Thunder Legion I
The moment they arrived, the Thunder Legion almost immediately decided that they didn't like it. The place was dark, damp, misty, and all around unpleasant. But it wasn't like they couldn't just walk away wherever they wanted.
"I use to complain about the sun," Evergreen gripped, "It was always too bright or too hat."
"Please don't talk about the sun like that," Bixlow said, "It makes me miss it more."
"Miss it! Miss it!" his dolls cried out.
"Stop thinking about those things!" Freed shouted from further back as he pulled his sword out of a dead gor, "You do remember we're in battle here, right?"
"Right, right!" Bixlow said, as he and Evergreen both charged back into battle.
After getting sucked into the vortex at the guild hall, the Legion had been spat into this bleak land, which they would later learn was called Sylvannia. Just their luck, they were found by a particularly powerful noble, who happened to rule the region. They would've probably have been killed, if not for them fighting off the noble's guards, and impressing the noble enough, that he agreed to spare them, if they became his bodyguards. Not in a position to turn him down, the Thunder Legion agreed, albeit reluctantly. Now they were in the middle of a battle in Northern Sylvannia, fighting off a Beastmen incursion into the lands.
"You know, when he said 'incursion', I thought he meant maybe several dozen, a couple hundred at the most," Evergreen said as she blasted a pair of ungors away, and dodged a strike from a gor, "Certainly not a couple thousand!"
"Come on, we've fought against worse odds!" Bixlow said, as he leapt over a charging gor, and pointed at him, "Baryon Formation!" The dolls assumed formation, and blasted several beasts into nothing.
"At least those enemies didn't stink as much as these do," Evergreen said, as she flew over the Beastmen, releasing her fairy dust over them, creating more explosions.
"Stop your incessant griping, both of you," Freed said, as he cut down another gor, "Focus on the battle." The other two members groaned, but knowing Freed was right, kept fighting. Freed looked over the field; they weren't the only ones fighting. Much of the contrary, there were about 4000 armored warriors they heard were called "Grave Guard". At first that didn't sound like anything, but then the three found out that they were all undead warriors. These Grave Guard marched in near perfect lockstep towards the enemies of their master, compared to the Beastmen, who just charged at them roaring and screaming. They were certainly far from a danger to the Grave Guard, who easily cut down every gor that got in their undead face. That unfortunately lead into probably the worst part of the Thunder Legion's most recent adventure, the vampires that ruled the land.
The Thunder Legion was quite baffled when they found out that the master they ended up serving was a vampire. Its not that they doubted the existence of vampires necessarily (they'd seen far too much crap in the past to doubt), more that it seemed that even if vampires existed, they didn't they'd ever see one.
Freed couldn't keep thinking about the notion of vampires actually existing, because he heard a roar, as a gor started charging him. He held up his sword, and braced himself to face it. However, another blade suddenly appeared through the gor's chest, killing it instantly.
"No sense in stopping. There is still much work to be done." It was the individual they just so happened to be "employed" to; his name was Mannfred von Carstein. He was a skilled warrior, a keen strategist, and one of the most adept magic users that any of them had ever seen. And someone that the Thunder Legion knew was no doubt pure evil.
"Count Mannfred," Freed said, bowing his head slightly, his hand over his chest.
"You never fail to impress me," Mannfred said, spinning his war scythe through his hand, "I never thought that humans could hold such power on their own."
"So I observed," Mannfred said. That was when a minotaur came charging, practically out of nowhere, roaring towards the vampire. Rolling his eyes, Mannfred easily dodged the axe, and caught the minotaur by the heel with his scythe as the momentum carried it forward. He then held up his hand to the minotaur's face, as it glowed violet. Glowing energy came out of the minotaur's eyes and mouth, as Mannfred literally pulled the life force out of it. He clenched his fist, as the violet energy vanished into his hand, as the withered husk of the minotaur collapsed.
