I have a new fic out called Streaming My Demise, it's set in the world of SAO with an OC called Oda. I'll talk about it more at the end of the chapter so if you're interested please read the AN at the end of the chapter :)

Beta'd by The Immortal Spank

I stared at the old vampire held underneath my Werewolf, watching her struggles slowly cease as she took in the labored breaths my beast allowed her to. Her gaze, furious with a hint of shame, stared unabashedly into my own; her glowing red eyes – a sign of her vampirism – glaring hatefully into my own.

'Hircine above me thank the gods I brought my werebeasts with me!'

Holy mother of Christ that was fucking close. The second Babette said her name was Astrid was the second I almost had a mini heart attack. There was only one bitch I knew who had that name and my split-second reaction was to cast observe just to see if it wasn't an illusion of some kind. Good news, it wasn't!

The bad news was I still had the same problem: a contract has been made and now the Dark Brotherhood are after me.

The second I knew who she was, I knew I had no choice but to play along, otherwise, only death would be the outcome. It wouldn't matter that she was stuck as a child, she was a two hundred (I think?) year old vampire with literal centuries of experience as an assassin. I needed to get closer to my werebeasts and spring an ambush on her.

What surprised me was her strength. I knew that she wouldn't be as strong as me, confined to the body of a child and therefore limited to that strength, but I was significantly stronger than her, almost like she hasn't trained physically at all. But that couldn't have been the case, I couldn't believe that someone as smart as Babette would stagnate her own abilities by not training as much as her young body would allow.

'None of that matters at the moment, I've got her pinned down. I could just kill her now…'

But that left a bad taste in my mouth. For one, she was still in the body of a child. Despite me knowing she wasn't, she still looked like one. If my werewolf applied a little more pressure her spine would snap like a twig, but I would never be able to get the image of me breaking the back of a little girl. Another thing would be that killing her wouldn't solve the problem, it would only make the Dark Brotherhood more merciless.

"Now, what to do with you?" I mused, stalling for time as my brain scrambled to find an answer. Maybe if I get her talking I'll get some more intel.

"Damn you!" Babette grunted, gnashing her teeth at me like she was going to bite me, "I should have known such a trick wouldn't have worked, and damn that brat too! Two big wolves~" She mocked, though I don't know who, "If only I had known you had two werewolves, I would have cut my losses! No amount of gold is worth being torn apart by those beasts!"

I shook my head, "You would have just called for backup, couldn't risk you getting away and calling Gabrielle or maybe even the real Astrid while I had you all alone."

Her eyes widened in alarm, her anger rapidly turning into shock and fear as I continued to talk. Oh, that's right. She wouldn't know that I know her guild mates, her family. Maybe I can use that?

I put on the most confident image of myself that I could muster, hiding my nervousness with a cold smile aimed directly at the vampire under me. "Surprised? I know all your little family members."

"You!...how!?"

I looked towards the forest, "How I know matters little, but going forward you should treat me with a bit more…respect. Otherwise, your little 'secret hideout' won't be so secret when I inform the Penitus Oculatus that I found your base, with the handy little password to get in no less."

"Bullshi-"

"What is the music of life, the answer being 'Silence my brother'. The door is in a little pocket of the forest in front of a small puddle where a horse resides? I have no idea how Shadowmere can rise up from it, but I know he can."

She trembled, in fear or fury I could not tell, but she was quick to bite back "Then you should know that my family won't take it lightly when you kill me. And even if you did tell those imperial guards they don't have the strength to kill us all." Her stare turned more defiant, "We'd slaughter them, it's our home turf and they wouldn't stand a chance against our own."

I raised an eyebrow, "But you'd be found out. And don't be so arrogant to assume the emperor's guard wouldn't inform the Emperor himself or the imperial forces currently occupying Solitude. Even if you kill them, everyone in Falkreath would certainly know. It's not like they wouldn't see armed imperial troops descending into your base?" I shook my head, "Face it, there's nowhere you could run and be safe. You lot would be hunted down to the last man, all of your days spent in fear watching your backs as you run away like scared mice from a hungry cat."

I sighed, "But that would mean inviting more Imperial troops into Skyrim, which would mean my own plans would be a touch more difficult, and I'd rather not have that. Especially if they catch wind of my own plans, I know that even the lowest ranking troop can prove to be a massive headache if they just manage to stumble their way into valuable information."

