SPARTAN-626: Yes, I have returned.
MarauderPrime12: Thank you
Only Balgony: Yes indeed.
Attila 25: Chapters will progressively become longer as more things will happen in the future.
G: You don't mind elaborating on that, sir?
A full week had passed since the planned assault within the old mines.
The goblin clan that once resided and flourished unhindered were no more. Their blasphemous deeds were cleansed from Eostia by Nero and his Minions.
Though it took a single day to cleanse the surface of the accursed critters, it took as close as four to completely clean the underground of any remnants.
It was a tedious task. Every tunnel and shaft scoured revealed an ambush waiting for them. The Goblins weren't going to give up their home, not without a fight. A fight that the Overlord gladly and personally gave them. No mercy was to be provided, but much fun was found for the Browns.
They suffered minor losses in this mini-campaign, and those that perished were easily forgotten. Overall, it could have ended worse. The goblins would have remained within the depths of the Mines, constantly being a thorn on Nero's side.
The goblins could have held out longer in the underground if it were not for Nero and Gnarl's ingenious tactics.
With the last of the Goblins finally exterminated, they could begin the process of extracting the mine's resources. Nero could finally arm his Minions with stronger weapons and better equipment. A necessity for the long war to come.
If only such a task were ever so easy…
"Damnit Cabbage! You've knocked over that Goblin pile again! Mouldy! Less scratching, more working! Iggy! Why are you-put that flame out we're not burning them yet!"
The sight of Gnarl attempting to order the Minions around greeted Nero. A small smirk formed behind his helmet only for it to falter a second later. As entertaining as it is to watch Gnarl direct the Minions, there were more pressing matters to deal with.
"Struggling, are we?" Nero spoke with a hint of smugness lacing his words, coming up to stand beside the Old Minion. Gnarl simply waved him off.
"Nothing that I can't handle with Sire. Just dealing with the usual...hyperactive suspects we can say. Just how things are. A bit of flagellation would get them moving."
"Gnarl, we can't be whipping the Minions."
"Why not sire? It is perfectly normal evil directing."
"Right…well I'm not gonna be whipping them if you're gonna tell me to. I'm not some Dark Elf."
"Wise choice, sire. We wouldn't want you to debase yourself into them no-good pointy-eared vermins."
Nero rolled his eyes. "I guess."
"With the Mines in your possession, we can begin harvesting its untapped resources." Gnarl merrily told Nero. "Meaning new weapon and equipment options."
Nero nodded contentedly. "Good. At least we can finally give the Minions some proper weapons and armour."
"The current forge in our possession is adequate to produce what we need, though, for the stronger materials, we'll need a much bigger and better forge to process them, perhaps something dwarven."
"One step at a time, Gnarl. Once we equip our Minions with better weapons, then we'll take care of the forge problem, and the cleanup, how's that going?"
"We should be done with the cleanup quite soon."
"Good, and on schedule too."
They both continued their discussion all whilst the Minions progressed with their duties. At times, Gnarl would scowl at them, much to Nero's discontent. This ended up with Nero's questioning Gnarl about it which then got Gnarl talking about his reluctance of embracing the Overlord's ways.
"As I've said, sire. You'll need to learn to be domineering when it comes to this."
"And I'll reiterate my point. I'm not gonna be some evil, abusive despot, more or less assert such behaviour."
"Honestly sir, how can you become an Evil Overlord, if you can't be evil?"
As they both disputed over Nero's own Overlord conduct, a Brown Minion wearing an oversized construction hat and carrying a shovel arrived.
"Master!"
Nero turned to the Brown Minion. "What is it, Giblet?"
"We found something in Mines! Come! Come!" the Brown Minion waved his free hand to follow.
"It sounds quite urgent, Master. I advise seeing what they've found."
Nero nodded.
"Guess I'll go see it then. Continue to look after things here."
With that Nero left to follow Giblet.
