Chapter 19: Deus Ex Machina
Didn't take 6 months this time but instead like five months or something... I blame Diablo 4 for that.
All rights go to their owners.
Cover art by Jaune117 on Deviantart.
Talking: "Within a lie, the cosmic feast."
Thinking: 'Forever dream of the beast.'
"Mommy?"-Child of Lerno village asking for his mother.
The path towards Lerno village was dark, the trees blocking what little light remained. Small woodland critters would run to and from the large trees and green bushes, it made the path and the surrounding forest seem brimming with life and nature despite the moody lighting of the path. The group all in Griffin's carriage, Kane and Keel both snoozing away, the blond southerner leaning on the backrest of the carriage, with the tomboy demi-human resting her head on Kane's large shoulder. Leo sits opposite Kane and Keel. His face is impassive as he flicks through a page of his book. The novel completely grabs his attention, his demi-human nature allowing him to read despite the lacking light. Rifana's head spins around, examining her surroundings, her pink ears twitching at the sound of shrubbery being disturbed.
A growl from Shen, causes Rifana to stare at the dragon boy. Finding him glaring at the brown filolial pulling the cart like a predator would do to a rival. Rifana tweaks Shen's ear. He looks at Rifana with a confused look. "Stop it." Shen's lip twists into a frown, his cheeks puffed out but does as told. Staring elsewhere but his eyes go over the filolial every once in a while, expecting the bird monster to attempt something, if it noticed Shen's glare it didn't show it.
Rifana stares at Griffin in the driver's seat of the cart. Her soft voice caused Keel's dog ear to flick. "Was using the seed to create this many trees really necessary?" Rifana's lips are in a straight line as she stares at the back of Griffin's head, the aged man in the driver's seat. He shakes his head a bit, noticed by Rifana.
Griffin's gravelly voice subdued for Kane and Keel's sake. "I argued against it, said that so many trees would bring attention, which it did but the majority of villagers said they wanted a large number of the trees, for the surplus of food and insurance in case one is lost." Griffin sighs. "At least it's trees and not massive crop fields. THAT would certainly garner the wrong kind of attention."
"Considering that Kane has to play diplomat, I think you got the wrong kind of attention regardless." Leo chimes in, a bit of sarcasm in his normally stoic voice. Not even looking up from his book.
Griffin grimaces for a moment before schooling it in. "Should be fine." The carriage breaks the surrounding forest into Lerno village, and the tree that was planted in the centre seemed to grow even bigger, rivalling that of skyscrapers. "We're here." The cart enters the village, due to the almost faded sunlight most villagers were already in their homes, a few however were still outside going about their business but stopping and waving to the carriage before continuing afterwards.
They arrive at the town centre, the carriage coming to a stop under the mighty evergreen. Griffin turns to face the back. His eyes look over Kane and Keel sound asleep. He looks at Rifana, giving a silent request. The weasel demi-human gives a smug grin. She leans over to Kane and by proxy Keel. "AHH!"
Kane and Keel spring up with screams, their heads shooting right toward the source of the sudden shout. Keel glowers at Rifana while Kane plants a hand on his chest, his heart thumping. "Jesus H Christ, Rifana! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Rifana lets out an evil giggle in response about to speak before Griffin interrupts, garnering everyone's attention. "We're here." Griffin gets out of the driver's seat, his feet impacting the dirt ground. He's followed by Rifana, Shen, and Leo, the three leaving the carriage, although Rifana flashes a shit-eating grin to Kane and Keel who are both still seated. They both glare at her as she passes and hops off the cart.
Kane and Keel look at each other. Keel speaks. "We're gonna get her back right?"
"Better fucking believe it." Kane grumbles. The two stand up and follow the others off the carriage.
"Ah, Spear Hero!" Kane turns to the familiar voice, rubbing his left eye, still slightly drowsy. He finds the mayor of Lerno, the elderly man looked a lot better since Kane last saw him, his cheeks no longer gaunt. "And his party." He smiles at the whole group. "It is good to see you all again, excuse me if this sounds rude but why are you all here?"
Griffin answers that. "For the meeting with Panium, I've heard that Lady Artoa is devout, I imagine having the Spear Hero present for the talks would help us."
The mayor nods. "I have heard the same." He grimaces, looking over the demi-humans in Kane's party. "A true faithful sadly, one that has seen combat in the Siltvelt War."
Leo speaks out, connecting the obvious dots. "She would object or judge if we're present?" There are frowns on the entire party's face, except for Shen, the dragon boy yawns absent-mindedly.
The mayor gives an apologetic smile but nods. "Not what you wanted to hear after coming all this way, I'm sure." He raises a finger. "But, you can stay here and relax. The whole meeting will be about trade deals and other types of politicking. Something that I'm sure wouldn't interest any of you."
Kane mutters under his breath, a light jab via elbow to the stomach is his punishment courtesy of Griffin. "They can stay in the spare rooms we have."
Keel lets out a yawn, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "A bed sounds good."
