At long last, we have reached the end of the Thracia 776 adaptation. I wonder if you guys are as ready for this as I am. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. As always, please leave a review. Or at least say something that I can respond to. Being able to communicate with my readers gets me more motivated to write. And prepare yourselves. The chapter following this one will be the wham episode. I don't want to leave you guys on edge for to long, so please say something. (though don't literally send me a review that is just the word 'something.')
"This Eyvel person had better be worth it." Delmund growled. "Because if we went through all of that in order to rescue an unimportant person, I swear that I'm going to kill her myself!"
"DELMUND! How can you be so callous?!" cried Nanna "Eyvel was the closest thing to a mother I had after our real one went missing. So could you please stop speaking of her in that manner?" she requested.
Delmund sighed obnoxiously. "I'm sorry, but this hellish passageway is really driving me crazy! Who designs a building like this anyways? Teleportation traps? Really? It's just one giant, infuriating, deathtrap!"
"It's part of a hidden Loptyrian temple, Delmund. Do you really think that they would design it so that it could be easily breached by outsiders?" Oifey asked him.
Delmund sighed again. "I guess not. So I suppose that I can only hope for two things. First, I hope that we are almost at the end. Second, and more importantly... I hope we run into one of the idiots who designed this place so I can properly share my opinion of their work with them." he said while looking at his sword, a dangerous gleam in his eye.
"I found her!" Leif shouted, and the others quickly came to his side. He was staring at a statue of a middle aged woman. She had a sword drawn, seemingly having been petrified mid strike. "Sara, would you kindly restore her to normal?" Leif asked. The statue began to glow blue, then it seemed like the stone began to melt, resembling ice melting off of a human frame. It melted in a puddle at the woman's feet, and she collapsed into Leif's arms.
"Eyvel! Can you hear me? It's Leif. Do you recognize me? Eyvel!"
Her eyes opened groggily as she repeated his name a couple of times. Then her eyes snapped into focus, and she stood straight up. "Lord Leif! What are you doing here? You must escape from..." she looked around, and realized that she was in an unfamiliar environment "Wha-where am I? Lord Leif, what have I been-"
Leif cut her off "Eyvel, we are in a bit of a hurry right now. The best answer I can give is that the cult put you to sleep, and you've been asleep for a long time."
"How long?" asked Eyvel.
"Long enough for a wedding, a conception, and a birth." responded Finn.
"Don't ask me why Finn is being so vague with the timeline. It's been around a year. Eyvel we've met up with my cousin's army. Our forces, either alone or combined, have cut a path through the imperial army from northern Isaac to Manster. We are underneath the Manster palace right now. Blume is dead, killed by his vengeful nephew, and I just killed Raydrik, but the cult still has a hold in this temple they've had hidden away beneath the palace. Will you aid us in finishing what we started together, so many months ago?"
"Of course... but will you tell me what happened while I was gone?" asked Eyvel.
"Of course I will, we all will. Now let's finish this.
"So... Raydrik was useless after all." said Veld as the inky fluid held the aforementioned's corpse aloft in front of him "I suppose in that case, it is now up to me to find a proper way to eliminate those eyesores..." Veld mumbled to himself.
"Yes, I am very curious regarding your plan."
Veld whipped around. "Archbishop? When did you-"
Manfroy cut him off. "It's unimportant. What is important is the fact that after all of the time that you have been given, you still have been unable to kill Leonster's prince.
"I apologize, Archbishop, but I intend to throw everything I have directly at him now. His head should be delivered to you shortly. If I can take him down now, now that the Thracians' hopes for him are at their highest, then their morale will cave in on itself. Perhaps not a complete collapse, one that would deliver us an immediate victory, but it would render their morale low enough for a proper, collective assault to quash them. The prince himself is not all that concerning anyways. He lacks a brand. He is living proof, just like the old princes of Silesse, that the goodwill of the gods is leaving these overfed swine." explained Veld.
"I certainly hope you are right. However, your wording gives me cause for concern. You statement is not entirely accurate. The previous generation of Silessian princes DID have brands, which vanished suddenly around the time of the succession crisis. Thus, as a precaution I am granting you a special gift... five Dreadlords." Manfroy told him.
Veld looked relieved. "Yes, that will be perfect. They will complement the one I intend to make out of HIM, perfectly." he said, indicating the corpse. "The forcefield should be flawless now. Thank you, sir. For all of these great resources that you have given me."
"Hmmm, yes, resources. Speaking of resources, Veld, I must ask, has Skaro joined you yet?"
"I am right here, Manfroy." he said, gliding out of the shadows.
"Very good. Veld, I need to have a private conversation with Skaro. So go and prepare yourself for the oncoming assault." Veld acknowledged the command and left.
"Skaro, I have been receiving some bothersome reports. First, I received reports of you being active in Silesse, long after I ordered your presence here. Then I heard that you lost a battle you planned out with the Schwarze Rosen, and then you killed the commander and took charge of it yourself after an argument. Now, I keep you around due to your numerous useful talents, but your narrow minded obsessions have cost us nearly as much as they have benefitted us in the past. So I must ask, what in Loptyr's name are you doing?!"
