Chapter 12 - Velvet.
Dark clouds blanketed the land for as far as the eye could see, broken only by occasional rays of sunshine; volatile threads of light briefly piercing down into the sea of darkness below. A grim, foreboding gust of dry air blew across the hollow, barren landscape, disturbing the ripped flags hanging from rotting rally point markers. A wake of black vultures circled quietly above, patiently biding their time until their next opportunity to feed. There was nothing green as far as the eye could see. A truly desecrated blot of land that was yet another victim of human conflict.
Dark swarms of arrows, shot indiscriminately and at random, arced through the air overhead like terrifying squalls of fletched steel. Howls and cries of soldiers echoed throughout the basin as the clashes continued sporadically. Battalions fought against battalions, squads faced off against other squads, and man battled against man. Offenses, skirmishes, and retreats continued in a seemingly endless, futile dance of suffering and attrition. Oceans of azure blue uniforms crashed against seas of crimson red over and over again. Amidst it all, screams of agony meshed with vicious war-cries being cried out at the behest of both Rolance and Hyland. Among the chaos, both names seemed irrelevant.
Footsteps slammed on the dry dirt as the lone Shepherd and his followers sprinted hurriedly through one of the many narrow canyons carved into the floor of the Glaivend Basin, gasping for breath. Even as they ran, the sounds of the nearby battles reached their ears, reminding them of the peril they were in for every waking moment.
Mikleo gritted his teeth as he ran. "It sounds like the fight's getting closer." He panted. "I don't think the Hyland forces are going to hold out for much longer."
Lailah glanced over her shoulder with a worried expression. "We must hurry!" She urged. "At this rate, Lucas and the rest of the Woodsmen will be overwhelmed!"
"Looks like paid mercenaries are considered even more disposable than your average soldier." Edna noted with disdain. "That slimy general must've drawn his troops back the moment the going got tough and told the mercenaries to stay behind and cover their retreat."
At the head of the group, Sorey gritted his teeth and lowered his head, picking up his pace. Velvet Crowe ran alongside the Shepherd with a grim expression, her hair and jacket slinging behind her in the breeze.
Together, the group charged through the boiling, suffocating cauldron of malevolence, surrounded by the cacophony caused by the chaos of conflict. Overhead, the clouds seemed to writhe and shift in the volatile winds, throwing errant rays of sunlight every which way.
By chance, Velvet's eyes abruptly registered hints of distant movement in her peripheral vision. She dug her ironclad boots into the dry dirt and skidded to a halt, causing the rest of the group to follow suit. "There!" She yelled.
The uniforms of the Woodsmen were as an island of blaze orange amidst a rising tide of blood red. The group of a few dozen mercenaries had been corralled into a semi-circle by several squads of heavily armored Rolance soldiers, their backs pushed against the unscalable walls of the canyon. The battle cries of the relentless enemy soldiers mixed horribly with the howls of dying men as the numbers of the Woodsmen were slowly being whittled down bit by bit.
With her keen eyesight, Velvet could clearly see the sweat-drenched face of the mercenary leader as he was harried by three Rolance pikemen simultaneously. Lucas' bellowing voice carried easily over the network of jagged canyons that separated the Shepherd's group from their battle. At this rate, it was clearly only a matter of time before the Woodsmen were completely wiped out.
Sorey had clearly come to the same conclusion. He ran his eyes over the rugged landscape in his way before quickly finding the fastest solution. "Edna!" He prompted urgently over his shoulder. "I need you to get us over there, now!"
"On it." The earth seraph nodded, closing her eyes and concentrating. Her dress began to flap in the artificial wind as the powers she commanded began to converge into an arte.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Sorey turned around impatiently as General Landon rode angrily in atop his armored warhorse alongside a squad of mounted lancers, intercepting him at the edge of the cliff. The rest of the seraphim and Velvet stood guardedly behind him as the lancers immediately surrounded them, their hard steel helmets revealing no emotion as they blocked the path of the Shepherd's rescue attempt.
The heavy clopping of the general's warhorse rang over the battle cries of the Woodsmen and the Rolance soldiers in the distance as he came to a halt before the Shepherd, his expression utterly livid.
"Have you completely and utterly lost your mind?!" he bellowed furiously. "I order you to recall that on this battlefield, you are honor-bound to act under my orders, Shepherd. If I tell you to attack, you attack. If I tell you to retreat, you damn well better retreat!" He slammed his fist onto the chest of his heavy plate armor. "I am the highest-ranking soldier here, and you will give me the respect I damn well deserve!"
Sorey took a furious step forward. "You're telling me to just stand by obediently as you let Lucas and the rest of his men be slaughtered without batting an eye?!" he demanded incredulously. He angrily slashed his gloved hand in the air. "You left them all to die!" was his harsh accusation.
The General shook his head, scoffing incredulously. "To think I have to lecture a child on such infantile matters on the battlefield!" he spat.
Shaking his head, he sneered down at the pathetically unlearned Shepherd. "This is war, boy. I'll explain how war works to you in such simple terms even a naïve kid such as yourself should be capable of understanding: I give the orders and say who will die while the others win. In this case, those 'Woodsmen' are part of the former." He gestured sharply in the air towards the dying men in the distance. "With those braggarts serving as a key distraction, the rest of the main force will have considerably less of a force to battle, conversely allowing us to plunge straight into the heart of their army and thus route them all from behind."
He clutched his gloved hand into an iron fist with cold eyes. "Sacrifices go hand in hand with victory, Shepherd. It's only with a cool, cunning mind that an army has even the slimmest of margins for victory. And that's my job; to bring about that victory through whatever means I deem necessary." he sneered. "Hyland won't be saved from those Rolance fiends with just warm feelings and good intentions."
He glared down at the Shepherd with upmost authority. "I'll say it again. This. Is. War. Now wake the hell up and get back in line. THAT'S AN ORDER!" he bellowed furiously. In the background, a sharp cry of mortal agony ripped through the air as another one of the Woodsmen was mercilessly disemboweled by one of the Rolance soldiers.
Sorey had heard enough. His eyes flared with an otherworldly hue of brilliant yellow.
BANG!
A godly, thunderous roar utterly drowned out the bellowing of the angry general as entire boulders of dry rock that had previously been undisturbed for millennia violently jutted out from the ground in a circle surrounding the Shepherd's group. Well-bred war horses let out terrified screams as they were tossed in the air like toys, the soldiers mounted atop them being flung clear from their saddles. Men cried out in unadulterated horror as they tumbled to the ground like spent cockroaches whereas their horses crashed to the ground in crumpled heaps, with man and beast alike screaming in the agony caused by their dislocated limbs.
General Landon of the Hyland Army was slammed harshly into the rock as his own warhorse bucked and bolted, leaving him lying winded on his back and gasping heavily for breath as his own heavy armor now made it difficult for air to enter his chest. His eyes were wide in pure shock and disorientation as he glanced around him, taking in the state of his personal elite squad lying on the floor wiped out. A thick cloud of dislocated dust and dirt hung in the air, obscuring the world around him and leaving him choking and coughing on the ground.
His eyes widened in horror as he abruptly registered a figure walking slowly towards him, emerging from the cloud of dirt like a demon from legend.
The Shepherd's eyes glowed unnaturally in the dim gloom as he walked up to Landon, his entire body thrumming with untold power. The very earth seemed to quake with each step the unnatural godlike being took closer and closer towards the downed general.
Landon scrambled to gather his wits as best he could in the face of such terror-inspiring power. He tried his best to sit up, crawling backwards a few paces as the demon came closer and closer to him. "P-Princess Alisha-!" he began meekly.
"'Princess Alisha will be freed once the Shepherd wins the war for Hyland.'" Sorey's voice was cold and steeled as he came to a halt with the trembling general as his feet.
