CHAPTER 2
Witness the final moments before the end of Lore as its champion, known only as Ryuki, is forced to kneel before the enemy who would finally bring about the apocalypse: Valrith
The villain had seemingly succeeded. He had found a way to turn any creature into his slave and minion using what would soon be known simply as The Grimm. They were floating orbs of pure darkness in color, they would touch all forms of beasts and creatures nearest to it, corrupting the creature and enslaving it for Valrith to freely command. The corrupted creatures' strength doubled and it significantly reduced the pain it felt making it deadly compared to other creatures and beings in Lore. For some reason, it seemed to disintegrate humans and species that resembled humans like the Vampires, rotting away until all that was left were dust to be blown away with the wind. It did not, however, have a problem corrupting the Werewolves, which were the first to go down, and by the time the defenders of Lore had found out about Valrith's scheme, almost all of the Werewolf species had been corrupted and turned into slaves. These, plus other creatures like the Zards and many more, were then used to wage war against all of Lore.
It was dark times indeed. All over Lore, different battles and wars were fought. Factions who used to be sworn enemies were forced to work together for their survival. Those who had attempted to surrender and join Valrith were simply met with a floating orb that either corrupted or disintegrated the creature. As a last-ditch effort to end this reign of terror, the remaining heroes, along with what's left of the residents of Lore that were still able to fight, stormed Castle Valrith.
-RoL-
"FOR FALCONREACH, FOR BATTLEON, FOR LOOOOOORE!" Yulgar screamed at the top of his lungs as he charged through the main gates, hundreds of adventurers behind him.
Dragonlords flew in from the sky, along with Dracolitches carrying boxes filled with even more skeletal soldiers. These were a courtesy from Gravelyn, who had agreed upon a truce, seeing as Valrith would share no glory in the destruction of Lore but himself.
Pirates on the other hand, barraged the back gate of the Castle with cannonballs. These, along with the army charging the main gate, allowed the main strike force accompanied by the Ninjas to infiltrate the Castle and stop Valrith before any more blood could be shed.
They had found Valrith at the top of the tower, looking over the war currently being fought in his very own castle. Laughing maniacally as he saw the chaos
"This ends now Valrith!" Ryuki screamed as he barged through the doors, the rest of the heroes in the rest of the castle below them. They had vowed to hold the Griimm off for as long as they can as Ryuki dealt with the villain. Standing just a little over 6 feet tall with spiky white hair and heterochromatic eyes of violet and gold, the Hero of Lore was ready to once more save the world, to the death if need be.
Valrith, who had been expecting this, merely shrugged and turned around
"As expected of the Lore's Finest Champion" Valriths said, his voice echoing throughout the room "Know that after I'm through with you, I'll corrupt that lover of yours, and use her to eventually take over what little is left of Lore"
"Over my dead body!" Ryuki raged, as he charged
"Gladly" Valrith merely replied, as he too charged the Hero
Outside, things weren't looking out so good, majority of the guardians fighting outside the castle have already fallen, leaving only the stronger adventurers to deal with the seemingly endless onslaught of Grimm. The rest of the heroes fighting inside the castle weren't faring out so well either, as they were forced to retreat and make a last stand using the tables and shelves to make a barricade at the hall outside leading up to the throne room, where Ryuki and Valrith were currently dueling to the death
"This isn't good Artix! I don't think we can hold out much longer!" Ash had called out to the Paladin, as his eyes glowed and sent out another barrage of light swords towards a group of bat-corrupted Grimm
"I know Ash! I'm working on a backup plan!" Artix called back, currently blocking a swipe from a giant bear-corrupted Grimm, as the bear reared its arm for another attack, an arrow suddenly tore through its head
"Well work faster damnit, I'm running out of arrows" Robina screamed from a few feet behind her
"Rolith, take over for me" Artix called back as he retreated back towards the makeshift barricade where the other heroes were currently holding
"Warlic, take Symone and Jaania and help out Ryuki. The faster we defeat Valrith the faster we can dispel these Grimm" Artix ordered
"If they're going, then I'm going with them. And don't you dare say no Krieger, not when my husband is fighting with his life on the line" Serenity interrupted
"I wouldn't dare send him reinforcements without his wife" Artix smiled "Bring him back alive okay?"