It was barely discernible, but Babette's tense shoulders drooped, allowing her a moment of relief over her 'bargaining chip', "A sort of mutually assured destruction then? Kill me and things become more difficult for the both of us…"

I nodded, "In a way, yes. Though not as concrete as you made it out to be, the imperials being here just makes things a touch more difficult for me, but it doesn't completely disrupt my plans. I'd just have to be more careful."

Babette's head rested to the ground, her chin resting on the cobble stoned road as her eyelids drooped. "So, what now?"

"Now?" I scoffed, "Now, you lot will Leave. Me. Alone. I don't give a shit that someone paid you to off me, if it comes down to it I'll even hire you right now to kill the bastard that hired you lot."

Babette raised an eyebrow, "The one who contracted us was willing to pay several pouches of Gold Septims, can you beat or match it?"

I raised my own in response. "How about, my silence."

Babette paused and nodded her head slowly. "Yes, that's quite invaluable indeed. Very well, I accept this new contract."

I nodded my head and motioned for my beast to back away. Before Babette could leave I grabbed her by the hair and lifted her off the ground, her struggling ceased as I forced her to look at me, my eyes glowed gold as I glared at her. "Know this little vampire. If I find even a single assassin after me from you lot, I will not hesitate to march over to your little hidey hole, pulverize your family," I mocked, "black and blue and force my blood down your throats like the little parasites you are. I doubt your paltry backwater vampire disease can stand against the might of-" My head, and only my head, gradually transformed into the head of my werebeast. My voice turned deeper and more beast-like as my black eyes danced with fury, my black lips pulled back to show off my sharp teeth, "the Champion of Hircine himself. I will eviscerate, humiliate, DOMINATE your little cesspool of fanatics and turn you all into my whimpering lap dogs like the two that just trounced you."

My head morphed back to its normal human state as I dropped Babette unceremoniously to the ground. She scrambled up and backed away frightfully as my eyes furiously stared into her own.

"Now," I barked, "run along and share that little message to your bitch of a leader Astrid."

Babette turned into a bat (that's new) and flapped her little wings, speeding away into the night. I watched her get away, and only when I saw her body disappear from my view did I allow myself to relax, taking in deep breaths as I calmed myself down from that tense situation.

'That could have gone so much worse than it did…'

Regardless, Babette should be on their way to kill whoever it was that put a hit out on me. That should take care of whatever that mess is all about, and that leaves me with one less problem to worry about. Now though, with the wedding all wrapped up and done with, I can finally get a move on with my next conquest.

With this next attack I will effectively control the western half of Falkreath, thought Boethia's champion will certainly be a hard mother fucker to fight, but I'm sure my werebeast transformation can trounce any armor bullshit and whatever gift Boethia had given him, or maybe she hasn't? Boethia doesn't seem like the type to grant her champions any special boons like Hircine did with me. Unlike my own Patron, Boethia isn't exactly the most…charitable Daedra. Hircine isn't either mind you, but he's a far cry better than most of the Daedric lords and ladies that influence this world.

(-)

It's finally time. After days of preparation and planning, my men and I were prepared to take down Knifepoint Ridge.

Before the battle preparations began I had introduced my three new companions to my forces. Predictably, everyone was terrified, but once I showed control over the two werewolves they calmed down significantly. They were still very much nervous around Isobel, but I promised that she would stick with me if that would make them feel more comfortable.

It actually raised a small number of them to move from Unhappy to neutral under my leadership, I don't think they expected me to be so kind and accommodating.

Regardless, I had them all move into their new quarters once the first day of our talks of strategy began. See, I've been having Gavnuk and his men build up a little something-something for a long time now, and it's finally ready. Sandwiched between the main base, Evergreen grove, and some ruins that were above the Dark Brotherhood guild hall was a pretty massive stretch of land with clusters of trees and uprooted earth, and on either side of them were small hills of jutted rock. I've had my men clear the area a bit, spruce up the place and build a massive shelter, a large farmhouse that could hold pretty much all of my forces.

Although bare of any homey interior and ornamentation, it was the closest thing to shelter and we already have plenty of tents and beddings we can use to accommodate those we cannot fit inside the large farmhouse, and in time we'll just build more of the buildings so we can house everybody. But for now, this is all I need.

Especially because it reduces my travel time by an astonishing forty minutes. I literally only have to travel for ten minutes to see my forces, it also gives me a great excuse to visit my main attacking forces and nurture my relationship with them.

It's worked far better than I thought, I get along with most of the mages plenty and we talk about magicka (as much as I can keep up with), and the orcs from the old mine were surprisingly more welcoming of me when they found out I didn't give a flying fuck if they were orcs or not.