He narrowed his eyes. "You confirmed this statement in front of dozens of witnesses at the behest of my advisor." He glanced briefly over his shoulder at Velvet who was watching their exchange with an unreadable expression. "…At my behest, this statement was written down in an official document with the confirming signatures of all those whom had been present at the time, legally notarized by the head of the Sparrowfeather Merchants. Were you or the council to fail to honor the terms of our agreement, all of Hyland would soon know the full extent of your treachery and depravity."
Sorey crossed his arms, emotionlessly holding the terrified, confused gaze of the general. "There wasn't a single aspect of that agreement that compels me to follow your orders, General." He pointed out coldly. "I might have been forced into this war by the likes of you and yours, but I refuse to bend over backwards for the sake of your twisted notions of sacrifice and victory."
He gently rested a hand on the pommel of his ceremonial sword, his pure white cloak rippling in the winds generated by the power of armatization. "This power is mine and mine alone." He declared. "And there is no way I am going to let a sick person like yourself control the Shepherd around as if I were your personal hound of war!"
Sorey shook his head and met the general's eyes once more. "…Regardless, I have a job to do. Please understand," his eyes narrowed, "I will do whatever I personally deem necessary to get it done." he promised. "Is that clear?"
"I… Yes… I suppose… you would know… how best to use your power." The general stammered. Recognizing his complete and utter defeat on this matter, Landon lowered his head with a stiff jaw. "…Do as you wish, Shepherd."
Sorey nodded. He returned his mind back to the task at hand, striding forward towards the Woodsmen. The various injured Hyland lancers strewn about at his feet quickly scrambled out of his way, trembling and muttering.
Velvet followed quietly in the Shepherd's footsteps, briefly stopping to look over the sorry excuse of a general and his soldiers before she passed them with her lips drawn in a thin line. Landon was the sort of power-drunk, headstrong man who had probably never been truly beaten before in his entire life at anything, nor had he been forced to bow his head to anyone who did not already have his complete respect. Yet a mere encounter with the Shepherd was enough to put him in such a state within moments.
Such was the nature of the terrifying power in Sorey's hands.
Deep, powerful thrums resounded across the land as rocks once more jutted out from the ground, bridging the gaps between the landscape and allowing the Shepherd passage towards his goal. The group quickly resumed their hurried pace across the bridge of land, leaving the general and his men in their wake.
Landon opened his eyes once more, exhaling a shaky breath. "…C-curses." he swore. "Why didn't I listen to the warnings of those damn chancellors?" He muttered under his breath as he ran a gloved hand over his face. "What a fool I've been."
"G-General?" One of the fallen lancers managed to stammer as the Shepherd's group left.
Once more reminded of his position, General Landon quickly found his wits once more and looked over the sorry state of his men, his racing heart slowly returning to normal. "…I'm fine." He grunted, getting to his feet. "On your feet, men!" He yelled; his voice thankfully bereft of any tremors. He jerked his gloved hand back towards the main camp of Hyland. "We go to rally the troops of the main division." He announced loudly. "Our counterattack begins the moment the Shepherd initiates his assault!"
He raised his fist into the air, determined bravado once more steeling his features. "Never fear, for with that man at our side, victory for Hyland is utterly assured!" he bellowed. "DEATH TO THE ROLANCE EMPIRE!"
The rest of the soldiers were quick to respond, raising their lances and following with cries permeated with keen bloodlust. Their joint howls of war haunted the Shepherd and his group as they broke back into a run towards the Woodsmen over the haphazard bridge of earth constructed by Edna's powers.
Sorey gritted his teeth. This was just the beginning, he knew. As one, the group continued to run, deeper and deeper into the chaos.
"Damn it all! Where the hell are those reinforcements?!" Lucas snarled, twirling his massive broadsword around and battling off the pikes of the Rolance soldiers slowly prodding him farther and farther back towards the wall of the canyon.
"BOSS!"
Lucas swore as he belated registered a swordsman who had slipped past the pikemen slashing right at his exposed neck.
SQUELCH!
"NO!" Lucas bellowed, watching helplessly as another one of his men was cut down in front of him, having placed his body right between the enemy and his leader. "You'll pay for that, bastard!" He roared, spinning around and slashing at the man whom had just murdered his right-hand man.
The swordsman who had just killed Lucas' comrade deftly leapt back, letting his fellow countrymen fend Lucas off of him with their long-reaching pikes. "There's nobody coming for you all." The Rolance soldier declared grimly, flicking his blade to get the deceased mercenary's blood off. "Those Hyland bastards have long since left you all for dead. Make it easy on yourselves. Surrender now, or we'll cut you all down to the last man."
Lucas cursed again.
He glanced around, reluctantly recognizing the harsh truth in the enemy swordsman's words. There were only a few dozen Woodsmen left, breathing raggedly and standing on shaky limbs. They had fought for far too long and against far too great numbers. They were properly surrounded on all sides by far, far too many soldiers. There was clearly no hope left for their sorry band.
The lead mercenary gritted his teeth, hard. "…If we surrender, do I have your word that my men will be spared?" he implored.
The swordsman nodded. "On my honor as Lieutenant, I swear." Behind his helmet, his mouth thinned. "However, I'm sure you're aware of the measures we as soldiers must take to ensure that your band of mercenaries never operates again as a result." he added soberly.
Lucas's eyes were hard. "Of course I do." he growled. "I knew damn well what I was signing up for."
He shook his head slowly, making his mind up. "…Alright, Lieutenant. You guys win." He exhaled a sigh as he let his body untense, standing up straight and proud. "If the seraphim find it in themselves to let me return to this world as a spirit, you'd damn well better believe I'm haunting that bastard general to the grave." he muttered savagely.
"Alright you bums!" he yelled out commandingly, causing the fighting to grind to a halt. "That's it! We tried our best here today." He met the eyes of the lieutenant soberly. "…Stop fighting and throw down your weapons. It's time to go home." He ordered quietly. "This is my final order to you all."
"Lucas, Sir!" One of them yelled. "You can't possibly-!"
Lucas rolled his eyes.
"I take it back, that was my second to last order!" He roared. "Shut up and let this happen!" He waved his free hand in the air. "You all know the rules of the game. We lost."
The mercenary whom had spoken up cursed silently, angrily tossing his sword to the blood-soaked earth at his feet. "Damnit!" he swore.
As one, the Woodsmen all collectively dropped their weapons where they stood, their expressions grim. In turn, the attacking Rolance soldiers lowered their weapons, standing down as the lieutenant stepped towards Lucas, taking off his helmet and respectfully holding the mercenary leader's gaze.
Lucas nodded wordlessly in response, dropping his own longsword to the ground. The heavy metal hitting rock resounded loudly across the suddenly deafeningly quiet battlefield. He took a step forward, quietly discarding the plates of armor that hung on his frame onto the ground as well.
The Rolance lieutenant stepped up before him, his broadsword gleaming in the gloomy lighting. "…Last words?" he prompted softly.
Lucas shook his head quietly, visibly steeling himself.
Nodding, the lieutenant drew his blade back, poised to ram into the man's gut.
"LUCAS!"
The world around the mercenary violently erupted into a chaotic flurry of earth, water, and fire. Soldiers all around screamed in shock and agony as they were tossed about by close-proximity explosions of flame, violent shards of protruding rock, and spontaneous, billowing waves of water. The air was inundated with otherworldly power flowing through the terrifying, awe-inspiring acts of magic the likes of which none of them had ever seen.
The lieutenant whom had been about to execute him was tossed bodily away by a fierce, piercing jet of water that had shot through the air like an arrow. His cry of surprise and pain mixed amongst the cries of the rest of his men as chaos was wrought amongst them all through the means of incomprehensible powers. He stood there, shocked still as he watched the chaos unfold right before him.
"GET DOWN!"
