Cat still hadn't woken up. We were walking back towards the city and it had already been more than thirty minutes but she hadn't opened her eyes. I couldn't exactly bring her in like this, there would be far too many annoying questions.
What to do? Hmmm, wait there's a really simple solution to this! I asked for the waterskin of one of the reichsgarde, uncapped it and emptied its contents on her face. Her eyes flew open and she almost fell off my arms.
"MARKUS, don't STOP!"
"You were having a nice dream ,huh?"
Her eyes flickered to me and she just went blank, when she finally understood the circumstances. No blush or anything, she just stopped working. Wait, her eyes are… red. Yes, no mistaking it. A dull red had replaced her once green eyes, a clear sign of monsterization yet there were no external features, except the slight fangs clearly visible. Vampiric traits… and the Fourth Born had offered her a red irony vintage, most likely some form of wine made out of blood. But that would mean an aversion to sunlight and garlic.
Cat enjoys sunlight and I've not seen her react poorly to garlic… A dhampir then? But her family were both humans, no vampirism in any of them. She had gained her current unnatural strength after being exposed to large amounts of demonic energy at the siege, could it have awoken something latent in her blood? Perhaps one of her ancestors had been a vampire and the latent curse had activated… Possible, druella also mentioned that someone who was interested in Cat had sent that wine, perhaps the vampire ancestor in question. No, more importantly what do I do?
Dhampirs aren't exactly the most out of control monsters, in fact they act almost entirely human so long as they don't drink blood. If Cat can resist it'll all be fine… I won't have to kill her, I won't have to kill her… I couldn't kill her even if I had to.
Her fangs were slowly rescinding now that her system was purged, and her skin looked a bit less pale now.
"Cat, talk to me. Are you alright?" I didn't even try to conceal the unusual concern in my voice.
"I-I'm… I'm fine, just woozy… Can you…huff… let me down please."
I slowly placed her feet back on the ground. She wobbled a bit but stabilised by placing her arm around my
"So… Do you have any Idea how you ended up… like this?"
"No fucking clue. I've been getting stronger ever since the siege, but the urge to drink blood has been with me my entire life. It was usually just in the background and ignorable, now it's been getting worse every day."
"It must be something from your ancestors then."
"You realised then? I only figured it out after looking at the Monster Girl Encyclopaedia."
"Oh, you found one of those? Does it have actual info or is it just propaganda?"
"Mostly propaganda but it does contain some info regarding expected personalities and weaknesses."
"I'll skim through it then."
Her expression said that she really didn't recommend it.
Oh well, it'll serve as some stress-relief. I doubt I'm going to get much time for anything else. With Arondight Druella might just invade any day.
A witch hunt, undignified and honourless but in these circumstances it was necessary. The sheer amount of traitors and undercover Monsters discovered in three days was ridiculous. Most of them would be by Archbishop Noscrim's request publicly executed. Fucking barbarian, we needed to convince people staying with us was the best option not that we could execute them on flimsy evidence. But he had too much political power for me to stop.
Thankfully some of them were being questioned for now. But I needed to step up the protection around the city. Druella no matter how stupid did care for her people, this might even provoke her into attacking, so I started mobilising every soldier we had. The big problem was that Willmarina and a lot of other heroes were missing, some might have already fallen.
Willmarina… I'm not that close to her but I have to hope she's fine, and having a monster version of the strongest hero on the continent to fight would be a problem. Still the wall were manned the prisoners guarded and the soldiers armed, my reichsgarde were following me around with the exception of Markus and Cat. Those two were trying to get the Star Priests to work with the local spellcasters. I somehow really pitied them. I mean I'm working with dipshit nobles, not stubborn priests and snotty mages.
I definitely don't like this one bit, the monsters will attack soon with only an hour left until the executions but no sign of an army. The men are getting lax, losing their concentration. I have to do something but what? What would Druella do knowing I was prepared for her? She would try something unorthodox like a teleportation spell or a mass camouflage spell. Certainly within her capabilities but prone to failure on such a massive scale.