I could still never forgive their leader for trying to peddle those people in the cages, and I think I have the perfect plan in mind for him, but for now he can continue to be a somewhat useful foot soldier.

I could see Brojlic and Erwans brooding on the sidelines, but otherwise were surprisingly cooperative with me when I visited, but I imagine that's them trying their damn best to convince me to let them on the upcoming raid. I think they've earned it, but they aren't going with the main attack force, they'll be on support. I can't trust them to not kill every bandit that's there, I need to bolster my forces with their own after all.

Of course, if need be I'm not shedding any tears if these fuckheads die, but it'd be nice to get the more cooperative of them under my leadership.

But the visits with Kragrau and Ferack seemed to have the biggest impact with my mages. It's only been around two weeks since we caught them but their spell repertoire has increased dramatically, and the camaraderie between all of them has drastically increased from what it was before.

Though that's not saying much, before they were all a bunch of selfish pricks, but now they're able to talk excitedly amongst each other and look forward to the training that happens every day, or so I'm told.

Regardless, the days have passed and the time has arrived. At the crack of dawn, we march to their base and take who we can, and slaughter the rest. The men know the plan, even if some (Brojlic and Erwans) don't agree with their roles, but they know not to speak out.

We walked as silently as a force of over thirty could at the crack of dawn, marching swiftly in our pre-determined formation as we approached the hill that housed the current bandits. I could see bodies tense, each fiend gripping their weapons tightly as others reigned in their magicka from leaking off their bodies. I stood at the front, werewolves at my sides and Isobel to my left (who was reluctantly there) leading the troops. It was just before we were about to rush in when I got this,

Quest received: Hostile Takeover

Objective (1): Subdue as many members of the Knifepoint gang as you can [0/88]

Objective (2): Kill the Champion of Boethia [0/1]

Side Objective (1): Let either Brojlic, Erwans, or Joric kill eighteen enemies [0/18]

Side Objective (2): Eat ten hearts in the name of Hircine [0/10]

Rewards:

O(1): Gain however many followers you subdue, all of them in neutral standing []

O(2): Two Gacha Tokens, Boethia's mail, Boethia's attention []

SO(1): Massive increase in obedience with your forces []

SO(2): Perk: Pack Master (passive) []

I gave nothing away, but my blood started pumping as my brain salivated at the rewards I would be getting. I raised my hand, and with baited breath, I slammed it down.

"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" My army roared.

We charged forward as one unit, I was leading the pack as Isobel and I rode on my werewolves into battle with the rest of the men and women not far behind us. The amount of noise alerted the tower guards, causing them to alert the rest of the camp as they prepared to fire arrows down at us. Isobel led the mages as she casted Fireballs like it was nothing, exploding the wooden towers with the archers still inside, collapsing the structures into piles of flaming wood and soot. The rest of the mages followed suit, hurling fire bolts and balls into the enemy archer towers, destroying them before they could hamper our numbers in the slightest.

I rushed into battle with Guruk and the infantry at my side, we crashed into the enemy camp and started our battle. I leapt off my beast and equipped my lone axe and brought out my new shiny steel shield, ramming into the unprepared forces that stood in my path.

With the addition of Corundum added to my Transmute spell, I was able to sneak some in under the guise that I had bought them from Lod. With that excuse in mind, Abelon got to work smithing out a shield for me now that my old one was broken beyond repair. It took many attempts, as he wasn't experienced with forging shields before, but with persistence - and a bit of pleading to Lord for some help - Abelon was able to forge his first steel shield, which he then bequeathed to me.

I clashed with a random bandit, his sword clanging against the face of my shield as I blocked it with ease. I swung my shield arm wide, disarming the man and bashing his head with the side of my axe, dazing him badly as he stumbled back from the nasty hit.

"FOR BOETHIA!" I heard in the distance, I grimaced. So that's why there were so many fucking enemies, Boethia's champion must've brought along a bunch of fucking fanatics.

I quickly finished off my own opponent quickly, not willing to risk him being a fanatic like the lunatic currently trying to disembowel Joric. I rushed over, but it wasn't needed as a lump of earth sailed over air and crashed into the cultist, slamming him into the ground and trapping him under it. My eyes traveled to the mage who casted the spell in the backline and gave her a thumbs up, she grinned and waved back before turning her attention back to supporting other fighters.