Lucas struggled to comprehend what he was seeing as a familiar raven-haired woman seemed to materialize out of the chaos, charging right at him. He let out an involuntary grunt as she tacked him with severe force, bringing him down with her as they tumbled backwards into the rest of the Woodsmen whom were all utterly untouched by the chaos running rampant amongst the Rolance soldiers.
The woman he somehow remembered was called Velvet got back to her feet and gave them all a harsh once-over, glancing briefly over at the explosions of magic behind her. Her narrowed eyes lingered on him. "Shut up and stay down, all of you." She growled lowly. "The Shepherd will take it from here."
Lucas gaped at her, wide-eyed. "The… S-Shepherd?" He gasped. "You don't mean… that kid?!" His eyes were drawn to the center of it all.
Sorey the Shepherd stood as a conductor, effortlessly organizing the chaos around him with impunity. Rolance soldiers scrambled and yelled helplessly as they were routed by the sheer ungodly power of the man. Dents were torn in the rock from an invisible giant's fist pounding the ground, sweeping whole squads of soldiers off their feet. Spontaneous explosions of flame lit up the canyon in flares of light that mimicked the sun itself, radiating ungodly amounts of heat and sending soldiers stumbling over themselves in a panicked, animal-driven instinct to flee. Finally, the Shepherd himself stood before the main mass of the soldiers, drawing his arms as if holding an imaginary bow and letting spontaneous plumes of water fly, eliciting huge detonations of liquid with forces comparable to that of a hurricane.
The vast sum of soldiers he and dozens of other battle-hardened mercenaries could not even imagine quelling were instantly routed by the power of one man… no. This was not the work of a mere mortal, Lucas corrected himself. This… this was god-like.
"RETREAT, TROOPS OF ROLANCE!"
Lucas flinched as the unnaturally amplified voice echoed in his brain, rattling his teeth. The rest of his men had similar reactions, whereas the troops to for whom the message was meant for reacted instantly by dropping their weapons and clutching their ears.
"D… DEMON!" The lieutenant from earlier, clutching a broken arm at his side howled loudly into the air at a volume that could barely rival the Shepherd's voice. "Hyland has monsters on their side!" The man screamed in terror. "RUN! Everyone, RUN!"
Utter chaos followed. The Rolance soldiers, whom had earlier been so organized and structured, completely broke ranks and collectively bolted like a herd of terrified prey. Driven by their base instincts in the face of something so incomprehensibly terrifying, the men in red armor stumbled over themselves to retreat, let out cries of pure terror in the process.
The last of the soldiers retreated out of the canyon at breakneck pace, with even the slower, injured soldiers soon vanishing out of sight, leaving the Shepherd standing alone amidst an empty, desolate field of abandoned weapons and land desecrated by his own inhuman powers.
A deathly silence fell.
Quietly, Sorey slowly turned around, his glowing eyes slowly fading in hue and returning to a seemingly normal green color as he let his gaze fall upon the cowering Woodsmen mercenaries. His jaw was set as he glanced over the terrified expressions of the people he had just saved, his gaze finally meeting Lucas' undeniably terrified and confused eyes.
He stepped forward slowly, trying his best to ignore the flinching of the dozens of people before him. He quietly came to a halt before Lucas, his deceptively boyish face breaking into a soft, honest smile.
"…I'm glad you're alright, Lucas." He remarked softly, though his words might've been as loud they had earlier with how the men winced in their wake.
Lucas was lost for words. Nothing in his life had prepared him for this.
Suddenly, a different voice rang out, echoing off the walls of the canyon. "You did well." Lucas watched as the woman named Velvet casually walked up to the god-like entity that was the Shepherd and placed a hand on her hip. "Far as I could tell, you didn't hurt anybody too badly." She shrugged, looking away. "…Though it was sloppy as hell."
To Lucas's surprise, the Shepherd abruptly broke into a light laugh, though his smile didn't reach his eyes. "I know, I know. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to using my powers." He agreed, scratching his cheek sheepishly.
Lucas blinked, bewildered at the conversation taking place.
Velvet waved her bandaged hand in the air uncaringly. "You might want to work on your intimidation too." She added dryly. "I don't think your act could've scared a gnat away if they knew anything about what you're really like."
"Heh." Sorey rubbed his nose with an index finger and a small, genuine smile. "Busted." He blinked as he noticed Lucas moving from his spot on the ground.
"W-well… I… I'll be damned."
Lucas slowly got to his feet on shaky legs. He met the Sorey's honest, boyish eyes as he hesitantly straightened his back, before glancing at Velvet, standing casually besides him. He shook his head, steeling his resolve and finding his voice. "…S-Shepherd Sorey." He managed to say respectfully. "…I thank you for your help. The Woodsmen are at your service."
He shook his head, forcing strength into his voice. "I… Isn't that right, WOODSMEN?!" He roared.
With the sudden reminder of who they were alongside Lucas's apparent display of fearlessness before the might of the great Shepherd, the rest of the Woodsmen clamped down on their own fears and found their voices.
"…SHEPHERD SOREY!" They roared. "SHEPHERD SOREY!"
Their rallying cries resounded off the walls of the canyon as they got to their feet, lifting their retrieved weapons in the air with powerful war cries. At their front, Lucas stood proudly, putting both his hands on his hips.
Sorey's face abruptly broke into a genuine, warmed smile in the face of their combined support. "You guys…" He breathed.
At his side, unseen by the rest of the mortals, Edna twirled her umbrella lightly. "Color me impressed." she commented lightly. The seraph glanced at Sorey. "I honestly thought you were going to cry." she noted with a smirk.
Mikleo grinned, patting Sorey's back supportively. "Of course not. Our strong, fearless Shepherd would never fall prey to such emotion." he mock declared.
Lailah's smile was soft as she gazed over the chanting Woodsmen with her hands intertwined in front of her dress. "It would appear that there are some flames out that even the might of the Shepherd can't stifle." she remarked.
"…Yeah." Sorey breathed softly.
He shook his head and raised his voice. "Woodsmen!" the Shepherd addressed. A few dozen faces looked back at him, standing to the attention of the almighty Shepherd himself with varying degrees of fear, respect and peculiar mixtures of both.
Sorey nodded respectfully in the face of their attention. "…The Hyland Army has abandoned you all, and yet your flanking maneuver was ultimately successful." he announced. "From what I can tell, your work is done here. Please, rest easy, everyone." he suggested with an earnest smile. He then glanced at Lucas. "…And if for any reason they don't end up paying you what you and your men deserve, you tell them to come to me to dispute it." he finished with a cheeky grin.
Standing behind him, Velvet let out an amused huff as she crossed her arms. The kid learned fast; she'd give him that much.
The Woodsmen let out a much louder, more united rallying cry in response.
As the cries of the mercenaries began to die down, Lucas quickly found his rhythm once more in what he did best. "Alright, bums!" He grinned wolfishly. "I nearly died just now for you all, so I expect top-notch work from everyone for the rest of the day!" The rest of the mercenaries chuckled good-naturedly in response.
"Alpha and Bravo Squads secure the perimeter! We're fortifying this area for future Hyland offensives." he ordered. "Charlie Squad, I expect trenches to be at least at chest height by the end of the day! Runners, get ready to head back to the main camp, so you can let that bastard of a general know that we did what he wanted us to, and that if he needs us for anything else, he can go right to hell!"
He turned back to Sorey with a grin. "'Cuz we got new orders from the Shepherd himself! That's everything. Everyone, don't slack off out there!" he yelled. The men responded in kind with fierce roars, quickly organizing themselves back into their units and dispersing, headed to their own individual tasks.
Sorey watched the Woodsmen go, heartened beyond measure by the genuine respect he had gained from the people he had come to save.
"…Come on, guys." He breathed, turning away and towards where the Rolance soldiers had fled. His smile faded from his expression as he hardened his gaze. "We're not done yet."
The rest of the seraphim nodded.
"We're right behind you." Mikleo reassured easily.
