Second Universe Tales: Elswordhammer Fantasy Battle
Planet Mallus, on the continent of Lustria.
A continent as ancient as the horrid world it inhabited. A world of unceasing horrors and warfare. And on this very continent, things are not different.
For a battle of epic proportions is occurring in its dark heart, between beings far different between one another.
« Taal's teeth! They just keep coming! » a man yelled, his sword stained with the blood of lizard humanoids as his shield was leaking with the liquid. Alongside him there were 4, holding their own against the unceasing horde.
« The more the better, Azumgi! I thought I was going to get bored! » a dwarf yelled before firing a weapon resembling a shotgun into a clump of lizard humanoids, slim and with crests, blasting the few nearby creatures into pieces as his covered helmet and armored magnifying lense became painted with blood. He laughed out behind his beard guard, moving forward as he took out his two-handed axe.
«Bardin, wait! » The foot knight yelled before grumbling to himself, kicking another lizard creature off the outcropping as he turned to see his other two companions fighting back-to-back. One, who was wearing a tall hat and had a missing eye, yelled out what seemed holy commandments in the name of a local demigod, Sigmar, as his rapier lopped heads left and right.
Alongside him, on the other hand, was a woman with burning hair which rushed forward, her chained plate and cloth heating up.
«ASHQY! » She yelled before detonating into a fiery haze, roasting several of the lizard like creatures, alongside their bulkier companions as she stood within the haze. The one-eyed man merely cursed, firing a pistol into the head of an approaching creature, towering over him despite the hat.
«Contain yourself witch! » He then noticed the knight come up next to him. «Kruber! Where in Sigmar's name did the she-elf go!? »
The soldier blocked a strike from a Macuahuitl wielding lizardman before stabbing his sword into the savage gut. «I thought she was with you! »
The one-eyed man had no time to curse as he spotted another of the crested creatures appear from the jungle, coloured feathers adorning his head.
«Skink priest! » He yelled, trying to aim his pistol.
However, he didn't need to fire, as two daggers stabbed into the Skink throat, the reptilian figure gurgling before falling off.
The assassin, an elf like creature, stood there, her daggers dripping with reptilian red as she jumped off, landing atop the back of a larger lizardman and stabbing into the creature's back. She turned her head, a look of disgust developing behind her eery skeletal mask.
«Lumberfoots! We need to regroup with the army or we're not leaving this place alive! »
Kruber nodded, lighting a little black ball of fused powder before throwing it.
«Grenade! »
That seemed to do the trick, blasting the horde into bits of bloody gore and giving a moment of reprieve as the party members joined the rest of the army. The one-eyed man turned his head, a sneer on his face as Bardin continued on fighting.
«Do you test my patience dwarf!? Get in here! »
Bardin shrugged, finishing off a downed lizardman before joining the rest of the group.
In the meantime, walls of human spears clashed against the brutish strength of the lizardmen. Behind them, war wagons carrying mortars fired upon the reptilian creatures, who just kept on coming from the jungle.
Humongous humanoid crocodiles rushed forward, their clubs sending many humans flying. Directly behind them, one of the lizardmen, on top of a massive theropod like animal, leaped on a group of humans, crushing the lucky ones and eating the rest.
« And the day just keep getting better. Saurus Scar Veteran on top of a Carnosaur, my favourite. » the elf sarcastically commented, before shooting several arrows at the animal, which was too distracted by the humans.
« Where in Sigmar's name is the Huntmarshal!? » the one-eyed man yelled. « Must be dealing with that Nakai fellow! » Kruber guessed. « EVERYONE! GET BACK! » the fire woman shouted, before heating up, delivering a huge flame against the Carnosaur and its rider.
The animal yelled in pain from the attack, but still, it was alive. Both rider and Carnosaur looked at the five with angry eyes. « Think you might have made it angry, Zharrinn. » Bardin commented.
«Panahuia. (Trespassers) » the Saurus rider hissed, before pointing his spear at the fives. His Carnosaur, seeing the command, charged at the fives, attempting to lunge at them with its jaws. While its jaws hit nothing but air, the group still felt the impact none the less.