I saw Ferack in the distance with Brojlic supporting him. Any fanatic that got close was butchered with extreme prejudice, and once they were dead Ferack would cast a spell and resurrect the fallen psycho. Using the now reanimated corpse to kill even more people to add to his slowly growing army of undead soldiers. Their partnership was a mere test of resolve I entrusted to Brojlic, but I was not stupid enough to leave them unsupervised. I had Morbrukk in the distance with several other archers keeping an eye on him, and in case he didn't anything stupid, he had the right to decide whether the solution was…permanent, or not.

Guruk led a squad of the Orc bandits we appropriated from the mine, tearing through the enemy lines as they killed who they needed to and spared who they could.

I nodded in pride as my massively smaller force was making short work of these punks. Excitement burned in my veins as I unequipped my axe and stashed my shield away, I hunched over and growled as my bestial transformation took hold. My head whipped up to the sky as fur exploded from my body as I grew massively in size, my armor melding into my transformation almost as if it were flesh, I towered over everyone as my werebear transformation was complete. Lowering my head from its raised position; a perverted sense of glee filled my mind and body as the enemy (and even some of my own allies) cowered at the sight of me.

I slammed back down on the earth and charged at the enemy, managing to outright kill several of the cultists as my claws swiped ferociously from my wild charge. Several cultists charged my bestial form shouting to their goddess, meeting my claws and jaws in a savage display of animalistic prowess. Snarling, I abruptly stood up and walked to the rickety wooden door that I knew held more inside, ignoring the swords and daggers that tried to pierce my thick hide.

Stepping up to the door, I slammed my clawed paw into it, shattering it into tiny shards of wood. My black lips curled into a menacing smile as I disappeared into the dark cave as my beasts and Isobel caught up to me. The darkness enveloped us, leaving the others to handle the cultists and bandits, but I trusted Guruk and Kragrau to lead everyone in my absence.

Once inside, we tore through what must have been the elite forces of the other Champion. In retrospect, they would have provided a very hard challenge for my forces outside. Their skills with blades were great, daggers especially, but they simply couldn't pierce my hide, nor my beasts. And they couldn't get close to Isobel with the three of us guarding her.

In total, we slaughtered around twelve of these "elite" cultists as we stormed through the mine, killing them with extreme prejudice as I ate most of their hearts in the name of Hircine, my beasts eating the three I left for them as I slowly stomped into the main area.

My beady black eyes looking around the darkened room, nary a torch in sight except for three placed around the walls. I could barely make out the outline of my final opponent and last heart, the Champion of Boethia himself, as he stepped out of his little assembled house. A furious expression on his elven face, hands going to grab his sword.

From what little I could see, he was a tall Dunmer, almost as tall as me out of my transformed state. Dark blue, almost black skin paired well with his darker than night Daedric artifact, Boethia's artifact somehow shining in the pitch black. A long greatsword was strapped to his back, its blade just as black as his armor.

'He must have had those orcs in that stronghold up in the mountains make it for him,' I realized. It made the most sense too, that stronghold was the only reliable and constant source of Ebony in the game, and it was right under where the cultists were in the game. It makes the most logical sense for him to have either asked, or more likely forced, the orcs into making a blade for him.

"Do you have any idea…" The Dunmer spoke, his gravelly voice riddled with fury as he spoke slowly and calmly, "...how long it took to gather up that many people? Falkreath was as good as ours! WE had the men, we had the equipment, and we had the date! Siddgeir has demanded too much from us, and gave us little in return, and this was our moment!"

He unsheathed his sword, holding it out with both hands as he levied the blade at me. "And you took that from us! We would have turned that backwater hold into a utopia! Free choice, free will! No rules, no laws, no nothing! We would have been able to do whatever we wanted, how we wanted, whenever we wanted!" An almost physical pressure of power wafted over us as his eyes danced with madness. I remained standing, unyielding, but my beasts and Isobel all seemed to agree with what the man was saying. The beasts already looked more rebellious, their mouths snarling as their eyes shifted back and forth between the man and me. Isobel, on the other hand, was far more composed, but I could tell her eyes were trained on the back of my head.

Tharer's 'Daedric Mandate' skill negated by Gamer's mind!

"So that's it," My voice echoed in the cave, "Your gift. Your power."

A powerful speech gift, one based on something, but it empowers the Champions words to a biblical, almost attractive degree. I suspect I'm unaffected due to my own status as a Daedric champion, given that Gamer's Mind doesn't work on beings more powerful than me, but Isobel and my hounds were starting to feel its effects. I can deal with the wolves easily, my own perk should outclass his because they're mine, but I need to get Isobel out of here.