The sewers perhaps? No, far too small for an army of the required size to conquer Lescatie… Maybe I'm wrong and they aren't coming at all? That just wouldn't fit Druella's personality, she's sure of her victory and wants to avoid bloodshed, meaning a sort of surprise attack followed by a stratagem to break morale should be her plan. The knights or even she herself fits as the stratagem, and when it comes to the surprise attack… what if she doesn't need to bring an army in the first place.
She could be making one right under our noses, it won't be the disciplined knights of the Demon Realms but if she corrupts our own formations she could have an army at her disposal and many heroes are missing, possible commanders for her army… Shit, what do I do? Firing lines facing inwards? Or maybe… No I don't have time for that, I need to take them out before they can spread. I'll need to find them and kill them with whatever elite forces I could get. Those things I prepared most likely can't kill Arondight but whatever dark matter, Baphomet or hell even an elder Youko Druella roped into helping her won't be nearly as though.
Of course there's also the option that she brought a servant of the deep ones with her. Those things are usually extremely tough but even worse can only be killed by everlasting weapons, in that case all that Nitroglycerin and black powder I made would be useless and I'd have to kill her up close. I'll get a squad ready for the knight, with cannons and whatever explosive charges we can get, maybe termite could work? No ceremite is too heat resistant for that…
What cannons did we even bring with us? If I remember correctly we have mostly 18 pounder field guns, 17 pounder high velocities and 8 pounders. None of them will even dent the knight's armour but they can annoy her.
I shouted at the nearest artillery officer I could see.
"Battery Commander Lowe! Get me nine 17 pounders, three 18 pounders and crews to man them."
The tall man saluted and yelled at someone else to pass the orders down and went to get me those guns.
The monsters will most likely attack the execution site first, it's in the main square, which has quite a lot of towers with large rooms and tall windows. I could use that. I should start loading my toys too. Those nympho's won't know what hit them.
Catarina Trenck The Unfortunate
I looked like I was playing Tea Time right now. The supposed hero sitting opposite to me was barely eleven or twelve, and we were drinking tea from pink cups in a library. She was reasonable, oddly enough, I'm kinda happy I sent Markus to the priests instead.
She kept speaking on and on about the logistics of the whole thing. They had an abundance of capable mages but were apparently being sidelined by the Noscrim. Why does it always come down to the Noscrim?
"I'll be sending you a list of cohorts without magical support, see if you can convince your comrades to channel together with the priests. They may seem odd but they are especially good at channelling energy through their bodies."
"I'll try, I'm influential but they still treat me like a child when it suits them. I'll need something to convince them of the priests' value."
"The Stars are in formation for another good two weeks. Maybe you could work together on a ritual. The Seers focus mainly on attack and warnings but channelling energy for rituals would be possible right now."
"I'll look into it, big sister." That's kinda cute.
I let out a small sigh, I still had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.
"I'll see you later Mimil, my presence was requested for the executions."
I couldn't quite hide my distaste but she seemed to agree with me.
" But well… Look after yourself, okay?"
She puffed up her cheeks and looked up at me. Oh Cosm, so cute! The socially awkward cuteness of Nao is the best but this is so good as well!
"Hmpf, I should be the one saying that! Do you realise how much demonic energy I had to scrub out of your system? You could have turned!"
Cheeky brat. I'll pay you back someday.
"Bye then."
"Buh-Bye!"
After our goodbyes were done I left the room and started heading down the corridors of the Great Library of Lescatie. I felt someone exit one of the rooms next to me, they were silent and almost odourless, were it not for my enhanced senses and the sweet smell of her blood I wouldn't have noticed her. She walked till she was right beside me and I almost did a double take when I saw her.
It was the exact same assassin from before, except… Yes, her height, a few centimetres taller and her eyes were a shade different. A bunch of different assassins that dressed and looked the same?
Eventually a voice did fill the odd silence. Cold and monotone, the voice of a broken woman.
"What did you do to my girl assigned to Lady Willmarina?"
"I don't remember doing anything to any girl."
Ohh, that annoyed her. Her singular visible eye narrowed.
"Don't play dumb, she hasn't reported back in days and Lady Willmarina wouldn't just kill her even if she discovered her."