The mayor lets out an amused huff. "Come along then, I will show you to your quarters." The elderly man turns, walking away, Kane's party following behind but each saying their goodbyes to him and Griffin.
Kane and Griffin stand around for the return of the mayor. "Is… what's the mayor's name?"
Griffin gives Kane a deadpan stare. "Quinn Duve."
"Is Quinn good at politics?" Kane said, his brow raised.
Griffin shrugs. "No idea, but considering he's the mayor I would imagine that he has at the very least some capability at it."
Kane stares at Griffin, he was going to a political meeting between two village mayors and one of them was a religious fanatic that worshipped him and the other potentially didn't have much skill in actual diplomacy.
Fast Travel Point set!
Just in case Kane thought, in case something went bad or he was bored out of his fucking mind and wanted to leave.
Who is Wyndia?
That question had been in her head ever since the dragon said it. When they got back, she had asked Reginald privately and she only gained a shrug, when she mentioned the dragon had said that name the captain of the village guard gave a look of surprise. He gave a bit more information but not much, he said that the only people who would likely know were the mayor or the mayor's merchant friends who were all dead sadly.
Naofumi wasn't happy with that, the idea that she was used to clean up a loose end settled wrong in her gut. So, here she was. In the place where her biggest problems reside, a church. She searches for the head priest. Call it a personal bias against the priest or rather the entire Three Hero Religion itself, but she suspected he at least knew something if not involved, after all, a priest, especially a pastor would have influence in a small village like Mirso.
"Can I help you with something, Shield?" A tired voice calls out.
Naofumi spins to the voice to find him, Father Grisori. The old man stared at Naofumi, it wasn't with warmth but not with disdain like other priests and nuns. Naofumi crosses her arms. "Came to ask you a question."
The man waves his hand. "Ask."
"Does the name Wyndia mean anything to you?" Naofumi was expecting him to lie, watching him like a hawk for any body language that revealed he did actually know.
The man however pauses, his eyes averted as if pondering. "No? I don't believe I have ever heard that name before." His eyes lock back onto Naofumi, not faltering under her gaze.
Naofumi frowns. Either Grisori was a great liar to the point he had perfect control over his body language or he truly didn't know anything. "The dragon said the name before he died, he also said to give her back."
The pastor stiffens, a haunted look on his face. Turns out he wasn't a great liar, he just genuinely didn't know the name. "...I have seen this Wyndia, I believe."
"When and where?"
Father Grisori's shoulders slump, a deep sigh escaping him. "I… When the dragon died, the mayor and his friends," The priest frowns deeply, as if mentioning the mayor brought vile thoughts in Grisori's mind. "left town, I believe they raided the dragon's hoard as they went off in the direction of the mountain, I saw them return under cloak of night as I was cleaning the Three Hero statues out front. I suspect there wasn't anything in the dragon's hoard as they seemed to return with almost nothing except… a young demi-human girl."
Naofumi narrows her eyes. "What happened to her?"
"I don't know, I turned away from the innocent child, uncaring due to her being a demi-human. I assume the poor girl suffers the same fate any other demi-human would if taken." Grisori's eyes lower to the floor. He didn't continue on, the shame in his gut weighed like an iron anvil.
"Easy to feel guilt, when there's no punishment for your actions huh?" Naofumi spits, her pink lips twist into a mocking sneer.
Grisori doesn't respond with anger to Naofumi's mockery, instead, he shakes his head. "The punishment is living." Naofumi snorts, her opinion clear on that so-called punishment. "I have to live and see the aftermath, the broken families and stuffed mass graves." He gives an empty laugh. "Even this place will never return to what it once was. What little remains of this village if they even decided to worship and pray to the Three Cardinal Heroes, they will not return to this place, not with how many died in here."
Grisori walks past Naofumi, the Shield Hero watching his every movement, paranoid that the priest may attempt something, in reality, the old man just sat on the stage overseeing the main room. The man slumps. "Do you know what's the worst part?"
"You can't preach your bullshit anymore?"
Grisori gives a humourless smirk. "Truthfully, I've never really cared for it. I just enjoyed the unity in it, the feeling of community."
Naofumi frowns. "The unity in hating me and demi-humans?"
Grisori for once actually shows anger at Naofumi's words. His brows furrow and his brown irises narrow. "No. I spoke of love and sodality, I basked in the bonds of interlocked families and friends and would read stories of holy saints to strengthen these bonds. I deemed you and demi-human not worthy of being mentioned, so, I didn't."
Naofumi scoffs. "At least you're honest about your prejudices."
"The plague has taught me just how meaningless my prejudices are. That demi-human girl was taken from her home to be sold as a slave, her eyes filled with dread, just like those children who laid in these halls that knew their end was approaching, and were terrified of it, and the empty eyes of the parents who had to watch their children fade away in a pool of their own faeces and urine before being tossed in a mass grave, then burnt to unidentifiable ash and charred bones. That was the worst part, having to witness the eyes, eyes that once had joy and happiness in them." Grisori finishes. He lets out a deep sigh, deflating in his spot.