« By Taal! And I thought the Norscans hit hard! » Kruber cursed. « Do not fear, sergeant! Sigmar's light protects us! Just like in Ubersreik, nothing this pitiful jungle throw can kill us! » the one-eyed man yelled defiant.
« This is nothing like Ubersreik, one-eye! These aren't Rat-men, they're the Children of the Old Ones! » the elf cursed. « Which means more fun for us! » Bardin shot back, before charging like a madman against the Carnosaur, hitting it with its axe as the theropod attempted to bite the dwarf.
« Whatever you may call these vile creatures, there's no difference. They're still nothing but foul mutants! » the one-eyed man responded, before firing his pistol at the beast. Behind him, the elf glared at him, but none the less she began firing more arrows at the beast.
« Bei Sigmar! (By Sigmar!) How are they keeping up with a bloody Carnosaur!? » a man from a War Wagon said surprised. « They aren't regular folks, mate. I take you never heard of the Ubersreik's Five? » his companion responded.
« A bit, yes. But I thought it was all just legends! I mean…just five liberating an entire city from an entire Warherd of Beastmen? » the other man responded. His companion just laughed. « Oh, that they did! And surely against a "Warherd" of "Beastmen"! ».
« Quit talking and load that thing! They're not gonna last long against that thing! » the commander ordered. Soon, the mortar was ready to fire, and they pointed it at the Carnosaur. After the match was lit, a powerful cannonball hit the theropod, exploding on contact, flames engulfing the creature once more.
While the beast barely survived, his rider was dead this time. As the Carnosaur begun to collapse, Kruber charged at it with a mighty war cry, piercing its skull with his sword, putting the creature out of its misery.
« Nicely done, sergeant! » the one-eyed man congratulated Kruber. « But there's still much holy work to be done. » he then pointed at another horde of lizardmen, leaded by one of the crocodile humanoids, larger than its brethren.
« Looks like a Kroxigor Ancient. Taal's Teeth, just how many of them there are!? » Kruber cursed. « Well there's one thing they have in common with the Skaven. » the fire woman commented, before letting out a powerful flame once more.
While many of the lizardmen were burned, the Kroxigor Ancient continued to charge none the less, uncaring of the flames. « Brace for impact, lads! » Kruber shouted, as he nearly dodged the swing of the beast.
The elf fired several arrows at the crocodilian, who simply wasn't affected. The whole group circled around the hulking beast, trying to find a weak spot, while the hulking creature swung its large club, attempting to hit the fives.
« This is getting nowhere! » Bardin exclaimed, before charging headfirst against the monster.
« Bardin! Wait! » Kruber yelled, before one of the lizardmen charged at him. In the meantime, the dwarf lunged forward against the giant, piercing its legs with his axe. The larger creature simply backhanded it aside, sending him flying against a tree.
«BARDIN! » Kruber yelled worried, as he continued to parry the attacks of the lizardmen. The group continued to fight the horde, while the large Kroxigor advanced towards the downed dwarf. « Dro'ka'khanx Zec (Dwarf Intruder.) » it spoke, as he walked forward to Bardin, who tried to get up.
« Yeah, yeah, Skofzani. Hiss all you like. You're still facing a proud Dawi. » Bardin responded, as he finally got up, his axe and shield ready. But as the reptilian beast was about to unleash a powerful blow against the dwarf, an arrow hit the giant right in the eyes, piercing its skull.
The beast tumbled for a moment, before collapsing right before Bardin's feet. Bardin turned to see where the arrow came from. Shooting the creature was a man, with a somewhat sizeable beard, covered in a fur coat.
He helped the dwarf to get up, before giving him a green flask. « Try to be a bit less careless, Goreksson. Saltzpyre isn't going to be that happy knowing one of Sigmar's greatest allies was killed by some reptile. » the man scolded him.
« I clearly had the situation under control, Drekmakazgi. » Bardin responded, as his team ran towards the two. « I take it that the leader of the lizardmen has been slain, Huntmarshal? » the one-eyed man, asked the Huntmarshal.
