The Alliance Army was lining up and preparing for the battle ahead. Dawn was approaching, the time they would march on Ansur. Nerves racked through the soldiers, each and every one of them anxious. For in an hour these could be their last moments in life.
Celestine could see the anxiousness of her people spreading. This was not her first battle, but she never got used to sending lives into danger. It was disheartening and always filled her own soul with dread. What she wouldn't do to give her life for every other in this damn war.
Her right hand, Claudia, approached. "Lady Celestine, preparations are almost ready. The troops are lining up. The siege machines are nearly prepped." She informed.
Celestine watched the engineers tinker with the catapults and trebuchets. Her head tilted up to the sky. Dark, but the shy of dawn was creeping close like death awaiting in ambush.
"I think the men could use some words, don't you?" Celestine asked.
Claudia merely nodded. There was no need to verbally answer. Celestine always gave a speech when she participated in wars.
The High Elf walked down from her hilltop and stepped onto the second highest, where everyone could see her. The army saw her descend, they turned to her almost immediately, halting all work and thought, interested to hear what their goddess had to say.
Kaguya was preparing potions and spells for her and the troops. Luu-Luu was ordering soldiers into position, but even they stopped to hear their beautiful leader's divine words.
Celestine remained quiet until she felt all pairs of eyes on her. When it felt like the entire world was looking at her, she spoke.
"Another city of ours has been taken. Besieged and defiled, by the Kuroniu Army. Behind those walls, our people, your people, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and friends . . . are suffering. War is not an idea I fancy. It is an aspect of reality that I abhor with every fiber of my being. But when you see suffering and anguish and you can do something about it . . . shouldn't you?"
The army began to whisper amongst itself, but they never grew louder than Celestine's conviction words.
"I would love nothing more than to send you all home to your families. Return you to your lives of safety and bliss. But as long as the Kuroniu stand against us, with plans of domination and degradation, those lives will always be at risk. Ansur is proof of that. Ansur is the example of what would have happened to the city of Feoh. That is the future that awaits every City of Eostia if we do not stand against them."
Everyone recalled what the demons were doing to the people of Ansur. The poor women were being raped and the men tortured before all the world. All of that being done for the sick amusement of demons. And the Kuroinu were encouraging that and even joining in.
"I despise asking you all this. All of your lives, whatever your mistakes or sins, are precious to me and I wish no harm onto any of you. But the world seldom gives us what we want. I ask you all to lay down your lives for your children. For your children's children. And for those children's children's future. This is the moment where we beat back the Kuroniu and show them that their dreams have no place in that future. We will fight them wherever they are. Wherever their shadows may dwell and we will stamp them out; shine the light on their evil and burn it to ashes."
The Army cheered and chanted Celestine's name. After a while, Celestine raised her hand for silence. When all was quiet, she added one more thing. "But I also wish to ask you one more thing. To adhere to the selfishness of, not a goddess, but a woman. Stay alive. Fight as I asked, but fight even harder for yourselves. The future always has room for all of you . . . and I wish to see you all in it."
Such honest words truly moved the Army and caused many strong men to cry. They once again, cheered for Celestine, but this time longer and loud. Loud enough that the enemy could hear them clear across the battlefield.
With the speech over, everyone returned to their duties. This time with a little more fire in their spirits.
"Another magnificent speech, your highness." Claudia praised professionally. Though on the inside the goddesses words moved her too. Almost to tears.
"Thank you, Sir Claudia." Celestine smiled. "I am no warrior, like you. I can't join you on the battlefield, but I can still offer my words and power. That is the best I can do."
"It will be enough. It will always be enough."
. . .
Celestine frowned. "If only I believed that."
Wanting to switch her liege's mood, Claudia skillfully changed the subject. "Do you think Sir Jason and Alicia's group are succeeding on their task?"
"I can only guess, my second. But knowing Jason, I'm sure everything is going according to plan."
In the Ansur Sewers
Jason cut down another ratman and followed it with an uppercut with his shield to another. He felt one ratman leap onto his back and strike at his armor, but the blade just scratched the metal. He managed to throw it off and stomp on the ratman. Then quickly spun around and sliced open a charging ratman. He kicked another approaching one away, pinned another to the wall, stabbed the downed one in the head, then finished the one on the wall.
Four ratmen then jumped at him, forcing him to project his Shield spell. The foul creatures snarled and stabbed the magical barrier, doing little to nothing against it. Their heads were quickly lopped off by Tachibana's katana.
"Are you alright, Master?" Tachibana asked worriedly.
Jason dropped his barrier. "I'll be fine. Focus on the fight." He grunted and continued the assault on the Rat's Nest.
"I cannot believe we are seriously doing this!" Maia shouted frustratingly. She slit a rat's throat and then stabbed another in the face five times, before burying her blade into the chest of another. "We shouldn't be wasting our energy on these grunts!" She cross-beheaded a ratman and then kicked another one between the legs so hard they flew through the air.
