"Can you believe that those foolish dwarves let a demon in here?"
Along the top of the fortress, two human sentries took their turn patrolling the area for any sign of this coming army. Their shift would end in roughly an hour, but as of now they had seen nothing, and they certainly weren't paying any attention to the being climbing the side of the fortress.
"I'm surprised by that too, this kind of thing would not have happened if we were in a human fortress. Would have proper beds and meals too."
"When this battle is over, we'll deal with that demon…who knows maybe the king will reward us as well."
"I'll deal with her after I've dealt with you."
A cold voice spoke to the two men, the first turned to see a figure in black cloak fluttering in the wind with twin daggers in hand. With a quick movement he swiped his left dagger to the side decapitating the first sentry then turned toward the second sentry and before the other could react, threw the dagger in his right hand forward. The blade planted itself in the sentry's face up to the hilt, the second sentry stood for a moment or two before toppling over. The figure in the black cloak then retrieved his dagger and tucked both away behind his back.
"Now…where are you little sister? Maybe if I kill a few more you'll show yourself." He looked over the ledge of the walkway out in the distance and smiled as the sun began to set. "Soon this wretched place and all those inside shall become salves for the Lich Queen."
xxxx
"What do you think Scaly?"
"About what Sir Mage?"
"This battle we are to face, and the new girl with us?"
"The young Demoness seems to be a trustworthy individual, she has come to share her story with us and has thus far done nothing to arouse suspicion. As for this impending battle…I do not have a precise answer for you yet. We can at least take solace in the fact that like with the Beast Master we will not have to fight alone."
"True enough, we have our fellow silver rank Spearman and the young warrior with us." Dwarf Shaman smiled as he looked over to see the sleepy Spearman and Rookie Warrior, preserving their strength for the coming battle. "Now that I think about it, where has Beardcutter gone?"
"He mentioned something about getting Wolf ready for the coming battle."
"And the other dire wolf…Snow?"
"She's with the girls, Milord Goblin Slayer asked that she keep them safe. The others have also been having fun with this new wolf or so I gathered."
xxxx
In the next room, the girls too slept after their rather large meal, for the spell casters it was the most important thing to save their energy for the spells they were to cast. Half-Demon Thief frowned as she tossed and turned, a feeling of unease coursing through her, not just from the coming battle but from something she could not explain. She opened her eyes expecting to see the ceiling above, but instead saw a figure in black with bright yellow eyes looking down at her. The moment she attempted to scream, the figure violently placed a hand over her mouth and brought a dagger in his other hand towards her throat.
"I could have killed you at least six different ways, has you're time with the humans made you this weak?"
"Brother."
"How the hell can you associate with humans? After what they did to mother…father…you and me? I'm going to let you speak, you so much as raise your voice above a whisper and I'll start killing these people you associate with." The figure in black, Half-Demon Assassin, removed his hand covering her mouth but kept the blade by her throat.
"These people here are different, they protected me from the Armored Skeleton. I wanted you to come with me away from her."
"She's going to wipe out all these races and you want me to abandon her, which means you'd also abandon your only brother as well. The humans have turned you against me."
"She's the one turning you, the moment she's done with us we will be nothing more than food for her horde. Surely you can see that."
"She would not betray us, we serve a purpose for her. My instructions were to bring you back alive or silence you, so it seems that you've helped me come to a decision." Half-Demon Assassin suddenly used his free hand to grab her by her throat, crushing her wind pipe as he raised his dagger up high. "Know that I don't have any malice toward you my sister, I do this to save you from the torture the humans will inflict upon you."
"You'll be dead before you draw your next breath."
Half-Demon Assassin slowly turned to see an elf ranger with bow and arrow drawn aimed directly at him. His moment of distraction was all that Half-demon Thief needed to break free and move toward Priestess' bed. All the commotion awoke the other women who could look on with surprise at the figure shrouded in black with a dagger in his hand. He hissed toward the elf while slowly moving his other hand toward his second dagger.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Or what elf, you and the others will kill me?"
"No, she will."
Suddenly he heard the growling of a strange animal, and as he looked toward his right saw a large white wolf snarling as it stalked toward him. The wolf leapt forward snapping her jaws at the assassin who fell backwards off the bed narrowly avoid the bite of the large wolf. He quickly stood and ran toward the door slamming into it with his shoulder, forcing the door open as he fell to the floor.
"Damn it!"
Then he heard the growling of the wolf once again, but it was not coming from behind him but from his right side. As he looked up from the floor, there was a black dire wolf clad in armor with glowing red eyes and behind it was an armored figure with red eyes himself. At first glance, the assassin thought it was an undead, but could sense the malice coming off this figure, enough to make him shiver.