"Isobel, it's not safe here for you. You need to leave immediately, go join the others outside and make sure there's no unnecessary killing." I spoke, my powerful voice dampening the effects on my beasts.

"Isobel remind Ragnar that Isobel is not yours to comman-"

"I understand, Isobel." I interrupted, my scratchy voice bouncing off the walls. "But this guy's power is messing with your mind, I fear the longer you stay the more likely you'll be subjected to his trickery"

"AS IF I'D LET YOU!" A voice shouted behind me.

Stunned, I turned around as Tharer melted out of the darkness, sword held high as he prepared to disembowel Isobel. Acting quickly, I had just enough time to get in between his blade and Isobel. I held in a grunt of pain as the blade sliced clean into my back, tearing through my thick hide and cutting into my flesh.

"GO!" I commanded.

Isobel glanced between me and the disappearing champion, before nodding at me, thankful. She turned back around and hobbled out, passing back into the lightened upper level that we entered through. Alone, I snarled and whipped back around to face my foe. My werebeast eyes provided a very small amount of night vision, just enough to make out what was roughly 5ft in front of me, but it wasn't enough. Tharer disappeared into the darkness again, it almost looked like he stepped into it…

I barked orders to my dogs, that seemed to snap them out of whatever it was that Tharer did, as they came immediately to my sides. We stood, tense for whatever this bastard could throw at us.

"To think…" The man's voice echoed through the cave, almost ethereally, "A man of your caliber existed. Able to amass such a powerful force, we could have been allies!" A sword slashed my shoulder, my dogs pouncing but hitting nothing.

"I admired your work, you know? The plots, the scheming, the killing. It was beautiful, it was practically scripture!" A fierce, fiery pain burned across my chest as he cut into me. I tried to swipe at him, but all I managed to hit was his hair as he melted away again.

"Instead, you decided to play your hand, I know about everything. Your amassing of your armies, your hostile takeovers, do you take me for a fool?! My goddess is Boethia! Champion of deceit, prince of plots, mastermind of hostile takeover! Did it never occur to you that I would have accepted you into my ranks?!" Another swing at my legs, cutting deeply through my hide as I swiped at where I saw a glimmer of gray skin, but I hit nothing but air.

Tharer's 'Daedric Mandate' skill negated by Gamer's mind!

"We could have been the most powerful force this side of Skyrim has ever seen! Two champions of the Daedra, working together and snuffing out the undeserving, kicking out that twisted Jarl Siddgeir and establishing us as the rulers of Falkreath!" My beast to my right yelped in pain, I couldn't see the damage but I just managed to make out the Champion as he disappeared out of sight, but not before I could cast observe on his armor.

Boethia's Mail: A Daedric artifact of Boethia. An artifact unique amongst Daedra's, as this Cuirass's ability changes depending on the champion wearing it.

It wasn't much, but it gave me enough to work with to possibly figure it out.

"But no, your lust for power made you refuse the very notion of teaming up, didn't it? You couldn't share, you needed to have absolute control over everything!" He shouted, both furious and mocking me as he winded up his next strike.

Tharer's 'Daedric Mandate' skill negated by Gamer's mind!

Just as his sword descended, my ears managed to pick out the sound of his sword whistling in the air. I spun around, catching the blade in my claws, digging into the metal as the blade cut into my paw. I winced at the pain, but gripped the sword tightly and didn't let go. With my other paw, I swiped at his face, my claws raking across his face as I tore skin and muscle apart.

"Like you're one to fucking talk!" I shouted back, a rush of pleasure filling my veins as his pained screams increased in volume as I slammed him to the ground, my paws crushing his chest beneath me with my full bodyweight. "You wanted to spread absolute Anarchy! Keep the people of Falkreath under your thumb with the threat of execution, butchering the innocent without any regard for the sanctity of life!"

I pushed down with all of my weight, his pained gasps for air music to my ears. "And don't make me laugh! Ruling TOGETHER?! You would have backstabbed me the moment you thought you could get away with it!" I snarled, "And don't think for a second that we're the same. I may kill people who get in my way, but I've never harmed an innocent! Every person I've killed or have taken over are those who brought harm to others!" I slashed through the straps keeping his armor together, commanding one of my beasts to try and pull it off the man's body.

