wanted Princess Reinne disposed off…" the Mayor squealed. Tryzen suddenly had odd images of a terrified pig all of a sudden.
" Who?!"
" They will kill me if I tell you…"
" Grimjaw, I want him to give me answers, now!" Azaroth exclaimed, sounding really angry now.
Grimjaw stepped up, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Grimjaw flick out two daggers from his side, twirling them in his hands. When he saw Grimjaw toying with his blades, he screamed in terror and started to struggle with much more effort, but to no avail.
" Speak!" Azaroth demanded.
" They will kill me…" the Mayor sobbed, crying in terror now.
" Speak!" Azaroth demanded again, and this time Grimjaw grabbed one of the Mayor's arm and pulled it straight out while he raised his dagger over his limb.
All of a sudden, the was a sudden stabbing sound, like a knife tearing through human flesh, and the Mayor fell limp and silent altogether. Azaroth turned to Grimjaw, but he had done nothing else but hold out his arm and placing his dagger over the Mayor's arm. A cry of surprise from Meillienne caused Azaroth to turn back to the Mayor. From beneath him, a pool of blood, presumably his own, started to form under him. Taken aback, Azaroth got off the Mayor's back and turned him around. There was this oddly placed puncture wound in the middle of his chest, where it had pierced his heart. The spot here he had been lying on the floor now had this swirling mass of blackness, and a single, sharp looking spike protruding out from this circle of darkness.
Wait just one second, this looks oddly familiar…
" I would have killed you anyway, lousy animal, just for the kicks," a familiar voice replied.
Azaroth got up to look at the strange person who had suddenly appeared all of a sudden in the room. The figure stood several feet within the house, dressed in a black cloak with an oversized wizard's hat over her head. Strangely enough, she looked younger than the last time Azaroth met her. There was a sizzle of energy, and he saw Tryzen and Sapphire prepare their magic spells in their hands already, and Grimjaw gripping his daggers tightly while Meillienne hid behind her brother.
" What's with this reaction?! Come on now, it's like a happy reunion. It's good to see my pet is still alive, Azy," Tyranus replied in a sly, coy manner, as she licked her lips.
