Okay, couple things first… I didn't mention this last time but HOLY CRAP! 452 favs and 525 follows!? You guys are nuts! Second, I'm so very sorry for the slow update schedule, life is weird and I'm incredibly lazy… Third thing! It was my birthday a few days ago! (October 23, actually…) Fourth, I'm really glad Descent of Four Heralds is doing as well as it is, I love you all so very much and am very sorry for what you're about to read.

Enjoy...

"You truly believe there to be foul play at hand?" Aultcray asked as we sat within the inn's dining hall.

We had decided to assess the situation before continuing our journey, that and the village wanted time to prepare our carriage, "Whether or not I believe there to be foul play is not of any concern, the fact that your own kingdom now hunts you and this Queen Mirellia should be enough to show you that you, much like Naofumi, have become a pawn in someone's game."

"The Church of the Bow and Spear," Aultcray muttered coldly, "To think that bastard would actually double cross me."

"Your daughter as well, if recent reports are to be believed," I added calmly, Aultcray only looking lost as he forced himself to listen to my words, "I apologise for the pain you no doubt feel, but we must continue if we are to survive."

"Survive what, exactly?" He asked worriedly, his body flinching in shock as River slammed the doors open excitedly.

"Look alive! Your carriage awaits!" She cheered as she took us by our hands and pulled us along. The carriage in question had looked to be a sturdy wooden frame reminiscent of my father's Trams, "Ohhh… I can not wait to pull this baby!" River declared excitedly.

"Pull?" Aultcray questioned, "Why would you-" His words had soon been caught in his throat as River returned to her giant form, "Ah… yes. I believe you had transformed before…"

"Jarring, right?" River asked as she hooked herself to the front of the carriage, "Could hardly believe it myself actually…" She hummed as she rubbed her mask which had appeared over her face upon transforming before swooning, "And then I became a beautiful maiden, worthy of my beloved Master~"

I knew not where such devotion had come from… but I would have been a fool to deny her this. I felt… strange about it all, as if a beat echoed within me, "Thank you, River. I shall be relying on you from now on," I whispered softly as I ran a hand along her wing, watching curiously as she flinched before settling and purring.

"Master…" She mumbled softly before batting me away playfully, "Come on, come on! There'll be time for that later! We have to go save the town!~" With urgency at our tails, Aultcray and I quickly entered the well built carriage as River had hit the ground running.

"Ah!? She's… certainly very lively…" Aultcray muttered as he managed to keep himself seated, "So much like a Filorial… but, tell me. How did you come across her?"

"A gift from the village of Mirso," I replied calmly, not at all bothered by the speed of the giant Filorial.

"I could feel Master calling out to me~" River continued, "Urging me to hatch as he slew monster after blood-thirsty monster~ Come to me! My beloved cried out with his heart. Come to me and give comfort to this empty and wicked soul!~"

Aultcray only looked more confused at River's dramatic telling, Talon only hissing at her, "Ah… hatched? Then, she is in fact a Filorial?" The king asked. Nodding, he blinked and started to wonder before looking to Talon, "And what of your dragon? He seems-" The dragon in question hissed at the king, doing well to showcase her rows of dagger sharp teeth.

"Talon is a female of the species… the last child of an Emperor Dragon named Gaelion," I replied as Aultcray blinked.

"An… Emperor Dragon you say?" He asked worriedly.

"Located at the top of a mountain near Mirso," I replied, watching with some curiosity as he looked worried.

"Now that I think about it, we should have tried getting to you sooner, Uncle Cray," River added, not at all able to see Aultcray flinch as she continued to call him 'Uncle', "Maybe you could have helped us."

"Helped…" The old king whispered as he shook his head fond memories arising of his family's secret love of the avian species, "Hm, Mirellia would have loved to have seen me help you, little Melty as well."

"Melty?" River questioned happily, eyes sparing a glancing moment before sharpening once more against the road.

"My youngest daughter," Aultcray replied with a soft smile before it fell to a grim frown, "I would have spoiled her rotten… the way I spoiled my poor Malty," His frown became darker, face scrunching in in itself as his lips quivered, "Dear gods what have I done? I did this to her…"

"Uncle Cray… it's no-"

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" He shouted with untold pain in his voice as he felt the affection and love in her voice. The love he felt reminded him of another precious girl in his life. One so terribly lost, "Not you… not to someone who could never truly treasure the women in my life… I do not deserve that from you…"

"Lord Aultcray Melromarc the Thirty Second," My voice saw him snapping his eyes forward, fear in his eyes, "You're hatred of an enemy long dead is the cause of Malty's bitter heart, of that there is no doubt," My words only drove the knife within him ever deeper if his sunken eyes meant anything, "Yet in you is the ability to do great good and correct that which you have wronged."