"We need all the help we can get, Maia." Alicia stated. He sword sung as it cut through the air. The dying screams were her reward, as well as the blood that spilt onto the dirty sewer floors. "Helping the city Resistance will gain us more allies in the city than arriving empty handed."
"Agreed." Jason quickly stabbed a ratman, then punched one that tried to intimidate him with a screech. That was followed by a stab to the gut. "Besides, there are other people enslaved down here besides the Commander. You really want to leave them to the fate of the Rats?" Jason slashed open a ratman's throat. "I hear they perform quite terrible rituals to those they capture."
Maia growled, but couldn't deny their points. The Resistance will have better intel on the inside and having more men between them and the enemy was just plain logical. Looking around, the number of men they had now was twice then what they started with. The numbers they had before would never have gotten past this number of enemies.
The soldiers and guards were holding their own now, alongside their charges. While quite a few came close to death, they all worked well as a team and watched each other's backs. Defending them with shields, flanking the enemy while the others distract. Prim was standing with the archers behind a wall of barriers. Maia was impressed with the pinkette's archery. The noble girl had more kills then all of the soldiers combined. By the time one soldier knocked an arrow. Prim had already launched three.
Looking over at the two unique individuals that had joined them, Maia was again impressed. The woman who was the same ethnicity as Kaguya, was swinging her long, thin sword nearly elegantly. She danced around all the ratmen, her sword the very definition of an extension. Any ratman that was within reach met a quick and messy end. Those that weren't killed were the most unfortunate. The swordswoman severed their limbs, letting them die slowly and painfully from geyser shooting blood.
The lizard was much different. He held no weapon. In fact, all he held was a bottle of some kind. Lucid was the best way to describe him as he took yet another large swig. Maia quickly discovered that the weapons the lizard held were his own hands. They were lightning fast, with the force of warhammers. The lizard's fists would crush the skulls and bones of the rat's that'd dare to come near him. At the same time, it looked like he wasn't taking any of them seriously. Most of the time, instead of going in for the kill, he'd just take another drink and just spin around the rats.
"Who are these two?" Maia questioned, both confused and impressed with the two.
"People that are capable to me." Jason said. He stomped on a ratman then beheaded another.
The group had gotten far into the lair of the rats. The Rat's Nest was apparently a very old street that had fallen underground many, many years ago. A part of the city that was just paved over and forgotten, left to the rats to use as their domain.
They passed by buildings that would house many ratmen. Archers would attack them from the second and third story windows. Rat warriors would charge out, ready to bring the pain and show their ferocity. And rat assassins, would claim only a couple lives when they left the shadows, only to be met by a quick end by blades and arrows.
The archers would be stopped by vigilant shields and accurate marksmanship. The warriors were led by both Alicia and Jason and brought to heel before being brought to the blade. The assassins were more successful than their other brethren when it came to kills, but Maia was swifter, her mind sharper, and her blades even bloodier. Joined by the samurai and lizardman, even the assassins were just barely effective.
There was finally a pause in the fighting. The rat's seemed to have backed off. Or maybe they just weren't in the area yet. It seemed they were in some kind of courtyard. Spacious, barely any defensible positions, but there were no good spots for an ambush. So even the rats couldn't perform sneak attacks and would need to attack head on.
In the middle of the courtyard was a large statue. Looked about twenty feet tall with the podium and the main statue combined. The statue was of a beastkin, unlike any other. He was a beast, with the head of a lion, horns of a ram, body of a man, and the wings and tail of a dragon. In his hand was a large sword, gracefully gripped and held aloft. On his head a simple crown and adorning his body a fine, kingly robe.
"Who is that?" Tachibana asked.
"Don't know." Jason replied honestly.
"That's the former ruler of Ansur." Fang answered. "Beskal the Magnificent."
"Oh yeah." Alicia realized. "I read about him. He was one of the first Shields to join up with Celestine."
"What a shame his likeness is left down here in the dark to rot." Prim said sadly.
Tachibana had nothing more to add to the conversation and walked ahead of them, past the statue. She looked at their map and pointed to a set of old ornate doors.
"Seems we must head that way." She said.
The samurai backed away when the doors groaned and opened up.
"What is that?" Out of the tall doors came rushing ratmen and a large, cloaked rat. This ratman stood two feet taller than his brethren, wearing raggy garbs that were once the cloaks of noblemen, decorated in an assortment of bones. He carried a staff that was an ugly rod, with three ratmen skulls placed as headpieces. The weirdest part though? Behind the Rat Mage was another ratman, fused to his back.
"What the fuck is that?" Maia said disgusted.
"Shit, it's a Plague Master!"