Edna idly rested her closed umbrella on her opposite shoulder. "Don't get all stupid gung-ho about this, okay?" she reminded him. "Just do what you need to do to get it all over with."
Lailah dipped her head in kind, her expression hardening. "…Indeed." she agreed quietly. "We shall do what we must, to that end."
Sorey nodded grimly. He then abruptly blinked, registering someone walking by him. "Velvet?" He asked in confusion, turning to the woman walking past him towards the heart of the battlefield, alone.
"…Sorey." she spoke softly, keeping her back to the rest of the group. "How do you feel now?"
The Shepherd shifted slowly on his feet. "You mean… about how people have been reacting to my powers?"
At her nod of confirmation, he crossed his arms seriously. "Well, it hurts quite a bit, to be honest." he admitted. "But… it's like you said, back in Marlind." Sorey's fist clenched as he held it up to his chest. "I am who I am, and who I decide to be." he reaffirmed softly. "I'll get used to being treated as a monster." he declared. "I'll do it if it means I'll have a shot at making my dream come true. That's all there is to it."
"…I see."
Velvet's tone was unreadable. She abruptly resumed walking. "Then go." she ordered. "Do what you have to."
Mikleo's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?!" He demanded. "You're headed straight into the battlefield! That's no kind of place for a walk!" Beside him, Edna quietly exchanged a glance with Lailah.
Sorey's expression didn't change as he took in his companion's words.
"…Will we be able to find you afterwards?" he asked simply.
Velvet stopped. "You and I are headed in the same direction. That much hasn't changed." She glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze, a strange look in her eyes. "I'll find you." she promised. Her gaze drifted away from his.
"This is simply something you need to experience for yourself." she muttered.
With that, the resonant traveler walked off on her own, her tattered black coat rippling in the dry wind of the battlefield. Sorey watched her leave, his eyebrows furrowed in her wake.
"Sorey, you really going to let her just leave like that? There's no telling what might happen to her out there!" Mikleo implored in confusion.
Sorey shook his head in response, instead turning around towards where the Rolance soldiers had retreated. "…I don't know why, Mikleo." he admitted. "But something tells me to just trust her on this for now."
Lailah walked up alongside him; her lips pursed. "Yes." she breathed. "I believe… that would be the best course of action for now. We should trust that Velvet can handle herself."
Behind them all, Edna shook her head, tapping her boots impatiently on the ground. "Hello? Don't we have a war to win?" she prompted.
"…Right." Taking one last glance towards the departing enigmatic traveler, Sorey shook his head and put his mind back at the task at hand. "Come on. We're not finished yet."
Together, the Shepherd's group set off, headed towards the center of Glaivend Basin, where the malevolence of thousands of souls boiled together like a massive cauldron of hatred and despair.
Meanwhile Velvet Crowe walked her own path. As she always had.
Steel-plated boots clinked quietly in the dried dirt as a lone woman with long raven hair methodically traversed the various winding canyons of the basin. Screams and bellows of distant conflicts accompanied by the distinct clangs of metal meeting metal served as constant background noise as Velvet traversed the area, forging carelessly ahead through the thick malevolence permeating the air. She needed time to clear her head.
The therion came to a halt in the middle of a deep, empty canyon and closed her eyes. Idly, she listened to the background noise of chaos and horror as the irrelevant war of the humans continued all around her.
Her goals would never be fulfilled if she were to keep on acting as the Shepherd's crutch.
Hardship, sorrow, and agony were all necessary ingredients to have him grow as both a person and as a Shepherd. It was necessary that she didn't assist him as he suffered through what trials he would undoubtedly undergo in the days and weeks to come. He would have to be beaten down and built back up, over and over and over again. And it would be up to her to force him through it all underneath a mask of duplicity, in both the figurative and literal sense of the word.
Forging the boy into a worthy Shepherd required a harsh, manipulative agenda. Being his friend would never achieve anything, not to mention being completely pointless due to her very nature as one of the beings he was inclined to destroy.
And so far, she'd been making good progress.
Him standing up to the Hyland general earlier showed just how far he'd come in terms of sheer decisiveness since meeting her. That naïve boy that once had to look to Lailah for guidance with every choice he was supposed to make was long gone. Not only that, but Shepherd Sorey was also slowly gathering the self-confidence of a leader as evidenced by his interaction with the Woodsmen. For all intents and purposes, the Shepherd was indeed turning out to become a very fine tool indeed. At this rate, with her continued manipulations, he'd become a powerful, decisive Shepherd.
One that could wield a sword of reason and will and be able to achieve the impossible. One that could finally free Laphicet from the clutches of the current Lord of Calamity.
It would seem that she was accomplishing exactly what she had set out to achieve in the first place. Everything was going according to plan.
Yet…
Her fists curled harshly. Malevolence began to seep out from the cracks of her suppression, wreathing her body in the physical manifestation of her self-hatred. Her eyes opened, briefly flashing crimson as she twisted her expression into a scowl, hatefully staring at her own hands.
Velvet froze abruptly, her ears picked up the acute sound of clanking metal approaching. She didn't move at all as the group of ten Rolance soldiers approached her, muttering amongst themselves in surprised voices she could easily discern with her inhuman sense of hearing. She listened as the leader of the team gave quiet, sharp orders to surround her immediately. The rest of the soldiers quickly followed his command, giving the strange woman standing in the middle of the canyon a wide berth with their weapons drawn.
It was only until the boots of the leader stepped into her view did she react. "…What?" she growled impatiently.
"Who in the hell are you?" the Rolance squad leader growled tersely, glancing around briefly before confirming that the woman was in fact, all alone. "What are you doing here, and who for that matter, do you serve?"
When she didn't respond, the man let out a frustrated growl and unsheathed his shortsword, resting the point directly on Velvet's exposed neck.
"Answer me damnit!" he spat.
All around him, the rest of his squad tensed as well, uneasy in the presence of a possible Hyland spy.
Velvet slowly lifted her head, her long hair lifting from her back, and glared directly at the impudent squad leader.
"I'm in a bad mood." she warned in a low voice.
"Eh?" the leader blinked. "Do I look like I give a rat's ass?" He shook his head and took an aggressive step forward, the point of his sword drawing a slight pinprick of blood from Velvet's neck. "Who. Do. You. SERVE?!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"…Myself." Velvet snarled.
With a mere flick of her wrist, her gauntlet blade burst from its sheath. Exploding into motion, the therion thrust her head back, avoiding the laughable swing of the leader's sword, and brought her ironclad boot up in retaliation to kick the blade clean out of his hands with inhuman strength. Gliding through the air, she reached down and touched the ground, pushing off it and completing a full somersault away from the man.
The moment her boots hit the dirt, she raised her bandaged left hand and uttered a fierce, unhinged scream. Her claw exploded out from its bandages, unseen by the non-resonant humans.
The closest soldier moved to ram his pike through her abdomen. Without even sparing the man a glance, Velvet's claw jerked behind herself and she grabbed the neck of the pike. From the knights' perspective, they could only gape as the woman exhibited inhuman strength, swinging the pike over her shoulder as if it were a mere stick, heedless of the fully-grown armored man still gripping onto the other end helplessly.
CRASH!
The soldier was instantly knocked unconscious as he was slammed helm-first into the ground in front of Velvet. The woman didn't stop there, ripping the spear out of the other man's now-loose grip and spinning around, slamming the stick end into the side of the swordsman trying to charge her. The wood of the pike cracked with a sharp crack while her most recent victim was sent flying into the side of the canyon, slumping limply to the ground.
Dropping the useless split pike, Velvet's eyes bulged as she charged forward towards her next target. "OUTTA MY WAY!" she screamed, jerking her blade towards the panicking soldier.
Sparks flew as her sword rammed into his hastily raised shield. Without missing a beat, she whirled gracefully around, bringing her steel boot up to bear. The man let out a scream as the hidden blade of her boot leapt out and grazed a gash on his unarmored legs. He was quickly silenced when she spun again and slammed her other foot into his abdomen, completely bypassing his armor with sheer brute force and causing him to crumple to the floor.