Should I? It could be fun to tell her the truth or I could provoke her. I didn't like that sword on her belt though. There was something sinister about that silver blade, clearly not a mortal weapon. Some sort of enchanted blade, it wouldn't surprise me if that Noscrim bastard could get something like that for his pet killer, but the sword had an unusual craftsmanship, not something the Order could get its hands on…
"I didn't do much to her really. She confronted me after a chat with Willmarina, and you see I was very very tired back then so I didn't have much patience. I might have kicked her in the stomach and thrown her into a dumpster, and if she fell prey to one of the monster infiltrators… Well that's her fault, is it not?"
"You bitch, you knew it would happen, those succubi are everywhere."
"Heh, and whose fault is that? Maybe if you focused more on counter infiltration instead of killing innocent soldiers and servants we wouldn't have that problem."
I admit that the smirk may have been a bit too much.
"Tch, this is meaningless." She turned and headed down another hallway. I had to call after her.
"Colia Street fourth house towards north. It's a gathering spot for Kunoichi."
I don't know if she listened but I tried."
Now to make sure the charges are ready. I turned to leave the library but I heard the sound I dreaded. The toll of the Cathedral's bell, not the long wound out tolls of the day times but the quick twelve tolls signalling an attack. As my Lady had predicted, the monsters had come to save their comrades. Let them try, I will burn this entire city before letting them take it.
I'm still going to go and pick up my sword staff though. I can't fight with just a longsword after all…
Tobias Mutigersohn The Veteran Greatsword
The dungeons under Lescatie were dank, dark and extremely creepy, had I any other choice I would've picked any other posting I could. But the kid's older sister… or caretaker… something like that was locked in here and the kid wanted to talk to her. And I wasn't just going to deprive the kid from one last talk before her potential execution, so now I was here standing next to a grumpy ass priest listening to the kid talk to her.
Kinda said he had to talk from outside the cell but the wards the priest set to keep the Fallen Bitch from possessing her didn't let any in. Poor sod, targeted by the creepiest god out there. I mean a god of depravity I get but whips, claw hands and way too many limbs are just far too damned much. No honest man is gonna love that! I guess that's why they got them dark magics, If you're gonna use magic use it to kill or maim for the Stars sake!
There ain't no way I'm letting them take Elt nor am I getting taken myself. Thinking that I eyed the small bottle around my neck. The cord's still in and the bottle is full. Good thing, I have a painless death near me, no need to fear death for oblivion is the embrace of the Cosmos. Or that's what the priests call it.
"Hey! Hey big guy. Look here."
One of the accused was calling to me. She wore one of those ridiculously tight outfits the lescatian heroes wore, exposing a lot of cleavage and her belly. The Cavalier hat she wore and the emblems on her belts and leather jacket marked her as one of the 'musketeers' lescatie was so proud of. Old relic guns were apparently so important to them that they have three heroes dedicated just to using them. Her face was extremely sunken and she looked tired, maybe even sick.
Aaahhh fuck it answer her.
"What do you want?"
"Unnn… I've been wondering about this for a while but why did we get a bunch of new arrivals yesterday?" Was she here from before? She had a red painted metal cuff on her, marked for execution.
"They're from the recent investigations for monster collaborators."
She made a shocked face and asked me as if she was doubting what I was saying.
"Monster collaborators? Really, have all of them strayed from the light of god?"
"Las, how long have you been here?"
"I… don't know exactly. I have eaten four meals but they weren't regular. Maybe four days or so." Stars did someone try to sneak her into the executions, why was she convicted in the first place? Best ask her.
"Why were you convicted in the first place?"
Her sunken face fell even further.
"I was accused that I had fallen from God's grace and had turned into a monster."
Good heavens she's maybe twenty or twenty five, she can't have political clout why do this? Why accuse her? I looked at the priest next to me, he had listened in and was making a 'what more could you expect?' face. I need to get her out of here, I should be able to convince the Comet to take her in, she's a hero and we definitely need every single hero we can get.
"Listen closely alright. I'm Tobias. I know a few people so I'll get you out of here and help you hide for a while ,alright?"
"Y…yes sir! I'm Alameria, pleased to meet you."
I'm in it now. No going back… I turned towards the warrior priest and he handed me the keys. Shuffling through them I checked on Elt, he was still talking with the nun like woman.