"Wh…who the hell are you? What are you?"
"Goblin Slayer." The armored man drew his sword as he and the dire wolf moved forward toward the person in black.
Half-Demon Assassin jumped back away from Goblin Slayer and the dire wolf just as the other adventurers poured out of the rooms. With a wave of his cloak, the figure disappeared before them, the rest of the adventurers were left surprised by his actions.
"Where the hell did he go?" Spearman hissed as he looked down either side of the hall.
"He's using Stealth." Half-Demon Thief gasped for air as she gently massaged her bruised neck. "It's an ability that completely masks one's presence, until they decide to strike. I know of it too."
"Then we…Orcbolg, what the hell happened to Wolf?"
The party turned to see the large black dire wolf now covered in armor. A thin layer of chainmail covered his body with silver and red armor plating was wrapped around his body and legs. A helmet of the same color markings covered his head yet still allowed for him to move with ease, and two large spots for his ears to protrude. Down the center of his back was a black saddle area with a silver wolf ornament decorating the riding horn. The armored dire wolf looked toward the party curiously then began to wag its tail when it saw the female dire wolf.
"It seems the gift from the black smith was armor for Wolf. A note said it would be useful in protecting him from bites from the undead." Goblin Slayer looked down at Wolf then looked back to his party. "Who was that individual?"
"That was my brother…he was sent here to kill me." Half-Demon Thief found herself trembling at the thought of her only living relative now trying to kill her.
"We need to go after him, he couldn't have gotten far." High Elf Archer frowned as she placed her arrow back in her quiver but kept her bow ready.
"How do we find him though…if he can mask his presence from us, he could be anywhere." Rookie Warrior looked around the area thought was cautious of a sneak attack.
"If…we are…unable to find…the assassin…perhaps these…dire wolves…can find his scent." Witch smiled as she looked down at the two wolves.
"I'm sure these two will…wait, how did he get in here?" Priestess was suddenly at a loss for words as to how this demon could have entered this supposed impenetrable fortress.
"She right, weren't there guards watching the front?" Apprentice Cleric also worried at how that demon could have gotten into the fortress, let alone into the same room as them.
Dwarf Shaman went pale, the girls were right, there had been guards stationed to make their rounds every two hours, the next change was not scheduled for quite some time.
"Scaly! Beardcutter! You two come with me. The rest of you search for this assassin, alert the others, I fear something has happened and we're running short of time."
Before the others could say anything, the three ran off for the nearest stairwell and made their up, the remainder of the party ran back toward the dining hall with the two dire wolves to begin warning the others around. From the shadows, using stealth to hide himself, Half-Demon Assassin watched as the two groups sped off to start warning the others in fortress.
"Damn it, I hadn't expected a High Elf or those two giant wolves to be protecting her. I don't know what lies you fed them, but it's only a matter of time before you die, either by my hands or by the horde."
xxxx
"This is terrible." Dwarf Shaman looked over the two dead bodies that lay upon the floor.
"Truly dreadful, these poor souls." Lizard Priest bowed his head and placed his hands together as he prayed for those lost.
Goblin Slayer walked toward the ledge and looked over the side, but thankfully saw no one else attempting to scale the walls. He then looked upward toward the forest for the smell of rotting flesh was carried over the wind, and as he looked out, could not see anything in the darkness but could hear the heavy footsteps of the approaching army and the sound of drums.
"They're coming."
Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest rushed to the wall by Goblin Slayer and too heard the sounds of the drums and what sounded like chanting. Dwarf Shaman rushed over toward the large golden bell that was on the opposite side of the wall and taking the rope in hand and began to pull. As the bell began to rock back and forth, the making a loud gong-like sound, echoing through the fortress. Everyone within the fortress could hear the sounds and quickly went about getting themselves ready. The elves went for their bows and arrows and rushed to set themselves up along the battlements atop the fortress as this the human marksmen. Some of the dwarves set themselves up by the catapults inside the courtyard behind the defensive walls of the fortress, while others took to the two smaller catapults along the battlement. The rest of the dwarves and humans took up their weapons and stood within the courtyard behind the massive wooden gates awaiting the order to advance or defend.
Honored Uncle, Elf Leader and Human Commander, along with the Hero and her party joined Goblin Slayer and the others in the center battlement looking over the battle field. Spearman and the others joined back up with Goblin Slayer but there was no sign of the demon assassin. Everyone looked out and saw two figures emerge from the tree line riding atop what looked like huge, demonic horses. The first was a tall figure completely surrounded in black save their massive golden crown on their head, the other figure appeared to be a skeleton in black armor.