"Hmm, still a work in progress. I must think of a way to get him acting more like a proper Overlord."
He scratched his head. He'll figure something out in time.
A considerable amount of time had passed. Giblet led the young Overlord into one of the deeper parts of the Mines, travelling through one of the large tunnels and down a flight of broken, cobblestone stairs. After some navigation through narrow tunnels and flooded chambers, they finally arrived at their destination.
"Here! Here!" Giblet exclaimed, scampering towards the stone slab.
"Looks like a door rather than a slab of stone, sire," Gnarl informed him from his helmet.
Nero approached the stone slab and carefully and delicately ran a hand over the great stone.
"There are some ancient runes inscribed upon it," Nero stated. "They're worn out."
"Seems whatever is behind this stone someone didn't want anyone to have. The plot thickens… as they say."
Ignoring Gnarl, Nero moved to the stone's side, his hand never leaving its surface. With a single push, he pushed the large rock out of the way, revealing an unlit chamber. Taking a torch from one of the Minions, Nero meticulously entered the chamber followed suit by his Minions. The brightness of the torch did little to illuminate the room much to the overlord's annoyance.
With what little visibility he had, Nero was able to discern dusty shelves filled with decaying scrolls and clustered large unused vases. A weapon rack comprising corroded weapons stood in the corner
Whilst a small pile of vases were piled beside them and in the middle of the room stood a small wooden table, untouched by the hands of time.
"If I had were to guess… this seemed to be someone's safe room. Was someone's safe room."
Approaching the small wooden table, he inspected the well-preserved furniture, noting some more runes inscribed into the wood.
"More runes, sire. Something of most value is within this table."
Nero agreed with Gnarl. Walking around to the other side and finding the drawer he held on to the metal handle and pulled it open.
"It's…empty…?"
"No." Nero ran a hand over the bottom. he gripped it before lifting it. "It's a fake bottom."
Revealed were the contents hidden within - a bundle of cloth that smelled of peppermint and oil and a single book with a ragged dark purple cover. A prominent feature of the book was the silverish-black skull on the cover. A feature that was Gnarl was quick on recognising.
"Hey! I recognise that tattered mess! That's Malady's spellbook! I've been wondering where her book went all this time!"
"Malady? One of the Overlord candidates you told me about?"
"The same, sire. Interesting times they were. She alongside three others was vying for the mantle of Overlord. Sadly their trial ended with…an explosion let's just say. I presumed much of her things were destroyed in the blast. She must have placed powerful enchantments to protect it."
"Which resulted in her book being passed around." Nero imagined. He flipped open the book and immediately ran into an issue. "This tongue looks identical to both the dialects of Lorraine and the Aurelian Empire."
"The Glorious Language as they called it is the predecessor to those particular kingdoms' tongues. I don't blame you for not being able to read it, sire. You know, it always bugs me that they do not have a dummy's guide for the more…simple-minded people to use."
"You can read this right?"
"My Glorious is a bit rusty…hmmm…" Gnarl, through Nero's eyes, analyzed the page. "Yes… according to this, this is a section explaining Infernal Magic."
"Infernal Magic?"
"Yes. such potent magic originates from the Infernal Abyss - once the domain of the Forgotten God. Sulky fellow, shouldn't have cheated in the first place. From what I'm reading, it appears that Malady was trying to learn Infernal magic and was figuring out loopholes with certain spells."
"Loopholes? Why would she need loopholes? It's not like she's gonna lose an arm and a leg."
"..."
"...You can't be serious."
"Oh, I'm quite serious. Depending on the spell, either you lose an eye, an ear, an arm, a leg or even your head."
"That's just incapacitation! How is that acceptable?"
Gnarl simply shrugged.
"I wasn't the one who wrote this entire lore of Magic. If I can guess, these spells were made for the local Wraiths."
Nero rubbed his forehead, returning to gaze at the book in his hands.
"If such spells cost you something then they must be powerful." he turned a couple of pages and pointed to a small section of text.