"I would advise standing back," Mannfred said, "This magic can be quite toxic to mortals." Figuring he probably knew about this kind of magic far better the Thunder Legion ever would, they did as their commander instructed. Mannfred then looked over the now vast field of corpses that formed the battlefield.
"I would much prefer not to have these abominations as mine soldiers," he said, "But necessity…" Mannfred then spread his arms, as a red aura lit up around him.
"Now rise and serve me!" he declared. A red mist came off his body and spread across the battlefield. It spread over the dead Beastmen, seeming to seep into their nostrils and mouths as they began to twitch slightly, before slowly pulling themselves off the ground. Soon, almost half of the dead Beastmen rose up, before hobbling towards the remaining living beasts. The Thunder Legion all cringed as the undead beasts easily cut through the living. One particularly daring gor leapt at one undead gor, swinging his axe into the undead creature's chest. However, the undead creature just looked down at the axe in the chest, and swung its own axe, cutting off its head with one strike. Soon enough, the Beastmen who weren't already dead at the hands of the undead, were fleeing.
"Shall we pursue them, Count Mannfred?" Freed asked.
"There is no need," Mannfred answered, sheathing his sword, and putting his scythe on his back, "They are more nuisances then legitimate threats to us." He snapped his fingers. Immediately, all the risen Beastmen collapsed back to the ground.
"Such filthy creatures aren't worthy of a place in my army," Mannfred said plainly when his bodyguards looked at him, smiling at them, "But I must congratulate you on your efforts in this battle. Thine magic is something to behold."
"Thank you, my Count," Freed said respectively. Bixlow and Evergreen both just nodded in respect.
"Come, we must return to Drakenhorf," Mannfred said, as he gestured. Skeletal horse suddenly galloped up, which Mannfred and the Thunder Legion mounted. They started riding them back South, towards the castle-city that housed Mannfred.
"Count Mannfred," Freed said, riding up next to him, "May I ask a question?"
"Hmm?" was all the vampire responded with.
"I have been told there are over forty thousand Grave Guard buried in and around Drakenhorf," Freed, "Why did you bring so few, with no calvary?"
"Mine armies were not needed for this venture," Mannfred said simply, "There was no reason to bring any more than I did. I would have to raise more soldiers."
"Are you preserving your army for something?" Freed asked. Mannfred actually glanced at Freed at that, narrowing his blank eyes.
"For now, you and the others have no reason to hear mine reasons," he said, "You will learn them in due time, but not now." Freed frowned slightly, but didn't press the issue, as he fell back slightly to his comrades.
"That guy still makes my skin crawl," Evergreen whispered to Freed, not caring if the count heard her.
"Until we can go, you have to muscle through it," Freed said plainly.
"So what do we do?" Bixlow asked.
"We hunker down and takes things as they happen," Freed answered, "And take every opportunity we can to gather information about our guild mates."
"I wonder how Natsu would've reacted to horses like these," Bixlow said, "He's bad enough with regular hoses. Skeleton horses, hah!"
"Hah! Hah! Hah!" the dolls echoed. Meanwhile, Evergreen looked to the East, towards the massive mountains int he distance.
"Count Mannfred!" she called, "Have you ever seen the dwarfs?"
"Many a time," Mannfred answered, not looking back, "One particularly daring dwarfen slayer thought himself brave in an attempt to slay me. He now serves as a guard for my treasure chest. Fitting end for a dwarf, yes?"
"Whatever you say," Evergreen answered, keeping her eye on the mountains.
Note: So the Thunder Legion has ended up in the service of the von Carsteins. This could lead to trouble, especially considering what kind of creature Mannfred is. And no, Laxus is not with the Thunder Legion.
Mannfred von Carstein is a Neutral Evil character; he's no friend of Chaos, nor is he friend to anyone else; he's 100% out for himself, and himself alone. One of the things I couldn't figure out about the Vampire Counts though, was their religion. I'm not sure if we're lead to believe they worship the same gods as other humans, or if they favor some gods over others, or even if they just worship death itself as a god, or perhaps even themselves.
Please review. Next chapter we're going back to Natsu.