"Bet on it" Serenity called back, already walking towards the throne room with Warlic, Symone, and Jaania in tow
"Don't worry Serenity, your husband is the strongest fighter in all of Lore, with us backing him up I'm sure we won't have any problems taking Valrith down" a voice from a cube dangling from Serenity's belt said, glowing yellow.
"I know Pandora, but I can't help but feel that something bad is going to happen" Serenity replied to her SoulAlly. It had taken her years to do it, but under her husband's tutelage, she was able to become a Soulweaver. As for Pandora, Aegis found her weeping in the Astral Plane a few months after Tomix's death, Aegis brought her back to the physical world where Ryuki and Serenity empathized and helped her cope with the loss of Pandora's first partner.
Inside the throne room looked like a storm had passed through, with Ryuki and Valrith still locked in combat at the middle of the room. As soon as she found an opening, Symone fired off a few shots, forcing Valrith to back away, and soon after a wall of ice appeared between Ryuki and Valrith courtesy of Jaania
"You know you're only delaying the inevitable Ryuki. A wall of ice can't keep me back for long" Valrith taunted, already slashing at the wall
"We'll see about that Valrith" Jaania called back, already reinforcing the wall she had created. As she did Symone was readying herself to attack at any moment
Warlic quickly grabbed Ryuki and pulled him outside the throne room, Serenity following closely after
"We don't have much time Ryuki" Warlic said as he raised his staff, a magic circle appeared a few feet off the ground beside him, which then spit out a wardrobe
"I know Warlic so-. . . is that my Armor Closet?" Ryuki asked
"It is" Aegis answered for Warlic who had materialized beside Ryuki
"I don't have time to explain" Warlic said, as he began chanting. As he did, two magic circles appeared, one below the armor closet, the other below Ryuki's feet
Normally Ryuki would have asked what Warlic was trying to do, but given the situation, he thought better of it, after all, Warlic was right. Ryuki could hear Valrith hacking away at the wall, taunting more and more, Jaania doing her best to keep the wall standing
Instead he took this time to talk to Faust, who was currently outside fighting off the hordes of Grimm
"Hey Faust, how's it looking outside" Ryuki mentally called out
"For me, things are going great! I've been racking up scores of kills, for the adventurers fighting on the ground . . . not so much" Faust replied "They're not going to last much longer here Ryuki, you'd better hurry up and defeat Valrith"
"I know buddy, I'm working on it" Ryuki called back, now focusing his attention back to Warlic
As soon as Warlic finished chanting, his eyes and hands were glowing white arcane energy, he levitated a few feet across the ground, arms open wide. As Warlic lifted his hands, Ryuki as well as the Armor Closet, which was now glowing blindingly white began to levitate as well. Warlic then clapped his hands together, as he did the Armor Closet merged with Ryuki, as soon as it did Ryuki fell back down and almost fell over, had Serenity not caught him
"You okay honey?" Serenity asked her husband, worry clear on her face
"I'm fine dear, nothing to worry about" Ryuki replied, looking back to Warlic "What did you do to me?" he asked
"I gave you as much of an edge as I could give. I had merged the essence of the Armor Closet to you, allowing you to switch armors and weapons in an instant" Warlic replied
"Strange, I can feel the different armors from inside me" Ryuki now standing straight, looking at his hands
"To use it, simply think of the armor and/or weapon you wish to use" Warlic explained
Ryuki had been dumbfounded. The idea of being able to use different skills from different armors at an instant's notice would definitely give him an edge over Valrith, who had also seemed to have gotten stronger since the last time
"Let me try" Ryuki said, now thinking of his Dragonlord Armor. After a few seconds, nothing happened.