There's a silence between the two. Naofumi breaks the silence with a question. "Got any info on the demi-human girl that was taken?"
Grisori shakes his head, a deep frown on his face. "Best I can tell you was that she had ears of a dog or perhaps a wolf, and her eye colour was orange."
"That's it?"
"That's it, sadly."
Naofumi grimaces. She leaves the priest, the old man watching her leave the church hall, sitting alone in the prayer hall. On the way out, Naofumi was thinking about Wyndia and the chances of finding her and just how low it was. Canine-type demi-humans were common in the slave trade and her eye colour? Not that distinctive, even Leo had it. Naofumi sighs as she steps outside, rubbing her head. 'That was a waste of time.'
She rubs the back of her head, walking to the quarters that was given to her and her party during her stay in Mirso village. She just wants to get to her room and unwind, maybe make some potions to take her mind off of things. 'Wonder what Kane's doing.'
She's about to enter her housing, a little cabin, when, a shy voice calls out to Naofumi. "Ah, M-Miss Hero?"
Naofumi's eye twitches, and she turns to find a familiar meek face. Rishia, the green-haired girl who finished off the dragon. She lets out an exasperated sigh. "What." Naofumi grumbles out. Annoyance was clear on her face.
Rishia stutters, her already low self-confidence draining out of her due to Naofumi's coldness. "I… I just… I wanted to ask if I could… join your party."
Naofumi crosses her arms. "What?"
"I-It's just t-that you're a Hero-,"
"The more you stutter, the more I'm thinking about leaving." Naofumi said.
Rishia squeaks. "Feeeeh! Ijustfiguredthatsinceyou'reaHerothatyoufightalotofmonstersandIcouldlearnhowtofightandstuffwithyou!" Rishia rushes out her words, bending over as she sucks in air, her face red like a tomato from lack of oxygen.
Naofumi blinks once in reaction. "...And what do you bring to the table?"
"I, uh… I." Naofumi's deadpan stare causes Rishia's stutter to flare up. "I… can do magic?"
Naofumi's eyes widen just a tad, her cold glare turning into a look of interest. "Oh? What kind?"
"Um, all of them?"
One of Naofumi's brows shoots up. "What?"
Rishia twiddles her fingers. "I can use any of the four elements."
Naofumi's face looks more receptive, her deep scowl gone in place of a more neutral look. "I thought using four elements was impossible..." Naofumi hums, pointing at a patch of grass. "Prove it to me then."
"Eh? Now?"
Naofumi snorts. "What you expect me to just believe that you can perform magic with all four elements?"
"O-Okay… but!" Rishia smiles. Puffing up her chest in false confidence. "But if I prove it to you, you have to let me into your party."
"I'll think about it and that's the best you're gonna get." Naofumi states, her tone apparent that she won't hear any arguing on it. Rishia deflates a bit, before straightening.
She lifts her hands, aiming at a harmless patch of grass. "First Water Shot!" A small ball of water appears in the space between Rishia's hand before shooting out and hitting the patch, seemingly with no effect from the spell.
Naofumi frowns. "Do fire next."
"First Flame Arrow!" A ball of flame ignites within the space between Rishia's hands, just like the Water Shot. It shoots out and impacts the grass, setting it alight. The amount however is pitiful, about the size of Naofumi's palm, the flame extinguishes, not enough heat or fuel to continue blazing.
"...Earth."
"First Pebble Bullet!" Just like the previous two a tiny mound of rock forms before shooting out and impacting the grass. It embeds into the ground, the most impressive so far out of the three, showing some actual force that could damage opponents.
And the final spell. "First Brisk Winds!" A gust of wind violently pushes the grass.
Naofumi would say Rishia's wind spell was the second strongest appearing spell after earth. She pondered if taking Rishia to her party was worthwhile, she had proven that she can use all four elements, something Naofumi never heard of before but it wasn't as if the spells were all that impressive. They were weak, the most powerful one was the earth spell and even that wasn't that awe-inspiring. Despite this, Naofumi was becoming more and more receptive to the idea of adding Rishia to her party. She wanted a mage and Rishia was a one of kind with the ability to use all elements, in the long run, Rishia's magic could become much more powerful.
"Um, Miss Hero?"
Naofumi blinks, her thought broken by Rishia. Rishia meekly stares at her. Naofumi clears her throat. "Okay." Rishia tilts her head. "You can join my party." Rishia claps her hands, a jubilant smile on her face, about to open her mouth. Naofumi interrupts. "However you need to pull your weight, I'm not in the position to allow dead weight in my party, and if you betray or hurt me or anyone I care about in any way-" Naofumi's voice becomes fierce and precise, causing Rishia to shiver slightly. "I'll end you." Naofumi's eyes gain a steely look, cold and harsh as she looks at Rishia as one would at a bug, disdain mixed with apathy. Rishia gulps, her heart thumping in terror.