The rat mage chanted and unleashed a green glob. Everyone got out of the way as the glob splashed and melted the ground they once stood on. A poor soldier's foot got caught in the blast. He screamed and begged for someone to help him. Some of the men had no choice but to knock him out and drag him away. The acid pool did not dissipate though, instead it spread further, limiting their area of movement.
The Rat Mage threw his staff out and uttered something in their bizarre language. The ratmen charged at his command.
"What is that horrid thing?" Prim asked, disgusted. She fired her arrow, taking out a ratman.
"Plague Masters. Ratmen that specialize in biological forms of magic." Jason explained. He kicked a ratman away, flinging him into the stairs.
The rat mage saw his fellows getting beaten and conjured another spell.
"It's doing something again!" Maia warned.
"RAAAKK!" The Plague Master chanted. Green lightning shot out and grabbed two ratmen. The ratmen screamed and writhed as they were brought closer together. When they reached each other, the green light flashed brightly and all there was, was steam.
The steam vanished and revealed a ratman with two heads, three eyes, four arms, a pair of legs and a forked tail. Their clothes were gone, disintegrated by the spell. They snarled and snapped like a savage animal.
"What the—"
Maia was unable to finish that line as the newly formed ratman grabbed a pair of swords and struck at fast speeds. Maia just barely parried the twin ratman's sword blow.
"What did it do to them?!" Alicia shouted, bewildered by what she saw.
"The rats possess unique magic that can combine the strength of multiple ratmen into one." Jason explained while still fighting. "It's a very painful spell."
Maia blocked several more blows, but the twin-headed ratman slashed her armor with its extra pair of claws. They didn't do much other than scratch her armor, but it whittled away her defenses.
One advantage she had though was that the twin-head was savage. He was attacking with the ferocity of an animal. So, despite being faster and stronger, he was dumb and full of openings. Maia slashed her dagger and severed one of the four claws of the mutated ratman.
The twin-head screamed in pain. He looked at his bleeding stump, then refocused his anger on Maia. But the rogue was ready this time. The redhead blocked and deflected several more blows before she got in a deep cut on the rat's side. She got behind him then slashed both daggers down on his back. The ratman was getting angrier and angrier, but no amount of rage was helping him move further. Maia avoided another slash of claws, then swiped her own blade; severing another hand.
The ratman wailed in pain again. Maia crossed her daggers across his chest, spilling more blood. She finished it, by twirling her blades and shoving them into the left and right side of his face. Removing the daggers and flicking the blood, the mutant ratman fell dead.
"That was wonderful, Maia!" Prim praised.
"Stay sharp, the fight isn't over yet." Jason said seriously.
"RAGH! RAGH!" The Plague Master roared angrily. He waved his staff around and began chanting.
"I think he's about to create another ratman mutant." Alicia said worriedly.
"I got him!" Prim assured. "Archers, on me and fire!"
They fired a barrage of arrows. The ratman mage, swung his staff and deflected most of the arrows. A few only hit him in nonvital areas. The barrage didn't stop his pace of commuting the spell.
"I got this!" Maia tried next. She slipped past the attacking ratmen and managed to get behind the rat mage.
Just as she thought she would sink her twin blades into the mage's back, two large, single-edged blades blocked her sneak attack. The back-rat of the mage gave her a sinister sneer and returned her attack by trying to cut her head off. Maia backed away, but got a slight cut on her face and shoulder.
"Damnit!" She cursed. "This guy's got eyes in the back of his head!"
The back-rat chuckled and scraped his blades against each other, ready for any strike to come from behind.
The Plague Master finished his spell and fired green lightning from his staff.
"He's making another one?!" Alicia panicked.
"Let's find out." Jason said cryptically.
The two ratmen chosen for the fusion screamed and writhed like the last ones. Maia tried getting the mage to stop, but the back-rat kept blocking her way. The lightning brought the two ratmen closer and closer together, but then something happened. Just when they were in the middle of fusing, there was a white spark and then a resounding boom.
The spell failed and the two ratmen were reduced to red goo.
"The rat mage received a quick shock, paralyzing him for a while. Maia took her chance and struck. She plunged her knives int the ratman's body, then tore them out through the sides. The Plague Master stumbled forward. He tried raising his staff to perform another spell, but then was riddled by Prim and her archer's arrows.
The mage fell down the stairs and died at the bottom of them.
"Their plague master is defeated!" Alicia roared victoriously. "Finish the rest!"
Emboldened by the mage's defeat and the rallying cry of Alicia's declaration, the soldiers fought even harder and finished off the rest of the attacking ratmen. Though they lost a few more men in this assault, they still had plenty left to keep pushing.
When the fighting was over, the Shields and their allies gathered around the plague master and his two abominations. The twin-headed ratman and the pile of goo.