"Are you intending to give me an ultimatum, Manfroy?" Skaro asked, pupils narrowing into snakelike slits.
"Of sorts. Now, normally I humor you and allow you to keep to yourself a certain level of secrecy. Not this time. Due to recent events, I want to know: WHAT. IS. YOUR. PLAN. Skaro?" demanded Manfroy, poking Skaro with his finger at the end of each word for emphasis. "What is it, and how do you intend to execute it?" he asked
They glared at each other for a moments, and the Skaro sighed. "You want to know? Very well then, I'll tell you. I have been adapting our berserk staffs. Adapting them so that I can cause berserker tendencies and undo them at will, as well as...modify the effects. Pushing them past the limits of what is currently the standard. Like allowing them to retain the ability to speak"
"Restore staffs can already undo the effects of berserk staffs, and I don't see a reason for people under the effects of the staff to retain coherent speech. What is the point in this modification?" asked Manfroy, growling impatiently.
"The speech thing would let them get all their hidden feelings out, or at least hidden resentment. I think it would be useful as a demoralizing agent. As for the point, I'm getting to that. It's a part of my plan. Now, my plan is... to let them win. And by that, I mean let them believe that they've won. While they are celebrating their victory and send out their patrols looking for stragglers, I'll strike. I've been keeping an eye on them all along, so I know which warriors are the strongest. Those are who I will target.
Well, those are the prime targets, anyways. Anyone who can use a staff will be targeted or have someone close to them targeted so as to ensure that I'm the only one who can undo the effects. These so called heroes will be begging their friends to snap out of it... so I'll let them snap out of it. I'll undo the effects so that they believe they got their ally back, and then when their back is turned... hit them with the berserk staff again! It'll thrown them into chaos!" shouted Skaro, gesticulating wildly.
Manfroy gave him a look. "That's got to be one of the most ridiculously convoluted and half-cocked plans that I've ever heard, and I can foresee it going wrong easily, but... very well, since you are so set on it, have it your way. If Veld falls, you may go through with it. But I expect to hear that someone in the higher levels of the chain of command has fallen thanks to it. Preferably one of the crusader's descendants. However, I must ask, what will you do if the rebels find and attack you?"
Skaro smirked "Manfroy, I am quite adept at defending myself." he said as twin swords materialized in his hands. "Besides, they don't realize that THIS is one of my talents." Skaro's next action caught Manfroy off guard. HE didn't know that Skaro could do that. That would be cause for concern if Skaro ever decided to go rogue. Better to send him on his way now than get to curious.
"You will have to show me how you did that, later. But in any case, I expect to hear the good news from you personally. And if I'm not satisfied with the results, I'm ending this... berserk project of yours and making you start a new one. Any objections?"
"None at all." said Skaro, bowing with faux politeness.
Sure enough, Veld's chamber was sealed, with some sort of energy barrier barring the way. Thankfully, however, Cumha had seen this before, so he was able to clue the crusaders in on how to get through. "There is a room inside of each of those six large pillars. Each with a magic seal in it. If you go inside each room and remove the seals, then the forcefield should go away. Be careful, though. They are bound to be well defended, with a steady stream of reinforcements being likely. Due to the importance of this place, it wouldn't surprise me if you found yourselves fighting Deadlords."
"What are Deadlords?" asked Leif.
"By the name, I'm going to guess that they are heavily armed and highly trained nobles that are dead on the inside due to some kind of dark magic making them stronger at the cost of eating away at their souls." said Lester.
"Not quite. You're somewhat close, but they are much worse than that." said Cumha. "Deadlords are the reanimated corpses of skilled warriors. Due to being already dead, you need to deal serious damage to them in order to destroy them. Disintegration is what I recommend, though you can kill them with blades. You just have to get a good strong hit in. They melt away when destroyed, so that's how you know that you've succeeded."
That explanation bothered Leif for some reason (other than the blatantly obvious one). Then it dawned on him. "Wait... Raydrik's body disappeared I killed him. Do you think..."
"It's highly likely. In fact... let me try something." Cumha crouched down and laid his hand on the floor. Then his eyes rolled back, and his body began to glow with a dull, white light. Grey veins appeared on the floor, then shot forward and spread. Cumha held still for a few moments. Then the light disappeared, and he rose, shaking. "Oh...oh gods."
"What is it? Is Raydrik here?" asked Leif.
"Yes, he's a Deadlord now, in fact, he's in the room closest to us... but the problem is, he is one of six. There's a Dreadlord in each of the seal rooms. An archer, an axe warrior, a brigand, a swordmaster, and a mage. We need to tread carefully, but swiftly around them."
"...Alright then. We'll divide into six teams, each headed by three people." said Leif. August was surprised by Leif's sudden interest in planning, but he let him go on uninterrupted. "I'll kill Raydrik again. (I never thought I'd say that sentence, but here we are). Galzus, I'll want you with me again, and Eyvel, I know you'll want to get a shot at taking him down as well, so you're with me too." spinning about he said "Cumha! Do you know which room each Dreadlord is in?"
