The Karcist and the Lord
a S.C.P. Foundation Mythos x M.G.E. crossover
Chapter 22: Preparation and Banishment
Kiraak Avolna outskirts, Situated in between the border of Lescatie and the Order-held city of Teladva.
As Karcist Voltor examined the fields and forests between him and Lescatie, he raised a hand to scratch his chin with. While he was still wearing his old Human body form the chest up, he looked like a odd spider creature below. Unlike the so-called Arachnane however, he only had three legs, arranged in a tripod manner, and his thorax contained an acid spray that could melt steel as easily as flesh and bone. His hands also ended in claws, which were razer sharp, and looked more akin to nails of bone then claws, jutting out straight from his fingers, which were thicker then normal. He turned to an eagle perched on his shoulder.
"What do your eyes see, Grin-soko?" he asked, his voice raspy as though he was trying to talk while being strangled. The eagle looked at him, then preened it's back, where a bulge could be seen. Further stretched veins covered the eagles body, with the biggest one leading up to the bird-of-preys eyes.
I see nothing yet approaching from the ground, But I do see what the people here call Slyphs and other so-called Air elemental Mamono in the skies. If we are to succeed in this plan, superiority of the skies above the battlefield will be necessary. However, they aren't interested in us yet. Grin-soko explained, the Halkost of the spider bodied Karcist inspecting his body. If you require me to gain further insight, I will need to fly. As we are the only ones around at the moment, I would not recommend separating for now.
"Agreed. Is there anything else you notice that we should look out for?" the Karcist asked.
There is a Mamono that is releasing some kind of spore on the way to the Kiraak. Might be a Matango, so I suggest sending the Unbreathing One to deal with her wile she is afar. While they still can't seduce our kind with their spores like with our unblessed kin, it will likely render us docile, and thus vulnerable to any future attacks. That is all for now. With a nod, Voltor telepathically connected with the other Halkost, that being the Unbreathing One, taking control of it like a puppeteer using manipulating his doll-like constructs with strings mentally.
He was initially rendered unable to sense anything, a momentary weakness from occupying more then one body. When his mind cleared, he saw out of two pairs of eyes, smelled with two sets of nostrils, so on an so forth. The Unbreathing One crawled forwards, a prototype of sorts made by Voltor, who was also heading to the Kiraak to get out of the open. It then burrowed into the ground, before charging in the direction it was given.
**POV SHIFT**
Ami was trudging towards her village home. It had been weeks (Or was it days?) since she last saw Jach, the man from whom her heart pined for. She encountered a mushroom like Mamono, but it did not harm her. In fact, it opened her up to the feelings she had hidden away. She wanted him, so much so she was willing to bring the Monster with her to the village. Damn what the Order say, she will have Jach, and this Matango will pave the she looked back, she examined the Mamono, which had fused to her back.
"We're almost here now. Just a few more miles, then we'll fid happiness at last." Ami said, giggling in a manner that would creep those who heard it.
"Yes, good. With that, we'll indulge our husbands, spoil them, and make them want only us. And we will also bring happiness to your fellow Humans." The Matango replied, breathing out another wave of mind-altering spores into the Human womans' face as she whispered similar words to encource her host. A snapping and grumbling sound could be heard, drawing both females' attentions to what was ahead of them. There was enough time for them to process something coming toward them at high speed underground, as a rolling bulge of dirt, grass, rocks and other ground materials was kicked up. Ami just managed to dodge the claw that came out, which then sunk back into the ground as she side stepped her attacker. She watched as whatever it was that rushed her sunk into the ground, the noises growing quiet as it disappeared. She saw the rip it made in the process, the evidence of the thing being real.
What was that? Ami thought, as she felt vibrations from where she was standing she cried as she tried to jump away, by this time the two claws came out about a foot from each other, and spun in the same direction, catching and cutting her legs off by the knees as one of them caught her in mid-air. As crimson blood splattered the ground, Ami screamed and cried out in pain, and the Matango cried out as well, feeling the same pain her Human host felt from the attack, and also from being crushed when the Human fell on her back. As Ami tried to crawl away after turning around, the Matango covered her eyes as an explosion of dirt when their attacker revealed itself. It looked like a tan-colored Greenworm, but the face was replaced with a mouth dripping an acidic substance. A sizzling could be heard as droplets of the liquid landed on the ground. The many legs of the mutant Greenworm looking thing were also clearly weaponized, as instead of the grappling pads the Mamono had, there were spiked claws, folded into its body to form a stream-lined body. They were arranged radially in four pairs on every third segment, and the ones facing the two women unfolded and struck the ground as it bent over, and started to crawl towards them. Along the body, it also had fine hairs which moved about like insect antennae, and the 'head' reared up as well, the claws attached to that part having an additional third pair of claws. Thin nubs that resembled figernails that were more akin to Greenworm feet were also lined up along the body, interpose between the claws.
"NO! GO AWAY!" The Matango screamed, the beast crawling towards them as it dived down. "ROLL!" The Mamono screamed, her host immediately complying without delay. However, the beast thing swerved at the same thing, and it's claws came out and caught the two, stabbing Ami in the stomach and her shoulder. They also came out those respective body parts of the Matango, who coughed up a light brown and chunky substance that was basically her blood mixed with a liquid version of her spores. Ami let a gurgling and pained filled groan, before the Mamono connected to the burning sensation of her hosts' face being sucked into the acid-filled mouth. As her host flailed and hit the creature with no effect, the Matango cut her losses and disconnected from the Human, the shared pain of dissolving alive becoming too much to bear. The Mamono slid off, free from the claws, her fungal 'blood' acting as a lubricant for her to slip away and heal. However despite what the Mamono thought in terms of getting away, the thing turned, and without the misaiming that it showed previously, stabbed the fungus Monster to death with the free claw she was in range of, who cried out for help until she was nothing but a ripped and torn corpse. Ami then finally went limp, as her body was drawn in and digested by the creature, which afterward used its hairs to find the Matango by scent.