"Brojlic and his men were bandits harassing innocent travelers, Ferack and his mages at Sunderstone were stealing from merchants going to Whiterun, and don't even get me started on those orc fuckheads at the mine!" My beasts managed to get the armor off the elf after a bit of struggling, dragging it across the ground and away from Tharer. The man below me struggled as I placed a paw on his chest, the bones in his chest almost caving in at the slightest amount of pressure.

"And now, you. The man who aimed to slaughter the people of Falkreath indiscriminately in some twisted vision of true freedom. Killing the weak and allowing the strong to live and rule, such bullshit. The strong are meant to help the weak, and the weak are meant to support the strong! You don't understand the meaning of being a leader, a lord, a ruler." I slammed down, caving in his chest as his ribs punctured his lungs. Globs of blood coughing out of his mouth as his lungs desperately tried to purge themselves of the blood flooding into them.

I roared, my shout echoing throughout the cave as I shoved my jaw around his chest and bit through flesh and bone. I grasped his heart with my teeth and ripped my head to the side, tearing out his heart with one pull as it beat slowly in my mouth. I slammed my jaws shut, eating the heart of Tharer and sending his soul to Hircine.

I panted, my bloodlust subsiding as the last foe died a grizzly death. My jaw marred in the blood of my enemies. I waited some moments, just to see if there were any hidden assassins in wait, but nothing came of it. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding, my fur turning back into armor as my paws became hands, flesh shrinking back to normal. Standing in darkness in human form, I patted myself down, wincing as I felt the stinging of cuts across my body.

Glancing around, I procured a torch I saw placed against a wall next to a deposit of what I think is moonstone. I held the torch in front of me as I walked, casting its orange glow in the darkness of where I just fought and killed my fellow champion. Upon seeing my beasts, I scrambled over to my bleeding out beast and forced down several portions of healing into his mouth.

I let out a sigh of relief as I saw the wounds closing, there would be scars, but that was fine as long as he lived. I patted his side as he whimpered from the pain, but his tongue lobbed out happily panting at me. My other beast came over, dragging the Daedric artifact he had helpfully removed from our enemy. I patted him on the head and gave him some well deserved praise as he rolled onto his back, his large tail swaying as I praised him for a job well done.

With that done, I searched until I could find Tharer, wincing as I gazed at his body, or what was left of it at least. My bear form had torn his face off, leaving it hanging onto his cheek by a couple threads of skin and muscle. His chest was…better left unsaid. I found his sword easily enough, finagling the sheath off of the corpse and strapped it to my back. Once that was done, I equipped my axe and lobbed his head off, a show of proof I'll need to get the fighting outside to stop.

I drank my own potion of healing as I started walking out, the smaller cuts that were leftover from the injuries my bear form had taken healing quickly as I walked into the light. I could hear the sounds of fighting as I came closer to the exit, walking out into a warzone as spells flew in the air and people fighting filled the land.

My free hand dropped to my side, my fingers hooking around the loop of the war horn I had Gavnuk make for me out of some Mahogany I had transmuted, the deep red wood blackened slightly, remnants of the charring process I had him do to it. Bringing it to my lips, I gathered as much air as I could and blew.

A loud, deep sound echoed out through the battle, momentarily stopping the fights as everyone turned to the source of the sound of my horn. I gazed out, my eyes firm as I held the head of Tharer, his allies gasping at the sight of their dead leader.

"Surrender," My voice commanded throughout the silent encampment.

Immediately I could see dozens of the remaining men drop to their knees, their hands held high in the universal symbol of giving up. Some men, though, weren't as wise as their brethren, and charged me to avenge their fallen leader. My wolves leapt out from behind me, tearing into their meals with extreme fervor. I stepped past them, tossing Tharer's nonchalantly over my own as one of my beasts leapt up from his meal to snack on the flying head.

Quest completed: Hostile Takeover

Rewards:

O(1): Gain however many followers you subdue, all of them in neutral standing [47]

O(2): Two Gacha Tokens, Boethia's mail, Boethia's attention [x]

SO(1): Massive increase in obedience with your forces [x]

SO(2): Perk: Pack Master (passive) [x]

+2 Gacha tokens added to inventory

+Boethia's Mail added to inventory

+Troop obedience increased, every unhappy subject turned to neutral, half of the neutral subjects became happy.

+Perk: Pack Master

Pack Master (passive): Anyone you turn into werebeasts will be loyal to you. With training, these beasts may even be able to shift forms between beast and man.

