Chapter 66
"Confusion, it's such a terrible shame. Confusion, you don't know what you're sayin'. You've lost your mind and just can't carry on. You feel there's no one there for you to lean on."
As the song was played, Polka ran round the table and started raining blows on Ursula. Lola then screamed as Agatha suddenly stabbed her with her claws.
"The singer! The singer!" the night hag yelled before chanting, "Look into my eyes, young one. By the power of three, soundly sleep and gently weep."
The lore bard locked eyes with her, then immediately crumpled to the ground and fell asleep.
"You dare!" shouted the sea hag, "My jaws they bite, my claws they catch. By the power of three, you'll bleed like a wretch!" She slashed her claws across the fennec girl's chest, the sound of glass breaking as the protections on the monk falling and deep cuts appearing on her body.
"My goddess, light the way with your beauty that we may follow!"
A flash of light surged towards the sea hag, drawing agonized screams from her.
"Poi."
The arrow slammed into the night hag's shoulder, after which exploded and burst, showering the hags with splinters. Ursula fell forward dead, the splinters lacerating her throat.
"No! We are divided!" screamed Agatha before being drowned out by an explosion of sound.
"Much better for us!" declared Aloe with a savage grin.
"Aye!" agreed Polka as she moved on to the next hag, Lola. Swinging her leg wide as if to trip, she punched the hag in the nose as she jumped back. The monk then lunged to strike her stomach. Another fake-out as the hag got punched in the nose again.
"You snake!" the night hag screeched as the fennec girl staggered backward with a grin.
"Watch out!" warned the succubus as the green hag went invisible.
"Not with your eyes, dearie," snarled Lola as she conjured a few magical darts and sent them flying at her. The darts peppered Aloe as she tried dodging them. She threw a dagger in response but it flew past the hag and bounced off the window sill.
Suddenly, the door behind the party was flung open and Botan was grabbed from behind. She yelled in pain as something bit into her shoulder. Lamy spun around to find a woman with pale-grey skin in a maid outfit. She had a pair of sharp fangs, sharpened fingernails, and blood-red eyes.
"The power of my goddess will wash away all that is horrid!" chanted the half-snow elf as she raised her amulet.
The vampire spawn shrieked in surprise. This gave the archer time to shove her head away and get out of her grasp. As she got shoved away, she scurried away on all fours, crawling up the wall to the stairs.
"Surprise, dearie!" exclaimed Agatha as she popped out of invisibility. She was able to rake her claws on the monk's arm but got a strike to the face in response.
"I agree!" shouted Lola as she sent more magic missiles at Polka, who hissed at the constant peppering. She yelled in pain when another flash of light slammed into her side, followed by a spectral sword to her other side.
"Bye-bye," said Botan as she sent her arrows into the night hag's throat.
"Nice one, Botan," cheered on Aloe as she hurried over to Nene to wake her up, "Hey, wakey-wakey."
Shaken awake, the lore bard got up, a little confused. However, seeing Agatha, she remembered what was going on. Taking a moment to glance around, she mocked the green hag, "Hey! You're still fighting? You're going to lose!"
The hag seemed to ignore her, being more focused on trying to avoid the monk's attacks. She dodged most of it, save for another strike to her nose. Roaring in exasperation, she suddenly went invisible again.
"Huh, that worked," quipped the succubus.
"No time for that," said Lamy as she went out of the room, "There's a vampire out here." Spotting the spawn at the top of the stairs, she chanted, "The icy floes and frost chills come, best keep moving or fall to slumber."
A ray of frost slammed into its shoulder, causing it to hiss in pain. This was followed by Botan's arrows, which hit, and Aloe's dagger, which missed.
"Watch out for the last hag," warned Nene as she ran out of the room with Polka.
"For my sire!" shouted the vampire spawn as she made a running jump and leaped off the stairs to the ground floor, right in front of the monk.
The fennec girl lashed out with her leg, catching the spawn in the shoulder. Undeterred, the undead lady retaliated with her claws, one hand catching onto the monk's calf and drew blood. Almost immediately, the spectral sword shot forward and buried itself in its shoulder. As it shrieked in anger, it dodged from the cleric's mace and then batted it away. Unfortunate that it couldn't handle so many things at once as an arrow burrowed itself in her eye socket and went all the way into the brain. As it roared in agony, another arrow was buried in its throat; the force of the shot sending its now lifeless body careening into the wall.
"Right… where's that nobleman?" the lion girl asked with a frown, "If there isn't a good explanation, I have a new target dummy to use."
"I'm afraid he is long gone by now," stated someone.
Everyone turned to the door leading to the entrance and was surprised to find Priestess Ina'nis standing there.
"Forgive me for being rude, but I do not think-" started Lamy but stopped when the priestess held up her hand.
