Chapter 57: The Glorious Halls of Hammerdeep
Que the Intro
(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)
That Night… Tatsumi found himself in an awfully familiar place having a nightmare that he'd had before; once again outside Grundwick manor and again the shed the full of corpses, Sayo's among them; again, with Akame and Leone and of course with Aria full demon face on display. "They were just a bunch of hicks from the countryside how dare she have better hair then me" Aria stated.
"Well are you going to let me kill her now?" Akame asked, Tatsumi looked at her.
"No" Tatsumi replied and put his hand on his sword then stopped; looked at Aria then at Akame and Leone. "You know why?" Tatsumi asked.
"Why? How are you still defending her after all she's done" Akame asked.
"Because one simple reason: None of this is real; none of it, I've had this happen seven times already and the same result; this is a dream and a nightmare that keeps happening no matter what and every time before I've drawn my blade and killed the woman I love more than anyone else in the world; Akame if you want to kill her you'll have to kill me first" Tatsumi replied and stepped in front of Aria without his sword drawn Akame readied Murasame, Aria held him protectively. "Just remember that you'll be killing the man you most too; same goes for you Leone; but also everyone in that building is alive; you know why because this is a dream and no matter how many times Volgoth can torment my dreams with that damned Teigu of his I'm in control; and because of that you won't kill me" Tatsumi replied, Akame tried to bring herself to use the weapon but dropped the sword.
"Tatsumi is right; none of this is real" Sayo replied walking out from the shed no longer stained with blood and with both legs but still naked; Akame and Leone relaxed.
"You're right Tatsumi; I love you more than any other man and no other man would do" Akame replied; Tatsumi then took full control of the dream; the scene changed and they found themselves inside the Imperial bedroom all four women were clad in the garb of Empresses with Tatsumi as Emperor.
"You know since this is a dream? Which means we aren't the real deal" Leone commented.
"I know, but just because this is a dream doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the love I have for the four of you in real life and let's make that dream even better" Tatsumi replied immediately all five of them found themselves in only their skin; Tatsumi kissed Sayo who was in front of him; Leone and Akame kissed his cheeks and Aria who was behind him wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the side of his face, they moved to the bed Sayo mounted him bringing his length inside him while Akame and Leone tended to his nipples Aria straddled his face and he worked his tongue magic, the dream escalated further and Volgoth was roaring in anger in Melitine as Tatsumi had broken the spell; he then attempted to attack the dreams of those close to him but the results were the same in fact Suzuka appeared to enjoy nightmares and Esdeath didn't give two shits. As Tatsumi's dream continued more members of his harem joined in on the fun and afterward the dream shifted again, and he found himself looking at the women he loved all holding his children each unique but each resembling their parents in one way.
"You still remember this is a dream?" Aria asked him leaning on his shoulder holding two babes one girl and one boy.
"We'll make it a reality, all of us will and we'll like in a new world one rid of evil that has ravaged it and stained my dreams one where I'll sleep better at night" Tatsumi replied and kissed her. The dream ended and Tatsumi found himself awake in bed with the two Francian princesses he had married asleep and naked on either side of him. "Well I've got a busy day ahead," Tatsumi thought.
One day later… Tatsumi's journeys were quickened as he was now on the time limit, in order to make pacts and rally the willing he used his greatest asset to advantage; his harem of wonderful wives each of whom could take a diplomatic mission to every kingdom possible however there was one group he had to visit himself: the Dwarves. Tatsumi had Umber to one side Dorothea to the other; Aria and Esdeath were near at hand but other than them, Mashiro, Cassandra, Pais, Roxanne, Seryu, Najenda and his protectors the rest of his harem had gone on diplomatic missions based on their skills as diplomats; Tatsumi looked at the sight as they left Umber's airship which had been parked on a high hill, high mountains the tops of which Tatsumi couldn't see as they stretched into the clouds loomed in front of him but the foremost was the tallest peak which was far different from the others. Great statues of Dwarven Kings of Ages past each as tall as skyscraper loomed in front of a massive gate decorated with gold and taller than the royal palace of Melitine; statues of similar make but smaller in stature lined a long road near a grassy plain that lead to the gate but also great constructs were carved into the mountain walls. The greatest sight however was the giant tower with a large carving of a hammer above the gate topped by the carved head of a dwarf. "Wow," Tatsumi said aloud.
"Aye, that Tatsumi is my home along with the home of every dwarf that came with me and many dwarves besides, the largest and greatest of all Karaks or holds as you humans call them, the sacred keep glorious Hammerdeep" Umber explained, she had dawned the dress of Dwarven princess her honor guard to either side of her, Dwarni was near at hand too.
"It's- even grander than I imagined" Tatsumi replied.
"I second that; I've never seen anything like that even the other Dwarf holds they pale in comparison" Esdeath commented
"I'm glad to hear ye are impressed by it, personally for us it's not having the impact but likely because we live here; but I and I'm fairly certain every dwarf with me is glad to see it; more so to go home; it's been a year nearly two since we last saw it and going inside will be a wonderful experience; let's not dally any more lets go now" Umber replied and beckoned for them walk; Tatsumi did so they soon stepped from the hill onto the polished stone road which he had seen stretching from Stangard on Imperial western border; this road was made of smooth polished stone and while the Imperial one had been quite maintained the road her was immaculately maintained with brass plates fitted to the sides of the road itself; the stone was of smooth white marble and was easy on the feet to walk on; they took 20 minutes of marching to reach the gate in front of which loomed Dwarven sentinels were state of the art and decorated with gold and while Tatsumi had seen them from a distant he hadn't been able to make out the dwarven sentries these dwarves were clad in the most ornate but strongest armor in the world; each set was equivalent to Teigu armor and they carried large halberds easily capable of skewering a fully grown bear along with large tower shields taller than the Dwarves themselves with tall helmets worn on their heads, some carried great axes while others sported massive Warhammers all however had the proudest and most well-groomed Dwarven beards Tatsumi had ever seen. "The Holdguard, mind your manners, Emperor Tatsumi, they are some of the most stern and stalwart Dwarves on the face of Eden they also very suspicious of outsides; best let me do the talking; they are extremely quick to take offense if you don't mind your manners" Umber explained when she noticed Tatsumi's eyes on them.
"Halt!" A proud Dwarven warrior bellowed, easily a Thane as his armor was even more ornate then the armor of his compatriots with armor made of Adamantine and festooned with gold, gems and silver of the kind that came from deep mining, his halberd was also more ornate then the others too, the halberds as a whole used metal shaves not a weapon used wood in the construction because Dwarven strength according to Umber would break weapons with wooden hafts in a prolonged battle even the strongest wood in the world wouldn't cut it so weapon hafts were forged with the weapons themselves. "Who comes before the gates of Hammerdeep?" the Dwarf asked his beard was perhaps the most well-kept of them all braided white hair with golden clips holding the braids his eyes were stern and he reflected the look of dwarf with many years of experience a Longbeard in the true sense.
"Thane Dwarnrock your princess returns to Hammerdeep!" Umber shouted.
"With Umgi as well? How fared your travels in the lands of the Empire, also I see with you Dwarves from other clans what brings them and the Umgi with them here" Dwarnrock replied.
"They come with my blessing to come and entreat before my father the High King, the Dwarves are of the Northern and Eastern clans and wish to bring good news of the holds, the humans are of the New Golden Dragon Empire but have proven themselves thru their deeds to be worthy to come before my Father's throne" Umber explained.
"Aye I can vouch for Tatsumi, he slew a Tyrant and liberated the greatest of Northern Holds from the vile monster, he also wed me and my Father King Throi gave me his seal as proof" Gala commented, Dwarnrock looked at her. "The Icebeard and Stonehammer clans give Emperor Tatsumi their respect and blessing and will honor the Oath of old, Demons have returned for the first time in centuries; the High King must be informed of these tidings at once" Gala explained.
"I can vouch for it I've seen and fought them myself; now open the gates and allow us entry" Umber explained.
"Aye that we will do; I expect however the Umgi to behave themselves especially since they are imperials; an Imperial hasn't seen the inside of Hammerdeep in over 5 centuries; let it be known though that I must have you swear before Oathgold; also that you will be watched at all times mind your manners and treat honorably we will be watching and doing so closely" Dwarnrock replied.
"Then you will let us in?" Mashiro asked, Tatsumi looked at Dwarnrock who looked rather irritated.
"Aye; but mind yourself, those who come Hammerdeep and before the High King himself along with the Council of Clans are expected to be on their best behavior, no mumbling, grumbling or arguing and do not under any circumstances speak an untruth or guiled scheme those have no place in our halls" Dwarnrock replied he then turned to two Dwarves and barked out orders in their language, the two dwarves then went nearby overlooks upon each of which a horn resided and sounded the horns; a loud hum! Hum! Resounded throughout the valley and the great gates moved a myriad of gears were heard as tumblers turned and the gates opened. "Mind your manners in the halls; we'll have you speak before Oathgold now" Dwarnrock replied and four dwarves brought out a large Oathgold carving about the size of the table with another bringing a bag, Tatsumi took out the Oathgold that Umber had given him and placed it on the table, she in turn along with the other members of their company brought up Oathgold of their own, the dwarves then swore oaths in their language and then after doing so bid Tatsumi and his entourage to do the same; the oaths as it stood were similar to the ones sworn at previous holds but were far longer and more solemn as this was the first of all Dwarven Holds where their race first struck the earth and delved the deeps. After these oaths were sworn they were led inside; amongst the dwarves horns sound a hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, and their bass voices joined it oh, oh, hum oah, hum before singing "The world was made with mighty hands. A blessing rests upon our lands. Our home we wrought a sacred keep, the glorious halls of Hammerdeep!" At this drums began sounding and harps called out as dwarves moved to join them, then the song continued. "The craftsman shapes eternal art. The world seeks out the merchants cart, at banquet hall where blood is strong the Dwarven mines ring out in song!" at this they marched into the first deep a great concourse and forum where merchants of all kinds traded all manner of goods. They continued singing. "Where jewels drive the dark away. Where night becomes as bright as day. An honest end from an honest start, for wealth is found inside the heart. Where truth is crowned as king of all and guile is a bitter gall, here sweat must flow before the ale and apron dawned before the mail. But when a Dwarf is sent to war; he pines for home his heart is sore. Though never was such bravery nor strength of hand or weaponry!" They moved further in. "Dwarven fire is raging heat, his foe is fallen at his feet, the painful cries the spirit stalls of evil when the hammer falls!" the song then became somber "The World bemoans the lifeless hands, the Dwarves who died to keep their lands the valiant souls of Hammerdeep shall echo in eternal sleep" then the temp upped again for the climax. "The water flows, the fire glows, with hammers blows the kingdom grows, we work to set the earth a right to build our realm of Dwarven Might!" and with this the song concluded.