+Knifepoint Ridge added to territory list (+3 STR, +2 END)

+Knifepoint Mine added to territory list (+1 INT)

You have defeated 47 bandits! You and your men have killed 41 bandits! You have killed a Daedric Champion!

+5,875 EXP

You have leveled up x6! +12 SP, +6 PP

Congratulations! You have gathered one hundred or more followers and have earned your second follower benefit!

Skillfully proficient: Your followers receive +15% more EXP when training their skills

I approached my forces, purpose in my steps as I walked forwards. Power coursing through my veins as my territory increased, inventory getting filled with priceless artifacts.

"Everyone!" I barked, authority oozing from my voice, "Great work out there! But now we must tend to the injured, quickly gather up those who need medical assistance and set up a tent for them to rest. Gather up every unused potion Umak and his men graciously created for us and distribute them as needed!"

My gaze searched out my crew, "Guruk, Morbrukk! We have much to discuss, walk with me."

I looked around for Isobel, and found her listening patiently to some mages that were discussing something with her. I let out a sigh of relief, I had lost track of her in the mine and I was a little worried Tharer managed to get her in the darkness while I didn't notice. That man seemed to meld into the shadow itself, able to travel freely without being detected. If that was true, I wouldn't have even known if he had managed to get to her and stab her in the back.

My worries evaded, I began to walk away from the carnage as I quickly distributed my new SP into my INT and STR, Guruk and Morbrukk quickly following in step behind me just as I dismissed my profile.

I wasted no time, "How many did we lose?"

"None."

My head whipped to Guruk, shock plastered on my face as I registered what he just told me. Guruk grinned, pride excluding from his face as he recounted the battle.

"We easily outclassed these punks like it was nothing, the most threatening of them managed to harm our front lines. Nothing more than a cut or two, maybe a couple of scars but otherwise nothing to hinder them in the field. Honestly, those mages were the real backbone of this. Anytime our men were facing any significant trouble Kragrau had the mages intervene with ice or earth." Guruk puffed his chest out, "Our forces wiped the forces with them, despite the numerical disadvantage we had we came out on top easily."

I stood there, stunned as I processed the, frankly, impossibility of that statement.

A smile exploded on my face, "That's fantastic Guruk! I had accepted losing some of the men and women as being inevitable, but your training has proved to be quite effective!"

A very uncharacteristic blush blossomed on Guruk's face at my earnest praise, "I mean I couldn't have done it alone, thanks to you sending over Kragrau and Ferac-"

I shook my head, "Shut up and accept the god damned praise Guruk, this is as much of your victory as it is mine." I paused, nodded, and unhooked the sheath to the greatsword I retrieved from Tharer. I tossed it to Guruk as he clumsily caught it, "Take this as your reward for such a fantastic job out there, that's an Ebony greatsword I took from the leader."

Guruk gaped, "Ragnar…"

I grinned, "I reward my friends for jobs well done, and this is long overdue."

I turned to Morbrukk, "I think I have something for you, but it's an artifact of Boethia. Would you want that?"

Morbrukk paused, but shook his head, "…No, I'm alright."

I nodded, "I'll get you something else, don't worry I'll think of something."

He tried to shake his head but I wouldn't have it, these guys deserve some fucking rewards for the, frankly, phenomenal job they just accomplished. I need to reward Kragrau and Umak too, I don't know what to get them yet but I'll think of something, that's what friends do.

"Right, speaking of rewards, how was Brojlic during the fight? Did he stay with Ferack or did he run off?" I asked, a noticeable edge to my voice

"…He stayed with Ferack, for the most part. He did break off at times to help out some others, but only when they needed that help. He always came back to Ferack, not that he needed it. Ferack's gotten so many undead working for him that we have effectively gotten everyone here under control."

I hummed in surprise, Brojlic certainly proved himself today it would seem. And showed an incredible amount of critical thinking to help his fellow teammates while he was sure Ferack could handle himself. I nodded, satisfied.

"Good. Guruk, feel free to tell Brojlic that I'm proud of him. Now, let's get to looting this place high and dry so we can reward the troops for a job well fucking done."

(Thongvor)

I stood in ou-…my home as the guards took away my brother's dead body on a stretcher. My sister-in-law was silent in the main foyer, our servants minding their own business as he was carried away to the catacombs. But I could see the satisfaction in their eyes as their gaze lingered on the sheet covering my dear brother's dead body.

My fist clenched tightly and my jaw twitched with fury. I knew exactly who did this, those damned Forsworn! It couldn't have been anyone else, my brother had already taken care of that little thorn in our side, he assured me of it himself. The only ones who could and would have done this would have been Forsworn under Madanoch's orders. His name, already filling my head with righteous fury.