"I-I won't betray you! I want to become strong enough, to stop evildoers in the name of justice, l-like the Bow Hero…"
Naofumi's death glare is replaced by a look of confusion. "Justice?" She lets out a mocking laugh. "Hahaha." Kawasumi couldn't be any further from the word of justice in Naofumi's mind. She ends her laugh by exhaling, Rishia looking at Naofumi with a hurt look assuming Naofumi was laughing at her. "Whatever. I don't care for your reasons, long as you work hard and don't try to screw me over."
Naofumi Iwatani has sent you a party invite!
Rishia presses yes almost instantly.
Naofumi Iwatani LVL-50
Raphtalia LVL-40*
Filo LVL-40*
Sakura LVL-40*
Rishia LVL-36
Rishia wasn't far behind her other party members in terms of levels, her stats however was a different story. Raphtalia's stats were double, almost triple Rishia's, while Filo and Sakura were over triple. Naofumi grimaces, maybe she should reset Rishia's levels? Slap a Slave Seal on her for better stat growth? Whatever path she decides to take Rishia down, she will need to work on Rishia to make her stats worthwhile.
Keel spreads out on a bed, the comfortable bedsheet covers her. The only light source is the moon itself, peering through gaps in the curtains blocking the window.
Thump, Thump, Thump.
Keel groans, twisting in the bed. Her demi-human ears picked up the noise easily.
Thump, Thump, Thump.
Keel spins onto her back, her sky-blue eyes glaring at the ceiling.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
'What the hell is making all that noise?'She groggily sits up, her eyes bore into the window as if the window itself was responsible for the disruption.
"RAAAAAWR!" A blood-curdling roar echoes out.
Keel shoots out of bed, walking over to the window to look out to the village, the thuds from before at an all-time high, with screams in the background. She pushes a curtain to the side, staring out to the village.
It looked as if Hell itself opened up onto the village. Hulking trolls charged into buildings, their weight devastating the homes, an orange glow behind the trolls to the northeast. "Fuck!" Any drowsiness Keel had was purged by the sight, adrenaline pumps in, replacing it. She slaps on her equipment quick as possible, the chainmail and hardened plates covering her vitals.
The moment she grabs her greatsword her door bursts open, Leo poking his head through. "Keel!" Leo's eyes scan the room for her before locking on her. "We need to move!"
Keel rushes to the door, Leo moving out of the way to let her out of the way. "Where's Shen and Rifana?" Keel darts down the hallway, Leo right behind her.
"They waiting outside for us, we need to hurry!"
The two run outside, spotting Rifana with her bow drawn and Shen in his dragon form. Keel's noise tweaks as the stink of burning wood and pork assaulted her sense of smell, her ears twitch as screams and shout echo. Keel stares down the path to the northeast. The burning village morphs and twists into Lurolona village, the memories of her home springing to her mind. 'No! Not now!' Keel orders her mind into submission, the visage of her childhood home instantly buried deep within her mind.
She takes a deep breath, the stench filling her nostrils, causing her to grimace and gag. She knew what that burning pork smell implied, they all did. "We...We need to deal with the monsters!"
Rifana shouts out, a glare on her face as she stares out to the village. "There's too many of them! We have to evacuate the townsfolk or else they'll all die!"
"H-Help!" A cry echoes out, The group looks to find a woman with brunette hair running towards them, a dire-wolf directly behind her. Rifana with practised precision fires off an arrow that digs into the skull of the beast, its body collapses and skids for a moment due to the momentum.
The woman runs up, panting as she stops at the group. "Thank you so much!"
"Is there any place safe enough for you to hide in?" Leo questions, Keel doubted it, the town went to hell in a matter of moments just like hers.
"T-The tavern? T-They have a cellar." The woman pants out of panic. Her skin is clammy and her eyes were wide like dinner plates. Her fingers fidget and twitch as her heart thumps non-stop.
Leo barks out, turning to Rifana. "Rifana, you and Shen fly around the village and tell any villagers you find to get to the tavern, clear a way for them." The lion demi-human turns to Keel. His face didn't show any doubt. "Keel, you and me get to the tavern and kill any monsters near it to make a safe spot."
Keel gives a deep frown but nods. "Got it."
"We'll kill any big monsters we spot too, just to deal with it now rather than later." Rifana states, hopping on Shen. The two fly off in moments, not wasting any valuable time.
"Stay behind us." Leo speaks, ordering the village woman who nods in response. Leo and Keel move to the tavern, the local woman following behind them.
What would normally be a casual walk to the tavern that would take minutes at best is instead a bloody march forward, The two demi-humans carving their way through dire-wolves, spiders, and snakes. Keel and Leo even find a few more locals who barricaded themselves into a small cottage, a group of dire-wolves clawing at the walls and digging their snouts in to try and kill the occupants. The beasts however lose interest when Keel and Leo with the local woman show up, rushing the three only to be cut down by the two demi-humans. Keel knocks on the door, barking out an order. "We're going to a safer place, get out here now!"
The door crumples as one of the occupants attempts to open it, the group stepping out. 5 people, 3 men, 1 woman and one small girl. One of the man holds the girl tight, fear apparent on his face. "W-Where are we going?"