"Hammerdeep mightiest and noblest of Karaks, first in the hearts of all dwarves from the making of the world; our sacred keep let us hearken now and rejoice for here we are at home," Umber remarked, the dwarves around her shouted "Aye" to that and from there Dwarnrock and the Gateguards returned to their posts. Tatsumi took in the sight and looked up first the ceiling seemed to go on for miles and lamps of crystal were festooned above it all was a giant lamp made of sapphire that had been hollowed out but inside which was luminescent crystal that allowed it to shine with the light of one of Eden's suns. The structures of the first deep were many and tall with great markets and shops about, Tatsumi could see dwarves from all over the world along with many human merchants and those of other peoples; even some Tsuwangdani and Giants were among them. Everyone took in the sights and Tatsumi noted Akame drooling at the smell of freshly cooked meals from restaurants but other than that she showed restrained.
"This is-"Tatsumi started and Umber looked at him.
"Home, for me and all my kin, to a human though especially the first Imperial monarch to set forth in these halls since the Great Betrayal I can see in your eyes that it is one of the greatest marvels you've ever seen, this is just a first deep it gets even grander and more beautiful the deeper it goes; I'll show you the sights but not until after we've concluded your business my father is a busy Dwarf and one who insists on getting work done right but also that those bringing news do so promptly" Umber replied. "Come follow me I know my way to my childhood home; oh and do know my father can be quite- stern for one, but also he has very long memory, he's been alive for longer than the Empire has been around and seen it rise up and fall apart" Umber explained "He also knew a number of your ancestors personally including three Emperors that share your name, mind you he considered the first of your name to be his best friend and he's never been quite the same since the War, many dwarves now rest in eternal sleep including his sons, any child he had before me as I was the child of his second marriage lies now at rest in the Great hall of Ancestors, and he mourns as much the lives lost by every dwarf and Imperial that fell in that damned war; so keep that in mind when you approach him, also he and I aren't exactly on the best of terms because of my- free spirited nature and lack of patience in addition to the many complaints he's gotten from the engineer's guild over the years about me, can I help it if they want to take decades testing something that really only needs a few months to test or that actual field tests are often better then wasting time in ranges; I digress just mind your manners and your bearing; oh and don't kneel you and him are equals when it comes to rank" Umber explained.
It took about an hour to arrive at their destination, chiefly because Umber decided to take the scenic route half out of a desire to show the place off and half out of a desire to prepare herself and Tatsumi to face her father when they arrived in the Seventh Deep the Grand Palace of the Dwarven High King loomed above an amazing Dwarven city larger than any other one Tatsumi had seen, they were miles underground at this point and the city underground was larger than Melitine about five times the size and the palace well it made the Imperial palace look like a small wooden keep; the entire structure was decorated with gold, silver and other precious metals and stones, statues of great dwarven kings and of their gods and great beasts loomed alongside spires and minarets that dotted the structure; no the palace could have easily held the entirety of Melitine's upper ring inside. "Is that?" Tatsumi asked flummoxed.
"Aye that is the royal palace, the testament of dwarven labors and stern hands, it was built thousands of years ago, when the world was young and it was a combined effort by every clan; legends tell that it took five years to build and 10 to decorate but it was worth the effort, every High King since the first Fathers of our race has dwelt there and sat the Oathgold Throne, in order to keep our race united the seven fathers agreed that the High King would be elected from the Kings of each clan, the selection would take two years during which time those for whom were eligible would travel the world accomplishing feats and bringing back treasure and tales with eventually the most qualified among them being selected via a vote; each hold has a vote and a candidate must garner a super majority of said votes, when all is said done the High King or Queen who is also ruler of their own clan will sit the throne until death whereupon the cycle will begin, there has not been a point in our history in which dwarf fought dwarf willingly unlike humans our people have means of settling disputes without resorting to such measures and they've worked for millennia" Umber explained.
"So, Dwarves have never had a war when they fought each other?" Tatsumi asked.
"Never; it's not our nature and we have ways that can settle disputes without such horrid measures needing to be taken" Umber explained, she then looked at Tatsumi. "Our races are different from each other Tatsumi remember that; now if you think the palace is a marvel outside let us see the inside.
It took about a half-hour to navigate the city to the palace, the guards allowed them entry the moment Umber arrived, word had already been sent and the High King was expecting them, Tatsumi took only glances as the grandeur inside the palace as he was being led to the throne room, whenever he tried to ask Umber questions she told him "Not now after the meeting" and he stopped asking; the throne room door was a grand sight and- fully automated it slid aside before Tatsumi could marvel at the spectacle; horns were sounded and Tatsumi took in the throne room which was bright with walls of purest marble that had been decorated with gems and silver; looming above it stood a throne, massive in size made entirely out of Oathgold with runes etched into it; to the side of it was another throne of lesser size but still of Oathgold and no less impressive.
Seated in each throne was a dwarf, one male the other female, the High King, and his wife. "Come before me" the High King beckoned, Tatsumi and Umber advanced followed by their protectors; Tatsumi looked at the King who now that he was closer could make out his features. The Dwarven High King named Durin III Goldenbeard was an old dwarf, a true longbeard but not past his prime just yet; his beard that had been blonde in his youth was now snow-white, his face marred by wrinkles and by scars held all the seriousness and sternness expected of a Dwarf of his station and age; his crown was made of Aetherium and Gold with the carved figure of seven Dwarves around a mountain atop it, bellow the figure was a bright many-colored gem of a kind Tatsumi had never seen before that had been shaped in the shape of a hammer, beneath that seven gems of seven different types and colors shined below; he wore a thick coat lined with the fur of an Ijirok and made out of velvet that had been refined to the softest possible fabric, he wore a fine set of the most well-crafted armor imaginable that was blue and gold in coloration and made of pure Aetherium; images against of seven stars around a hammer decorated the chest plate; to his side was a Warhammer of the kind meant for one hand that was a Teigu obviously but was so well shaped and decorated you'd think it was ornate it had two heads with the center of it having the image of a dwarf carved into it much like the hammer carved into the crown, to the other side an axe rested clearly of his own making and again decorated. On the other throne sat his wife; a beautiful young Dwarf woman about twice the age of Umber sharing her skin complexion but having long black hair like midnight, her gown was lavishly decorated and made of velvet, silk, and silver thread on it tapestries were weaved in decoration depicting again seven dwarves around a mountain along with symbol of the hammer with seven stars.
Tatsumi stepped up before the High King signaled to stop, the King got up from his throne and moved towards Tatsumi and Umber; Umber approached him and the two hugged happily. "Daughter it does my heart great joy to see you come once more to hearth and home; a year and 200 days have passed since I last saw you my dear Umber; yet here you come home and bringing guests" High King Durin greeted, the hug between the two was firm, then ended shortly as the High King looked at Tatsumi. "My age must be catching up to me, or dead have risen from the grave? Is that you Tatsumi?" Durin asked.
"Yes and no; Tatsumi is the name but not the Tatsumi your thinking of; I'm Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom the seventh and last of the Old Emperors first of the new, The Golden Dragon Emperor is my epithet I came up with it myself I figured I'd either live up to it or it wouldn't matter and world would end" Tatsumi explained, the High King came over to him.
"Aye; you're quite right you can't be my old friend though you are like unto him as if you were his twin; Tatsumi VII, welcome to my halls such as they are, I'm told the threat of the demons and I will aid you in that war, however, you didn't just come for that I see it in your eyes; I see in your eyes that you wish to restore a friendship long broken; for any other Emperor of your house I'd not give an offer to restore a pact and teach that which your race has justly forgotten, but for one whom the other clans and my own child speak highly off I will give you the opportunity but it will come at a price" King Durin replied, Tatsumi looked at him.
"I will pay it, my ancestor was a fool, I saw what he did; seen the foley of the past rulers of the Empire with the Mirror of Truth; more than that I swore when I became Emperor to restore the Empire to its former glory, to defeat the evil that seeks to consume our world but most importantly to right the mistakes of my ancestors: I hope to restore that which was lost and I will brave any danger; such a pact would be for the good of all Eden and when renewed invite a greater union in cause against the evil out to destroy our world" Tatsumi replied, the High King looked at him.
"I'll take you at your word, you give it as an Oath I will hold you to it, fulfill that oath or die trying; that is the way, know though that what you ask and hope to do is something that is a task harder than any human could conceive, the recompense that is needed is for a great wrong; perhaps the greatest of wrongs since the beginning of the world, to set a great wrong right and mend that damage for good you must right greater wrongs: I must consult the Dummaz Kron" King Durin explained then walked to his throne and picked up a thick book from a table and brought it over to Tatsumi. "We dwarves record every wrong and every slight in books like this one but this one is the greatest of them all we Kings record every single wrong in the blood of our own flesh, everything is recorded however while everything is recorded much has been forgiven, for a grudge righted is a grudge we hold no more; the grudges are many and the lives of many kings have been spent trying to right them all, but of the grudges in this book three stand out above all the others" King Durin explained.
"What makes those three stand out?" Tatsumi asked.