"Why isn't it working?" Ryuki asked Warlic, his voice slightly higher than normal
"It should only take the mere thought . . . try shouting Re-Equip as you think about the armor" Warlic suggested
"Okay" Ryuki said, thinking again of his Dragonlord Armor, as soon as he had a clear picture in mind, "Requip!" he shouted, although he shouted it a little too fast that it came off as one word
All of a sudden, his Soulweaver Garb that he was wearing glowed and transformed into his Dragonlord Armor plate mail
"Woah!" Ryuki gasped in awe trying to look at every part of his body, now donning the Dragonlord Armor
"Very good, now try bringing out a weapon this time" Warlic commented
"Requip!" Ryuki, who held his hand out, had shouted once more, again a little too fast that it came off as one word, soon after the weapon he was thinking off had materialized mere inches from his hand, catching it as it started to fall, a Zardbie Katana
"You do know that the command is Re-Equip right?" Warlic had asked him, noting the second time the mistake had been made
"I don't know Warlic, 'Requip' has a nice ring to it. Besides, the magic seems to react to it so it should be all good" Ryuki said, swinging the sword he had newly 'requipped'
"Whatever works I guess, now re-" Warlic was cut off as Jaania's scream echoed throughout the Throne room, Ryuki and the others running back just in time to see Symone doing her best to fend off a raging Valrith from Jaania's passed out body on the floor, having used up all her mana.
"Jaania!" Warlic screamed, as he saw Jaaania passed out on the floor. While normally collected and calculating, upon seeing Jaania on the floor, he was filled with rage and without thinking immediately sent out a barrage of spells aimed at Valrith, various Fireballs, lightning bolts, and ice spikes bombarded Valrith
"Honey, check on Jaania, Symone, help Serenity!" Ryuki called out as he too charged at Valrith "Requip!" he shouted as the changed back into his Soulweaver Armor, using the armor to give himself a speed boost and slash at Valrith twice with his Sealing skill.
Valrith, having used his Cloak to protect himself from most of the spell attacks Warlic had launched towards him, was expecting the attack from Ryuki, and had blocked Ryuki's initial attack and had swiped at his stomach as a counter attack
"Requip!" Ryuki shouted as he changed into his Guardian Armor, Shield and sword materializing along with it, the plate mail protecting him from what would have been a fatal blow had it connected. Ryuki then used his shield to bash Valrith the face, sending him back a few feet. He then raised his shield shouting "Limkragg's Breath!" and from his shield a flaming dragon head had burst forth and arced towards Valrith who was forced to raise his cloak to protect himself
Ryuki took this chance to get in close, changing into his Cryptic Armor as he charged. Valrith swiped at Ryuki, who suddenly shattered like glass, only to be stabbed from behind by Ryuki, who quickly disengaged as quickly as he had attacked. As Valrith reeled in pain he was bombarded by a series of dark mana blasts from Symone, as he turned to face her he saw Serenity almost completing her Soul Synchronization, and was preparing to fire her attack.
"LIKE I'D LET YOU FINISH CHARGING YOUR ATTACK!" Valrith howled as he sent his tentacles to attack Serenity only for the tentacles to freeze shatter
"I'm not through with you yet Valrith!" Jaania shouted back, having regained her power
"You still have us to deal with" Ryuki suddenly appearing in front of Valrith, once again in his Guardian Armor
"Guardian Rage!" Ryuki screamed, and had started hacking and slashing away at Valrith
"Insolent Pests!" Valrith again swiped at Ryuki, who had used his shield to block, pushing him back. As it did Valrith was quickly greeted by a flurry of sword combos by Symone, as she spun her sword once to build up momentum before slashing Valrith upward like an uppercut, Symone followed it up with a downward slash, followed by two stabs at both shoulders. Symone ended the attack by charging her mana and releasing it all at once sending sparks of dark lightning energy emanating from her body, shocking Valrith.