"To the tavern, apparently it has a cellar where you can hide out." Leo said, scanning the surroundings.
"Vasi's wine cellar?" One of the villagers speaks, nodding his head at the idea of hiding out at the tavern. "As good as a place as any, if we squeeze in there, most of the village coul-" There's a screech off in the distance, the villagers shudder in fear while Keel and Leo bare their weapons.
"It's good enough and that's all we have, let's move." Keel states, leaving no room for argument. The two demi-humans take the lead, guiding the villagers to the Vasi's tavern. They reach it, to find a mini horde of monsters munching on a few unfortunate locals who must have had the same idea as the woman, the monsters take notice of them one by one and stare in ravenous hunger. "Damn." Keel growls out, her greatsword at the ready as Leo stands to her side, his sword and shield prepared for combat, the villagers remain behind the two. The beasts all alerted and charged the group.
Keel swings her greatsword side to side, timing it just right to catch four monsters in a single swing, their organs impacting the floor. She spots a snake pouncing at her in her peripheral. She aims the greatsword directly at the snake, letting it impale itself on her blade, it screeches as Keel grabs its tail and tugs downwards, splitting its upper half open. She slams the blade down with one hand, catching a spider and bisecting it with ease.
With her side clear, she turns to Leo, his kite shield wedged into the abdomen of a giant spider. The foul insect squirming before Leo's boot stomps on the head of the bug. Squashing it underfoot. "You okay, Leo?" Keel asks.
Leo lets out an exhausted breath, he gives a simple nod in response. He turns to the villagers behind them. "Get inside, barricade windows and such but leave the front door unobstructed in case any more villagers arrive."
"Gods bless you two." One of the villagers said, the other nodding before running off into the tavern and doing as ordered. The two demi-humans take the moment to take a breather. Keel looks over her HP and such, to see how much she's suffered.
Keel-LVL 58 Berserker.
9,221/9,852 HP
2,200/2,200 MP
Keel barely even took any damage, but damage she took nonetheless. She looks over Leo's
Leonidas-LVL 57 Weapon Master.
10,131/10,450 HP
3,000/3,000 MP
Rifana-LVL 57 Sentinel.
7,450/7,450 HP
4,250/5,000 MP
Shenron-LVL 38 Dragon.
10,000/10,000 HP
4,000/4,000 MP
Leo only took a scratch while Rifana and Shen haven't even taken a bit of damage. Keel speaks, scanning her surroundings for any more monsters. "Kane's gotta be on the way back, right? He's gotta see our HP dropping and the XP notifications."
Leo shakes his head with a frown. "I doubt he even knows, his name in the party menu is greyed out, I think he's too far to see our status and get XP notifications."
'Well, shit.'Was the thought that went through Keel's head as she checked over the party menu, and Leo was completely right, Kane's name was greyed out, chances were he was too far to see anything. Keel lets out a growl. "Well, we can't stay here then, fire could spread to the building and kill everyone inside."
"We can't go anywhere either, monsters could be swarming in the forest or swarming the path we take out, at least with the fire we can use water and wind magic to be rid of it, and we don't have to worry about walking into a horde of monsters," Leo said, attempting his best to come up with a plan of action.
Keel gives a derisive snort. "Yeah, instead we'll get swarmed by staying in one place."
Leo turns to face Keel, a grim stare set on his face, a bit of hopeful desperation hidden in his eyes. "If you have any better ideas, I'm waiting."
Keel looks down at the floor, gritting her teeth. She strains her head attempting to think up a decent escape plan only to come up with nothing, they were stuck in a rock and hard place. Run and die, stay and probably die. There really was no option, they just had to weather the storm of death. "…I don't have anything."
Leo gives a morose nod. "...We'll get through this, no matter what." Leo tries to fill the sentence with confidence, but it's fake, he knows it, and Keel knows it.
A screech causes them to turn, and a small group of spiders rushes them, the gloomy mood between the two demi-humans buried beneath the adrenaline for the approaching fight. It was a simple fight, the oversized bugs were easily dealt with due to the low number of the monsters.
A few dozen villagers appear, some holding children in a tight grasp, terrified of the prospect of letting them go. They were all scuffed and some had clear injuries. They rush down the street to get to the tavern, the group most likely told by Rifana and Shen where to evacuate to. Leo shouts out, pointing his sword toward the front door of the tavern. "This way, enter the building and get into the basement!" The villagers thank them, the front door to the tavern bursts open, one of the villagers waving them over, and the newcomers bolt into the building.
Keel wished she didn't look, because the moment she did, she caught the glassy look of a child. Clutched desperately in the arms of a mother, unknowing of the horrific truth that befell her child. Keel tears her eyes away, another horde of monsters rushes out to the tavern from both sides of the road, the normal threat appears with a troll in tow.
Keel snarls, anger consumes the young demi-human, and even Leo gives a hateful glare. The monsters all charge, with the troll running straight at them only for an arrow, embeds into each of the troll's eyes. The oversized monster lets out a roar of pain, ripping out the arrows. A blur flies past, and the troll's throat is cut open as the blur passes. It drops to the floor, choking on its own blood while Keel and Leo kill the rest of the monsters, with relative ease, Keel and Leo suffering a few hit due to the large number.