« Not quite, Saltzpyre. » the Huntmarshal responded, before pointing at an abandoned structure, a temple of some sort. Coming from the jungle itself was another army of lizardmen, with a large, crocodilian creature, big enough to dwarf anything else in the battle. Leading it was a massive creature, another Kroxigor, far larger than its brethren.
It was covered in many scars, and was holding an elaborate club on one hand, and a human soldier on the other, the poor fellow struggling all he could to get free. As the massive beast looked at the battle, he crushed the struggling soldier with his hand, before letting out a powerful roar.
« By Sigmar… » Saltzpyre said at the sight. « Looks like this Nakai fellow decided to finally show up. » Kruber commented. « This will not be an easy fight. That beast is far tougher than its brethren. And far more intelligent too. » the Huntmarshal responded.
« We're not going to leave this jungle alive. » the elf sighed annoyed. To this, the Huntmarshal simply smirked. « Have a little faith, Kerillian. »
He fired an arrow at the horde, hitting two skinks with a single blow. Human gunners also joined the defence, shooting down several of the lizardmen. The Ubersreik's Five also charged in the fray, cutting down several of the lizardmen's numbers.
But the reptilian creatures just kept on coming from the jungle. Not that the group couldn't handle it. Hordes were their speciality, after all. but from the jungle itself came something else.
But this time, it was an ally of the humans. A massive cavalry charged, humans riding massive beast, half eagle half lion, hit the flank of the lizardmen, killing many of them. The fire woman looked surprise at the attack.
« Demigryph knights? How in Ashqy's name did you afford Demigryph knights, Wulfhart? » she asked. The Huntmarshal smirked once more. « Our success in Lustria has gained the attention of many influential people in the Empire, Sienna. There's plenty to gain in this jungle, once it is ours. »
Sienna simply smirked, as she dodged an attack from a skink, before setting it ablaze. « You sly dog. Getting the noble's approval, aren't you? » she commented. « Nobles, merchants, even the Elector Counts themselves are piling in this business. » Wulfhart responded.
But as the group continued to fight, alongside the Imperial troops, the leader of the lizardmen, Nakai, charged furious. He sent many Imperials flying with its club, and all attacks on him simply bounced off.
Soon, it stood in front of the Ubersreik's Five, and was ready for a fight. But as he lifted his club to deliver his attack, he suddenly stopped. The restless attack of the lizardmen also suddenly stopped, many being confused by the event.
The men of the Empire, their war machines and the Ubersreik's Five, who all had their weapons ready, remained immobile in confusion. Then, the mighty Nakai turned to its left, almost as he felt something.
The rest of his army did the same, and slowly but surely, so did the Imperials. And they soon realized what was going on. A massive circular object, blue in coloration, stood in the middle of the jungle, emitting an erratic light blue light and energy.
That didn't seem good.
Sienna seemed to gaze off behind her metal mask before turning her head, «The winds are screaming! Something is wrong! »
Suddenly, the blue light expanded, like a mighty explosion. Soon, it engulfed the entirety of the battlefield, with none of the soldiers, being Imperials or lizardmen, being able to react. But it would not stop only there, as it continued to expand.
And soon, when once there was battle, now there was nothing at all.
If you're wondering what is going on in the story, this fanfiction is actually related to the Second Universe, most specifically, the Universalia War, which I called Universalia Fight Club back in the day.
To have a better understanding of what's going on, check out Second Universe Tales: Universalia Fight Club, but only chapter 1, as it's the sole chapter that will remain the same, as I'm planning to rewrite the series once again.
As for why the Ubersreik Five are in Lustria….I'll explain in future chapters, but to make things short, in this timeline the End Times did not occur, or at least they haven't yet. Ubersreik did happen, but it was a solitary incident of a Skaven attack. So that did happen, but after Clan Fester was defeated, nothing else happened.
In the meantime, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review so I can learn your opinion. I'm willing to accept suggestions, so stay tuned.
See you on the next chapter!