Chapter 26: The Plan III - Reveal the Conspiracy!
Dead Plains
"Alright...so the Bloodless Talisman allows us to 'see' the Bloodless's body and enhance our weapons to a degree that is killable. It also allows us to pinpoint the Bloodless' locations as it has the residue liquid that those abominations secreted in the first place. That is clever for Draven to do that." Death frowned.
"Three in the Dead Plains, Three in the Forge Lands..." Chris frowned as she downloaded the map data of the Bloodless' locations on her Satellite Uplink system.
"Let's go then. Time's a wastin." Death nodded.
True to Draven's words, arcane magic is capable of destroying the Bloodless once it could be 'seen' with the Bloodless Talisman. Chris, Alito, and Death shredded two Bloodless Scarab Hulks in the southeast Dead Plains and southwest Dead Plains.
Chris, Alito, and Death later found themselves on a platform in an odd-looking clock tower with devil-like horns and spikes on its side and a horned skeleton door.
On the platform lies a statue of an undead general posing for battle.
"Scans revealed that there's a hole behind the statue, leading to the third Bloodless's hideout." Chris frowned.
"Ready? It might be a short, but dangerous dungeon inside." Death frowned.
"We are no stranger to danger." Alito nodded.
They descended the hole and landed on a ground leading to a dimly lit dungeon with bone spikes on the side walls. It was dark, dank, damp, and murky. Some Corruption Crystals eroded the walls and fed upon its minerals, stopping at nothing to consume what little hardy plat life dared to thrive in this environment.
"Corruption spread even the underground. We must hurry." Chris frowned.
As the trio traversed through the dungeon came to know as Boneriven...
"Death...what are your thoughts on solace?" Chris wondered.
"Me? Solace...huh..." Death mused. "I think it's more on an empty wasteland and doing nothing after my job as a Horseman is over."
"Living on a world that was a wasteland, huh?" Alito wondered.
"True." Death nodded.
"All we want now, though. Is to be at a state of mind where we can find all the questions that plagued us. I'm sure the end of the journey will reveal it, right?" Chris wondered.
"Nothing is certain when we reach the Well, Chris. But I admire your ability to stand up yourself." Death nodded.
"I don't get you." Chris wondered.
"I thought you would become a teary-eyes person who just bitch, moan, and complain about everything wrong. Instead, you kept your promise to Elder Eidard well and stand up for yourself, determined to find the meaning of solace through your actions during the journey. You did not mope around back in your world and made your dimension a better, tyrant-free place. With someone who is your confidante, both of you can be at peace with each other amidst the pain you have endured. I will say this now, Chris and Alito, it's not matter of how you will find solace and the meaning of humanity, it's a matter of when." Death frowned, meaning he was serious.
Chris wondered when was when, but the Pale Rider patted Chris's left shoulder.
"Don't think about the end first, focus at the task at hand. Sometimes it's better to observe what happened, rather than explain what happened." Death nodded.
Chris and Alito nodded and simpered.
End of Boneriven
Standing in front of them was a small colosseum with spikes and bones shaping out a big ring. There, a Bloodless Scarab awaited.
"Ready?" Alito said.
"Last one to kill 'em is a rotten bone!" Death taunted.
After killing off the Bloodless Stalkers in the Makers Lands - Fjord
The last of the Bloodless Stalkers fell, its body dissolved into thin air as many souls escaped the filthy, corrupted body of the Bloodless, finally seeking solace.
"Well...this is it. The Interdiction no longer bounds the Dead Lord or any of the Dead King's brainwashed servants any longer. Only one thing remains." Chris frowned as the trio looked at the Tree of Life looming ahead.
"It's time..." Death frowned.
"Wait, we may need some help from the Makers." Chris asked.
"Why?" Death wondered.
"We cannot discount the Dead King's monsters as big as Oran and the Lost Temple Warden now, would we?" Alito asked.
Eternal Court
Death, Chris, and Alito returned and as they walked past Draven, they gave a small nod. A smirk came across Draven's face - the time has come.
"Well then...better get ready." Draven started sharpening his dagger and blades.