Valrith then punched Symone away, hoping to get away from her lightning attack. The punch was enough to send Symone flying, but not before being shot in the face multiple times as she flew back. As Symone flew past her Serenity, having finished synchronizing with Pandora, fired an immense beam of yellow energy at Valrith, who saw the oncoming attack and attempted to dodge. He would have succeeded had Ryuki not mentally assaulted him, now in his Cryptic armor, forcing him to grab his head in agony, allowing the large beam to deal the full brunt of damage against Valrith. As soon as the beam stopped a magic circle had appeared in the ground where he was standing and from it erupted a searing hot inferno that lit up the room
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT'S FOR HOGGING THE LIMELIGHT!" Xan maniacally taunted, as the flames continued to burn
Soon after the flames ceased two magic circles appeared, one on the ground again, the other on top of him. From the magic circles came dark blasts in the shape of skulls, bombarding him over and over again
"That's for not wanting to share. We'd be finished taking over Lore by now had you accepted my alliance" Gravelyn said
"Xan! Gravelyn! You guys are here!?" Ryuki exclaimed in shock turning his back on Valrith as he questioned the two new comers
Valrith, having already received significant amounts of damage, thought that he might finally be able to launch a counter attack by killing Ryuki with his back turned to him, as he charged and reared his arm back, a spear made out of Void Energy suddenly struck him in the shoulder, sending him flying back and pinning him onto the wall
"We've already defeated most of the Grimm" Nythera had explained "And you shouldn't really turn your back on an enemy" she scowled
"Please, he would have hit air" Ryuki said, turning his attention back on Valrith
"Ready to give up?" Ryuki asked, weapons still at the ready
"Not until all of Lore is nothing but a wasteland beneath my feet! I will try again and again until I have succeeded!" Valrith threatened
"Well you've already lost" Artix said, as he burst into the room along with the remaining heroes and adventurers "We've killed all your Grimm creatures"
"HA! You fools know nothing!" Valrith bellowed, and all of a sudden the castle shook, only it wasn't just the castle, it felt as if everything shook at once. Like the entire moment of time and space that they were currently on just shook
All of a sudden, Robina rushes into the room screaming "There's more of them! The Grimm! A portal has opened up in the sky and its literally raining Grimm!"
Faust, Ryuki's dragon, had also taken this time to warn Ryuki
Robina's right Ryuki, it's as if all the Grimm we've killed are now coming back. I'm doing what I can to close the portals, but it's the adventurers that I'm most worried about, they barely have any left in them
"Valrith what have you done!" Ryuki asked, as he picked Valrith up, slammed him back into the wall, and still using his cryptic armor, levitated the guardian blade dangerously close to his neck
All throughout the room, a strange wheezing sound could be heard, followed by ringing of bells. As the other heroes looked around, they saw what appeared to be . . . a box, that had the words 'Phone Booth' written on top. The phone booth opened and out came an Orc, dressed in a suit, pointing what looked to be a mechanical wand of sorts at Valrith
"Doctor When? Whats going on?" Ryuki asked, having met the time travelling orc before
"Its Valrith, he's somehow managed to gain the power of a Chronocorruptor and its messing up all of time itself, I've managed to track the anomaly here to this very moment." Doctor When informed everybody in the room
"So the Grimm pouring out from the portals are?" Warlic had asked
"Most likely Grimm for an alternate reality. The Grimm seem to respond to Valrith and Valrith only, regardless of the dimension and timeline, either way, unless we stop Valrith the Grimm will keep coming back" Doctor When finished, his gaze and sonic wand not leaving Valrith
Valrith, still pinned to the wall, began laughing maniacally causing everyone in the room to focus their attention on him
"Well then, now that all the performers are on stage, I believe it's time we start the show!" Valrith proclaimed, as his eyes glowed a menacingly dark blood red
"What show?" Ryuki asked
"My favorite show of all, the End of Lore!" Valrith answered back
Ryuki Watch out!
Faust's words inside Ryuki's head were the last thing he heard, before everything exploded, and then went dark.
-RoL-
And so ends the time of Lore, many of the Grimm people fear today were once creatures that they had used to peacefully coexisted with to some extent. The Werewolves becoming Beowolves, Gorillaphants becoming Beringels, even the Zards becoming the Creeps. The list goes on and on, as many species of Grimm as there were species in Lore. But all of that is over now, for what was once a land of multitudes of dominant species, now remain only three: Human, Faunus, and the Grimm.
And thats it for chapter 2. Now I did say i was going to upload these weekly, but i had already written up most of this chapter by the time I had finished uploading the teaser (also known as chapter 1), and i really couldn't wait to share this with you guys. But with that being said, definitely Chapter 3 will be up next week. I'm hoping i could have it up by feb 17. either way, thanks for taking the time to read my work :D