"Combined each of these grudges is as great as the Great Betrayal in terms of wrongs especially since from them many other lesser grudges have arisen for every dwarf that has died trying to settle the score; on their own each is an atrocity in the sight of all Dwarves, wrongs that can only be settled by the blood of those who committed these outrages; the Greatest Grudge ever recorded was that of the Mad Emperor upon his death that grudge was settled but we swore an oath afterward during the time of Sorrow unless an Emperor of Man thru his efforts can right Three Great Wrongs great enough that they have resulted in the loss of many Dwarven lives; the Pact of Gold would remain shattered if an Emperor were to do so we would reforge the pact anew and provide whatever is needed of our great ally; you want to restore the knowledge of how to make the great arms and to acquire new ones you must reforge that pact" Durin explained. "The Three Great Grudges are as follows: The Rat King Grudge, The Hold of Death Grudge, and the Grudge of the Great Golden Dragon; each of these is an atrocity and disgrace in the eyes of all ancestors and all gods and each has led to the deaths of many dwarves, their lifeless hands mourned and bemoaned by all our race, along with the desecration of our works, the theft of our works, the theft of our homes but greatest of all the desecration of the bodies of our kin, countless dwarves their beards shorn, head removed and placed on racks, devoured by monsters or not allow to have their bones rest beneath hallowed stone in the halls of the dead: Tatsumi VII these are what resulted from the Great Betrayal your ancestor's war spent much of our strength and drove us from our holds that we went into an Age of Sorrow during which many hold were either abandoned or lost, these are the fault of your ancestor because that was robbed us of the strength to resist or ability to right the wrong ourselves; right these wrongs and the pact will be reforged; fail and- well both our nations will be lost for all time and forgotten. Also righting these wrongs will allow us to forge the Great Arms once more, for lost the means to make them in that time, we have still the knowledge of their crafting but the resources and forges to craft true Great Arms are beyond us those we lost to our foes" Durin elaborated.
"Can I have details of these wrongs?" Tatsumi asked, Durin looked at him and turned to the pages each grudge was written and read what the wrong was in each case.
"The Rat King grudge, two centuries prior Karak Galmakvus home to the richest mines of Starmetal and Brightsteel along with resources to last countless years and home to Starhammer Clan was taken by the vile Thaggoraki; the warlord that took the hallowed halls declared himself a king and since then his vile progeny and kind have ruled those once hallowed halls, desecrating the homes of proud dwarves and reducing the size and power of the Starhammer clan; lost too was the mines from which was found the metals used to produced great arms found only in three other places all of which fell too, alongside Karak Galmakvus three more holds Karak Vrain, Karak Raz and Karak Feldonost fell to the nascent Thaggoraki Kingdom and since then five score thousand dwarven lives have been lost trying to reclaim that hold and nine kingdoms of men have been swarmed and destroyed by the Thaggoraki" Durin read aloud, the writing was in Dwarvish and beneath it were addendums scribed; the book had thru means unknown to all but those who made it an endless reserve of paper.
"What are Thaggoraki?" Tatsumi asked.
"Your kind and their own call them Skaven, the vile rats have been a blight on Eden for centuries; millennia even. Usually, they fight amongst themselves as often as they do with others, the only a rat hates more than us is another of their own kind. But the rats that hold our rightful holds are a different type; they work together and are ruled by a line of Rat Kings that have held those hallowed halls for centuries; hundreds of their rulers have died since that kingdom was founded yet the numbers of their race ensures that one powerful clan will always be King of that vile kingdom, not even other Skaven have been able to dislodge that kingdom and many dwarves have died trying to take back what is rightfully ours. For your task to reclaim those halls I will allow a throng of those wronged by the rats to join you as an army; you've no doubt a force of your own you'll need more; the rats are great in number; that will be your first task; reclaim the first of the holds; kill the Rat King and they will fight amongst themselves; I'll be sending throngs on standby to retake the other holds however their success depends on yours" King Durin explained, Tatsumi looked at the Dwarf.
"Now what about the other grudges?" Tatsumi asked.
Durin turned thru the book and came to the next one. "The Hold of Death Grudge, this one is of our own making, unfortunately; after the fall of Karak Vrain to the Rats our engineers began to develop an army of our droids to reclaim our lost holds and drive back the rat menace, the hold Karak Uzgor was converted by our engineers into a giant factory built to turn out war machines for battle against the rats; thousands of the droids were made and more have been made since as the factory has never been shut down and the mining units no doubt keep delving and bring materials to drive it; the constructs built were of varying sizes from humble droids the size of a small stool to towering War Titans, they were built to drive back the rats that they did until a new unit was designed, a brash engineer full of enthusiasm created a solitary unit to serve as a general for the army so that no dwarf would be harmed in the reclamation. That Engineer has since taken the Slayer Oath and died in battle against the Imperial soldiers near your Imperial border saving the lives of Umgi refugees from the expedition of a monster of a general that could transform into a monster himself using an arm made in the past. The name of unit model was known as the K-Series Command Unit; it took the name Kaine; the machine's mind was too advanced and it planned to betray us; it succeeded turning our own creations, many dwarves died defending their home, that Droid army has ruled Karak Uzgor since turning it into a maze of deathtraps, war machines and piles of dwarven bodies that remain unburied as even that respect is denied them by that cold-hearted machine; if it were possible I'd be glad to reclaim the army as well as the hold especially now that demons have returned, but I doubt that will be possible, we renamed Karak Uzgor since then to Karak Zarnath, the Hold of Death as a warning to travelers, many adventurers too have fallen trying to take the hold and countless rats have been slain as part of the programing of the droids as according to my Engineers their programming is hardcoded to do so, but that makes little difference; while the fault of this grudge is on my own kind the situation that caused us to resort to such measures came from our losses in the War of the Great Betrayal as such your ancestor shares some of the blame for this grudge as well" King Durin explained.
"Would it be possible to reprogram these units?" Dorothea asked
"Possible; but dangerous; the traps there are myriad and to reprogram them all at once would require accessing the central command core which undoubtedly is heavily guarded, again those who seek vengeance will join your quest I'll not deny them their just due" King Durin explained; he then turned thru the page, unlike the others as Tatsumi had seen thus far this page had an illustration that of- a three-headed Dragon.
"Of all the Grudges amassed since the time of sorrow none is greater than the Grudge of the Great Golden Dragon; this Grudge has spawned more suffering and caused the deaths of more people both man and dwarf than any other in this book, thousands of lesser grudges have resulted from this one slight and great kingdoms of men and five great holds of our kind have fallen as a result. Long ago our race made a great discovery we found a treasure beyond measure a mountain made of gold, its wealth great both above and below the ground; it became the jewel of the Dwarven Realms second only to Hammerdeep itself in the hearts of our race, the wealth and works of that hold named Karak Gurkarak were greater than even the those of Hammerdeep, the treasures therein from the height of our Empire, there the greatest of works were made even many of the Great Arms what your kind call Teigus or Imperial Arms were made there including three of which that travel in your possession: Susanoo, Amaterasu, and Heketonchires, all three biological Teigus were engineered there. More gold too came from beneath the mountain more than anywhere else in the world, inevitably though that wealth became a target as such we protected that hold with the mightiest of armies but even that would one day prove not enough. 2 centuries ago, a great beast came to Karak Gurkarak, a Dragon with Three Heads. That Dragon was named Glauradrost, in the youth of that monster he slew, killed and devoured a fully matured Tyrant: but that was not enough for that monster they sought greater and greater glory until it heard tales of Karak Gurkarak and once they heard the of the treasures within they came unto our great hold. In elder years about a thousand years ago we would have been able to drive back that monster both with our own might and the aid of our Imperial Allies, but our strength had been weakened and the army that had kept out the threats of many invaders of the centuries had been weakened as many of their number died in the War of the Great Betrayal, and further by wars and cataclysms that followed; so it was that Glauradrost, the Titan of the Skies, Greatest of Calamities laid low the second strongest hold on Eden and left not a Dwarf alive save those few who managed to escape some with beards burned off and never to grow back; the Dragon then pulled up the treasure and attracted mates and sired a progeny of monsters that spread their wings and caused the fall of many a Kingdom of Western men and five holds fell to the spawn of the Great monster each beast a monster in their own right, to make matters worse these dragons are smarter than other dragons using stratagem and tactics to forge what Glauradrost called the Dragon Empire and called itself Golden Dragon Emperor and use his breath to melt down a war titan and forge armor for itself using the Heart of the Mountain our greatest forge for his own work, that monster since then has used the treasures not out of any value for it or wealth but to lure many to their doom; the numbers that have died in the past two centuries to the reign of terror of those Dragons is beyond count and be grateful they choose not to expand beyond the area they've staked claim as their own, if you are to have victory I'd challenge the Dragon itself to a fight one on one without their sire the lesser brood will fight amongst themselves leaving them easier to defeat by our vengeful throngs and by the humans of those lands who tire of the tyranny of the Dragons. Write this wrong and you'll have made amends the pact of Gold will be reforged anew and we'll have reclaimed lost knowledge enough to start a golden age for both our races" King Durin explained, at this Tatsumi felt a shadow of fear come over him and a shadow of well irritation as if some deity had decided to throw him at the one thing he hoped he'd not have to deal with.
"I- I- "Tatsumi stammered, Durin looked at him.
"I know, the prospect of facing a Dragon is a daunting one, but remember what is at stake; you must do this to save our world and make right the wrong your ancestor chose to commit" Durin replied, Tatsumi recovered his composure.
"I'll do it, I'm not looking forward to it but Volgoth will be harder than any Dragon to fight" Tatsumi replied. "Now if such an alliance is to last I ask your permission to court your daughter Umber" Tatsumi asked, Durin was shocked by this.
"What? Daughter would you give consent to such a union" Durin asked.
"I would; he's more than proven himself worthy; he is a man of honor who went to great lengths to rescue one of my own company who was taken captive by a wretched monster that tortured him; Tatsumi even allowed his own wife who is an amazing doctor to tend to his injuries, also father I've been fascinated by Imperial history for centuries to marry an Emperor much less one that bears the name Tatsumi and who is clearly the Eighth Khazakar, there would be no greater union" Umber replied; Durin smiled.