"That's her…the Lich Queen." Half Demon Thief found herself shaking as she looked at the imposing figure on horseback.
"What of the other one?" Hero was curious about this other figure beside the lich, forgetting about the demon she was speaking with.
"That is the Armored Skeleton…the commander of this army. He is truly a dangerous as well, be careful around him."
Behind them was the skeletal army, each covered in light armor, the first wave included skeletal warriors beating drums with what looked like human bones, while others beside them walked forward with poles in hand, but instead of a flag, on each pole was the impaled head of various races. Then one row after another emerged, each skeletal figure chanting in some forgotten language. The skeletons varied in size, seeming to corroborate Half-Demon Thief's claims that these were the remains of the five armies of legend. Behind the more humanoid skeletons was a row of large skeletal figures, possible trolls and behind them was a massive skeletal dragon, flecks of gold shining from its bones.
"My word…a dragon." Lizard Priest was in complete awe of this massive skeleton. "How dare she rouse such a noble creature from its slumber."
"That is assuming it's not the evil one from the legend." Spearman grunted as he looked over the army of skeletons.
"That golden shine…is that gold imbedded in the bone?" High-Elf Archer pondered what was causing the reflective shine.
"Gold…covering the bone…that will be…most troublesome." Even Witch frowned as she looked over the army.
"Ushtar ro avhe vadokan, gith glorausan ûr lav-li, izubu gothlob ro garmadh, lich gothlob, miukavreukuk ro avhe vadokan!" The army of the skeletons chanted this phrase over and over as they followed behind the Lich Queen and the Armored Skelton.
"What the hell are they babbling about?" Spearman grew irritated at the repeated phrase.
"It is black speech…a language used by the forces of evil from a much darker time." Lizard Priest frowned as he heard this strange language.
"Even I did not know of such a language among the demons." Half-Demon Thief continued to tense as the chanting grew louder and louder with each passing moment.
"I've read of it, but never got around to learning how to speak it myself." Dwarf Shaman watched as the skeletal army walked forward row after row.
"Can you translate it?" High Elf Archer looking toward Lizard Priest, she too knew of it, but was unfamiliar with the translation of the words.
"Army of the dead descend, all honor for her, our queen of ruin, Lich Queen, mistress of the dead."
All eyes fell on Goblin Slayer who looked over the army with both dire wolves on either side of him.
"Milord Goblin Slayer, you know black speech?"
"My master made sure that I was well versed in different aspects, should the goblins use black speech, however I have yet to hear them say anything in that ancient tongue."
Before they could even comprehend the size of this army of skeletons, behind them emerged the reanimated undead, the horde was indeed far larger than what had been expected. Human Commander stood there with wide eyes as he and the others took in the sight of the army, far larger than what they had expected. The undead stopped behind the army of skeletons, not moving any further, but moaning so loud it drowned out the howl of the wind.
"Why aren't they moving any further? They're just standing there." Rookie Warrior grimaced at the stench carried by the wind.
"This Lich Queen, must be controlling them." Goblin Slayer's response was as cold as the air around them. "If we slay her, the rest should die."
"You make it sound so simple." Female Swordmaster looked toward at this armored warrior as if he was a fool.
"Did you find the assassin?" Dwarf Shaman clenched his fists as he watched as more and more of the undead army emerged from the forest.
"What assassin?" Human Commander looked toward the party with a look of worry.
"Her brother broke into the fortress to silence her, but before we could catch him he vanished." Dwarf Shaman explained the situation to the others.
"There's another demon in here?" Human Commander looked toward Half-Demon Thief angrily. "You damn filthy creature, just how many of you monsters are in here?"
"I didn't summon my brother here you damn ass." Half-Demon Thief glared at this stupid human.
"Did you not hear that she was attacked by him? How he tried to kill her? Clearly he's any enemy to her." High Elf Archer too grew mad at this man's accusations toward her companion.
"You must not be fooled by this demon and her tricks." Hero frowned at this party with the demon in their group. "Perhaps this was a ploy to make you drop your guard."
"Listen here young one!" Dwarf Shaman sternly looked toward Hero and her party while pointing his finger at them. "Hero or not, you do not go around falsely accusing any of our companions. You have not gotten to know her as we have, so don't judge her like you know her."
"You stupid dwarf, how dare you talk to the hero like…"
"That's enough." It was a stern cold voice that stopped the bickering. "Their army is ready."
All eyes once again looked toward Goblin Slayer, his gaze only focused on the army of the undead before the fortress. The others felt foolish for their petty arguing before the battle, and quickly refocused themselves for the task at hand. There was a look of both awe and fear as they gazed upon this army of undead led by the Lich Queen, easily more than ten thousand soldiers, still chanting their battle song in black speech.