My eyes hardened as I stormed out of…my home, not Thonar's. I willed the tears that gathered in my eyes back into their treacherous sockets as I slammed the door open, the guards that had my brother's body flinching at the force as I powered past them.

I made my way to the mine, nodding to the silver blood mercenaries as I passed them. I grabbed a few of them and marched to the mine and had them restrain the other prisoners so they didn't try anything. I forced down the orc and ripped the key he had hidden in his pants and opened the door.

I marched down through the dug hallway and found the murderous bastard, writing on his desk like nothing happened.

Without turning around, that Forsworn filth spoke up, the faint sounds of a quill writing on paper faintly echoed in the background.

"Is that you Borkul? I told you not to come in without announcing yourself."

I said nothing as I grasped my Warhammer, it's unsheathing caused that bastard to turn around, confused.

I'll never forget that monster's startled face as my hammer sailed through the air, caving in his skull, killing him instantly. But I wasn't done. I swung again at his dead body, breaking his arms and chest in as I did, a shower of blood coating my armor and weapon. Satisfied, I returned back to the main area, the horrified gasps of the prisoners meaning nothing to me as I left.

Victory never felt so hollow, but now I must prepare. With Thonar dead, that leaves me in charge of the business, and I don't know as much as my brother did. I have to hit the books, hire a tutor maybe to help with my studies.

Don't worry Thonar, the business is in good hands. You can rest easy now.

(Astrid)

I left Babette's quarters as several murderous thoughts barraged my mind.

The nerve of that Forsworn! How dare he threaten my family and think he can get away with it. My eyes stared fondly at the dagger strapped to my thigh, the Blade of Woe glowing powerfully in its sheath. My hand brushed against the handle, my mind a whirlwind of thoughts as I thought best how to handle this.

Babette said the Forsworn was tall, had a very Nord-like appearance, blond hair, had the command of two werewolves, and claimed to be the Champion of Hircine. Of those details, she knew one of them was false. Tsajira and her were good acquaintances, and she had just received a letter from him just last week about another of his successful hunts.

This man may be a werebear from what Babette described of his partial transformation, but she knew just how to deal with werebeasts. Afterall, her husband was one of those monsters, she knew exactly how to deal with them…

(?)

It appears that Tharer has died…

Oh well, he had defied me enough times for me to lose interest. If he kept this up, I would have sent another soul to kill him. Though it irks me greatly to see that his soul has apparently been sacrificed to Hircine, but the loss of one soul (no matter how much she wanted it) wasn't very substantial.

In fact…

She gazed through her armor's gleaming surface that was currently in the realm of Nirn, watching as the Nord stared back, contemplative, as if he didn't know what to do with it. She chuckled, gazing into his blue eyes one last time before her Cuirass disappeared, a blue haze now encompassing her armor's view of the world.

It would seem as though the Nord also possessed a pocket of oblivion, interesting.

She chuckled; Hircine certainly chose well with his newest champion. Ragnar, she heard that orc call him, was certainly shaping up to be such delicious entertainment~

His plan to take over Falkreath, while barebones, was the most entertaining thing she has seen in over an era! And to think it stretched out so much further than any of his little pawns realized~

"Ragnar…" Boethia's lips muttered, an amused smile resting on her face "Such a fine name~"

Name: Ragnar

Race: Nord

Level: 21

EXP: 1,030/ 1,100

Health: 280 Magicka: 510 Stamina: 250

STR: 20 (26)

INT: 40 (51)

END: 22 (28)

DEX: 22 (25)

SP: 0

PP: 9

Land Controlled:

Falkreath (›)

[+6 STR, +6 END, +11 INT, +3 DEX]

People under your leadership:

Happy: 67

Neutral: 53

Unhappy: 0

As I mentioned in the AN at the beginning of the chapter I have a new fic out that I've posted already, and wanted to share with you all in case you didn't know and were interested.

Also, free advertising, but you didn't hear that from me.

The fic is about my OC Oda, a small-time Twitch streamer, who manages to (with the help of his best friend) hack the Twitch application into his NerveGear. This means that he's the only streamer on the platform to be streaming SAO, initially as a means of boosting his channel's growth. But surprise surprise, Oda has been trapped in the world of SAO and must fight to survive, but Twitch Chat is along for the ride. I'm not gonna say more because spoilers but check it out if you're interested.