"The Eighth Khazakar? That remains to be seen if he is I'd be amazed if that is the case but if my daughter will consent to such a union I see no wrong in allowing it however you must prove your worth to me; I'll allow to court her as it stands but you'll not be wed until you've righted all three wrongs for only then when the Pact of Gold is reforged would I consent to such a union for to do so would make me an honor-bound ally of the Empire once more and for me to do so would require you to prove yourself worthy of my blessing, you've earned my daughters but now you must earn mine and that of her mother Disani" King Durin explained.
"I'll give it, I only want our eldest to marry a worthy man I care not if she weds an Umgi; though if you are we must adopt him into our clan" Queen Disani commented.
"That indeed; but first Emperor Tatsumi for your actions towards the other clans who have counted you amongst their own and for whom you have rendered great deeds I must grant you an honor not conferred on an Imperial Ruler since the reign of Empress Merraid III the mother of the Traitor Emperor Caligula, I dub thee Tatsumi Gildenstrom, seventh of your family name and of your family line Dwarf-Friend; the second-highest honor that can be conferred on a human being by our race; the only higher honor would be to be adopted into a clan" King Durin explained. "Now that this is out of the way I bid our audience at an end; go now and enjoy the sights of Hammerdeep, I must send word to my Thanes to ready a Throng of Vengeance to march alongside you in your quest" King Durin explained and Tatsumi was then dismissed from the Throne Room, Umber stayed behind to talk with her parents about her journeys.
From then on Tatsumi and his entourage were led thru the palace to quarters set aside for them; the quarters for Tatsumi were lavishly appointed, in fact they were made and appointed for the Emperors and Empresses of the past when in days of yore great rulers of the Empire would often come to treat, trade and visit Hammerdeep along with speaking with the High King; according to the attendants some of whom had been working on maintaining this room for centuries and who had known personally these rulers, the High King had met with every Emperor of the Empire until the Great Betrayal at least once and during those visits the very large royal suite had been used every time; in fact as Tatsumi was shown about the room they made sure to show out tokens of visits left behind by past Emperors each of which had been lovingly preserved out of respect and friendship in ages past; the most notable these included- well a painting of Empress Merraid I for starters that having been painted by a Dwarven Artist and well she was the spitting image of his beloved Merraid, then there were the portraits of the Dragon, Jade and Golden Emperors who were clad in the greatest of finery and all of whom resembled Tatsumi completely as in all three looked exactly like him the only variations being in hair style but even then they still had same brown hair as him and the peridot green eyes. Also present were miniature statues of the monarchs, imperial tapestries made as gifts for the Dwarven Leader who believed they were best placed in this suite the reason being for future rulers to look back on their ancestors something which the Dwarves held to be of the foremost importance as one shouldn't focus on the future without knowledge of the past and how you came to be in the first place. Other than these decorations rest of the aesthetics were Dwarven in make and design though the furnishings and other things were designed with humans in mind.
In fact, the quarters he was given were comparable by the number of rooms to the number of rooms in Grundewick Manor, and then some there were enough fully furnished rooms for every member of his entourage to have their own room and then have several leftover for other purposes, there was no need to have anyone sleep on a couch and the amenities were amazing nobody would want for anything in this place. "So Tatsumi how does it feel to be staying in a room nobody has slept in for over 500 years?" Aria asked the two had stepped aside to be alone with each other.
"My dear Aria, I think it's a great experience though for a room nobody has used in 500 years it's in remarkably good condition" Tatsumi replied, then looked at her. "Aria I'm worried and to a degree afraid of the tasks ahead of me; I mean facing that Tyrant was terrifying enough; but now I'm going to be facing a Kingdom of a race thought extinct, an army of heartless and emotionless killing machines and to top it all off the most terrifying and strongest Dragon to have ever lived on Eden: you can see how the pressure is getting to me and how dangerous this is" Tatsumi explained.
"I know, but I know that you can do it Tatsumi; the man I love, you, can do the impossible besides you choose to call yourself the Golden Dragon Emperor and you've lived up to the name so far so you need to keep living up to it, besides you gave your word for the Dwarves that's as big as signing an agreed contract you can't back out now especially when the world depends on it; also remember that hunting monsters is what we do best and these things while they may not be of the human variety we are used to hunting they are still as evil and have killed so many innocents just trying to go about their lives; they have to be stopped otherwise the killing will continue; I know you Tatsumi my beloved I know what you want more than anything else is for the killing to stop and to do that you know what you have to do; besides you won't be going in alone; I'll be by your side the whole way" Aria reassured, she leaned on him, Tatsumi placed a hand on her belly.
"The future is here, inside you Aria, I'll do it, not just because I want to stop the killing but for our angel and all my other children to grow up in a world brighter than the one we live in now; for you my Capital Angel I'd conquer the world, for them I'll do the impossible" Tatsumi replied and kissed her, that kiss was romantic and while it only lasted a minute it felt like an hour. Tatsumi and Aria then talked more only this time about their plans for the future, as much as there was a possibility that all of that would be for naught Tatsumi and Aria both refused to admit that and decided to act as if they'd be able to carry out those dreams which they did in the end. Their biggest plan for the future was with regards to where they'd live in the city, Tatsumi was against using the palace as their chief residence because it was too big and he'd not be able to keep track of all his children in that place, Aria suggested Grundewick Manor but that had the issue of being a good distance away from the Palace which would make a morning commute a dawdle; in the end they decided on some repossession. Volgoth had clearly proven himself an enemy to the crown though to say that was an understatement as he had proven himself an enemy to everyone on the face of Eden, as such they decided that they'd take the mansion that had been acquired by the former Prime Minister to be their chief residence as it was only two blocks away from the palace and importantly large enough to house a sizeable family, Tatsumi also figured by this point Volgoth had leveled a good portion of the buildings near to the Palace and thus expanding the complex would be part of the agenda post-war.
They had gotten into deciding how to best deal with their children when Esdeath walked in followed by Akame, Mez, Suzuka, Kurome, and Umber. "I hope I'm not intruding," Esdeath remarked, Tatsumi and Aria turned towards her.
"No, you aren't, we were just discussing our plans for the future after the war" Aria explained.
"Good to see you planning for the future, Umber finished speaking with her father and wants to show us around Hammerdeep" Esdeath explained.
"Aye that I do, there are so many sights worth seeing Tatsumi but importantly Dwarni has invited you to his home as a guest for your actions in saving his life, he's wanting you to meet his daughter to see if you're a match to for her to take to wife, other than that I'd love to show you some Hammerdeep's greatest wonders the marvels of our race like the Great Waterworks of the sixth deep, the Silver Spire of Celeb-Zigal, the Grand Engineer's College, the Great Stone Council, the Heart of Fire, the Halls of the Fallen and most solemn of all the Forbidden Gate were Boic Brave went down to save us from the grave" Umber explained "Oh and my Workshop I must show that to you first, my father had the Engineer's Guild build it to my specifications, I've work that needs doing; also you'll need to get your hands on some of the finest metal you can get; part of the responsibilities when it comes to courting me and any Dwarf lass in general is to forge of your own work a piece of your finest work: it usually is a weapon or armor, but jewelry and other crafts are permitted the only stipulation is you use the best materials you can buy and that you forge it yourself" Umber explained.
"Alright; I was a blacksmith by training before I left to go to Melitine, I- chose to be one so that I could court Clementine and to impress her" Tatsumi replied.
"Ah good on you, then you understand how this works; just forge your best work and you'll do great" Umber explained "Now Esdeath wanted to speak to you specifically about something; we'll leave after that" Umber added.
"Thank you Umber, now Tatsumi" Esdeath began then punched him in the shoulder.
"Ouch, what was that for?" Tatsumi asked.
"For agreeing to a series of near-impossible tasks without asking me or anyone else in your inner circle what we thought on the matter, granted I'm behind you all the way but you need to not rush into action without thinking in the future, you have done that so far but I need to give my opinions, also how did you think I was going to react when you agreed to battle and kill the largest and most terrifying Dragon to ever live, not to mention the smartest, a Dragon who in his youth slew a Tyrant, any true Dragon is a formidable opponent worthy of respect and should be tackled with caution but you agreed to face a Dragon without thinking, don't do that again" Esdeath explained. "Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about, I want to ask why you agreed to this in the first place the High King already pledged to help you, why take on a task that is unnecessary?" Esdeath asked.
"For a few reasons, first off we need to restore the friendship between the Empire and Dwarves on principle how can I call the Golden Dragon Empire a worthy replacement for the Old Empire if I don't set right the faults of the old regime, secondly there is the matter of insuring that I want to restore the old treaties for the benefit of both nations we need to restore what we've lost including our technology, third point we need the knowledge of building new Teigus so that nobody starts a war over that knowledge again in the future, forth I'm not sure my current weaponry can kill Volgoth it needs upgrading especially my Armor because if Volgoth knows the trump card of Darkblade he'd be able to bypass it I need a set that can not only ignore that ability but take more abuse than anything else also I need a weapon capable of killing him, and lastly I know how much it irks you and everyone else doing these tasks is the right thing to do and by defeating the monsters ahead goodness knows how many lives will be saved by that action" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath shrugged.
"Alright I get it, now I expect you to use your free time that isn't spent sightseeing or smithing on research I want you to be fully prepared for what we are going to fight" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi nodded.
"Umber what's the best library in Hammerdeep?" Tatsumi asked.
"Oh, that would be the Grand Hall of Records only issue is that everything is written our language so you'd either need to learn our language or- well I'll have to translate" Umber replied.
"I'll have you translate, you're a genius after all" Tatsumi replied.
"Flatterer lets go now that we've finished dallying; Hammerdeep awaits" Umber explained.
A few hours later… Tatsumi looked at a large metal gate it was made out of a black metal that Umber explained was Ebony and covered with Dwarven runes along with an image of a Dwarf driving a gem into a demon's skull. "Feast yer eyes on the Forbidden Gate, it was put up by High King Boic after the defeat of the monster that dwelled bellow, that vile demon was the worst thing to ever plague Hammerdeep, Boic put up the gate to prevent any return of the monster or any other demons from ever coming in by that way again; it also stands as a reminder to what happens when we let greed and avarice consume our hearts instead of doing honest work out of enjoyment and the joy that comes when you finish a task, let alone an honest end from an honest start" Umber introduced.