"I see you have retrieved the Dead Lords, Death, Chris, and Alito...Ohhoho...excellent. The Dead Lord will be so pleased that he could bring the three of you around its finger tips even when I couldn't." the Chancellor returned to his usual, venomous smirk.
"Oh, you're gonna love it when we rip you to shreds with our bare hands..." Chris smirked.
The trio entered the palace, facing the Lord of Bones once more. Death used the Interdiction and summoned the Dead Lords.
"So...my precious servant had returned..." the Lord of Bones frowned.
"What would you have of us, your Excellency?" Basileus greeted.
Without hesitation, the Lord of Bones clenched his fists and his eyes glowed as he shot out, "Suffer!"
An immolating green aura surrounded the three Dead Lords and seared their flesh and soul. The Three Dead Lord screamed in paralyzing agony.
"You pathetic fool, failing to report to duty and serve me, and instead you defy your master? I have no more use of you!" the Lord of Bones snarled.
The three Dead Lords dissipated into thin air, and the Dead Lord smirked, but his celebration was short-lived when Chris, Alito, and Death began chuckling.
"Heheheh...What, do you really believe the Dead Lords that you have destroyed, are really the real Dead Lords?" Chris smirked as she took out her 4D holographic cube projector. "We are just screwing your head, you tyrant!"
The Lord of Bones's eyes widened and froze in terror; he tried to call back the Interdiction but failed to do so.
"The Interdiction...powerless..." the Dead King slammed his fists on his chair.
"You...YOU KILLED THE BLOODLESS?!" the Dead Lord bellowed.
A huge slam echoed the air as the Chancellor sailed through the air and crashed on a ceiling just above the Dead King.
"Well, well, well...It's a pity your time is up." Draven smirked and clapped as he entered the Undead Court.
"You...You knew this all along?" the Dead King exclaimed.
"You have been nothing but a backstabber so pressed with disrupting the Balance, don't you? Do you really think you would have us believe that the Mad King went mad because of the possible arrival of the Four?" Alito smirked.
The Dead King's face was nothing but shock and horror. He had never believed that anyone would have discovered his eon-long secret.
With the Interdiction unbounded, the three Dead Lords and the Soul Arbiter appeared behind Chris, Alito, and Death.
"The Soul Arbiter has told us all about your successful plan in usurping Argul's throne and ruling the Dead Kingdom the way you want - ruling in Hate and Fear! Give it up, Lord of Bones; your rule of tyranny has come to an end!" Death frowned.
The Dead King clenched his fists, defiant. "You do not have any evidence against me!"
"A good liar, are we now? You have been constantly telling yourself that with the Interdiction you would be invincible! If not, why are you crapping in your pants, as if a mother caught her child snatching a cookie from a cookie jar, when you discovered that the Interdiction is unusable?" Chris frowned as she signalled the Soul Arbiter to show an ancient piece of dog-eared paper, written in Enochian - the language of Angels and Demons.
The Dead King's green eyes flared up.
"You...You have been keeping that piece of paper since the day I exiled you? I thought..." the Dead King trembled.
"You thought you have lost it and presumed lost forever? As expected, Lord of Bones, sloppiness due to complacency shall be your downfall!" the Arbiter grunted.
"You lied to your King, drove him insane, combined souls with Corruption to create your invincibility item, usurped the Throne, kept the incident away from the Charred Council, and even have the guts to drag me, the most fearsome of all Four Horsemen, down the water by telling Argul that his servants' death was OUR FAULT?!" Death cracked his bony gauntlets and fingers.
"You...Dead King...are so dead...you hear me? DEAD!" Death roared as transformed into his Reaper Form, grabbed the Dead King's head, slammed him on the wall, threw the Dead Lord like a rag doll, smashed his skull on the ground, dragged him across the ground with absolute ease, and smashed his head on a hard metallic door.
The Dead Lord's skull began to crack. The Reaper Form crushed the Dead King's legs, smashed parts of his backbones, mashed his left shoulder, and the sheer grip shattered his right arm.