"You make it sound so easy…" He growled, "How could I forgive that… thing for all that has happened to my family?"

"We went over this already, Uncle Cray!" River whined, "Naofumi didn't hurt your family and the Shield is an inanimate object!"

"You'll have to forgive me for thinking otherwise, niece," Aultcray replied with snark as River giggled, "Regardless… you have said before that we travel with urgency, yet I know the Legendary Weapons have the ability to teleport, do they not? Why travel this way?"

"I can't exactly marry my beloved if I'm dead, you know~" River replied haughtily much to Aultcray's confusion, "I may be the world's most illustrious maiden, but I'm still a Filorial. Did you forget?"

"What does that- Oh…" Realization had dawned on him as he brightened up, "A Filorial will die of sadness if they are unable to pull a carriage!"

"Is this true?"

"Yep!~" River exclaimed happily, "I was actually starting to lose myself a little bit."

"Besides that…" Aultcray murmured worriedly, "Before, you said that we would need to survive something. Did you mean those black blooded knights?"

"Humans of your species no doubt corrupted by the Void," I replied, worry audible in my voice, "I do not know how nor why soldiers within your ranks have been consumed by that which has created me, but I know that once released, the Void will not stop as it seeks to consume all that it touches."

As I explained this, River had slowed considerably until we had gone into a crawl, "Guys… we have trouble."

Snickering and twisted jeers began to resound around our carriage, a group of men no doubt hoping to assault us for easy gold.

"Well well, lookie here, boys~" One of the men commented as he peered in through the back curtains, "A giant twig and an imposter king."

"You would dare…" Aultcray growled as he took hold of his wooden weapon, though he looked rather unused to it, "I am still king of these lands!"

"Oh but that's not what our great Church leaders are saying~" The brigand taunted, "I heard everyone in the royal family's already lost their claim to the kingdo-" His words were cut short as River had shrunken to her human form before causing one of the other men to jettison away.

"Hands off you filthy animal!" The avian girl cried, "Only Master is allowed to touch me!"

Growling, the jeering man's eyes had gone black as swords, axes, spears, and arrows began to pierce the cloth surrounding our carriage, "FINE! SHOWS OVER! WE'LL SORT THEM OUT IN TIME!"

Bursting forth and tearing through the damaged cloth, I had tackled atop a pair of men already oozing Void substance as the Rather Imperfect Nail and Ouroboros copy found purchase through their skulls. Aultcray had lesser success as he had remained atop the carriage, batting away his single assailant.

"I SAID GET OFF OF ME!" I heard River cry out as three different men had tangled themselves on and around her as the Void taint that dripped from them washed over her form… In that moment I had felt a pulse. As if something wished to sever my connection to her… and it was succeeding. Rushing forth, I had been tackled back by a pair of mutilated men, their taint overgrowing and forming an enlarged shell around their shoulders.

"Unhand my niece, foul beasts!" Aultcray cried as he jumped into the fray, batting away and severing the limbs of River's captors. Growling, I let loose an explosion, the force pushing away the armored brutes as I ran to River's and Aultcray's side, only for her to push us both away.

"Don't! Don't come any closer…" She pleaded as a gentle glow washed over her before fading, all while the Void taint crawled and shuddered along her form, "Uncle Cray… you aren't infected… stay that way… Master… it's a part of you… it can-" She gasped before she managed to tear pieces of it away, "Just… keep me safe… and yourselves…"

"Recover the girl…" The men started to say in unison, "Alive or dead… she shall fuel our god… enslave the man… he shall be the perfect foothold upon this plane…" They had been a group of six, yet their oozing taint made them appear… greater than what they were. They were not six separate men, but a single entity working in six different ways.

"Sometimes I wish I never retired…" Aultcray mumbled as he readied himself for battle.

"Then you will need this more than I," I muttered as I gave him my spare blade not a moment too soon as the six husks rushed us with unimaginable speed and force. Four had clashed against us as the remaining two went after River who had been able to push them back with a burst of light. Though curious, I would question this later as my blade struck and sent my two assailants sailing upon the winds of an Air Strike Sword.