"That's- impressive" Tatsumi replied.
"Oi impressive is doing it a disservice, that gate was forged by King Boic himself and a number of the great master Rune-lords and master smiths, it's over 15,000 years old and stands as a testament to two things, the first being that true wealth is found inside the soul and heart, not in the earth of Eden and the second is that demons for all their power can still be killed by even the simplest of people; you know Tatsumi there are a lot of parallels between you and Boic, both of you were blacksmiths by training, both of you were royalty who lost most of your families to demons, and hopefully you like Boic will slay the monster that has caused you and your line so much suffering" Umber explained, Tatsumi touched the gate the black metal was warm to the touch.
"I will defeat Volgoth he will pay for what he did to my family, to my father, my uncle, especially my aunt, and to me and my mother by forcing us to live in exile, all that he has done will be set right in the end because there is only so far you can go as a villain before someone rises up to stop you; it's a fact of existence and I will kill Volgoth" Tatsumi replied. "So how long did Boic rule?" Tatsumi asked.
"About 2000 years, he was in his prime when he slew the demon and became king, he spent his entire life as a wise and just ruler, who set right many wrongs and repaired the damage done by his forebears" Umber explained.
"I'm going to live a long life and be a wise and just ruler," Tatsumi thought. "I'll live by his example; I think his story then when all this is over needs to be known around the world" Tatsumi replied.
"Oh that I whole-heartedly agree with you one; now that you've seen the gate that ticks off my list of sights you had to see on your first visit to Hammerdeep when the war is over I'll show all the more in detail, now we must go to see Dwarni I think we've kept him waiting long enough" Umber replied, Tatsumi took one more forlorn look at the Forbidden Gate and at the murals engraved by it of Boic both the ones of Boic the humble blacksmith slaying the demon the eldest borne of Fire as the Dwarves named it and the other depicting him as a wise ruler. "A king he was on Carven throne, in many pillared halls of stone, with golden roof and silver floor and runes of power upon the door; the light of sun, and star, and moon! In shining lamps of crystal hewn, undimmed by cloud or shade of night, there shone forever fair and bright" Umber sung as they left.
Umber then led him further thru the marvels of Hammerdeep to the Fifth Deep where the Engineers, Scientists, and Inventors that were the driving force behind the gears of Dwarven technology lived and worked. Dwarni's home was not far from Umber's Workshop which was in turn only less than 20 blocks in distance from the entryway they arrived in the Fifth Deep from. Dwarni's home by comparison to the sights Tatsumi had seen so far was more humble but he was not a pauper by any means it was the house of a well off Dwarf and about a third the size of Grundewick Manor so only about two of the houses lived in by the average Imperial citizen would fit inside it. Still though it was decorated with engravings and with precious metals chiefly silver and copper, the average middle-class Dwarf had about as much wealth as a well off Imperial merchant in the lower rungs of the Upper class, by comparison, Dwarven upper-class families that had been well established with centuries of proven skill and labors well they made Imperial nobility like the Grundels and Canallias look like simple merchant families; the wealth of the Dwarves was unrivaled on Eden. Tatsumi knocked on the door which made of stone, the door was opened by a young male dwarf who had barely come out of being a Beadling. "Who are ye?" the Dwarf asked.
"A friend of your father's Emperor Tatsumi" Tatsumi explained, the Dwarf smiled.
"Come in that friend of my father's not just a friend my father's savior, our home is your own; come now and don't be waiting on the doorstep, the name is Gimul and my father has told our whole family about ye, my mother and sister are making a fine luncheon for you, their cooking is the best" Gimul beckoned, Tatsumi and his group which consisted of his wives, Umber and four hammerers that were sworn to protect Umber came inside; Tatsumi noted Esdeath and a few of the taller people with him having to walk at a slouch to avoid hitting their heads on the alcoves of hallway Tatsumi noted the walls which covered with a mixture of engravings along photographs and paintings, of particular note were the most recent ones depicting Dwarni along with a lovely Dwarf woman who was his wife and a few other dwarves both male and female that were his children.
They soon came into the family room where sitting in a chair was Dwarni who got up upon seeing Tatsumi. "Tatsumi! It's so good to see you I've had everything ready for the past two hours, I guess you were taking in the sights of Hammerdeep, this is a wonderful place to see I can see why Umber would want to show you about" Dwarni greeted
"I enjoyed seeing the city, its- amazing; it makes Melitine look like a village by comparison" Tatsumi replied.
"Indeed it is a wonderful place, Hammerdeep has been around for years beyond human kind's memory, in fact before the First Empire of humanity and numerous other civilizations; of the holds of our race none is more beloved in the hearts of Dwarves then Hammerdeep; here we live at peace and here can be found the greatest works of Dwarven heart and hand; marvels beyond human minds and truest of wealth the good works of the hearts of honest Dwarves who dedicated their lives to these many wonders of this our glorious home" Dwarni agreed. "Anyway It's best I introduce you to my family, this here is my wife Anja, this is my daughter Maulie, she's an amazing cook and brewer if ever there was one, you've already met Gimul my oldest son, this is my second son Floi, his twin brother Bosi, my younger daughter Freja, and my youngest child and daughter Anjali; my family is my life and they are good Dwarves all" Dwarni introduced. Anji was an older Dwarf woman she was still beautiful with deep ginger hair but had all the hard cresses and marks that came of being a mother she wore a dress of the kind worn by Dwarven woman of the middle-class which was rather humble in dress. The two brothers both sported blonde beards and blonde hair though and looked like younger versions of their father, both had a kind demeanor and while their bodies showed the marks of hard labor they were in great condition they wore the clothing of Dwarven smiths with their aprons on as if their father had called them in from operating a forge. Freji was a blonde and young pretty girl though she was not of age as she was still what Dwarves called a Beardling and Anjali well she was little older than Logue or Mishi. However Maulie more than made up for her younger sisters lack of age and development: Maulie was about Tatsumi's own age at least by Dwarven standards of age and she was a beauty; her face was beautiful her eyes dark brown and her orange hair was kept in two large buns on either side of her head, her attire consisted of a white blouse, brown leather skirt, and white leggings along with firm boots and for jewelry, a bracelet made of silver and decorated with emeralds.
"Nice to meet you all" Tatsumi replied.
"At your service and your family's" All of them greeted in turn.
"Now we must see to talking about what you've done for me Tatsumi, Maulie you and your mother see to getting luncheon ready we'll not have our guests be hungry, as for our guests take a seat and be comfortable; we've much to talk about and we've tales to tell and songs to sing" Dwarni replied.
"Father, do you mind if I go and check the forge? I'm certain the billet is hot and ready to be shaped" Floi asked.
"Go ahead my son, it's never a good idea to leave metal in the furnace too long otherwise it'll get brittle and snap like a stick of barley sugar" Dwarni replied and Floi left the room. Tatsumi sat down on a couch with Esdeath and Aria to either side. "My sons are hard workers, their still journeymen, and have much to learn but they'll become great smiths in time" Dwarni explained.
"That we will father; that reminds me did you find out about Imperial smithing techniques while you were away?" Bosi asked.
"Indeed, I did my son, it took some doing and I'll note that well they've certainly regressed since the days of their forebears" Dwarni replied.
"How exactly?" Tatsumi asked.
"Oh that would be telling, though I'd note the fault is in the way the metal is shaped, there a fair few smiths in the Empire that don't leave the metal in the forge long enough to burn the impurities in the ore out which leads to serviceable but still substandard equipment also there is the fixation of using lead for bullets which simply won't do in this day and age with armor that can blunt a lead round on contact" Dwarni replied.
"Grundel Arms rounds aren't made of lead; we use a jacketed steel round for standard ammunition" Aria replied.
"I was getting to that, the only human smiths who still have some of the knowledge of the old days are those employed by Grundel Arms, I remember my father telling me when I was a Beardling that one of the branches of the Fireheart clan taught a good deal of their smithing secrets to the Grundel family, it's good to see that knowledge at least is still in use" Dwarni replied, Maulie walked into the room with a tray with tankards of ale.
"Here is some of my finer brews; guests should always have best and my Honeybrew Mead is one of my best brews and quite loved in Hammerdeep though the market is difficult what with Bugman's brews and Marni's mixtures in such high demand; I swear though one of these days my brews will become more popular than theirs" Maulie explained she handed Tatsumi a tankard and readied to hand some more ale to Aria and Esdeath but both shook their heads. "Any reason why you're rejecting my hard work's product?" Maulie asked.
"We're pregnant" Aria explained simply, Maulie smiled
"Ah, I forgot human women can't handle their drink in the same way Dwarf women can especially when pregnant; well more for me and for those who can drink" Maulie replied. "Though promise me soon after you give birth that you'll have some of my brews I worked hard on these and won't have anyone I know not have at least one drink; any way you'll love my cooking at least; Dad how much Vrogi do you think I should cook?" Maulie asked.
"Enough for everyone have five servings at minimum and don't forget your muffins and the roast boar and goat alongside the Vrogi we'll not have our guests deprived of fine meat and sweets, oh and do be sure to glaze the meat and put on your special spice blend" Dwarni replied.
"I'll do that, Da don't tell me how to cook I know what I'm doing, also I'll make a good deal of sausages too, speaking of Tatsumi what type of meat do you want from the sausage?" Maulie asked.
"Pork" Tatsumi replied, Maulie grinned.
"That can be arranged I'll see them glazed and cooked good" Maulie replied and returned to the kitchen, Dwarni looked at Tatsumi.
"So, what do you think of her?" Dwarni asked Tatsumi.
"She's nice, and this- mead is wonderful" Tatsumi replied.
"I'm glad you think so, my daughter pours her heart and soul into her cooking and brewing; oh, by the way, don't challenge her to a drinking contest she'll drink under the table in a heartbeat" Dwarni replied.