Shen lands in front of the two, and Rifana hops off. "You two okay?" Concern apparent in her voice, Shen looked over the two with worry for his siblings.
Leo nods. "We're fine. Is that all the villagers you could find?"
Rifana gives a grim frown. "Couldn't find anyone else, me and Shen would have kept circling but… the monsters all started making their way to the tavern like they know the villagers are evacuating towards the bar."
"What?!" Keel blurts out.
Leo grimaces. "How many?"
"A lot, Shen said he saw more coming out of the forest heading this way." Rifana said.
"Big baddies too, like trolls." Shen states, his childlike nature subdued.
Rifana holsters her bow. "What's the plan?"
Leo looks down at the ground, and his grasp on the sword tightens. "Defend the tavern as best as possible, we can't just try and get out of the village with how the monsters are swarming in, we'll get overwhelmed and the villagers will get slaughtered." He looks up at Rifana. "Did you spot any of the town guards?"
Rifana shakes her head. "No, either they're dead or somewhere we couldn't spot them and even if they were here, they'll struggle to kill even a single dire-wolf." That was the rub, the villagers were low-levelled and the town guards weren't much better, so they couldn't be used as reliable reinforcements without high casualties. The four of them were the only ones strong enough to fight off the hordes of monsters, and even then they were taking hits, superficial damage but the damage that would build up, getting worse and worse with every blow without means of healing.
A familiar interrupts the four, they turn weapons at the ready, Shen poised to attack, Rifana pulling out her daggers to conserve her dwindling supply of arrows and Leo and Keel bare their weapons for the monsters' attack.
They just needed to hold out, eventually, the monsters would thin out. Surely there was a finite number of the beasts?
Lerno and Panium were like night and day in Kane's mind. Lerno was your average village straight out of a fantasy book, differing wooden cabins in rows with dirt paths connecting to the buildings, fields of grass, and other greenery still easily spottable in the village. Panium was nothing like that, towering stone walls behind fields of wheat and other crops. The inside was almost completely comprised of stone and wood, stone paths in neat paths with buildings of similar make and shape in neat lines, no wasted space, no openness like that of Lerno.
Some of the guards gawked at Kane, Griffin suggested Kane put the Spear in full display in its original form and Kane followed along, after all, he was here to help them out, he didn't really give a shit if a bunch of people stared at him, he was already zoning out due to them needing to wait, Quinn saying it was in preparation of them while in Kane's mind, he just presumed that all the diplomats were asleep and were woken up when they arrived.
Eventually, a guard arrives, guiding the three to a building, the three following her, Kane was on autopilot, completely uncaring of the décor and fanciness of what was the building of the official figures of Panium, like the White House but nowhere near as large. They entered a large room, a marble table shaped like a rectangle in the centre. 5 maroon leather seats on each side of the table.
5 figures sit on one side already, the one in the middle is Lady Artoa, or at least Kane assumed the woman in the middle was Lady Artoa. She was middle-aged, that was clear. Creases and lines were apparent on her face, and dark circles could be seen around her eyes which widen in response at the sight of Kane.
Quinn sits down directly opposite Artoa, with Kane, and Griffin on each side of him. Quinn gives a small smile. "Good evening, Lady Artoa."
"Uh." Artoa clears her throat. "Good evening, Lord Quinn." Artoa motions to her left. "To my left is the Panium's treasurer and his assistant." The two give nods, the treasurer was a rather rotund man in the later years of his life while his assistant seemed to be in his early thirties and lanky, as one would expect they wore fine clothing. Artoa continues on, turning to her right. "To my right is captain of the guard and next to him is the head pastor of our church." the two were rather nondescript, the guard in a leather gambeson with itching stitched on, while the priest seemed to wear rather opulent robes.
Quinn introduces Griffin to his right. "This is Griffin Saoti, He is the captain of the guard." Griffin gives a polite but quick greeting. Kane wasn't sure why he was surprised that Griffin was the captain of the guard considering Griffin was probably the most experienced fighter out of the village, maybe even on that side of Melromarc.
Quinn turns to Kane. "I'm sure everyone here knows him, but for the sake of posterity to my left: Is Kane Stone, the Spear Hero. The Spear Hero helped us with famine and pops from time to time, to see how the village is progressing. As the Spear Hero has a vested interest in our village, I thought it would be prudent to find him and bring him along." Quinn said a warm smile on his face. Not even so much as a twitch went through him as he lied to Artoa and the rest of her entourage.
Kane just gives a casual two-fingered salute. "Howdy."
"R-Right." Artoa blinks, eyeing Kane longer than normal. She turns back to Quinn. "Well, let us start by asking, how you are producing a surplus of crops and such."
"Again, we have the Spear Hero to thank for that, he and the Shield Hero gathered a magic seed for us."
"The Shield Devil?" The pastor spits out, venom in his voice.