"What happened?" Tachibana questioned. "Why didn't his spell work on the last one? He turned his own people into viscera."
"The spell to combine bodies is . . . difficult. It requires immense focus, the right chanting, proper movements, and the right amount of mana." Jason explained. "There's a fifty-fifty chance that the spell will either succeed or fail. One wrong move and . . . that." He pointed to the red goo.
"Good to know that attempting the spell can be just as lethal to them as it is beneficial." Tachibana noted.
"Nothing beneficial about it. Their fusing two people together and there's only a fifty percent chance of actually succeeding." Alicia stated, disgusted. "Hopefully, we won't run into more of those mutants."
"More than likely we will." Jason said forebodingly. "Be prepared to see more mutants, everyone. Let's move on. Tachibana, how much further?"
The samurai pulled out the map and smiled. "We're almost there, Master. Just a bit further and we should be in the Lair of the Rat King."
"Then let's move."
. . .
The Alliance stood in formation, prepared for battle on the outskirts of Ansur. Well out of the range of the city's long-range defenses; the army looked on at what was waiting for them. Demons stood mockingly on the battlements and on the ground past the mote. The demons and kuroinu jeered and heckled the Army. Many of them still had women, restrained and subdued, and were raping them in front of everyone. They had men, crucified and tortured. Their pained wails haunted the Army's thoughts like the screams of the ravaged women.
The sight disgusted the army, but more so the Shields. Celestine glared. She could feel all of those people's pain and suffering. So many of them would need help when all of this was over.
Next to her, her right hand, Claudia, and her counterpart, Olga, were also glaring at the Kuroinu Army. Celestine could practically read Olga's mind through her eyes. She wanted to inflict as much pain and suffering on those dogs as they were doing to everyone else. But because of her weak magical abilities, she would be unable to.
"Olga, you need to stay here. Chloe will remain as well to protect you in case things go south."
Olga hmphed. "Tell me something I don't already know, Celestine. My magical powers are still lame; what could I possibly provide in this battle?"
Celestine gave the dark elf queen a sympathetic look and placed her dainty hand on Olga's smooth shoulder.
"I know you, Olga. Centuries apart and you're still the same old stubborn-headed girl."
"And you're still the same goody-toe-shoes that everyone adores."
"Please, Olga. I know you want to help, but please, just stay put and be safe."
Olga stared at Celestine for a long time. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. "I already said I would stay. No need to keep repeating yourself, Cel."
She removed the goddess's hand from her shoulder and stormed back to the War Carriage. Chloe followed behind, giving Celestine a narrow glare.
Claudia then walked up to her liege. "Will she do as you say, my lady?" The knight asked.
"If things go well, yes. Probably." She sighed. "I don't know." She then turned to Claudia and the battlefield. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, we need to cross that bridge and get past that wall."
She hated looking at the sight before her. But her army would crush the Dog's and their foulness.
"It is time my Army!" Celestine declared. "Time for us to take back our City-Fortress and bring down the Dog Army. May their taunts be drowned out by the sound of our roars and the clashing of our blades. May their hearts and spirits be crushed under our feet. And may they know just what kind of enemy they made this day."
. . .
. . .
"My Army!" Celestine started—
Claudia finished by unsheathing and raising her sword before shouting—
"CHAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGE!"
. . .
Jason's group had managed to fight their way to the Lair of the Rat King. Just behind a pair of large, brown, rotted doors, would be the throne room of the Rat King. It was the only known entrance to the area. But they needed to stop the rest of the Rat's Nest from swarming them as they confronted the Rat King. So, they had to decide to leave someone in charge of the men and hold the position, while a squad dealt with the Rat King.
"No way in hell." Alicia refused vehemently.
"Alicia . . ." Jason started.
"No! Why can't I join in taking down the Rat King? I can hold my own."
"I know you can. That's why I elected you to take charge of the rest while we deal with the Rat King. You're a good leader, with good judgement. I believe you can help us this way."
Alicia blushed from Jason's praising words. They were stronger, more sincere, here than they ever were during training. It almost made her forget her anger at being left behind, even if it did make her happy to hear Jason say she was perfect for the role.
"Why can't Tachibana do it instead?" She tried, giving the samurai a pointed look.
"Because I am sworn to protect my Goshujin-sama." Tachibana declared proudly.
"Because she doesn't inspire the troops like you can. You know how to strategize and how to make people fight harder and smarter."
Alicia still wanted to argue, but she had no argument to give. She was good at rallying troops. Rousing them to fight on, even to the death. In the past, some of her men even sacrificed themselves for her. An act she despised with her very soul. She knew how important figureheads were in war, but there was only so much sacrifice you could take. The next time someone was in danger, she was willing to jump on that sword. Jason snapped her out of that delusion though, because he was right. She was too important to lose, just as she was too important here. He saved her and inadvertently hundreds more.