"I could take her" Saryana commented then took a swig of Ale.
"I bet you think so, my daughter though has an ironclad stomach and she's a dwarf which means she can take more than you could" Dwarni replied. "Anyway, while we're waiting I think we could do for a song; this one's a good ditty I came up while I was in an Inn in the town of Mecklenburg in the western Empire" Dwarni replied. "Oh, hey ho, ho to the tankard I go to drink my heart and drowned all woe, the rain may fall, and wind may blow and there will be many miles to go. Sweet is the sound of falling rain, sweet is grass blowing on the plain, better than rain or rattling wharf is a mug of ale inside this Dwarf. Oh you can search far and wide you can drink your whole town dry, but you never find a beer so brown never ale that make you round as the one she brews in my own house; you can keep your fancy ales you can drink them by the flagon but the only brew that beats Bugman's true that true brew with the golden hue… Comes from Maulie's flagons!" Dwarni sung.
"That's quite a great song" Tatsumi complemented.
"Aye that it is, you know I had Maulie brew several barrels of her best ales and meads I ran out within three months of leaving, you know how much I missed my daughter and more so her cooking and ale; trust me Tatsumi if you're seeking a wife who can fight and cook then there are none better than my daughter Maulie" Dwarni explained.
"I- you did say you'd- I mean should I?" Tatsumi asked.
"Please do, for you my friend anything, you've proven yourself a true Dwarf Friend and for you willing to take all the efforts you did to rescue me I can't think of a worthy reward for you than to allow you to court my daughter; and for her I can't imagine a better spouse for her then the Greatest Emperor ever to rule the Empire" Dwarni replied.
"Then I'll accept for your sake though I'd like Maulie's opinion before we do anything I'm not going to force her into a relationship" Tatsumi replied
"Good that you see it that way, just treat her well and she'll do the same and stay by your side and follow you into the grasp of any danger ahead as she is one amazing daughter" Dwarni agreed, picking up a tankard. "I'd follow you into the danger ahead too; so, what task did the High King have you do in return for his aid" Dwarni asked taking a swig of mead.
"I'm to right the Three Great Wrongs" Tatsumi replied, Dwarni near choked on the mead at that.
"The Three Great Wrongs?! Well- I would never have- in all my ears that's a task that's near impossible. Great numbers of Dwarves have tried to right those wrongs and now the High King requires a Human to right them? Well, I'd say you've pretty much taken the Slayer oath without taking it" Dwarni replied.
"The Slayer oath? I heard Umber mention that before what is it?" Tatsumi asked.
"The Slayer Oath is an oath taken by Dwarves who suffered great shame or other wrongs; a slayer seeks death by the most glorious means possible but while also helping their fellow dwarves with their death: they are treated as if they are already dead; they dead dwarves walking; you'd recognize them by their hair the way they've styled it and their fighting style, some fight near-naked as crazed berserkers, all however seek death in a glorious fashion and woe betide those who fail to die such a fashion for to do so would be an affront to the gods and prevent them from being buried with their ancestors. Essentially Tatsumi you've accepted tasks that are greater in danger then anything you've faced thus far; especially if the Grudges you've been asked to set right are indeed the three greatest affronts that fester in the Great Book of Grudges: you'll be facing endless hordes of creatures your Empire thinks extinct, machines of our own making gone rogue, and the most powerful Dragon to ever soar the skies of Eden; any one of these challenges would break even the strongest Dwarves which is why they've festered in the book causing grudges to add on to the great wrongs, I have faith in you but these Tatsumi these enemies you face are what will make you worthy of the title Golden Dragon Emperor especially that Dragon Glauradrost thrice damned and accursed be his name; he devoured my grandsire and many more of my clan besides not to mention other dwarves whose families were burned either to death or scarred beyond healing by Dragon Fire, I was but a Beardling of 13 of your years when the Dragon came to Karak Gurkarak and I remember the day: the Mountain smoked beneath the moons, trees like torches blazing with light, dwarves fleeing their hall to dying fall, for I and many others that yet live saw Dragon Fire burning on the Mountainside and in the halls; of those wrongs right that one the most, for the sake of my Grandsire, my three Uncles that died and my father whose beard was burnt off and never grew back as he attacked that beast and lived to raise me and my siblings, for their sake and the many dwarves that monster consumed slay him and don't just slay him make him suffer as he dies humiliate him" Dwarni explained and lamented, the Dwarf's eyes showed great pain.
"Father don't let the past drive you to sorrow, if Tatsumi is as great a man as you've told us he will see these wrongs made right for not just the sake of those who died but for the sake of the world and anyone else that the dragon and his spawn have ruined the lives of, If you need a warrior I'll fight for you" Bosi comforted.
"Nai my son you've still much to learn before I'll see you join battle besides who will tend for your sisters while I'm away to war no this is my duty and I'll fight by my friend's side to end whatever that may be; I'd be honored to join your throng and your entourage if you'll have me Tatsumi, for all you've done I cannot think of a higher honor then to fight by your side in a world facing what may be its end; those of us who are willing to fight are the last line between our world that has been stained red by blood for thousands of years and the destruction of it and everything all those who live their lives hold dear" Dwarni replied.
"I accept you into my service Dwarni, ordinarily I'd recommend you consult with my quartermaster to get you equipment but given your heritage and your experience I'll let you handle that as I'm betting not even the best equipment the Empire could make would be better than the work of Dwarves" Tatsumi accepted.
"You honor me and as I said I'll stand by your side to whatever end we may meet and I'm proud to count you as my friend" Dwarni replied.
The conversation then went to one of telling stories about one another allowing to get to better know the other. Dwarni found that Tatsumi had accomplished so much in such a short time was interesting, Tatsumi found Dwarni's life to be just as if not more so, Dwarni by his own reckoning was 247 years old which was for a human about 28-32 years old, his wife was about the same age and Maulie's age was about 150 which was midway between the age of Gala and Umber with the former being 100 years exactly and the latter 218 years. Dwarni during his life had encountered and faced many trials but also at the same time had enjoyed moments of great joy, his parents were still alive though his father was reclusive, and whenever he did come out his father was looked on with much pity and sorrow as nothing was more horrible for a Dwarf then to lose their beard to fire.
"Oh the tales of our race fighting Dragons are many; they are greedy creatures that seem to enjoy the suffering of those they view as beneath them; fierce creatures and less of them in this world the better those monsters are the worst apart from Tyrants which I'm glad are now extinct they were worse" Dwarni commented, soon Maulie came into the room.
"Luncheon is ready, I've set out the table for our guests, mind your manners and don't stuff your mouths too quick that you choke on my wonderful cooking" Maulie explained then looked at Tatsumi who looked at her; they regarded each other with interest but it wasn't romantic just yet.
Shortly they found themselves in a large dining room with a number of chairs in fact more than the family's own members; according to Maulie it was because they had relatives that would frequently come to visit mainly for Maulie's cooking but also to talk about all manner of things with their relatives especially when it came to comparing their works and seeing what another could give in advise to others; Dwarni's extended family was rather large and he also invited other guests friends and acquittances over for a meal. Tatsumi noted the effort that had gone to catering the table with all manner of Dwarven dishes prepared for consumption the most pleasant smelling was a specific set of meat; Tatsumi chose a given spot and proceeded to get ready to serve himself but Maulie wouldn't have any of it she insisted on plating everything up for him and she also brought a nice sized tankard of her best brew, Tatsumi dinner plate was filled with all manner of food largely meat but a good number of items that were of the grain section as the Dwarves when not consuming meat tended to use barley and hops along with cave-wheat and a few other underground crops and mushrooms to extremely good effect; Maulie had added additional things.
"Try the Vrogi first, I put the most work, glazing and spices into it" Maulie suggested, Tatsumi took a fork and a chunk of the meat and ate it, the taste was amazing, the meat was cooked extremely well too and was easy to chew by comparison to say a beefsteak and had quite a smooth texture. With that in mind, he ate more of it. "A Vrogi one of the tougher dishes to make" Maulie commented.
"What's in it?" Tatsumi asked.
"Oh that's the fun part, its roast cave troll, that has undergone a large amount of tenderizing and roasting just to get the nasty parts out, the trick to making it is actually getting the troll meat for the cooking but its rather nice and good for your health" Maulie replied, Tatsumi raised an eyebrow at this.
"I heard that trolls tasted bad" Tatsumi commented, Maulie frowned and shrugged.
"When an Umgi cooks em, cooking troll requires a good deal of training to prepare and the meat needs a good amount of tenderizing before you cook it and then you have to cook at a temperature just right to neutralize the regrowth and not so hot that the meat burns; then you need the right mix of spices and to glaze it and- well the results speak for themselves" Maulie replied, Tatsumi resumed eating and soon consumed the whole of the Vrogi then began working on eating the mutton and cave-wheat muffins.
"This is amazing I've not eaten food this good since my mother made me food in Tokorra; you're an amazing cook Maulie" Tatsumi complemented.
"I'm glad to hear it now have a drink of my ale; that's my finest brew in your mug" Maulie replied, Tatsumi took a drink; it had quite a kick but was amazing to taste.
"That is the best mead I've ever had," Tatsumi said bluntly after putting down his mug.
"Thank you now try my sausages they are Vrogi cuts too" Maulie replied at that Tatsumi immediately helped himself to the sausages.
"Man, this Vrogi is amazing I don't care if its troll that is the best meat I've ever had," Tatsumi said in-between bites.