Velvet fell into a cartwheel, dodging two simultaneous attacks as a pair of spearmen attempted to skewer her at the same time from opposite ends. She retaliated by kicking one spear away, leaping inside the man's reach, and wrapping her massive claw around the man. He howled in surprise and shock as the woman lifted his entire body with a single hand before he was bodily hurtled towards his fellow spearman. The other spearman panicked as his comrade was thrown towards him, hastily dropping his spear so as not to skewer him before the man slammed directly into him with unbelievable force. The two spearmen tumbled to the ground in a tangled mess of armor at one of the walls of the canyon, both knocked clean out.
"Next!" The therion snarled, exploding into motion in a charge towards the few remaining soldiers who hurriedly tried to get into formation in preparation for her attack. Their best efforts were rendered moot as Velvet drew her claw back, snarling with effort as she charged a decent amount of mana into her monstrous palm. "Carve them up!" she declared, her eyes glowing a vibrant shade of blood red.
"Hell's Claw!"
BOOM!
The limp bodies of three soldiers went skidding limply away, all rendered unconscious by the close-range explosion of mana delivered by the monster's claw.
Heaving for breath, Velvet turned slowly towards the last remaining soldier, the chains on her outfit clinking softly in the silence. The leader of the team's mouth was agape as he stumbled backwards.
"N-no!" he pleaded, dropping his sword.
Velvet's eyes narrowed mercilessly. She tromped right up to him and slammed her fist into his stomach, feeling a minor but satisfying crunch in response. The man crumpled to the floor, groaning and clutching his abdomen before soon falling unconscious as well.
In the aftermath of battle, Velvet stood alone, relishing the sensation of adrenaline surging through her veins. By her side, her daemon claw flourished amidst the malevolence in the air, pulsating hungrily.
Suddenly, she registered the clanking of more metal. She cursed herself for getting too caught up in her emotions, belatedly remembering that there had been ten soldiers to begin with. Swiftly as she could, she let her gauntlet blade shoot out from its sheath as she whirled around, intercepting a second gauntlet blade that belonged to her enemy in a loud, harsh burst of sound.
CLANG!
Velvet's eyes widened abruptly in shock. Her sword arm slackened almost immediately.
"…Leo?!"
Leonex Davidson, wearing the bright maroon uniform of a Rolance soldier, grinned back wryly at her through the darkness of his dirty steel helmet.
"Bug up your butt, Velvet?" He grinned.
A flash of green abruptly filled the air alongside a familiar hum. Materializing down by Leo's feet, the wolf pup named Hawk rolled his eyes at his master's antics as he trotted forward and gently butted Velvet's left leg affectionately.
The armored man sheathed his sword with a sigh, looking around and examining Velvet's handiwork all around them. His fellow Rolance squad members had been scattered about the canyon, all unconscious. "You know," he remarked dryly as he took his helmet off, "we've really gotta stop meeting like this."
Finally, Velvet managed to break out of her shock, sheathing her sword as well. She absently flicked her left hand to dispel her hellion claw as she turned to face him fully. "…So, what happened to staying put in Pendrago?" she asked, raising an eyebrow while resting a hand on her hip.
"Ah, yeah, about that." Leo ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. "Just hours after I had that conversation with Zaveid, I got wrapped up in a detachment of troops headed for the offensive at the front lines. So that really didn't work out as planned." he shrugged. "Still, I figured I'd most likely find you here anyways. You're just always attracted to trouble, ya know?" he added with a smirk.
Velvet sighed. "Well, I can't exactly deny that." she shook her head, shifting on her feet. "I take it you haven't been sitting idly by these past few months either?" she prompted, gesturing at his blood-red uniform.
"Of course not!" Leo knelt down and ran his gloved hand over Hawk, who gave a yip of affection in return. "I've been enjoying my time away from the horrid Lord of Calamity, you know." he grinned. "Rolance has some absolutely fantastic hot springs, by the way."
"…Somehow I doubt that's what you've been doing."
He shrugged. "Well, regardless, I think you and I have some catching up to do." His expression grew sober. "Especially given what happened to Phi."
Velvet shut her eyes and nodded quietly. "That we do."
Leo's eyes were keen as he studied Velvet carefully. He got to his feet, letting Hawk go off and romp around the canyon on his own.
"…I heard from Zaveid about what you're doing." he said quietly. "Manipulating the new Shepherd, some kid called Sorey, into becoming someone strong enough to free 'Maotelus' from the current Lord of Calamity."
She nodded wordlessly in confirmation.
He crossed his arms, idly tapping his armored boots on the ground. He opened his mouth before closing it, glancing away. The sound of a distant battle continued in the silence that followed.
Eventually, he settled for a different topic. "This place has changed just a bit while we were gone, huh?" he prompted humorously.
She let out a scoff. "That's an understatement. It's all pretty much unrecognizable."
Leo shook his head. "Not quite. Loegres might have a different name, but it is surprisingly similar to what it was in the old days." He broke into a wry grin. "And Zaveid is still here."
"I'm not too sure if that second one is really a good thing." Velvet noted wryly.
"And from what I could gather from my sources back in the capital," Leo continued, "It would seem that the little Empyrean has really done a great job keeping this place in line." He waved his hand errantly. "Yes, it's kinda gone to shit now, but it would seem that in the years following Phi's awakening, the world's experienced quite a few ups and downs."
"Plenty of battles between Shepherds and Lords of Calamity, you mean." Velvet corrected.
Leo nodded with a grin. "Makes for a much more interesting history book than having all of humanity losing their emotions, period. Don'tcha think?"
"Ever the insufferable optimist." Velvet rolled her eyes. "You haven't changed."
"And you're the same brooding ice-queen that you always were." Leo shot back without missing a beat. "You really beat the hell out of my squad!" he gestured indignantly around at the bodies littering the floor. "Just how the hell am I supposed to explain this to the captain, huh?!"
Her eye twitched. "I don't think I should be held responsible when you didn't make your presence known in the first place!"
"And what, pray tell, was I supposed to say?" Leo shot back. "'Hey, this weird ass lady standing in the middle of a battlefield isn't a Hyland spy, but actually an inter-world travelling buddy of mine?'" He waved his hand in the air dismissively. "I'd have a better time trying to convince them that I wasn't the one who stole their bacon the morning before the attack, but that in reality it was actually an invisible, spoiled little mutt called Hawk!" He glanced over his shoulder. "That's right you little shit!" He yelled indignantly. "I took the heat for you when you didn't even share any with me!"
The wolf pup called Hawk simply flicked his tail lazily in response on the other side of the canyon as he sniffed one of the unconscious bodies.
Velvet crossed her arms in clear disproval. "I could have ended up eating them all." she pointed out beratingly. "How would you have felt then?"
"Velvet, I've known you long enough to know what does and what doesn't suit your palate." He dismissed immediately. "You never would've killed them without a good reason." Leo deadpanned. "Unfortunately, I also know that my cooking is even higher on that list."
"Still no improvement, I take it?" Velvet huffed. "Typical."
Leo just grumbled under his breath. "Listen. I didn't come halfway across the world just for you to insult my culinary skills… or lack thereof, alright?"
She tilted her head to the side. "So why are you here, then?"
Leo gave her a hurt look. "Why, to check on my 'cousin,' as it were." He raised an eyebrow. "At least, I assume that's what you're calling me this time around as well?"
"Yeah." Velvet confirmed. "I told Sorey and the others I'm a traveler from a village on the outskirts of Lakehaven Heights, on a journey to look for my equally resonant cousin."
"Had no idea you cared so much about me." Leo muttered wryly.
He cocked his head to the side. "…So." he prompted. "Is Edna just like how Eizen described her? Zaveid seemed to hold her in pretty high regard. Or from little I could tell from his demeanor."