Once the door was open Alameria quickly got out of the cell. She turned towards me. The sheer hope framed on her beautiful face made me flinch. Never in my twenty nine years of living have I seen such happiness. It only made my determination to save this girl stronger. Hey don't blame me, every man dreams of saving a beautiful girl at least once.
I started leading her towards the exit. Or rather I would've if a bunch of monsters hadn't appeared on the floor in front of me.
The unmistakable white succubus got up from their pile of bodies first.
"Damn it Kuro, I'm teleporting us next ti–!"
The abominations' complaints were interrupted courtesy of the priest's warhammer. Sadly it didn't impact the Lilim's head, instead being caught by her dainty hand. I could see the priest's plate armoured from shaking, trying to smash her head in to no avail. A human just wasn't strong enough to overpower her.
We would need to hold them back, but someone needed to raise the alarm.
A childlike form with black horns and goat like feet was the next to rise.
"It's not myyy fault! Some meany placed wards all around here! We bounced off them…"
The monsters were slowly coming to their senses. There were only five or six of them but I knew we were outmatched by the Lilim alone, there would be no victory here.
"ELT! Run and raise the alarm. Call Lady Naotora here."
He was going to argue but I didn't give him the chance.
"GO NOW BOY! We might not meet again but we are both bound by duty and spirit. Now RUN!"
The soldier I had bonded with and accepted as something like a little brother ran as fast as his legs could take him. In a few minutes the bells would toll.
"Ehh? Elt! No, wait, come back!" A blue haired succubus screamed after and made to give chase only to be blocked by the rest of my squad.
I turned towards the newly freed Alameria to tell her to run but I only saw her frozen in shock.
"M-Mother?" It was a mere whisper yet it conveyed so much terror, I traced her gaze and saw a blond haired vampire pick herself off the floor. They looked similar, way too similar for any kind of coincidence. Damn it all.
"Ah ha! Wana was right, you are here Alameria. I came for you. Don't worry daddy will be here too !"
That's a mess, but we don't have time for it. Wait, does that mean she actually is a monster? I looked into her eyes, the once yellow orbs were now glowing red and the tips of her ears were elongating. Fuck it.
"Alameria, I'm going to need you to run. Got it?"
"But… But I can fight!" Why did you get stubborn now?
"You can't, not without a weapon and definitely not against your mother."
"I…I'll come back for you. I won't forget what you did for me."
Saying that she started dashing for the stairs behind us. Too bad there'll only be a corpse for when she returns. I uncorked my bottle of stilldeath. Bottoms up! Now I only have to resist for two or so minutes and then I get to have peace… three more minutes of bloodshed then finally duty ends. I will fight like I was raised to, I will die like I was born to do. From the day I was chosen there wasn't any end other than this left.
"Lady Druella, they won't let me get through to Eltttt!"
The blue haired succubus was whining about having missed her prey. I'll make sure she never gets to him.
The fourth borne answered back
"Don't worry, he can't run that far, although we really should hurry or they might just bring the roof down on us."
No time for hesitation left, calm yourself and SWING! A horizontal slash aiming for the childlike sorceress's head made with all of my strength sailed through the air only to be met by a tentacle. Sparks flew both magical and natural, but I could make no headway.
The damned beast wasn't even straining under the force. Faul sorceress, I'll lop your head off.!
"Neeeee, that's shooo rude! Attacking me out of the blue like that! You don't have what I want in a big brother buuuttt I'll teach you some manners!"
I braced myself for the retaliation only to be interrupted by the vampire.
"Lady Black Goat, could you allow me to take him? He seems to have some relation to my daughter and I'm sure he'll help me make her realise the truth once he has been… 'encouraged'."
The way she said that made me shiver. I got back into a defensive position and turned towards the blood sucker
"Hmmmm, okey dokey! I'll just try to find a way to release the wards without letting the depraved god take them over. But be careful, look at his eyes, he has poisoned himself."
The vampire started approaching me, but I wasn't just going to wait for her to come.
I thrusted my sword towards her throat but she dodged out of the way.
"I like devotion in a man, you'll be good for Alameria."
She talked like she was a mother approving of her daughters boyfriend instead of the life succing monster she was.
"I'll die here wench, my soul will remain pure."
My spiteful words were punctuated by a forward step and a slash. She didn't dodge like before, she deflected my sword with a black dagger oozing corrupting energy. And tried to stab me through my chestplate only to deflect off of the shining steel.