"That's just a basic fireball spell, sire."
Making a tsk sound, Nero turned to the next page.
"That one is for igniting someone's weapon on fire…and that just creates a cloak around a target…oooh, this one creates an unrelenting wave of fire that eviscerates everything in its path. Seems powerful, though it may cost you your own throat."
"Yeah…I think it'll stay away from the more…problematic spells for now…" he turned a couple more pages. "It's baffling that anyone could attempt these spells."
Soon enough, Nero came across a set of damaged, ink-ruined pages.
"This page is a mess but the text is mostly intact. Gnarl, you able to read some of it?"
"Hmm. From what I'm able to read, this seems to be a resurrection spell."
"Necromancy?" he asked confused. "Since when was Necromancy associated with fire?"
"Every group is different I guess? But anyway, this isn't necromancy, sire. This is more of a…reanimation spell, though I can't say. There's not enough information about it."
"Reanimation?" there was a tinge of hopeful desperation in his voice. "L-like the kind that doesn't turn into shambling corpses."
"Perhaps? As I said, there's not enough information. Bits are missing."
"Gnarl…do you know what this means? I can-I can bring them back… everyone who died that day…I can bring everyone back!"
"Sire…as much as you bringing your friends back is…admirable, you sure you wish to do this? I advised against taking this course of action. You'll never know what would happen."
"But I'd be able to bring back my friends and the Myrmidons! The best company of warriors on this side of the world. We'll be able to fight against the Black Dogs equally, even potentially beat them! Even if it means that I have to sacrifice my arms to bring them back!"
"As disgustingly righteous as it is sire, do you desire another army? You already have the Minions at your disposal."
"And what is that supposed to mean!?" Nero snapped, catching Gnarl by surprise. "I want to bring back my friends!"
"Well…yeah but seeing how they're supposed to be the best, and they all got backstabbed…and burned. Can't call them best if they fell for a simple act of betrayal. It's clear that you don't need them, as I said, why need another force when you have the Minions; clearly the better ones."
"Are you seriously shitting me? You dare talk shit of their sacrifice. Those were my friends and comrades. We fought, bled and suffered together and were robbed of the chance of living long lives. They had plans of their own once the war finished and that opportunity was stolen from them. We're bringing them back and that's final. Understood?!"
As much as Gnarl wanted to correct his liege, he refrained from doing so. He honestly didn't expect him to be highly protective of his fallen comrades. Aggravating him was the last thing he wanted to do. He should be careful from now on, lest he loses him and any chance of restoring true evil.
"...As you wish, sire." Gnarl reluctantly replied.
"Good." Nero snarled.
He once again inspected the page. "You'll also help me learn this spell and other spells here, Understand?"
"Of course, sire, though It'll be worth a shot considering the missing pages."
"One way or another we're gonna try, and I'm not gonna waste that opportunity."
He closed the book and handed it to a Brown named Blob…or was it Gloob? He needs to figure out a more manageable way of identifying his Minions correctly. Seeing as there was nothing else within this chamber he left, his Minions followed suit.
Ken, Cuntry
Cacophonies of bestial moans and cries echoed throughout the chamber. Upon his throne a familiar, despicable man sat, joyfully watching the endless orgy before him. Engrossed he was in the debauched displays of carnal copulation.
He held his grinning face with one hand whilst another gripped the head of a nun, pushing her to take more of his shaft into her mouth. Beside her, was another nun, who helped her sister get a few more of the man down her throat. He groaned with satisfaction. He closed his eyes, blissfully revelling in the pleasurable experience. Whilst he relaxed, he pondered upon the events that brought them to this glorious moment.
Nearly two years had passed since the Black Dogs had subjugated the Seven Shield Alliance. Since he had personally broken Celestine herself; with some help from his men and supporters of course. News of the nation's fall rapidly spread far and wide, even reaching all the way to the isolated Kingdom of Albion in the northwest.