"All that and then some." She smiled softly. "…I think Phi would like to meet her."
Leo chuckled. "…I'm sure he will when we finally succeed." He abruptly groaned, stretching his shoulders. "Though I must say, I miss quite a few things about the old Desolation. For one, not having to walk everywhere would be nice." He sighed. "I miss the Van Eltia. And those stupid pirates."
Velvet deadpanned. "And you call Hawk spoiled? Pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?"
"Oh shut up." Leo easily waved her disdain off. "And then there's that annoying thing where this world doesn't even have gunpowder anymore. Much as I hate to say it, seems like Melchior was actually right, in the end." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder in irritation. "I had to dismantle and hide my rifle somewhere secret the moment I found that out. It was just a bit too conspicuous."
"Forgive me if I forget to feel bad for you." Velvet shrugged.
Leo's eye twitched. "You, on the other hand, literally, lucked the hell out!" he exclaimed, gesturing wildly. "You get to toss people about like they're twigs and all they see is just a particularily grouchy old hag with supernatural strength." he muttered resentfully. "Not fair."
He winced as he registered Velvet's bone-chilling glare that he knew from experience promised imminent violence. "Kidding!" he yelped desperately.
Hawk rolled his eyes, coming to his master's rescue by trotting back over and nudging the daemon once more. The hardened therion couldn't help but oblige the spoiled mutt by kneeling down and running her hand over the malak's fur.
"…But hey, Velvet?" Leo's voice was soft.
He hesitated as she glanced up at him. "Don't let things get to you too much, huh?" he suggested quietly.
Velvet looked away, her petting becoming an afterthought. "What makes you think that I am?" she asked in an inflectionless voice.
Leo let out a scoff, gesturing to his surroundings. "It's a bit obvious. Whenever you get into a bad mood, people around you tend to feel pain for some strange reason." He shook his head. "Just… don't let all of this get to your head, alright? You're not alone in this." he promised gently. "Don't forget that."
Velvet nodded ever so slowly; her eyes soft.
"…Right." She mumbled.
"DEMON! THERE'S A DEMON!"
Their gazes were instantly drawn to the mouth of the canyon out from which a large group of weaponless Rolance soldiers suddenly poured through, scrambling over themselves in a mad panic. Loud yet distant explosions shook the ground, rattling the earth underfoot and causing the retreating men to emit noises that betrayed their terror as they scrambled even faster away, sprinting past Leo and Velvet back towards the Rolance camp.
"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
Leo crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Velvet as the panicked soldiers charged past them in a blind panic. "Sounds like you're needed." He guessed dryly.
Velvet's eyes were hard as she nodded. "…Yeah."
In the distance, more eruptions of sheer power detonated; proof of the fledgling Shepherd's rigid determination. Steeling her nerves once more, the therion turned towards the source of the commotion. It was time to return to the roles she had made for herself. Time to return to falsity and manipulation.
She would do it because Phi's life depended on her.
That was all that mattered.
She took a step and paused, briefly turning around to face Leo and Hawk standing there together, watching her leave with soft expressions.
Velvet smiled gently. "It was nice to finally see you two again." she said simply, the words barely managing to reach the other two amidst the rampant chaos surrounding them. "Thanks for checking in on me."
Hawk yipped happily in response, his tail wagging enthusiastically.
Leo chuckled, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "Hey, what are friends for, huh?" He grinned back.
With that, he reached down and plucked his soldier's helmet from off the ground before sliding it back over his head. He gave his friend a two-fingered salute as he began to jog backwards, following the flow of his fellow soldiers. "Look for us in Lastonbell!" he called through the metal on his head. "See ya around, Velvet!"
With that, the two of them took off, Hawk disappearing in a flash of green back into Leo as he disappeared into the crowd of retreating Rolance soldiers.
Velvet stood there for a heartbeat longer, the smile slowly fading from her face.
She abruptly turned on her heel, facing her body towards the opposite direction and steeling her expression. She still had a job to do, and she was far from finished. With that thought firmly engraved into her mind, Velvet Crowe stepped forward with determination into the fray, unceasing in her resolution as always.
Above, permeating the air above the battlefield, the ungodly mass of generated malevolence hanging in the sky slowly began to churn and writhe.
Greed, conceit, lust, cowardice, selfishness, obsession, despair, hatred.
All eight types of malevolence boiled around in the air in their most corrupted state, whirling around the incredible domain and wreathing the land itself. Billowing gusts of volatile wind whirled around in the vortex of forces brought about by the sheer concentration of human evil present in the air. A deathly low hum ground out from below as the very earth itself trembled amidst the cacophony of malevolence wrought about by the conflict between humans.
It was a domain, one powerful and corrupted enough to rival even Velvet's. The domain of a being that embodied all of the worst aspects of humanity. Velvet gritted her teeth and increased her pace, charging through the chaos that now covered what had once been a battlefield where armies of empires battled one another.
For within this domain, only chaos and madness remained.
Lizard hellions, clothed with residual colored scraps of what had once been finely sewn uniforms of proud nations, snapped and clawed madly at each other as they were bereft of any residual intelligence. Battered and bent swords deteriorated even more as they were clubbed mindlessly against each other by the rioting hellions. The land had become a sea of monsters; all of whom had once been soldiers.
The therion dodged salivating monsters left and right, weaving through the chaos as quickly as she could towards the eye of the storm; the source of all this malevolence. She absently recognized the body of an unconscious human lying on the ground as she ran by. General Landon's unconscious body was lying calmly amidst the storm, seemingly untouched by the chaos. The Shepherd had been here already.
Her jaw set as she neared the center of the storm. She wouldn't let anything interfere with her goals, she reminded herself. That had never, ever changed.
And it never would.
"…So. Another Shepherd is born at last."
Malevolence oozed out of his being in thick, putrid waves. His face, utterly bestial and savage, twisted into something resembling amusement as the Lord of Calamity turned slowly to face the intruders in his domain that dared to retain their sense of virtue and rationality. Wreathed in a cloak of darkness accented by patches of pure, concentrated malevolence, the source of all evil in the world turned his gaze down to gauge the Shepherd and his group with an analytical eye.
Sorey stood before the monster with his seraphim at his back, curling his fists in determination. "You…" he breathed raggedly as he fought hard to withstand the crushing pressure of malevolence suffocating the surrounding air. "You must be…!"
"Hm." the bestial monster hummed, keenly noting the boy Shepherd's curled fist at his side. "…Frightened, are you?" he observed markedly.
Sorey gritted his teeth harshly, trying his best to steel his nerves in the face of such an incomprehensibly malevolent creature. Behind him, the seraphim struggled to maintain their stance in the billowing waves of miasma.
"And yet… the song of death." The massive hellion purred, leering at the Shepherd's group. "Ever so sweet."
Sorey stared, almost mesmerized by the Lord's gaze for a second before snapping harshly out of it. "Lailah!" he yelled defiantly, steeling his nerves. "Now!"
"R-right!" the seraph nodded nervously yet determinedly.
"FETHMUS MIOMA!"
His eyes emitting a brilliant hue of golden red and ablaze with determination, the Shepherd Sorey lunged forward towards the Lord of Calamity, determined to do what he must to achieve his goals.
Velvet Crowe watched silently as his massive flaming longsword was effortlessly caught by the Lord's enormous claw, who smirked evilly as he slowly bent the sword back in Sorey's grip. The Shepherd let out an anguished cry as he was tossed back by a mere gesture of the Lord, the Armatus dispelling in the wake of his failure. She watched as the Lord of Calamity advanced slowly upon the helpless Shepherd, sneering down upon him.
"How brilliant your purity… your innocence." the monster murmured observantly. "No painter could ask for a more… pristine canvas." Velvet watched on as the Lord abruptly let out a feral roar, concentrating his domain directly towards the Shepherd.