"This is bad…if that army breaks through the gates, we'll be trapped like rats." Spearman tightly griped his spear.
"Worse yet…if they get past us…the rest of…the countryside…will be devoured." Witch took one last puff of her pipe before knocking out the ember.
"When the undead get close enough, have your archers fire a volley of flame arrows." Goblin Slayer's comment was directed toward the Elf Leader.
"Flame arrows…you, uh Orcbolg, you must know how elves feel about flames, besides flames arrows will not be very useful against skeletons."
"They are only a distraction for what I have planned." Goblin Slayer then turned toward High Elf Archer. "I will need you skills once again."
"I'll be ready…wait, what do you have planned this time?"
Goblin Slayer stood their silently as he looked at High Elf Archer and the others.
"Orcbolg?"
"I will apologize later."
"Orcbolg! What are you going to use?"
"What did you do?" Hero asked, completely lost with the banter between these two.
"Earlier I went about and prepared for their assault."
"How…how could you prepare if you weren't sure about what you would be facing?" Sage too was curious what this armored warrior had done.
"Goblins hope to ambush their opponents, but never expect to be ambushed themselves."
"But…we're not facing goblins." Female Swordmaster was puzzled by his cryptic remark.
"I know." Goblin Slayer nodded.
Goblin Slayer's friends and comrades smiled at his remark, while the rest were left wondering what was going through his head. It was Honored Uncle who laughed, intrigued by this boy's uniqueness, before giving the armored warrior a hearty clap on the back.
"You'll have your flame arrows Beardcutter."
xxxx
"Is he still inside the Fortress?"
"Yes my queen, but I still see the young thief up along the top of the fortress. He must have failed or been caught."
"But he is still alive." Lich Queen looked up to see Half-Demon Thief and smiled beneath her black shroud at the terror upon her face before addressing the fortress. "Surrender yourselves to the horde. Serve me and I shall make your deaths as painless as possible."
"You and your damn army of the undead will be defeated her and now!" Human Commander shouted down with confidence. "The great Hero is with us! The one who vanquished the demon lord! You have no chance!"
Hero and her party stood confident as they looked down at the Lich Queen and her army. Though they could not see it, Lich Queen was smiling rather sinisterly at the thought of facing this Hero.
"Then let us begin." Lich Queen dismounted her steed and slowly walked forward with hands turned upward toward the sky, she looked toward the spell caster by Hero and began chanting.
Sage grew annoyed at the pointless waiting game and raised her staff to the sky to rain down a barrage of lightning bolts upon the army, but found that nothing was coming. She tried to summon her spell, but was unable to speak the words needed to produce the spell.
"What's wrong?" Hero was worried as she looked toward Sage.
"I can't cast my spell! I can't use any of my magic against her!"
"Dispel! Damn that monster! We can't use any magic directly against her!" Honored Uncle slammed his fists down upon the stone.
"Dispel huh…then let's see her try to dispel this!" Hero raised her sword high and began to power for the spell used to destroy Hecatoncheir. "Sun Burst!"
A light illuminated the night sky, yet Lich Queen and her army made no attempt to flee, instead Lich Queen simply gave a simple wave of her hand and waited for the blast to consume her. Goblin Slayer could recognize that something was wrong and quickly went into action to protect those around him.
"Cast Protection."
"Wait, what Goblin Slayer?"
"What…what's going on?" Half-Demon Thief too was confused by the sudden change in Goblin Slayer.
"Now!"
Goblin Slayer's quick snap shook Priestess, but she quickly nodded and went to work casting her spell. The others looked around with worried looks until Priestess had thrown up the invisible barrier in front of them.
"Get down!"
The cry went out, but few were able to react to the warning both above the fortress gate and within the courtyard. The moment Sun Blast came into contact with Lich Queen, the spell was reflected back at the fortress. The blast struck the fortress, in an instant, half of the archers along the top of the fortress were reduced to ash while others were blown away, falling to their deaths. The force of the blast destroyed the gates of the fortress and severely damaged other sections of the walls. The debris flew back within the courtyard crushing both dwarf and man who were not able to flee. Protection itself was destroyed, but those behind it were protected long enough to avoid significant damage. With Sun Burst cast, more than two hundred now lay dead and the fortress was open for attack. Goblin Slayer and the others slowly stood, only to be horrified at the state of the fortress and the dead soldiers that lay around them.
"Do you fell that my Armored Skeleton…that fear that is filling that ruined fortress." Lich Queen laughed as she looked over the effect of Magic Reflect. "Let us add to that! Move the horde in."