Three days later… The rest of Tatsumi's time spent in Hammerdeep was spent preparing for war and for the journey ahead along with forging weapons of his best craft for Umber and Maulie though the Dwarves favored hammers and axes Tatsumi was a swordsmith thru and thru and a good sword would go a long way, the High King's decree had gone out that any Dwarf seeking to join an expedition to right the Three Greatest Wrongs should seek out the Emperor or one of his associates and sign up. That call for volunteers had brought thousands of dwarves some of which brought automatons and other things to join a Throng for war, this force gathered and made ready while Tatsumi had sent messengers to rally his own troops for the mission; by the time he was ready to leave Hammerdeep he had amassed a Throng of 20,000 vengeful Dwarves; other things happened in this time, Tatsumi read up on the history of the events and learned what could be learned about the dangers ahead and there were a lot of them and thus consulted with his harem about a plan of action for each one. When the Golden Dragon Army proper arrived Tatsumi had planned out things and had his force ready to march to the first of the locations, war was breaking out across Eden as the demon hosts that weren't able to ravage the Empire had turned their ire to other lands far beyond with the tides invading far off Wakoku and Amannar in the East and Hambria and Casandar in the west, along with many lands to the south of Adonai and abroad. At the same time Tatsumi was marching to war with an enemy the Empire had not fought in open warfare for nearly 400 years, not since the reign of the Pearl Emperor Tatsumi IV, the vile rat tides of the Skaven.
Two days later… Tatsumi looked like a mountain loomed high and tall. "Aye ain't it a wonderful sight my liege" A dwarf remarked, the dwarf in question was named Dilgol Gunnison, a Dwarven master gunner and leader of a company of five hundred Dwarven Thunderers which was the Dwarven name for those soldiers that used firearms as the loud sound of the first rifles were compared to thunder and the name stuck, Dilgol was a white-bearded dwarf clad in armor with a stern helm, his beard was groomed and on his arms he has tattooed runes into along the upper arms; his rifle was a custom weapon that had been modified by him and was a specialized shotgun; Dilgol was one of those dwarves that believed a bullet was the best way to take the enemy down and the rounds he used were meant to take down the biggest of enemies with minimal shots fired; he wore the armor of dwarven soldiers which in this case involved a set of plate armor made of mithril, the most common of the seven great metals in addition to being the easiest to shape and refine but also being strong enough to render bullets useless and was harder than the scales of most dragons, along with a helmet that left the face bare but covered most of the head. "My lads are ready to take our vengeance on the rats, Clan Gunnison stands with you and my lads will be filling the rats with holes Karak Galmakvus will be ours once more and we'll help our kin take back their home and when we're done we'll see to taking back our own home from our clan's creations" Dilgol remarked as Tatsumi approached him, the mountain in question loomed in the distance.
"I hope we can do it, any advice on how best to handle the rats I've never seen them before outside of images in books of history and have read a deal about the tactics of past Emperors but the Empire's army has changed rather significantly since then" Tatsumi replied.
"Oh you want to know how to fight the rats, first rule make sure not to take any prisoners and make sure they are dead, their ilk will stab even their own kind in the back if given a chance and some carry vile diseases on them and others bombs; make sure they are dead as they are adept as playing dead" Dilgol explained. "Second rule make sure to funnel their numbers they will always bring more to a fight then you can ever dream of, also don't waste ammunition on the rats without armor save your ammunition for the bigger beasties and the more heavily armored rats, use fire on the chaff or your blade. The third rule kill their officers whenever you see them without a leader they'll fight amongst themselves or run; also if the ones in front run kill them as the ones behind them will keep them from escaping, try and sow as much confusion in their ranks as possible" Dilgol explained. "Lastly make sure you run them down if they start running every rat you kill is one you don't have to fight again; slaughter them to the last" Dilgol explained.
"Alright, I will take that message to heart, no captives, focus the officers, save ammunition for the better troops and don't let them regroup; you know I wish they could be reasoned with their numbers would be useful against the demons" Tatsumi replied, Dilgol laughed at that.
"Aye but if they could be reasoned with we'd not have half the trouble we do, but they are filled hate for anything and everything that isn't their own race, and even then they hate each other more" Dilgol replied.
"Still though how is that race like this hasn't wiped themselves out?" Tatsumi asked.
"Oh the simply breed too quickly to ever be wiped out, you'd have better chances of wiping out ordinary rats then these monsters, speaking of kill those too they'll work with their large kin to nasty effect I once saw a dwarf be eaten alive by a rat swarm; fire is the best weapon against these monsters" Dilgol explained, Tatsumi noted that and made a mental note to use Smaug's powers to the best of their ability with that in mind too he gave orders to the quartermasters to make sure the frontline troops were outfitted with flamethrowers and with that done he ordering Pais to take a scouting party to check the main approach to the mountain for any signs of rats; the scouts returned about two hours later to report that the first deep was empty of the rodents.
Tatsumi then saw to make sure to allocate his troops accordingly; about 2000 troops would act as a trap; the first forces that he'd send in would be the automatons those would make contact with the enemy and give them a wakeup call, the only way Tatsumi saw in beating them would be lure them out onto the field; Esdeath devised a feigned retreat strategy with that in mind Aria and Akame would lead the center alongside Tatsumi himself while Najenda would command the left flank and Esdeath the right, the plan was to lure the rats above ground as use the cavalry of his army to deadly effect; inside the mountain they'd be useless but in the flat valley outside they'd be solid. Tatsumi figured the rats wouldn't send their whole force but they'd send a force that would be large enough that if he were to wipe them out would lure them into a false sense of security as they'd assume that his force had been wiped out and thus allow him to catch them off guard in their warrens.
The lure worked and in broad daylight a massive host of rats poured out from the gates of Karak Galmakvus, the army was of a kind the Imperials had never seen before; the force was much like a swarm but using a semblance of tactics, in front were rank upon rank of Ratmen carrying crude weapons and with no armor to speak of, behind them were rats with more armor but none of it was uniform behind them however were professionals in full armor carrying either halberds or swords with shields, the preferred weapon appeared to be the falchion. In addition to the rank and file rats Tatsumi also noted a fair amount of war machines but also what looked to be a mixture of biologically created monsters of the kind that were a hodgepodge of rat and other animals, giant rat like monsters the size of trolls, hodgepodge horrors of fused flesh, rats the size of dogs, and looming above the rest massive abominations that had multiple heads and arms and were the size of the average house.
"Great Rats, why did it have to be rats," Akame remarked.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Mez remarked.
"Well they may have numbers, but we have something they don't, drive, training, and Teigus," Tatsumi remarked.
"I hate Skaven" Aria commented. "I hate rats at the best of times but rats the size of men urgh! Repugnant horrors" Aria added.
"We'll let us make sure that there are less of them in the world by the end of the day then there were this morning" Tatsumi replied "Mortars!" Tatsumi shouted out and the order went down the line, troops with mobile mortars loaded and fired. The howls of Mortars unnerved the rats and they were even more unnerved when the first salvo hit, thousands of rats died in this barrage but that only served to cause the warlords in charge of the force to order an all-out charge with more mortar fire raining down on them. "Cannons!" Tatsumi yelled and the Dwarves readied their artillery, unlike the Empire's siege engines that could take hours to set up the Dwarves had developed easy to deploy and transport artillery, these guns opened up with a focus on the large targets rather than the blobs of oncoming rats and those shots proved accurate as a few abominations fell down with rounds piercing them but to Tatsumi's shock some of them got back up as the rats were closing the distance their war cries getting closer as they approached; more salvos of artillery impacted into those ranks and the Dwarven War Titans of which there were five between the Dwarven forces that decided to join him charged up their main weapons and fired, large blasts of plasma leveled ranks of rats but the Vermintide kept coming and were only a few yards from contact.
As they moved closer the frontlines readied their flamethrowers and when they had closed the range the a storm of fire was unleashed across the frontline, the Skaven covered with fur were as good as dry brush for kindling and the fires lit them up, the ranks of slaves that survived tried fleeing backwards only to set alight their comrades behind, as the flames hoped from rat to rat the Clan Rats began to Tatsumi's shock killing the rats Infront of them without so much as noticing that they'd killed their own; at this Tatsumi realized no reason could be made with these creatures, if they were so cruel as to cut down their own soldiers in battle stabbing them in the back in many cases then they'd have no qualms doing so to humans with that in mind he focused the energy of Smaug and released it in the center of the rat army; a large orb of fire appeared and then exploded setting alight every right in the blast radius and incinerating those closest to explosion; the fire storm left a massive hole in the enemy's center one that they were now filling at the expense of their flanks particularly the right. It was at that point and time that Esdeath sent in her Ice centaurs and Ice warriors, the sudden surge of lifeless soldiers demolished an already weak right flank and allow the Imperial right to charge in behind with the Imperial cavalry now taking full advantage of the uncontested wings to cut off their line of retreat.
With their escape cut off the Warlords and Chiefs that commanded the troops ordered their forces forward as they only had one way out and that was thru the enemy. During this advance grenades were lobbed by the Imperials and Dwarves into the ranks, snipers picked off rats that would have lobbed glass globes filled with poison gas thus causing them to drop their weapons causing the gas to be released in the middle of the enemy army suffocating and killing the rats unfortunate enough to be nearby. This tide of death was new to the rat hosts that were used to their enemies breaking under the tide but they were breaking like water upon rock, thousands upon thousands of rats died before the first Imperial fell and thousands more before the first dwarf was injured; during this melee Esdeath summoned a large Wiesschneil boulder about the size of a barn and dropped in the Skaven rear killing the leadership; without those leaders the rats began to run it was then the cavalry closed a pincer and a grand slaughter of two hours began with rat after rat being cut down both by Tatsumi's army and by themselves as it became literally rat eat rat in a futile attempt to escape. By the end of it over 200,000 rats had died for only a couple dozen Imperials and three dwarven wounded. Tatsumi then ordered his army inside the mountain.
About three days later… Tatsumi had no means of keeping track of time beyond a watch that he kept handy, the timepiece had been a wedding gift from Aria for their wedding and he treasured it as Aria has taken the extra measure of having his name engraved on it along with a good sized about of decoration. The deeps bellow seemed to drag on for weeks as they claimed room after room from the rats; the casualties fortunately hadn't been severe on his end thus far as the Dwarves had given his men all manner of advice and had become quite experienced at tunnel fighting; that being said there weren't any fights in which his army didn't take losses, the only thing that made the fights worth it in the end was seeing the rats strung up afterwards, Tatsumi decided to intimidate the rats by stringing up their number after the battle making sure the corpses suffered as much abuse as possible to send a firm message of fear. This had a major effect on the morale of his enemies, their slaves tended to break a whole lot sooner and their clan rats were cowed into being more prone to break and even their elite troops the Stormvermin had second and third doubts of fighting his force. That being said the rats were not out of troops yet, Tatsumi had barely scratched the surface even though by this point his forces had killed over a million Skaven, still though they had numbers. Najenda was always having the troops march in equipment and making sure no one went off without a squad backing them off, some troops had and were not seen again and both her and a number of the veterans of the Southern War were having major flashbacks and thus were more paranoid and on guard than ever.