She was not going to sacrifice if she could help it, but she would risk. For the good of Eostia and its people. For Prim. For Jason. For herself.
"Alright." She unsheathed her sword. "I'll guard this area with my life. We will not let a single rat through. On my honor. We will drive these vermin back with their tails between their legs, am I right men?!"
The soldiers gave loud cheers, raising their swords and bows and shields.
Though they couldn't see, Jason was smiling under his helmet. "Good."
"But next time you go on to fight a huge enemy, you bring me along okay?" Alicia smirked.
"We'll see…"
Suddenly, they could hear the sounds and skittering feet and the battle cries of ravenous ratmen.
"Go now! We'll hold them back." Alicia said, turning her back to them and staring down the charging ratmen.
Jason turned and started opening the doors. "I believe in you, Alicia. I love you!" Prim encouraged lovingly.
"And I you, my sweet sister. Now go."
Jason, Tachibana, Fang, and Prim strode into the lair of the Rat King. The entire room was a massive cylinder, with waterfalls running down the walls into a massive pool of water. In the center of the pool was a stone pedestal standing 30 feet above it. Four rickety, wooden bridges connected to it, each leading to a different door.
As the group walked across the bridge, they saw their target sitting in the shadows on a throne of trash and bones. Fitting for a creature of destitution.
"Who dares enter Our domain?" The Rat King spoke in his deep, scratchy voice.
As the group got close, they saw just how big the Rat-King was. Easily twice the size of his fellow ratmen and he was only sitting down. They still couldn't see him though; his whole body was shrouded in darkness.
"We are here for the Captain and any other prisoners you may possess." Jason spoke authoritatively.
"They are Ours. Especially the dear Commander. He has slaughtered many of Our brethren like rodents. Vault and Schmidt promised his demise, as well as a steady stream of women to increase Our brood. They are Ours by right."
"I am the true ruler of Ansur." Jason retorted. "Schmidt, nor Vault have any authority to do that. Hand over the hostages and surrender and no harm will come to you or your people."
The Rat King hissed. His red eye burned through the darkness. "The Kuroinu rule Ansur now. And you have killed many of Our kind this day, Shield. A price you will repay with your own blood." His massive claw was raised and then clenched.
. . .
. . .
Nothing happened for a long moment.
"Fire!" The Rat King suddenly shrieked. Still nothing happened. "You idiot, flea-brains, kill these trespassers!" The roar of the waterfalls was all that was answered.
Suddenly, a ratman archer fell to the ground with a thud.
"What?!"
Then two more archer fell to the ground just as dead.
Looking up, everyone saw Maia standing in the wall crevasses, her daggers stained with the blood of the foul creatures.
"I'm sorry, were you hoping for their help?" She taunted and kicked the last dead ratman into the pool below.
The body splashed and was followed by the chomping of and crashing of a bunch of alligators. The massive reptiles tore the body to shreds as they fought over what scraps could be ripped off.
Maia jumped down from the sniper's perch and rejoined her group, next to Fang.
"Will you surrender now, Rat King?" Jason asked. "Or will this end bloodily?"
The Rat King growled and glared. His red eyes tightened in the dark. Then more red eyes appeared on all over his body. One by one, six pairs of eyes blinked open. The Rat King stood up, showing his true height of eight feet, easily dwarfing any ratman they had faced previously.
He stomped forward with a heavy claw. Slowly out of the light he revealed his true visage. Black fur, riddled with bugs and bacteria. Claws, a mix of yellow and black nails that no doubt have never touched a bar of soap. Three long naked tails, braced with metal spikes. A face only a rat could love, with scars, sharp bucked teeth, dripping with halitosis and a furry, leathery face that was in a permanent snarl. But the most grotesque thing of all, were the six other rats fused to his body.
The first looked fused to the King's stomach, it had a head and both arms sticking out and holding a crossbow. The second was on the left shoulder, it was only half a face and had one arm holding a metal buckler. The third was below the right shoulder; it had a fully formed head and two arms holding a sword. The fourth was located on the right side of the King's waste. It was badly scarred and appeared to have some kind of rash, it had two arms and held a sword. The fifth had no nose and was missing some fur; in its hand was a sword. The last was located on the other side of the waste; this one was blind in one eye, had a missing ear and carried the same kind of shield as the shoulder rat did.
The Rat King was revealed in all his gruesome glory. He raised a pair of massive swords and released a battle-roar that was amplified by his fellow conjoined brothers. It echoed around the enclosed area, reverberating through everyone there.
"What the fuck?!" Maia said repulsed.
"Aw great." Jason groaned.