And she watched as Sorey's very resonance was suppressed, leaving him completely and utterly unaware of the seraphim standing right beside him. She watched as the Lord of Calamity turned his back on the Shepherd dismissively, a soft, satisfied grin on his features.
"Listen well, young Shepherd." he ordered, his voice managing to reach the boy behind him. "My name… is Heldalf."
He let out a soft chuckle. "…I wonder. How much longer will you live?" he let out a soft chuckle.
"What… what did you do to him?!" Lailah's shrill yell cut across the battlefield.
"Sorey! SOREY!" Mikleo yelled and yelled, yet nothing could reach the unseeing human glancing around in utter confusion before them.
Edna clicked her tongue. "We have to return back inside him, now." she said urgently, glancing around. "His resonance has been cut off. If we don't hurry, we'll be trapped outside him in this malevolence and end up as dragons." She poked Mikleo harshly. "We can't do anything for him right now. …You'll have to trust in him to make it through this by himself."
Mikleo swore under his breath. "Damnit!" He glared at the unseeing Shepherd with a look of complete hurt; one that only came from sheer powerlessness. "Sorey, you'd better not die on me!" he yelled, despite knowing fully that his lifelong friend could no longer hear him.
The two seraphim vanished in two plumes of green, leaving only Lailah standing by to follow suit.
Lailah's fists were curled as she stared back at the Lord of Calamity merely strolling away from his handiwork. "What… Just what do you want?!" She demanded shrilly.
Heldalf didn't answer, simply letting out a low exhale as he basked in the malevolence of his own domain. With the expanse of the chaos-ridden battlefield strewn out before him, his being was framed in a scene of pure and utter malice.
Lailah let out a breath filled with resentment, turning away from him and back towards Sorey, preparing herself to return back to her vessel. Yet, just before she retreated into the safety of her vessel's body, her eyes inadvertently fell on a black-clad figure standing calmly on one of the nearby cliff edges overseeing the area.
Her eyes widened in anger and betrayal… and recognition.
Standing and watching idly from afar, Velvet Crowe met the seraph's eyes coldly, her arms crossed.
"Fethmus… Mioma."
Sorey's weakened, ragged voice drew both of their gazes. The Shepherd hunched over even deeper, his sword held weakly in a guard over his head as a single lizard hellion stood before him, shoving its fists downwards upon the weak human. He let out an involuntary cry as he was pushed down onto his knees, still weakly holding up his sword.
"Fethmus Mioma!" he screamed, to no avail.
Lailah's panicked expression turned once more to Velvet's cold one as the hellions began to surround Sorey. Her imploring face said it all.
Save him, she begged. Save the Shepherd when nobody else can.
Yet, Velvet didn't move an inch.
It was just like what she had allowed to transpire in Marlind. Only through trial and triumph would a Shepherd rise to possess the incredible will and strength that the task she had set for them required. Heldalf, as he was called, had merely toyed with Sorey just now. There was no point in saving a tool that would never be able to live up to the potential she needed, let alone when its continued existence risked delaying the arrival of one that could.
This was a test. One that she would not interfere with. If he couldn't overcome this trial on his own, she'd simply find another tool that had the capacity to do what she needed it to do, one way or another.
Lailah's expression turned into one of pure dismay as she realized what Velvet was doing. Gritting her teeth, the now-powerless prime lord disappeared into Sorey's body, leaving him to face the dozens of hellionized monsters approaching him. Truly alone.
Velvet watched on as the hellions closed in upon the Shepherd, her jaw set and her eyes resolute. Nothing could be permitted to stand in the way of her goals.
Nothing.
"HAAAGH!"
Screaming in fierce defiance of the hellionized humans before him, Sorey abruptly lunged back in a roll, the fists of the hellion pushing down upon him slamming straight into the ground where he had knelt. Heaving for breath, the Shepherd didn't waste time, instead flipping his sword around in his hands and sheathing it. He didn't stand a chance against so many hellions in his current state, and he knew it.
And so, the savior of the world turned tail and ran away as fast as he could.
Everything had become a nightmare. Sorey gasped raggedly for breath with his limbs screaming for him to stop as he pelted through the battlefield, desperately weaving between the hordes of hellions rushing towards him. Gauntleted hands with inhuman strength clutched at him at every turn. Bestial snarls thrummed from the throats of seemingly normal men to his non-resonant eyes. For without his seraphim, Sorey was utterly, completely, helpless.
The crushing realization was as unwelcome as the sensation itself.
He yelled in fury at his own helplessness. He ran for as long as he could before he was forced to dive to the side as three hellions lunged at him at once. He scrambled to his hands and knees, forcing himself onto his feet as the monsters turned to fight each other over who would be the first to claim this prey.
Terror had seeped into his very core. The helplessness… the insecurity… the fear. There was nothing he could do but run.
He skidded to a halt, cursing as a former squad of Hyland soldiers lumbered towards him, their arms outstretched. He turned around to run only to hurriedly jump back in a dodge as an errant Rolance soldier leapt at him. He landed haphazardly on his back, his Shepherd's cloak being torn up by the gravel and debris on the ground in the process.
Cursing, Sorey found his feet and kicked, just barely managing to slip through the closing grasp of a soldier attempting to grab his ankle. He couldn't help but let out a breath of sheer terror at how close he had come to dying as he took off running once more, the wind whistling in his ears.
There was no plan. There was no end destination.
Only the animal instinct to run; run as far away as he could from the monsters chasing after him.
So therefore, it was only a matter of time before he was cornered like the prey he was.
He suddenly skidded to a halt with a yelp, belatedly registering the gaping cliff at his feet. Dislodged pebbles tumbled down into the vast abyss. He couldn't see the bottom at all, the cliff face stretching for over a dozen stories. A dead end.
An abrupt chorus of snarling from behind caused him to groan in dismay. He turned reluctantly to face the vast swarm of hellions as they slowly stalked towards him, completely and effectively blocking any possible avenue of escape.
Sorey wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a grim expression. "I guess this is it for me." He gasped under his breath as his death loomed before him. He swore, gritting his teeth in frustration. "…Sorry, everyone. I guess I'm just not strong enough."
Slowly, he reached down with his right hand and grasped his sword pommel, sliding his ceremonial sword out of its sheath with a soft squeal of metal on metal. He held it up high in the air, also holding up his other arm and idly observing the Shepherd's glove on his left hand.
"…But I won't go down without a fight."
Slowly, he let his gaze fall upon the dozens of hellions lumbering towards him. His fist curled around the ceremonial sword in his hand. "That's a promise." he breathed to himself, steeling his nerves.
He sliced his sword determinedly through the air, standing up straight and proud as the monsters neared. "Come on!" he yelled defiantly in the face of certain doom. On his back, the Shepherd's cloak rippled in the wake of an errant gust of dry wind, framing the Shepherd Sorey in his final moments as a hero, bravely facing his demise. Alone, powerless and hopeless, but nevertheless possessing a spark of true determination.
A spark that ignited a flame, showing that he was truly alive.
For this particular human would not fall prey to despair quite as easily as the rest.
Watching the scene from atop the jutting canyon cliffs above, Velvet's lips thinned with satisfaction. "…You passed the test." she muttered under her breath with marked satisfaction.
There was no longer any doubt. This Shepherd would truly do nicely as her tool. One that would very much be immune to the threat of malevolence, even in the darkest of times.
Before she could move to intervene however, something suddenly leapt through the air over the heads of the hellions towards the Shepherd. A hooded assassin clad in brown fatigues and wearing a jagged mask on their face, slid to a stop alongside Sorey with a dagger in each hand.
"Damnit!" the assassin swore from behind the mask. "Why are you all acting like this?!" they demanded. They received only feral snarls from the possessed men in return.
Sorey's eyes were wide in astonishment. "You're that assassin from the Scattered Bones who's been following us!" he exclaimed.