Death powered down from his Reaper Form as he stood with an air of ominous intent towards the Lord of Bones. His fist clenched and his neck cracked as he glared intently at the Lord of Bones, who dragged his bony butt back until he could do no more.
"Wow...Death is really pissed." Alito looked in amusement.
"Well, he's called Death for a reason." Chris followed.
Draven smirked and Chris shrugged.
"Would you want to join in, Chris and Alito? You should take some credit too." the swordsman replied.
"We would love to, Draven. But we made a promise with you, haven't we?" Chris simpered.
"It's been some time since I ever had the pleasure of doing so, and meeting an honorable warrior. I swear, if I ever come back to the Kingdom of Man, I will recruit you to fight against the Legions of Hell. You have my word." Draven smiled.
"I guess we can have the Chancellor, then?" Chris replied in amusement.
"Sure! Why not? We all have a part to play in tearing their Dead Kingdom down!" Draven grinned. "Be my guest."
Chris, Alito, Soul Arbiter, Basileus, Adjudicator, and Phariseer approached the injured Chancellor, who had a nervous smile on his face.
"Eheheheh...Perhaps, we can come to an agreement?" the Chancellor trembled, begging for mercy.
"What? Has the loss of Interdiction made you a wuss now?" Chris smirked.
The Chancellor's eyes widened in fear as he said, "What?"
"Millennia after millennia I have been waiting...Oh...My vengeance shall make you regret been born into the Dead Plains in the first place!" the Soul Arbiter cracked his knuckles.
"Brother." Phariseer asked.
"Yes, Phariseer?"
"I'm sorry for the things I have done to you..."
"There's no need for apologies. We get rid of this Judas, and we will be even, yes?" the Arbiter smirked.
"With pleasure." the Phariseer followed, drawing out his mace.
"Nooo!" the Chancellor's deep voice echoed helplessly.
"Guards...GUARDS!" the Dead Lord screamed.
"No one can hear you now, you Judas...every servant that you have bound to the Interdiction has woken up to their senses." Draven replied.
"You usurped the Throne and even let your Kingdom run amok with Chaos and Corruption...I would have taken it in a professional way. But when you accused me, my brother War, Strife, and my sister Fury of things we did not do...you have made it personal!" Death drove his possessed scythe down the Lord of Bones's body and a sharp scream of agony echoed through the court.
"Not so invincible now, are we? Where's your smirk?" Death taunted.
"You will...not find...the Well of Souls...without me...or the Chancellor..." the Lord of Bones coughed green blood.
"Does it look like I give a damn? I will find a way, and I will storm through the White City if it means restoring Humanity once and for all!" with a war cry, Death delivered a sweeping slash across the Lord of Bones's body, leaving a huge, fatal gash upon his weak body.
"Take it away, Draven." Death huffed.
"With pleasure..." Draven rubbed his hands with glee.
At the same time...
"Let me have a go! I haven't had my share!" Basileus shot out.
"We still have to kill him soon enough, right?" Phariseer shot back.
"Guys, guys..." Alito tried to disperse the arguments, but to no avail.
"DEAD LORDS!" Alito screamed to get their attention.
The two Dead Lords stopped whatever they were doing, and looked at Chris's confidante.
"The Chancellor's been beaten by all of us. Gashed, slashed, sliced, and everything. It's over." Alito huffed.
"Well that was easy...I was expecting a little more challenge from these supposed 'Dead King' and 'Chancellor'." Death huffed as he crossed his arms.
"Well, at least we didn't alarm the entire Dead Plains, and now the entire realm of the Dead is at peace." Chris shrugged.
"Not for long if Corruption isn't rid of." Basileus frowned.
"That's when we come in." Chris spoke.
Suddenly the Undead Court's ceilings began to crumble and the ground shook with merciless force. Cracks began to creep on the walls as chandelier fell from the ceilings and smashed on the floor.
"The Dead King is killed by spiritual weapons, and thus the Undead Court will crumble! Everyone, out!" Draven shot out.
Chris teleported everyone out into the middle of the Dead Plains thanks to the Waypoint teleporter.