The Rat King charged, swinging his sword in a devastating arc that nearly killed the group. Had they not got out of the way and split, they'd be dead for sure. But it wasn't over. The other parts of the Rat King began swinging their weapons too. Maia had to duck under a sword swing. Tachibana had to back off or else get bashed by a shield. Fang bent at impossible angles, just barley slipping under the Rat King's attacks. Prim was the only one to keep her distance, launching arrows, but the Rat King was covered in all angles. All projectiles couldn't land. Jason's armor took a good hit with a sword, but he managed to get away before the Rat King could do some serious damage.
"What is with this guy?!" Maia shouted. She went low and tried taking out the Rat King's legs. But she was spotted and nearly got skewered had she not retreated at the last second. She couldn't avoid the kick however that sent her across the room.
Prim fired another arrow. It was aimed at his backside, but the Rat King blocked it with a shield.
Tachibana and Fang charged in to get close and maybe provide an opening for the pinkette. The frontal fused brother started firing his crossbow. The two dodged the incoming fire and made to aim for the annoying torso tumor. Unfortunately, the actual Rat King continued to swing his weapons and kept the two at a distance.
Maia and Jason rejoined the fight and helped out the samurai and Lizardman. Tachibana parried several attacks from one of the back rats, Maia went under her and tried to strike below, but was stopped yet again by a shield and batted away.
Fang was still dodging bolt fire. He danced around them and even caught and broke a few with his bare claws. Once he was close enough, he threw his fists and feet, only to be met with a shield and a blocking weapon. Despite being exposed, he got away from incoming attacks better than the others. He did manage to catch a few sword swings, but would have to retreat away from the sharp objects coming to harm him.
Jason deflected a swing and then got blocked by a shield. He activated his Haste spell to make himself faster, but the Rat King was still keeping up. His fastest attacks were still being perceived by the conglomeration of ratmen. He considered using his Flare spell, but he didn't want to waste a spell on someone that could see the attack coming.
Suddenly, Jason felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. One of the rat King's swords got him in the shoulder and then he got swatted away by a shield to the face. Thank Celestine for his helmet, or that might have shattered his skull. It did ring his bell though.
"Jason!" Prim ran to his side, a potion in hand.
"Don't." He refused. "The wound's not deep. And it's not poisoned. Save it for something worse."
"We can't get near him!" Prim yelled, frustrated.
"We need a new strategy." Jason said.
The Rat King laughed, which sounded like an echoing hiss. "Fools! You cannot break through Our defenses. My brothers can see all, hear all, smell all and feel all! We are the smartest. We are the strongest. We are RAT KING!"
"Ugh. This guy's voice is giving me a headache." Fang groaned, annoyed. "You need to bring down his defenses, boss? I got a plan."
Fang took a long, huge gulp of alcohol.
"This is no time to get drunk you useless lizard!" Tachibana berated harshly.
Fang said nothing and rushed straight toward the Rat King. He went for the rat that bore a shield. The rat raised his shield, but instead of an oncoming blow, Fang latched on and looked over. The rat was confused momentarily before he felt alcohol get sprayed in his eyes. Fang had spat his drink in the rat's face and the alcohol burned the rat's eyes causing him to shriek in pain.
The Rat King swung his sword at Fang, but the lizard was prepared for it. He caught it, then unexpectedly, he slashed his claws against the metal, making sparks fly.
The sparks landed on the alcohol covered rat, lighting a portion of the Rat King on fire. The Rat King's fused brethren screamed as they tried to put their brother out.
"Gotcha an opening, boss!" Fang declared woozily.
"Good work, Fang. Everyone! While his defenses are crumbling, ATTACK!"
They all ran in. The Rat King looked at them all fretfully. His brother was still on fire and suffering; they needed to put him out. But they also needed to watch out for the enemy. The Rat King swung his blades in long arcs, trying to keep the fighters away from him. His lower part kept firing bolts, hoping a lucky shot would kill or maim one of them.
Meanwhile, two of the fused-brothers kept trying to put their other fused-brother out. They were almost successful, but their brother would need healing salves. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in the rat's body. A dagger was flung by Maia and imbedded in his body. He saw Maia rush toward him. He quickly swung his sword, but missed. Maia went low and thrust her knife into the ratman. Then she grabbed the imbedded knife twisted it, then stabbed it again.
"NO!" The Rat King shouted. Maia was batted away by a shield. The Rat King could feel his brother's life eb away, little by little from blood loss. He took too much damage. "Brother, speak to Us." All that came out were wet gargles and chokes.
Three arrows suddenly invaded his being. The Rat King looked over and saw Prim and Jason shooting arrows and bolts. Both had managed to end the suffering of the burned rat and were now aiming for the others. The Rat King snarled and planned to charge the two for taking yet another brother from him.
Then Tachibana struck, forcing the Rat King to cross his swords to block. The two struggled for a moment, but then the Rat King smiled. The two looked down and saw his lower half ready to shoot the samurai.