The fall of the Shield Nations had sent the petty rulers of Southern Realms into a panic, so much so that they sent a retaliation force to retake the fallen nation. Determined and desperate they were, however, their actions were all in vain.
The forces sent to take back the fallen nation were easily defeated by Vult's forces. Initial reconnaissance has revealed the traitor's forces to be less than a few hundred at best. This information was reported two weeks ago before the attempted reconquest. Within the span of those two weeks, monsters across the north flocked to the Black Dog's banner, whilst despicable men gathered, in awe of Vult's ambitions and goals - the weak and unfaithful soldiers, the repulsive lowlives, the disgraced and feeble nobles, the crooked priests.
The influx of new recruits was able to replenish his depleted ranks and thus were able to drive out the invaders. Since then, the southern kingdoms did nothing to stop him; too afraid to attack him with the loss of their own troops. Instead, they opted for a defensive style of warfare; choosing to defend their cities and towns.
One of the southern kingdoms; the Kingdom of Grimwald even went as far as closing all bridges leading into their nation.
As much as he wished to march south and punish them for their insolence, Vult had other plans to fulfil. He can deal with the petty lords of the south when the time was right. Thus, this left him ample time to rebuild, reorganise and expand his newly established domain. The Black Dogs have become not only his bodyguards but also act as his hammer; his appointed elite forces and those who enforce his command. Much of the conquering is done by Cuntry's own military forces; an army of beasts, abominations and undesirables.
"Lord Vult."
Opening an eye, Vult glanced over to his right, seeing his second-in-command; Kin approaching him.
"Kin, what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I bring news from our allies in the North."
A grin appeared on Volt's face.
"Oh? And what have our slaver friends brought to us?"
"They were quite please with our gifts, and have agreed to send us additional troops and beasts of war."
Volt's grin widened. He let go of the nun's head, allowing both nurses of pleasure to fervently worship his manhood.
"Hehe, that is excellent news!"
"Indeed."
"What about our beastly friend in that…forest place?"
"The En'var Glades? Khraggoth has pushed the elves to their last city. It is only a matter of time till they're defeated."
"Tell him to take it easy on the captives. We don't want to give away damaged goods to our allies and amongst ourselves now do we? We're practically ripping them off if we do!"
"I'll let him know."
Volt groaned, enjoying the passionate cooperation of the two nuns. A third nun had seemingly joined them and with a pathetic moan latched her hungry mouth on the backstabber's ballsack. Her actions earned even more satisfied grunts from him.
"And what about Dragundaala? I've recently heard a Demon Prince had taken the Kingdom of Dragons for himself."
"No word yet of his final decision, though our diplomats had said that he expresses an interest in cooperating with us."
"Good. Keep me updated on the situation."
"And also, the Kingdom of Lorraine is willing to negotiate the safe return of their princess."
This got a loud laugh from the traitor.
"Do you wish for me to reject their offer?"
"No. I'm willing to negotiate with them and give them back their princess… what's left of her."
Vult laid back on his throne, eyes closed, basking in pleasure.
"Is that all?"
"Yes, sir. Though there is something you should know."
Vult opened an eye, staring questionably at his second in command.
"Are you familiar with recent rumours pertaining to activity in the north?"
"Indeed. However, there's nothing to worry about."
He grabbed the nun; who was suckling on his shaft's tip and shoved her all the way down his shaft. His actions sparked surprise and delight from the abused holy woman. "Just some ruffian who is simply looking for trouble. I assure you that our good friend Michelle can handle it."
"That's if he's not busy with Maia."
"He knows what happens if he slacks off," Vult groaned suddenly and with one forceful shove he came into the woman's throat. "He's been warned once. He'll do his part."
"As you say so, Lord Vult."
With that Kin left the throne room, leaving Vult to bask in satisfaction.
Yeah this took a while to write, I apologies for the long wait. Life just gets to ya, you know.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)