Kane glares at the pastor. "Shield Hero." The pastor looks at Kane in confusion, he wasn't alone in this as all the others on the one side of the table stared at him oddly.
"The Shield De-" A frown from Kane causes Artoa to rephrase her words. "...The Shield, you… support her?" She stares at Kane, a genuinely confused look on her face.
A nod from Kane. "Of course."
"But, why? She is… the Devil." It was an honest question, Artoa was a faithful woman, it was like being a die-hard Christian and finding out that Jesus Christ himself was defending Satan. Despite Artoa's sincere question, it roused Kane's ire.
"No, your bullshit religion says she's the Devil but in reality, she does more to help people than any of you ass-" Kane is interrupted by Quinn. The elderly man lightly smacks Kane's knee to stop him from speaking, a small frown on Quinn's face before forming it back into a warm smile as he turns back to Artoa. Griffin grimaces, unnoticed by any of the others.
"Let us move on to more important matters. I doubt you asked for a meeting just to discuss the Shield Hero, or how we gathered such a surplus of crops." Quinn retakes control of the situation, guiding it away from the volatile dialogue that was the Shield Hero. Artoa and the pastor seemed the most affected by Kane's words, giving him a conflicted look, the other three on Artoa's side move on themselves, the shock of Kane's supporting Naofumi worn off. Kane himself just slouches in his seat, zoning out as the politicking from both sides bores him.
The treasurer and Quinn go into detail about trade deals and such, mentioning tax exemptions, imports and exports, and various other economic jargon that went over Kane's head, even Griffin himself was feeling himself get bored, but kept a straight face.
Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into an hour and a half. "Perhaps we should take a small break, and continue this in the morning." Artoa said, looking at the three opposite her, her gaze lingering on Kane.
Quinn's smile doesn't even falter for a moment. "Of course, it would be best to do this all fresh."
Artoa shouts out. "Maid Azal!"
A young woman enters the room, prim and proper in a simple uniform designating her role. "Yes, Mistress?"
"Take these three gentlemen to the guest room." The maid bows, her dress in her palms as she bends. "Please, if you have any requirements ask the maids, they will gladly help you." Artoa said, giving a small smile.
"Thank you for your kindness Lady Artoa, have a pleasant night." Quinn says, a hand on his chest as she gives a small bow.
Kane and Griffin both give brief goodbyes. The three follow the maid out of the room, leaving the five in the room.
The treasurer hums, rubbing his chin. "For the mayor of such a village, he was rather well-learned in economics."
Artoa stands up, not saying a word. "I will be in my study, do not bother me unless it's urgent."
The four give their own good nights to Artoa who walks off, her lips in a straight line. Entering her study, dead silent and void of anyone. She walks over to the desk, pulling open a drawer, its contents being a crystal ball, that she plants on the desk.
"Is something that matter, Lady Artoa?" A voice cuts into the room.
Artoa stares at the crystal ball, a deep frown on her face. "...Call off the attack." She stares into a dark corner of the room, her frown still present.
"Why?" The Shadow steps out, unsurprisingly, from the shadows. Their rosary reflects the moonlight.
"The Spear Hero himself advocates for the village, defending them and the Shield De… Shield. He is one of the three Saints, as followers of the Three Heroes, we are to follow his words are we not?"
"Even if he is mistaken?" The Shadow said, their voice was sickening neutral, unable to defer any emotion or thoughts from it.
"But is he? If what the Lord of Lerno said is true then the Shield and the Spear Hero worked together to help their village." Artoa's stares at the Shadow and then the crystal ball. "...Perhaps, we were wrong about the Shield,-" She gives a miserable look. "-and we were definitely wrong in condemning a village to death." Artoa places her hands on the crystal ball. Her instinct screams at her, causing her to lift the crystal ball in front of her face in a split second.
A knife pierces the crystal ball, the blade almost scraping her right eye. She tosses the ball straight at the Shadow, the figure ducks, the ball passing overhead harmlessly. Artoa slides over the desk, rushing the Shadow. The assassin pulls out another dagger, rushing Artoa in response, weapon pointed at her.
Artoa frowns at the sight of it but doesn't quit her charge. The Shadow stabs towards Artoa, the woman slams her palm onto the dagger, the blade going straight through her hand, and she clenches it. Wrapping her fingers around the Shadow's fist, the Shadow was unable to get out of her grip. With her other arm, Artoa bashes the Shadow's jaw with her elbow, the Shadow spins with the blow, her grip on the dagger going slack. Artoa grabs the nape of the Shadow and twists, snapping the spine of the Shadow, the assassin slumping to the floor, dead.
Artoa looks down at the corpse with a disgusted frown. She grabs the dagger still impaled in her hand and tugs it out without even a cry of pain. She drops the blood-coated knife unceremoniously. She leans down and grabs a part of the Shadow clothing, ripping off a large strip. Artoa wraps her hand with the strip, creating a makeshift bandage and tightening it with her remaining arm and teeth.