"Sssoo Looong…" The lower half spoke. But then Fang rushed in and kicked the crossbow away. The Rat Man hissed menacingly in Fang's face. The lizardman just released a burp, the alcohol breath caused the lower brother to gag.
During this moment of distraction, Fang started wailing on the lower brother. His fast strikes broke bones and caused such internal bleeding, all the fused brethren were puking blood. Tachibana was keeping the Rat King's main body preoccupied, parrying his blows and delivering shallow scratches that would pain and distract him. The two would switch though, surprising the Rat King. Fang would grab the Rat King's swords, holding him back, and Tachibana would go for the lower brother, who was already blue-eyed from Fang's punches. Her sword slashes cut deeper and hurt even worse. While Fang deliver excruciating kicks to the main head, Tachibana would finish the lower brother, by severing his torso from the Rat King's main body.
"BROTHERRRRRR!" The Rat King became furious from losing yet another member of his body. Red was starting to invade the King's vision. His powerful mind was fading in favor of just killing everything and everyone that was in front of him.
The Rat King breathed deeply and sharply. His hair stood on end as he started to grip his swords hard to the point his knuckles were cracking.
The warriors backed off a bit, feeling something was wrong from the ratman's demeanor. They were right to do so.
The Rat King unleashed a hideous screech and charged at them at an even faster speed then before. His weapons struck and there was more power behind them. There was no blocking this time. One strike could very well be their last. The Rat King looked up and started swinging his swords erratically.
"What's with him?!" Maia yelled.
"He's going crazy!" Tachibana said.
"I think losing several of his fused brothers, plus the sheer amount of pain killing them, resulted him losing more of his intelligence and senses. Now he's just being reduced to an animal." Jason deduced.
He rolled under attack and again put some distance between himself and the rat King, but he was shocked to see the Rat King almost immediately in front of him.
"Shield!" Jason put up a force field around himself, just in time as the rat King delivered multiple devastating blows. Ones that made him struggle to hold the spell and cracked the earth around him.
Prim got the rat King's attention by shooting more arrows at the Rat King. He still had three more bodies on him and they were still watching his back. The Rat King turned to her with a snarl.
"Eep." Prim squeaked. The Rat Man roared and charged at her next. Prim fired arrow after arrow, hoping it would slow him down, but pain just didn't register to the ratman any more.
Before he reached him, Fang slid under the Rat King and tripped his leg. The Rat King stumbled down with a loud thud. Tachibana, Jason, and Maia jumped and started delivering attacks to his back. There were still two sword wielders and a shield bearer. The remaining rats fought the three off as best they could, but they couldn't adapt to losing their brothers. Their vision was cut in half, all of their senses were. Tachibana managed to stab one in the head, Jason lopped off the single arm of the shields, but Maia wasn't able to do much to hers except cut it up.
The Rat King got back up, throwing all three off of him. He roared and hissed on all fours like the animal he truly was. He scratched the floors with his sharp nails as he headed for the nearest attacker, Fang. The lizardman just stood still, with only his drunken wobbling as his only movement.
Then when the Rat King was close enough, he round-house kicked the Rat King, right in the face. His teeth shattered upon contact with the lizard's heel. The Rat King stumbled a bit, dazed by the blow. Then, a great weight slammed into his back. Fang had lept into the air and performed an aerial drop kick that knocked the wind out of the Rat King and broke even more of his body. In fact, the last shielder was dead from the blow.
The Rat King was down and momentarily too weakened to fight.
Jason strode on top of the Rat King's back and grabbed the last rat on his body. The fused-back-rat screamed and begged, and he even tried biting Jason, but the mercenary held him tight in a grip by the arm.
"Pleeeeaassse…" The Ratman begged.
Jason just coldly stared at the Rat King. Red eyes glowed behind the black interior of his helmet, silencing the rat with fear.
Jason gripped tighter and started to pull . . . and pull . . . and pull . . . and pull . . . and pull, until . . .
"SSSSSSKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Jason had ripped the last fused rat from the Rat King's body. The pain was enough to snap the Rat King out of his stupor and go completely crazy. The Rat King was reduced to a gibbering and twitching mess; an actual rat. He was bouncing off the walls and scrambling, knowing nothing of what was going on, only that he was in extreme pain and wanted it to end.
Everyone just jumped out of the Rat King's way. He wasn't tying to attack them, but he would unintentionally crush them underfoot if they weren't careful. Jason chose to be merciful and take out his sword. When the Rat King got close enough, he swung his sword, severing the rat's arm.
The Rat King tumbled and fell off the ledge and plummeted into the water below. The splash was huge and drew all the alligators to him. The Rat King emerged from the water, flailing about as alligators started tearing him apart. But just when the group thought he would suffer a slow death, an alligator, ten times the size of the other ones emerged head first from the water, the Rat King fully in its mouth, and then snapped shut. The Rat King was gone in an instant.