After eating both of their bodies, the creature planted its 'head' into the ground, and folded in its blood-covered claws as the ground vaporized, and the nubs took control in moving it underground while the sections on the surface were moved by the claws, until it disappeared, only two tunnels and blood stains evidence of the killing that took place, an eagle soaring over head watching this unfold swooped away, back to to wherever it roosted.
**POV SHIFT**
Karcist Voltor stretched out his arms, as he simultaneously sat back and rested against his seat at the Kiraak and made his way back to store the Unbreathing One in his personal chambers. He then stopped it, decided to eat what he sensed was a Wurm based on the lumbering footsteps he felt from above, using the same method he used to catch the Matango and her host, but this time slowed down to avoid arousing the Dragon Mamonos' attention, and stopped it before it breached, and tried one more test of its front claws. It was difficult, but he succeeded in getting the Unbreathing Ones head claws to set themselves up so they could shoot forwards with ease from the ground. As the thudding of the Wurm could be sensed directly above it, Voltor shot himself forwards which simultaneously having the claws swipe out, taking the Mamono Dragoness by surprise. Her cry of shock was cut short, as Voltor felt the bone and chitin blades stab her heart, lungs, front legs, and liver while his acid-filled mouth began to digest the dead creature from the inside out. The Karcist tried to pull her in, but realized he couldn't move backwards due to the shape of the claws and how the movement nubs that the Unbreathing One could not actually get a grip on the soil backwards. After a moment of intense rage filled him, Voltor calmed down and collected himself.
Well, better to find out a flaw was in my design now then in the heat of battle. Still, this is going to be tedious as reshaping this one. The Karcist thought as he grabbed a fruit made by one the trees one of his Voluntaar made after fusing a plant Mamono and her husband into one being, then used her magic to shape. The trees functioned as a primary food source, reducing the need to hunt, and thus allowing the Sarkics to gather in bigger numbers as well as to focus more on preparing for war. Karcist Voltor then had the Unbreathing One come back after devouring the Wurm, and directed his thoughts on how to remake his weapon.
Obviously, it needs the ability to retreat, but the ability to use spores to mind control whoever is fighting it? He could find a use for that, but in another creature. The delna that Wurm had could be useful in replacing the nails that were the Unbreathing Ones' main mode of transport, as well as replacing the soft and fragile skin with Dragon-hide. He then smiled, as that got him thinking.
"Is something got happy, my Karcist?" one of his concubines, a woman who walked in with a body which was remade by him for breeding said as she walked in, dressed in thin veils and a scarf. Her belly was full, and she walked over to the bed.
"Ah, just imagined some of my future creations and what they'll look like Aphra." Voltor said, then started to get up as she winced and grabbed her stomach, his smile turning to a blank look as he waited for her to say something. When she got back up and into the bed she shared with him, he settled back down and went back to eating his food.
"This bed is cold with only one you know." Aphra said in a sultry tone, causing the Karcist to smirk as he came over. "Mind bring some of those fruits over as well? I'm feeling famished."
**POV SHIFT**
Pandemonium
As the Fallen God was sitting at her throne, her court and their husbands were trying to plan out the details on where the Sarkics were nesting and how to flush them out. Currently two of her corrupted Valkyries were arguing over the locations and development of the Kiraaks.
"The next set of nest sites are all located at these points around the borders of the Mamono territories here, here, and here. All of these are Kiraaks, meaning they double as a fortress as well as home for the Cult of Nalka. Furtheermore, they-"
"How did they get such large structures up so quickly? It is barely a week and these abominations are already embedded into the world harder then a Jubjub clinging to her husband."
"They force fed some poor sap they captured and torture them into growing into a Kiraak. That is the fast, but more likely to fail way of creating one. The slower, but more stable way is to gradually feed a priest from their number with multiple sacrifices, and then direct their growth overtime as the Kiraak develops. Which is likely why they're currently focused on capturing our fellow Monsters alive instead of outright killing them. That's what I was able to gleam from what little information the cultists at Royal Makai revealed." When a Dark Angel came into the room, she had a visibly nervous look, and had a scroll with the seal of the Monster Lord on it. Everyone had already guessed it, but paled anyway when the contents were read, to the shock at it actually being done.
"By the power which the Monster Lord has been granted in me as one of her daughters, I, Adeline the 14th, do declare the Cult of the Fallen God in rebellion and damaging to the will of the Monster Lord herself. They have repeatedly slaughtered Humans through the Order-aligned kingdoms of the world, killing men and women and children alike. Despite the reprimands that was issued, despite the warnings we gave, and despite all our pleas to cease and desist, they have continued to do so. As a result of these actions and crimes against those who are against us solely due to ignorance, I have been given no recourse but to put a vote on the issue with my mothers counsel. It has been decided 5-4 in favor for, and thus I am to finally declare the Fallen God, who has wrought destruction and slaughter against Humanity, a traitor to the will of the Monster Lord. They are to be considered an active threat to both Mamono and Humanity, a terror upon the land, and all are to cut off any ties with the Fallen God. Thus is the will of Royal Makai." the Dark Angel announced, as a still and cold tension filled the room.