"I know, my dear," she stated, "But he is no longer here. I doubt he has lived here in quite a while. And before you ask, I have gained much knowledge from my lord, the Ancient One."
Hearing that name made their skin crawl involuntarily, but they kept their cool.
"So, since you know much about what is going on… can you help us?" asked Nene.
"Hmm," she hummed as she approached and leaned into the bard's face, "Maybe if you join my cult?"
"Eh? Umm… I still haven't decided yet?" she sputtered out.
"It's alright… I have plenty of time," the mysterious priestess replied as she gave her cheek a few pats. Walking back to the entrance, she continued, "As for help, there will be a lot of trouble coming tonight. Be sure to pass on my warning to your leader. I will do my utmost to lend some aid."
"Is that so..."
Lord Aruran's eyes were closed, as if in deep thought. The party stood at the table, feeling a little nervous. After leaving the Credo manor, they headed straight for the guild house. Luckily for them, the guild master was already waiting for any of the groups to return with their reports.
"I honestly have not had the pleasure of meeting this Priestess Ina'nis before," he stated as he opened his eyes, "And I have met many people. Still… her words are ominous... I will have much to consider. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."
"We were glad to help, Lord Aruran," stated Lamy politely.
"Alright, go get some rest. If you need any healing or something to refresh yourself, you can ask Miyabi for potions," he advised them.
"Thank you, sir," they replied in unison before leaving the side room.
"Well, I overheard. Do you need anything?" asked the guild clerk.
After they agreed, they were quite surprised when they found out he not only had healing potions, but also some Blessed Water of the Moon. Three potions and three Waters later, they headed to their rooms to rest until evening, with Aloe opting to join Nene. Polka also shared the healing ointment with her injured friends. Knocking sounds on their doors roused them from their rest and a few minutes later, they found themselves in the side room with the other guild members. The fennec girl was still feeling a bit sore and the lion girl still looked a little sickly from the fight earlier but other than that, they were ready for the next step in the nobleman's plan.
"I hope all of you are rested. This evening, we clear out the pockets of ruins we uncovered earlier," stated Lord Aruran as he stood up from his seat, "Miss Fubuki and Miss Coco will be joining two of the teams as backup. These will be the teams."
As the guild master rattled off the teams, the party was surprised to find out that they were teamed up with Oga and his two friends. The nosferatu's reasoning being that the ruin they were sent to clear out was a much larger pocket and possibly needed more help. Accepting their assignments, they were directed to the cleaners outpost nearest to their pocket. It was time.
"Ugh, I'll never get over the smell," groaned Polka as they reached the entrance to their assigned pocket.
"Eh, you get used to it," stated Yogiri with a shrug.
"Hey, this was the one with the two tunnels, right?" asked Oga as he peered inside warily, the tunnel illuminated by the monk's driftglobe.
"Yea, I think it was," confirmed Shien with a frown, "Makes sense then if we got sent here. Hey, maybe you can bring the roof down and call it a day."
The mazoku snickered and nodded eagerly. Eventually, the tunnel opened up to a man-made stone passage that led to a large room. The rubble-strewn-hall was lit up with braziers that burned with blue fire. Two sets of stairs on either side led up to an open balcony that overlooked the lower ground. Six stone pillars held up the ceiling on the lower floor with three more on the higher level. In the center of the hall was a faintly-glowing magic circle. The place was not uninhabited.
"Kill the light," hissed Aloe the moment the shuffling undead were seen. The fennec girl quickly grabbed her globe, causing the light to go out almost immediately.
There were many bodies shuffling down the stairs, moving towards the circle, their deathly pallor showing up clearly in the blue light. On the balcony was a figure clad in black plate armor. It looked indistinguishable save for the color and the horns that curved out from the top of the helm.
Suddenly, it said, "Visitors? Already?"
The undead stopped and all turned to the passage. Some growled and some spoke coherently, calling to let them kill for their sire.
"Er, is it too late to back out?" asked the succubus nervously.
"Enough!" stated the knight, silencing the undead, "Come out from there. Show me your faces, interlopers."
"What do we do?" asked Nene, deferring to the more experienced adventurers.
"I think… we might as well go see what he wants," said the jackal rogue as he flashed a grin at them.
"Oh? Spring the trap anyway? Why not?" questioned the mazoku warrior rhetorically, mirroring the grin.
"Eh? Really?" asked the lore bard in shock.
They ignored the question and stepped out of the passage. The party looked to Yogiri, who shrugged and muttered, "Might as well."
As they filed out, the black knight stated, "Interlopers, what brings you here? There are important things to do and less time to entertain guests."
"We are here to clear you out," declared Oga confidently, "Sorry for you, but undead that threaten the people living here aren't allowed in the city."