"At once my queen!" With battle ax raised high he gave the command to his forces. "To the fortress, leave none alive."
The army of skeletal warriors heeded the call of their commander and began to march forward, after all there was no rush to slaughter the remaining forces. The various undead maneuvered around Lich Queen prepared to take any and all will to fight from these mortals.
"By the power of hell, heed the call of your mistress and take the will to fight out of them all…Fear!"
A glow of red light surrounded Lich Queen before flying forward in the form of a red mist, this mist passed through the fortress and enveloped everyone within. No one could have expected this form of attack, the moment the mist enveloped them, nearly every person in the fortress collapsed to their hands and knees screaming as the horrors within their minds seemed to manifest themselves. Goblin Slayer and those beside him were not immune from the attack as most screamed in fear, even Wolf and Snow yipped and howled as if they were in pain.
"How delicious, you can taste the fear." Lich Queen smiled but then paused as she looked toward the top of the embattlement and noticed one warrior in armor still on his feet, he was not immune to Fear, but managed to avoid completely giving into his fear as the others did. "Fascinating…he must be one of strong will…I should like to study him more one he has become one of my servants."
Goblin Slayer struggled to stay on his feet and had to place a hand upon the stone to keep himself from falling. Goblin Slayer gave his head a quick shake as an attempt to clear his head, but as he looked around all he found was darkness around him, there was no sign of the fortress or his friends.
"Welcome to your personal hell boy."
Goblin Slayer turned toward the voice, one that he knew well, but the person should not be able to speak any more. There he was, a man in dirty, blood-stained leather armor, his left arm dangled hideously from its shoulder and blood ran from the wound by his neck. The man smiled at Goblin Slayer even as the blood continued to run from his wounds and pooled around him.
"Beast Master."
"I'm honored that you have not forgotten about me. I certainly will not forget you." Beast Master smiled as he saw Goblin Slayer instinctively go for his sword to which he laughed. "Come now, there's no need for that, besides I'm not the one you'll have to worry about…it's her."
Goblin Slayer could see Beast Master was pointing to something behind Goblin Slayer. He turned around, still gripping the handle of his sword, but released it as he saw the figure before him. A young women with light brown hair in braid resting upon her right shoulder, her once plain, but lovely, clothing was now stained in blood.
"Sister."
"You…you did this to me!" Goblin Slayer's sister angrily screamed at him. "You were weak and pitiful…you should have protected me…I should have lived a long peaceful life!"
Goblin Slayer was silent as he stood and looked at his sister before slowly waking forward. His sister watched as he drew closer, knowing full well he would draw his sword to cut her down, continued to scream at him. If he struck her down, he himself would fall further into madness.
"I gave my life to save you…why did I have to die while you lived? I see you living happily on that farm…with that girl…surrounded by all your friends…why did you take my happiness away?" Goblin Slayer then stopped as he stood directly in front of her. "This is all your fault!"
"You're right." Goblin Slayer moved forward, his sister expecting him to strike her, but instead was shocked when he hugged her.
"What…what are you…"
"It was my fault. I should have taken you and we could have run. I should have stayed to defend you even if you told me to hide." Goblin Slayer broke the hug to look at his sister, still keeping his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry that I failed you…but I will do all in my power to help others avoid that same fate."
His sister looked at him, wanting to yell as the spell required her to, but instead broke into tears as she hugged her brother.
"I miss you so much! The last time I saw you, you were so small, but now look at you…grown into such a fine man." His sister smiled as she looked over her brother or rather was looking up at him. "I wish we could stay together longer, but you need to go back and save your friends."
She broke the hug and began to slowly back away, tears still in her eyes but a smile across her face.
"Sister…" Goblin Slayer reached out for her, but watched her move further away.
"I'm so proud of you…and will continue to watch over you until the time we are able to meet again. Farewell my brother."
The visage of his sister vanished before him, after a few moments he allowed his arm to return to his side before turning back to face Beast Master.
"You're grief and fear were supposed to destroy you, but you have a strong will indeed. I can see why I lost to you."
"I have no time to deal with you, the others need my help."
"You really think you can stop the Lich Queen and her army? Do you really think you can save them all?"
"I won't know until I've tried."
Beast Master frowned at this young man then smiled as he motioned with his left hand toward his side, beside him was door of bright white light.
"Then show me what you can do boy. I too will be watching your exploits from the edge of hell with great interest."
Goblin Slayer charged forward the doorway, the moment he was through he found himself back along the fortress and could see the army marching forward and the rest of his friends still writhing and screaming, he would have to hurry and get his friends out of their state of fear before the undead entered the fortress.