However, as they were congratulating themselves on a job well done, Chris saw two green souls rising up into the air and zipping quickly into the southeast. The twin souls dispersed shortly after and suddenly, a huge crackling noise echoed the dusty air.
A huge, dark green monster with two enormous fists made of green crystals rose out from the grounds from afar. It has dark, scaly, reptilian armor and a huge hole of green fire between his shoulder blades. It wore a mask decorated by a rune in the middle, and looked like a giant octopus.
"Woah...Cthulhu much?" Chris wondered.
"No...That's the Dead King's greatest pet...the Wailing Host." Draven frowned.
The Wailing Host screeched as it sliced the clouds with its piercing screams. His punches to the grounds created tremors at the Dead Plains, causing Chris and co. to lose balance. They managed to get back on their feet quickly.
"What? I thought his pet is the Bloodless?" Death replied.
"No. The Wailing Host guards the Well of Souls, regulates, and houses the souls from the City of the Dead." Phariseer explained.
"After the Lord of Bones overtook the Kingdom of the Dead, he had his pet guard the Well to reduce the amount of souls from escaping it. Also a deterrent to prevent intruders from escaping the City of the Dead should anyone get inside, be it by accident or on purpose. He created this pet not from the Interdiction, but from taming it during one of his quest to overthrow Argul." Basileus followed.
"We knew it; everyone at the Kingdom of the Dead knew it from the moment the Lord of Bones ruled the Kingdom with an iron fist. The only problem is we do not know the exact location to the City of the Dead; I have sent the rest of my exiled troops into the City itself to give me info, but they never live to tell the tale." Soul Arbiter frowned.
"Until now." Chris replied.
"Yes. The problem is, we're in the middle of the Dead Plains, and the Wailing Host is all the way south-east...And we haven't set a waypoint on it yet." Death crossed his arms.
Chris called on Alya. "Alya, it's me!"
"Chris! It's so nice to hear from you again!"
"How's the item teleportation device and the Four-Dimensional Cube that I gave you before I depart for the Tree of Life?"
"It's really great! Now I am able work without worrying about where I can place my tools, and I can have tools that I want from some Valus if I am some distance from him!"
"Good...I might want to request something from you, yes?" Chris simpered.
"Huh?"
Three minutes later
"Ready, Chris? I'm sending 'em!"
"Right!"
"Good luck! Go get the Wailing Host for us!"
"Wait, how'd you manage to get so much Cube and Item Transportation Devices?" Death wondered.
"Adventurers' Guild Rule #10 - An adventurer always prepares with necessary items by their side. Since the two items are important and I will make allies along the way, you get the idea." Chris replied calmly.
"Mass production, I suppose?" Draven chuckled.
Chris and Alito nodded.
"Cunning...I like it." Death chuckled.
Within a minute
"So...the time has come for us to return you our favor." the Lost Temple Warden nodded.
"You have helped us, so we will help you. Let's go!" Oran simpered.
Chris, Alito, and Draven rode on Oran while the Four Dead Lords rode on the Lost Temple Warden.
Chris, sitting at Oran's head, could feel a rush of motivation upon her mind.
"Seeing the Dead Kingdom's rule of tyranny coming to an end...Why do I feel so motivated?" Chris wondered.
The Icy Maiden looked over and saw Alito looking ahead, simpering along.
"Alito..."
"Yes, my Lady?"
"Are you motivated in bringing peace to the land where the souls resides?" Chris wondered.
"Why wouldn't I? I want them to feel at peace...to be happy. Shouldn't peace and solace motivate us?" Alito gave a small, gentle smile, a gentle smile that Chris could feel warmth.
"And most importantly," said Alito as she held her hands across Chris's gently. "I am fighting to free the tormented souls with you."
That's right...
The souls, they have suffered long enough.
It's time to let their pain go, and depart into the land of peace.
A land free of worries and most importantly...solace.
I want them to be happy, and I want to prevent them from becoming the next me!
Besides, I know that no matter how difficult the task will be...
I have someone who can share my thoughts, who can make me feel at peace with just a feel words, and mostly actions that we can communicate flawlessly...
Chris looked at Alito, and both simpered.
Alito...