Surprising still had been Talon's silent movement, having latched onto the now flying assailants before clawing their necks one by one, jumping off their backs while curving to the next target until the giant ethereal sword dissipated. Aultcray had little less luck, but well timed parries and ripostes allowed him to stagger and strike against his opponent's heads.

As the pair fell, we turned our gazes to the fallen River, her own two would be captors towering above her only for the two to turn around to glare at us… and snap their necks.

"Dear gods…" Aultcray whispered as they staggered forward, yet did not fall. Instead, the Void within them oozed outward until they had been enveloped, the vertical masses sinking down all as the last four bodies had done the same, "Hollow! What is happening!?"

The Void gathered together, bubbling as claws, fangs and limbs raged as the collected mass grew and formed an amalgamous beast reminiscent of this world's Chimera. Without warning the beast did lunge, wild snake headed tail whipping about as its mandibles sought to rip and tear into us. It's muffled lion roars brought to bare jaws with teeth sharper than steel.

[Goat's Horn Rank 1/50

Damage 50

Passive: Ignore 10% of enemy armor

Active: Destroy 20% of enemy armor]

Aultcray had blinked once his temporary nail had faded, brandishing his wooden cane once more as I brought my sword-hammer down upon the Void Beast's head, the Balloon Charm having been equipped. The force had caused the Void Beast to shudder as it's head was planted into the ground. I sought to press my advantage, Talon joining me as she landed upon its neck only for its form to change into that of a massive serpent, its maw slamming into me as it pushed forward and pinned me to a tree.

"Hollow!" Aultcray cried out as he swung his weapon at the beast, watching in fear as the mass of wood was taken and devoured by the beast's body only to step back as Talon roared and began to spit globs of her own saliva into the Void Beast's eye. Blackened mist rose as I was released, the beast letting loose a pained cry before rolling and flailing on the ground and successfully escaping Talon's grip before it changed again into the form of a dragon. Its new form was as large as Hegemol, yet much thinner in frame. With a silent yet pressurized wail, the beast flew and lunged as Aultcray met it with a roar of his own, "I HAVE HAD IT WITH THESE NONSENSICAL MONSTERS INVADING MY GODS FORSAKEN KINGDOM!"

The beast flew face first into a twin torrent plume of solid fire, its cry piercing the world as it writhed mid-air. Wishing to press the advantage, I shifted my presence atop the beast's head with the intent to pierce its skull… yet it was my own skull to be damaged as a giant's hand had taken me by my neck and brought me face first with it's knee…

"Hollow! HOLLOW!" The shamed king cried out to the insectoid Void knight in vain. Emotions once thought dulled, welled and burgeoned within him as he beheld the behemoth before him tossing away the Sword Hero as if he were but a ragdoll. The Void Beast had let loose a silent victory cry, one met in equal fervor by the shamed king and dragon.

Whether from pure hatred of the beast, years of pent up rage, or divine intervention, Aultcray called upon magics once thought lost to himself. The dragon at his side had felt a similar strength, enraged power triggering metamorphosis as it grew in size and power. With new growth, much of its decaying skin fell away to give way to bone and scale as white as the moon yet had a small glint of silver shining under the light of day.

With one last yell, the pair let loose fire and venom in concentrated streams against the charging monstrosity. Once red and molten fire now burned blue and wild with all the force of a newborn star, and as the beast was struck, it evaporated as quickly as it formed until naught was left… in its wake, the Filorial Empress, River.

"R-River?" Aultcray questioned as he fell to his knees and clutching his painfully beating heart, the dragon beside him faring no better, yet the girl he called out to was nowhere to be found, instead, a demon had occupied her body.

"Melromarc," The demon called out using a perversion of the sweet girl's voice, "Know this, we are not your enemy."

"Wh-what?" The tired king questioned as he began to sweat, the demon drawing ever nearer.

"We are a warden, Melromarc," It continued, "We wish neither harm nor illness against you or your people, but that which should no longer exist once more draws breath upon mortal plane. Defy us our mission, and we shall devour all you so hold dear… Even this disgusting abomination you call 'Niece'..." With that, the demon's hold had waned as River cried out, one last burst of light expelling the Void taint from her body before collapsing. The light did not fully leave her body as her feathers had been aglow, faint as if touched by the morning star.

It had all proved too much for the king, hoping that none would harm them as he chose the moment to catch up on much needed rest... All as what remained of the Void mass slithered away to find a new host.