This aura of paranoia affect Akame and Aria the most, Aria because of her hatred for rats and Akame because all this was giving her and Kurome seriously bad memories; Akame and Kurome along with Mez and Suzuka were extremely ruthless with the rats so much so that if Yatsufsa brought a rat back from the dead Kurome immediately killed it for a second time or sent it to die against its own kin. This latter option caused the Skaven to get even more afraid and soon beneath large numbers of the rats abandoned their kingdom via pathways never to return to the warrens beneath Karak Galmakvus again, these were the fortunate ones and they were never heard from again nor did they ever leave whatever new warren they went off to; Tatsumi only found about this from his scouts that overheard rats that were deserting: Tatsumi even made their lives more miserable as he gave no quarter and any rat taken alive was tortured gruesomely to death by Aria, Aria's work was so effective that even the Skaven a race known for their cruelty were terrified of the prospect of being made into a piece of rat artwork as Aria would frequently turn their furs inside out or boil them in blood from dead rats.
Beneath it all in the Court of the Rat King that resided in the ninth deep the King and his princes chittered and schemed, they were determined to drive out the man-things and dwarf-things that had come into their home and had planned a careful strike; they hired a team of assassins that were true elites and gave them a mission: take out the leader of these invaders.
Tatsumi slept while Akame and the other three Rakshasa's stood watch; any sleep Tatsumi could get was something he treasured even if Volgoth tried to plague his dreams and everyone else's when he got the chance as at this point Volgoth was determined to break the minds of his enemies to weaken them. "I don't like this; every time he sleeps I worry for his safety he's so- vulnerable" Mez remarked.
"He has us to protect him, along with everyone else here and that is enough" Akame replied; then listened the pickets stood watch and by the dozens at each post the Dwarves were the ones who handled this as they needed less sleep and knew how to spot the rats whenever they showed up. That being said only Kurome had her eyes upward and thus spot the rats before they noticed them; she sighed tugged Akame and whispered; Akame smiled as now action was happening; thus the Four Rakshasas decided to ambush the assassins, where this anyone else that would have been a bad plan but these were Eden's most elite weapons masters and when the rats descended Kurome whistled and drew Yatsufsa. "Four tower rush" Akame ordered and they attacked, like lightning they struck, the assassins who were not to be shirked at were surprised by the sudden strike but recovered quickly readying their blades and while five of their number were slain by the initial attack, the remaining seven rats took up fighting stances and lunged forwards; Akame sliced two across the abdomen after parrying what to onlookers would have been a blur of blades the rats wielded three one in each arm and a third in their tail, Akame's speed however though was quicker than a lightning bolt and while the strikes in themselves wouldn't have killed outright the poison of Murasame cause them to fall over and die an agonizing death in a few seconds, at the same time Suzuka who the rats though would be easy to deal with as they though the massive sword she had would make her a slow target hewed two more rats down cutting thru both them and their swords, Akame then saved Kurome from a third rat that was sneaking up behind her while Mez who had been helping Suzuka with the two remainder impaled both on her naginata. The sound of the fighting caused all other guards to converge on the location only to find the Four Rakshasas standing at their post over a pile of dead rats; a Dwarf swore something in his own language upon seeing the rats and a few more applauded the work as those assassins had been a Triad a group of elite Assassins specialized in killing targets and were not by any means easy to kill as they were renowned for piling up bodies elite Dwarven warriors they had killed along with many a promising ruler that the rats viewed as a threat; in fact Tatsumi the IV had been killed by a Triad team, when Tatsumi woke a few hours later and found Akame standing on top of a pile of dead rats he could only be surprised.
"What did I miss?" Tatsumi asked.
"Not much just a few amateur assassins" Akame joked, Tatsumi laughed, by comparison to Akame they were amateurs. Tatsumi then had the bodies strung up; and the scouts of the Skaven reported the failure to their king who decided enough had been enough and he would lead his army himself to crush the intruders once and for all.
So, it was when Tatsumi arrived with his army in the Seventh deep he found the path blocked by a Skaven Army these however were all elites decked out in the best armor and backed up by armored war beasts. "So, these are the intruders: Man-things, Dwarf-Things" a loud chittering voice boomed across the room apparently using a megaphone. "You dare trespass beneath the Mountain of Under-Kingdom greatest of all Skaven realms, my realm; trespasser-things you- you enter the realm of King Ikit Mortkin Rat-Rat seventeenth of the most lugubrious of lines of Kings, I have-have ruled here-here for six year-years, that may-may not seem like a long-long time to you but for our kind it-it is long-long time; you will not take-take my kingdom; I-I and my Skaven subjects will make you-you dead: Die-Die now Man-things die-die Dwarf-things, no one remember you-you and I use Gutripper to rip-rip tear-tear your bodies to pieces weak emperor just like my ancestors killed Great-Skaven-Killer Emperor long-long-long-long ago. Kill-kill them all!" the King boomed and the howls of rats were heard and the sounding of a bell, a loud bell it tolled like the scream of a banshee inside the halls and the rats charged; Tatsumi ordered his ranks to form and ordered the barrages it begin.
"Dragon Armor: Smaug" Tatsumi declared and dawned his armor. "Dragon Flight" he declared and flew up above the formation he then began to take in the scale of the rat armies, soon Esdeath joined him with wings of ice as did Sayo.
"Taking in the scale of the battle?" Esdeath asked.
"Yep, trying to find the best spot in their lines to reign fire and death down on them from; the mortars make it a bit difficult" Tatsumi replied as the sound of mortars mixed in with the tolls of the bells, at the sound of those bells Tatsumi felt sick.
"Right there" Esdeath pointed and Tatsumi noted a large blob of heavily armored rats, Tatsumi then noted a similar blob.
"What about there?" Tatsumi asked pointing to that blob.
"Wiesschneil" Esdeath declared and a large block of ice appeared above the blob and dropped done on it. "That's why" Esdeath remarked and Tatsumi turned to the formation Esdeath indicated and it had clumped up further as rats moved to that side.
"Smaug: Flamestorm!" Tatsumi declared and a massive tornado of fire appeared and tore thru the rat ranks the fires ignited the furs of the rats and they panicked setting alight more of their kin this caused the formations of the enemy army to lose any semblance of cohesion and crash into each other like drunken ducks and with that Tatsumi's army rushed forward, the charge into the disorderly rat ranks killed thousands on impact across the lines it was then that Sayo and Tatsumi went for a brash and audacious move they swooped down on the enemy commanders, Sayo unleashed a barrage of light arrows into the subordinates while Tatsumi picked up the Rat King and pulled him into the melee and the two then locked blades. To Tatsumi's chagrin King Ikit was not a pushover in a fight and even more so his blade did not break on impact.
"Gutripper: Gutripp!" Ikit declared and the blade shifted to having more spikes then average at this Tatsumi realized that he was dealing with something anyone would have thought absurd: a Skaven Teigu user. At this Tatsumi adjusted his tactics going on defense and it was well he did as opponent moved quick the blows hit hard and fast and Tatsumi noted he hadn't fought an opponent this fast since he fought Honest, a difficulty that was made all the harder as his opponent had three weapons along with his rows of teeth.
"Valroust: Battle focus" Tatsumi declared and Tatsumi's strikes moved quicker and he was now getting a semblance of a grasp on his opponents technique as such looked now for weaknesses; parrying blades and lashes along with getting the occasional strike in on his opponent's armor but these were glancing hits, parrying strike after strike as he grasped further the opponent's technique the Rat King was furious but fearless too as he didn't care about Tatsumi other than that he was an intruder in his home.
After much parrying and studying Tatsumi noted a weakness and waited for his opponent to strike with his tail blade Tatsumi then sidestepped the strike and cut of the king's tail, he howled in agony, while that wasn't a killing blow it thru King Ikit off balance and with him being unbalanced his technique was less formidable then before; Tatsumi then altered the grip of Smaug then parried the blades of King Ikit and drove Valruost into his opponent left hip the Teigu blade went thru the armor causing the rat to drop his guard Tatsumi then smote thru the guard and his opponent bifurcating him as his opponent died with anger in his heart yelling "MAN-THING!" with the death of their king any remaining backbone the rats had was broken and even these elite troops broke as the hordes of Tatsumi's army ran them down.
The next few hours were spent in slaughter the rats ran some cowered in the warrens which the Dwarves burned out; the palace of plundered treasures that the Rat King had ruled from was cleansed of all Skaven and messengers were sent to the Dwarven army. About two days afterwards a massive Dwarven Army led by the High King arrived to retake the hold this army wiped out everything left behind and by the end of that day not a rat was left alive.
"You've done well you've righted the first Great wrong, I'm surprised not many have accomplished such a feat; you have their king's head and killed all his spawn; they'll never trouble us again" King Durin greeted as Tatsumi arrived in his war room.
"How many lives were lost trying to take this back over the years?" Tatsumi asked.
"Over a million dwarves died over the centuries and millions more ambition humans that have met the same end; with their power splintered it will be a simple matter to retake Karak Galmakvus, even more so the other holds as they'll now be fighting among themselves for who will lead them; you've done well know though this was the easiest of the Grudges to right from then on it will be much harder" King Durin explained.
"I'll set them right I have to do that to save the world" Tatsumi replied.
"Then go and tarry no longer then you have to; two wrongs yet remain and time as you know is a luxury not in high supply" King Durin replied Tatsumi agreed and readied his hardened force for the next task and this one would be harder.