"Yes, I do." replied Cumha.
"Great, then tell each team where to go once I assign them. Ok, Halven, I want you to take down the archer. Nanna, he's bound to take a couple of hits, so provide support. You'll need covering fire so Ro- Hmmm... I don't see Ronin, so you, your name was Lester, right? You support them." they all nodded and went on their way.
"Orsin, I want you to take Tanya and deal with the axe warrior. You could use a sword...Delmund! You go with them. Finn, you bring in the brigand. Have Carrion watch your back, and bring Shiva in order to cut off the entryway in case it tries to escape. Asvel, you have the sword-master. Don't get to close, have Mareeta go with you and hold him back if he rushes you. Bring Sara to provide healing and extra support." he ordered, without turning.
Whipping around he said "Prince Ced, I'd like for you to deal with the mage. Since you know Karin, she can be your backup. Salem, go with them just in case." August was actually impressed by the orders, and there were not objections or questions asked. They all split up to accomplish their tasks. However, Leif quietly stopped Sara and asked her quietly. "By any chance, do you still have that warp staff?"
Without an intact Loptyr blade, Raydrik's Deadlord was actually pathetically easily defeated. Leif got it into a blade lock, then twisted his blade so that he cut its hands off. Then Galzus swung his sword at its neck, leaving it half hanging off. Eyvel swooped in from the other side and lopped the head clean off. The body crumbled before their eyes as the armor boiled and bubbled and left a warm puddle of silver ooze on the ground. Leif deactivated the seal, and asked Galzus and Eyvel to keep watch. So they stood in the entryway. Galzus looked hesitantly at her a couple of times before speaking. "There is something I have to say to you... thank you for taking care of my daughter."
Eyvel quickly scanned Galzus over. "Oh. Your'e Mareeta's father, I take it? You've finally shown up, huh?"
He nodded "I honestly don't know what to blame for the situation we have found ourselves in. Childbirth drained the life out of my wife, so I took Mareeta with me as I traveled the land. Then one day, I turned my back on her for a few moments, and then she was gone. Fallen into the hands of slave traders." he sighed "Mareeta told me not to blame myself, but the only other things I can blame are her, or fate, and I don't want to blame either." he sighed. "How did you find her?"
"I'm a mercenary myself, but I always try to help those in need. I was passing a slave market in Conote when I saw a girl, no older than six years old, chained up and being sold. The slave trade always disgusted me, and that was the final straw. I killed them all. Ever man involved in the trade that was present. I took her out of there, and went into hiding. However, I still kept an eye out for you, but I never saw you."
"...I came to decide that trying to travel with a small child was a foolhardy decision. That I deserved what happened. In the end she was happy with you." Galzus looked at Eyvel intently "Would you mind remaining as her guardian?"
Eyvel sighed "Of course. I've come to see Mareeta as my own daughter now. I wasn't about to pawn her off to you."
Galzus looked away. "Very well then. Once this battle ends, I'm leaving. I don't expect to meet again."
She stopped him "Wait, Galzus. I wasn't banning you from her presence. Please... you are still her father. Go on your travels, but please come and visit at least once a year. For her sake."
"...Very well, I will" said Galzus.
The forcefield is down? How did-Leif! You are always stopping my plans! It's time you paid the ultimate price! Come before me and fall before my Stone spell!" cried Veld, preparing his magic for the oncoming assault. The prince would meet the same fate as his adoptive mother. Suddenly he heard a pop and felt heat nearby. He spun about only to get a sword driven through his gut for his trouble.
"The only one who is going to fall is you." said Mareeta, and she pulled her sword out and dove out of the way.
Veld lost control of the spell. He grabbed the wound, futilely trying to stop the bleeding, and in doing so sealed his own fate. The spell was still active when he clutched his wound. Thus, the wound turned to stone, and it began to spread across his body like quick drying cement. "What? NO! I cannot die like this! I AM ARCHDEACON-" and with that, his mouth turned to stone, along with the rest of his body.
"Of the mediocrities." said Mareeta, bringing her sword down and smashing Veld's statue.
The members of Leif's army were congratulating each other on a job well done. Eyvel pulled Leif to the side and she told him that she was going to return home to Fianna. He was sad to see her go so soon after he had just gotten her back, but she told him that he knew where to find her if needed, and that Mareeta would be staying a little bit longer. After Leif accepted this, Eyvel went on her way. Only taking the time to speak to those whom she knew. The truth about her past would have to come later.
August was taking his leave as well. "What? No, please, don't leave me August, I still need you." said Leif, with a pained look on his face.
August smiled. "No, you don't. You led this last battle yourself, and did a marvelous job. You also have more experienced tacticians at your side now. It is time I became a footnote in history/ Don not worry, my prince. If you ever truly need me again, I will come. Now, I believe one last order should be given, don't you think?"
Leif stood straight. "Yes." he turned about. "Alright, we need to hunt for any stragglers in hiding. I want four teams. I want Larcei, Mareeta, Finn, and Shanan to lead them." So they split up to hunt. Never suspecting the terrible fallout that this hunt would have.