The assassin in question glanced at the Shepherd briefly before turning back to the horde of assailants before them. "…At the bottom of the ravine behind us is a river, deep enough to stop our fall." The masked figure quickly explained under their breath. "When I tell you to, turn around and jump."
Sorey blinked. "…Why are you doing this?" he breathed.
"Not now!" the assassin hissed. "Ready?"
Sorey nodded sharply, bringing his gaze determinedly at the hellions before him. "…Ready."
As one, the hellions broke into a mad charge, howling and snarling as they stumbled towards the two humans.
"NOW!"
Both of them instantly turned tail and leapt off the cliff before the rabid humans could fall upon them. Yet before they managed to clear the cliff, one of the armed hellions managed to toss a spear across the gap, striking the assassin right in the leg as the pair of humans tumbled down into the void.
Velvet watched as they disappeared down into the ravine, slowly forcing her muscles to relax. She let out a terse breath, watching as the horde of hellions grounded to a halt at the mouth of the ravine, seething at the fact that their prey had escaped them.
Despite the unexpected turn of events, it appeared that the Shepherd was now out of harm's way.
Her eyes narrowed as she spotted an inhumanly tall lion-headed man slowly stomping through the horde of hellions, all of which gave him a wide berth, before coming to a stop at the cliff's edge.
Heldalf let out a breath as he gazed down the cliff's edge off which the Shepherd had managed to escape. He chuckled lowly to himself, satisfied. "…A Shepherd of magnificent resilience." he contemplated aloud. "Intriguing."
Amidst his musing, Heldalf took a moment to examine the paw he'd used to catch the Shepherd's armatized longsword. The boy had been a bit stronger than his naïve appearance had led the Lord of Calamity to believe. The light sting he was feeling from having grabbed that flaming blade showed that much.
Not that it had made any real difference.
He blinked as he felt something strange shift within the core of his domain. He turned around slowly towards the source; curiosity evident in his expression.
A lone woman clad in tattered black and red strolled towards the horde of hellions surrounding him, her eyes ablaze with rage.
Heldalf let out a low rumble as he took in the presence of this newcomer with interest. All around him, the horde of hellions began to shift, lumbering towards a new potential victim in their midst.
The woman didn't spare them a glance, continuing to walk forward and staring him down with pure, unadulterated hatred.
When the closest of the lizard hellions abruptly lunged forward in an attempt to grab her by the neck, her left arm violently erupted in malevolence.
Heldalf watched with a tilted head as the hellionized woman before him effortlessly swiped the insignificant lizard monster away as one would an irritating fly without even breaking stride. Her victim was cast bodily through the air with incomprehensible force, slamming into a rocky outcropping and splattering in a noisy squelch of blood and gore.
A massive pulsating claw, dripping with partially absorbed blood and malevolence gouged from its last victim, hung from the frame the inhuman woman stalking towards him. When the bulk of the hellions, riled by the smell of blood in the air, charged in to attack her all at once, she opened her mouth and let out a feral scream.
"DISCORD!"
Every single hellion that crossed her path was rendered into bits of blood and gore as a serrated claw ripped straight through them with such force that it gouged trails into the very earth they stood upon.
The enraged woman charged into the fray alone with all the self-control of a predator that had been starved to the brink of death only to have suddenly stumbled upon a feast. She tore into her foes with a mesmerizing mixture of graceful swordplay, ragged acrobatics, and brutal inhuman might.
A true embodiment of unadulterated savagery and ferocity.
Her sweepingly long raven hair whipped around with every move she made, increasingly being stained by the blood she was drawing with each strike. Her claw flourished as she feasted upon those she grasped, encasing their helpless forms in her crushing grip before devouring them in explosions of blood and malevolence. Her expression was the very picture of fury as she either cut down or crushed all those that dared get in her way.
Absolutely no thought was given to herself as she ran berserk amongst them all. Splatters of blood dotted her ragged clothing in addition to her own exposed skin. Any grazing blows that her enemies managed to land on her were ignored completely, her own blood from the gashes mixing with the stains on her skin as she retaliated against each blow mercilessly, always lethally and with no less than ten times the force.
It wasn't long before the horde of lizard hellions came to truly realize the sheer brutality and efficiency through which their numbers were being culled. Broken swords and shattered shields dropped to the ground, forgotten, as the monsters began to flee in terror in all directions away from the terrifying woman like rats on a sinking ship. The squealing cries of fear of the insignificant hellions filled the air as they ran, stumbling over themselves in an effort to save themselves from the unstoppable incarnation of wrath that they had foolishly challenged.
Heaving for breath, the woman slowly came to a halt, surrounded by nothing more than upset dirt and malevolence. Rising and falling with the heaving of her chest, the hellionized claw held limply before her pulsated greedily as it absorbed the remaining drops of blood still staining its surface. Her head slowly lifted in the aftermath of the slaughter, the bloodied chains on her outfit clinking softly in the silence that had fallen.
Her rage-filled eyes met Heldalf's once more.
Suddenly, an explosion of malevolence erupted from her being in fierce waves. Heldalf's eyes widened and he took an involuntary step back as a massive, vast domain violently erupted directly in the midst of his own, the thick malevolence blasting out throughout the now-desolate battlefield.
Her domain clashed harshly against his, causing a visible rip in the very world to form in the skies where they met. Thunderous crashing echoed deafeningly throughout the world as the two domains struggled against each other, pushing back and forth in the sky. The very earth shook violently as the two chaotic forces butted against one another, causing fissures to erupt spontaneously across the now-abandoned battlefield.
Setting his gaze on the woman before him, Heldalf let out a low hum of undisguised interest.
"…A domain to rival my very own." he noted. The screaming gales all around whipped his cloak and mane in the air as he crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Now who… might you be?"
Had any seraphim been in the vicinity of the basin at all, they would've stood no chance against the untamed ferocity of the evil exhibited by two of the most corrupted beings in the world. This was where both of them belonged.
Standing in the center of the physical embodiment of their own sins.
Velvet's eyes narrowed as she stood her ground, her own black cloak whipping around in the wind alongside her hair. Between her and Heldalf, their domains continued to struggle against the other's in a visible, volatile jagged line of clashing malevolence. She scowled hatefully. This was him. The Lord of Calamity.
The one who had Laphicet…!
She took a deep breath, reigning herself in. This was not the plan. No, to save Maotelus, the only way forward necessitated the wielding of a sword of reason and will.
"…I can't let you kill that one yet." Her voice, low and threatening, carried clearly across the forces of her domain. Her eyes dilated and pulsed blood red. "Stay out of my business." she snarled.
And with that having been said, she turned on her heel and stalked away, her coat and her hair whipping about in the volatile gales.
Heldalf watched as the strange woman departed, her domain slowly fading from existence as well, subsequently freeing the world around him from the surging chaos that had been caused by the conflicting domains. At his feet laid dozens of corpses, all rotting in the wind. Human corpses, with their malevolence having been simultaneously leeched out of them along with their lives.
His eyes narrowed as he considered her, his mind whirling with the implications. "…An arm of crimson death." he muttered contemplatively under his breath.
He blinked.
Suddenly, a savage grin emerged on his face.
"Ah…" he exhaled breathily. "…You."
The tall lion-maned Lord of Calamity abruptly burst into gruff laughter, turning away and back towards where the Shepherd had disappeared. His grin widened as he crossed his arms, relishing the unnatural breeze induced by his domain.
How he would enjoy this.
Overhead, the dark clouds continued to churn. Malevolence continued to hang over the utterly desecrated battlefield in the wake of the devastation that had occurred. A clash between humans, monsters, and sprits. One borne of duty, honor, desire, and hatred.
The vultures finally began to descend in great numbers, gleefully cawing their joy into the empty wind as they eagerly began to partake in a grand feast of rancid flesh.
Massive thanks to Paragon of Awesomeness for betaing this chapter!