I jabbed her in the head to no effect, only irritating her.
"Come on, I'm doing you a favour here. Do you really want to die instead of having a lovey dovey life with my daughter?" She wasn't angry at my resistance, she seemed offended that I chose resistance instead of corruption.
"Every mother wants grandchildren! And you got her out of that cell didn't you! Just get corrupted and marry her!" For some reason I saw the white Succubus flinch at that.
"Altruism and a sense of justice don't mean immediate love. Can you not understand that?" Her knife quickly came for my throat but was batted away by my sword. I tried to bring the zweihander around and slice her arm off but she kicked my legs out from under me, as I was falling I saw the ruined mess we had become.
It had been barely a minute and we were already losing, most of my men were taken down and that blue haired succubus had run after Elt. The priest wasn't moving, locked up by chains and doomed. I only had two minutes of fighting left in me, maybe less.
I tried futilely to kick at the vampire but my strength was gone, too much demonic energy had left my body hot, my breaths irregular and my blows weak. The poison in my veins hadn't reached my heart yet, I can't give up now…
I kept struggling as I was held down by the vampire, as my collar was ripped open and a nick made in my skin. As the vampire cast her foul magic and started filtering out the poison from my blood. As she started trying to assure me that I would get to live a happy life without bloodshed. Until my muscles tore and my strength waned I struggled.
"There, you're clear of that poison. Just a little bit more and you'll be a proper groom for my daughter. Oh you can't struggle anymore. This'll make things easier."
The black knife entered my guts, but there was no pain, only a dull throbbing and a heat behind my ears. I was being led… towards her… Alameria my beloved.
"I know it's hard to think right now but wait just a few, we'll clear that heat right off you."
I can barely remember coming out of the basement, walking through the halls of the castle ignoring the servants and soldiers being corrupted. But seeing Alameria as she dropped the gun she was trying to load, her hugging me in relief then her face morphing into a shocked one when I whispered into her ear were crystal clear. I remember doing unspeakable things to her as she softly sucked on my blood. The mist cleared but I couldn't find it in myself to be horrified, even the bells signalling the invasion and call to arms didn't bother me. I was focused only on the sweet cries of my Wife.
The bells tolled and I could hear the sounds of battle coming from within the castle. Druella attacked the holding cells instead of the execution ground and most of my preparations were useless. Well… some of the cannons could still shoot at the castle gates and soldiers were being directed over there but I don't think we had much else we could do. I have to meet up with Cat and the rest of my guards somehow… But first let's put all those explosives to work.
I got near the lighting point on the edge of the tower and struck a match. So what if hundreds of our own will die? So what if the innocent servants inside die. I'll do it, it's necessary, I need to do it… Just light the damned fuse already, Nao! Light it and doom hundreds!
The match in my hands went out, my hand shook far too much. Calm yourself, do what Father would.
I struck another match, took a deep breath and lit the bundle of fuses. Time to get out and watch the consequences of my actions. I climbed out of the castle and got on to a church tower a safe distance away. A few more minutes and…
Boom… an earth shattering roar and the screams of the innocent filled the air. The castle was collapsing in itself, its structural supports destroyed. Only the castle didn't collapse, a glow appeared around it supporting it and saving the Monsters inside. I let out a sigh of relief.
Well, even if it didn't work out even the rumoured 'Black Goat' can't do much after pulling magic like that off. That's one down, many more to go. I shouldered my rifle and got ready to jump off the tower only to hear the booms of light cannons and guns near one of the city walls and then a massive crashing sound. Stone blocks and soldiers flew off the walls. Looks like I have a bigger threat to deal with…
I don't have much that can hurt her… I looked around the city for ideas, and something very peculiar caught my eye… Something very tall, very heavy and decently pointed. Hmmm, why not? I jumped down into Rites Square and walked up to its centrepiece, the Monolith of Names. What had Father once said?
Ahh, yes… Parry this you fucking casual.
AN: Posted a bit early, because my house won't have electricity tomorrow so y'all get it early. Please do review when you can, tell me your thoughts, speculate and whatnot. A NSFW version of this will be posted on QQ, but for now enjoy!