The knight chuckled and replied, "Then, I'm afraid we are at an impasse as we have been tasked with taking the city."
"I'm afraid we can't let you do that," retorted the mazoku as he slammed the blade of his greatsword on the flagstones.
"I see… What is your name, warrior?" requested the mystery knight.
"Oga Aragami."
"I am Micheal von Christner," introduced the vampire as he picked up a sheathed sword from behind the railing of the balcony.
He pulled the sheath off and tossed it aside. It was a long, single-edged sword with a slight curve in the blade. The vampire then jumped over the balcony and landed on the ground floor, kicking up a bit of dust.
He then pointed at them with the sword, citing, "Feast to your heart's content. The one named Oga is mine."
Roars and shrieks filled the air as the undead ran to meet them.
Night had fallen and the street lights were already lit. The guard post was manned by the night shift, which meant less guards at the post. All was quiet on the street corner when a magic circle suddenly lit up under the floorboards. Without warning, wood splintered as a mass of undead broke through and started attacking the guards. The horrified screams only echoed through the night air for a moment. Across the city, similar scenes were happening in all the guard posts. Out of two of them, two vampires stepped out of their individual circles.
One would be a familiar armored knight, who ordered, "We head straight to the west gate. Kill all who oppose us."
He then led the undead to the west gate. Along the way, they attacked any guard patrol they came across.
The other was female, wearing a rich blue and red dress, the outfit completed by a gold-plated tiara decorated with a few rubies. She licked her lips and ordered, "You all know what to do. The south gate."
"You will not be following us, mistress?" asked one of the vampire spawn.
The vampire laughed and replied, "Oh, I may have my orders, but I am my own woman. I will be visiting the school and the dorms. I know there are others being sent there but how can I resist?"
"As you wish, my mistress."
The rest were headed by spawn that were created earliest. They headed to take out the guards and take control of the gates to the city. However, there was still opposition.
"Send them back to the earth!" shouted Elder Kyshyr, standing in front of the south gate. Lightning bolts and moonbeams rained down on the ghasts and skeletons while the vampire spawn were specially targeted by entangling spells. Those get burned to a more permanent death.
The groups moving to the east gate started getting peppered by magic. Perched on top of one of the buildings was a figure dressed in pink clothes. She pointed at another group and shouted, "Next time, Stay Home!"
Several more crackling beams of eldritch energy rained on the undead. She laughed.
"You!"
She turned to the side and spotted a vampire spawn climbing over the side of the room. His arm was in pieces and hanging by a strip of tough flesh. His face was scorched over, probably due to the eldritch blasts.
"You dare stop the plans of our sire!" he shouted in anger, "Die!"
He lunged for her, grabbing her arm. However, the second he sank his fangs into her forearm, she grinned and pointed at him. He shrieked in agony as he burst into flames. He let go and staggered back as she laughed.
"You dare lay hands on the elite miko," she sneered as she walked up to him and kicked him off the roof, "FAQ U, you die now."
On a nearby building, Towa shook her head and muttered, "Yikes, she's at it again. Why Aruran got her involved, I don't know. Sakura is crazy."
She then decided to finish off the group the miko was peppering and chanted the mystical words of the spell. A column of divine fire fell down from the sky, burning the group of undead to dust.
"You! I will-"
The spawn was then blasted off the roof and fell to its death. She muttered nonchalantly, "This will be a long night."
AN: Greetings, readers. Welcome back.
Aye, we have a coven show up for a fight. The three hag were gathered together to help Baron von Christner and his faction. In return, they get a chance to get their revenge against Holo5. Didn't go too well them, did it? Miss Agatha survived with her tail between her legs. Even with a little vampire help. So, after that was over, they meet Ina for a bit more information before going to meet Lord Aruran. After this, we go down to evening time, where they start trying to remove the Baron's forces from the city. Things aren't going so well. As in, the bamboozlement is complete. Thankfully, the Molo5 team and the Mafia team got there just in time to interrupt one of the teleporting events. Thus, we shall begin another fight.
For reference, Viktor is a blackguard a.k.a. an oathbreaker, Francine is a necromancer, and Micheal is a barbarian/fighter combo. All three will have the typical advantages and weaknesses of a vampire as well as some unique traits. Viktor and Francine paly into the typical vampire arrogance, so they like to play with their 'food'. Because of that, they would be less likely to go after the very injured. On the other hand, Micheal is more of a knightly person, believing in the nobility of the vampire. So, he would favor one-on-one duels and will challenge the strongest member of any party while leaving the rest for whatever minions that are following him at that time. Also, he has a special rage that adds to his damage rolls the more injured he is. though, he has to go into rage for him to tap into that final move.
Next chapter, Holo5 and Mafia fight vampires. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.