"By the goddess . . ." Maia breathed. Prim covered her mouth in shock, but remained quiet. Tachibana just stared unflinchingly, and Fang just gave a half-hearted salute before taking a drink. Jason didn't bother with any reaction and just turned away. They still had a mission to do.
"Enough gawking." He said. The mercenary grabbed the body he severed barehanded and dragged it toward the direction of Alicia and the troops. "There is still one of us fighting right now."
The others quickly gathered what he said and followed. He was right. Despite the boss being defeated, the fight wasn't over until all of them stopped fighting.
They opened the doors and found Alicia and her men fighting. The hall was practically barricaded with ratmen bodies. Blood pooled everywhere and made the place slick. Ratmen were tripping over their own kind, but hardly many seemed to care. Despite so many bodies, there seemed to be an endless number of them. And Alicia was holding them all back.
She was commanding her men, to pull back and then push. Those that ere hurt or severely wounded were looked after and if they could keep going, they would be sent back out into the fray. Alicia not only encouraged her men with strong words, but she also fought alongside them. Jason watched her cut down rats like they were test-dummies. It was impressive to watch, but he wasn't there for the spectacle.
When the doors opened the fighting nearly stopped. Jason stood atop the steps to the rat King's Throneroom and held in the air the severed body of one of the Rat King's fused.
"Your King is dead." Jason declared succinctly. And then tossed the body onto the floor.
The ratmen looked on at the body and then looked fearfully up at Jason and the others. All of who were covered in blood.
"The King is dead!"
"They slayed the King!"
"All is lost!"
"Run for your lives!"
All the rats started running like the rats they were. Crawling over each other and pushing each other to escape the great murderers of their beloved Rat King.
Alicia and the rest cheered at seeing them all flee, raising their weapons in the air. Alicia walked over to Jason and gave him a big hug; despite being covered in blood. She looked up at him and smiled cheekily.
"What took you so long?" She said.
"The rat King was a challenge." He answered honestly. "You held your own. As I knew you would. Good job."
Though he couldn't see it because of all the blood, Alicia was blushing from his praise and confidence.
"Alicia, sister." Prim interrupted. "We still have many others to save. You'll need to let go of Sir Jason if we are to do so."
"Agreed." Tachibana glared. "The master still has a mission to complete. Isn't that right, Master?"
Alicia glared at the two for subtly trying to break up their moment. But then he r look changed to a pout when Jason agreed with the two and released Alicia. The blonde reluctantly let go, but swore revenge on her cousin and the samurai.
"Let's go get Commander Krieg and then get the hell out of here." Jason walked back to the Rat King's room and searched for the area where the captives were being held.
After a bit of searching, they found Krieg, chained and locked in a stockade. Inside the dungeon like room were several other prisoners. Mainly women who had dead looks on their faces, but they were very much alive. Jason could guess what happened to them, rats were known for their breeding habits. And as he said previously they were known for their gruesome spells. Many of the prsioners looked like they were experimented on. Some looked like they were subjecs of the fusion spell. Others looked like they were burned, but not by fire or acid. Other had regular rats or bugs crawling around inside them.
Krieg looked like he got the slow treatment. He was stripped down to his underwear, his body looked like it was slowly and lightly doused with acid. His left ear was cut off and he was kneeling in a pool of his own excrement and piss. He had several fresh scars on his body. Jason believed the rats harvested some of his organs.
Jason ordered his release. Once the troops got him out of the stockade he groaned and looked up.
"S-Sir B-Bellum . . .?" Krieg wheezed then promptly passed out.
"He looks terrible." Prim said concerned.
"That's an understatement." Fang drawled.
"The rats did a real number on him. The Rat King must have really hated his guts." Maia added. She looked around. "They all look beaten to hell . . . and worse."
"Those damn rats." Alicia growled. "I wish we had slaughtered them all."
"That would have been difficult. The rats have been prolific in Ansur for years. You would have fought a whole city's worth." Fang said, taking a long drink from the depressing sight.
"We'll get them all out of here. We have enough men to help them here. Tachibana, is there someplace safe we can take them?"
Tachibana nodded. "Yes, the Resistance's Headquarters. They should be waiting for us and they're always providing aid to those the Kuroinu harmed."
"How are we gonna get out of here though? This whole place is like a maze." Alicia said.
Tachibana smiled. "While looking for this room, we found a tunnel system that can take us to where we need to go. If I'm right, we can avoid a lot of Kuroinu patrols while we safely transport the people."
Jason nodded. "Very well. You heard the woman! Gather every prisoner you can find. Clothe them, cover them, give them a little food and water and help anyone that can't walk. Once we get topside . . ." He put an arm over Krieg's shoulder and helped carry him. "It's time to get back to the real fight now."