She rushes out of her room, dashing down the corridor to try and reach Kane and the others, she spots a maid in front of her. "Maid!" The maid lets out a squeak in surprise, she turns, slight worry in her stance. "Where are the Spear Hero and the leaders of Lerno village placed?"
"Um, Mia put the Spear Hero and the others in the noble guest room." The maid mutters out.
Artoa starts her mad sprint again, and speeds towards the room, passing by more maids and butlers, some asking if Artoa was alright only to be ignored as she speeds by. She reaches the front door of the noble guest room, kicking down the door to find Kane lounging on the sofa, Quinn opposite him, sitting upright. Quinn stares at Artoa in shock while Kane's head spins, his brows raised. "You must leave for Lerno immediately!"
"What?" Quinn mutters out, too confused to say anything more substantial.
"This whole meeting is a trick! Meant to draw you out to learn more about the magic seeds you have, then have you assassinated on the way back, we hoped you would take your guards and make Lerno defenceless, to make its complete eradication far easier!"
Kane shoots up. "Fucking what?!" Quinn does the exact same. Staring at Artoa in anger. Kane tries to look at his party menu, attempting to check his party members' vitals only to find it grey. "We need to get back, fucking pronto!" Kane yells out, panic clear in his voice.
"We'll get Griffin and head straight back. No stopping." Quinn's voice raised, rushing out of the room with surprising speed for a man of his directly behind him with Artoa following suit.
Kane turns his head to glare at Artoa, as they rush down the hallway. "Why are you following us?"
"I wish to right a wrong." She lifts her hand, revealing her bandaged palm. "I doubt the Shadow that made an attempt on my life will be considered a rogue element the moment the Church finds out I have gone against their plans."
Kane growls, looking straight ahead, spotting a maid here and there staring in confusion. "The Church. Of fucking course it's the Church!"
They leave the building. Kane and Quinn come to a dead stop as they are unfamiliar with the area and where the stables might be. unsure of where to go from there until Artoa shouts at them. "Follow."
Eventually, they make it to the stables, finding Griffin brushing his brown filolial. He turns at the disturbance, a confused look on his face. "Wha-?"
"Lerno village is under attack, this whole fucking meeting was a trick to try and empty it out of any guards." Kane quickly explains.
Griffin's eyes widen before they become pinpricks. He attempts to guide his filolial out of the stable for a cart only to be interrupted by Kane, his hand stopping him. "Hold on tight you lot, I have no idea how this works."
Activate fast travel to Lerno Village?
Two pop-ups appear in Kane's vision, a yes and no option. Griffin, Quinn, and Artoa staring at him. "What?"
Kane presses yes and in a moment he goes blind, an inky blackness completely envelopes him for but a moment, and in the next it's gone, finding himself and the others in the centre of Lerno village. They bar Artoa were hoping to see the village in its normal sleepy state, instead it's become a hellscape from a nightmare.
The whole village is bright with an orange glow. The four all stare in horror. Griffin spins to Kane. "Kane! Go find any survivors and bring them to barracks!"
Kane does immediately as told, like a bullet fired from a gun he shoots off, running down a street. He looks over his party menu.
Keel-LVL 58 Berserker.
3,311/9,852 HP
800/2,200 MP
Leonidas-LVL 57 Weapon Master.
4,462/10,450 HP
1,450/3,000 MP
Rifana-LVL 57 Sentinel.
4,132/7,450 HP
1,000/5,000 MP
Shenron-LVL 38 Dragon.
7,410/10,000 HP
4,000/4,000 MP
Kane's eyes widen in horror at the low health of his party members. With raw will he speeds up, desperate to find them, it seems hopeless however, all he finds are monsters that attack him on sight, the beasts quickly put down by Kane.
He runs to the centre, hoping to find someone, anyone, but he finds nothing again. Just the massive BioPlant tree burning. Kane lets out a heated growl.
Keel-LVL 58 Berserker.
2,923/9,852 HP
800/2,200 MP
Leonidas-LVL 57 Weapon Master.
4,001/10,450 HP
1,450/3,000 MP
Rifana-LVL 57 Sentinel.
3,876/7,450 HP
1,000/5,000 MP
Shenron-LVL 38 Dragon.
6,988/10,000 HP
4,000/4,000 MP
His party was losing health and losing it fast. Kane screams in his mind. 'Gungnir! Is there any way to make all the monsters lose attention on the others and focus on me?!'
{It's possible…}
'Yes or fucking no?!'
{We could overcharge your Rally with all your SP and MP along with a Boost. That would garner the attention of all the monsters and in turn strengthen anyone within the village.}
'Then do it.'
{This will leave you without SP, MP, and a sizeable loss of HP, you will be almost defenceless against the horde of monsters.}
'I don't give a fuck! Just do it already!' Kane glares directly into the gem of his Spear, he could feel the reluctance of its inhabitant but eventually the spirit of the Spear relents, going along with Kane's request.
A red aura shoots out of Kane. Washing over the entire village. There's a sudden stillness in the air as if everything just stopped. Then monsters begin pouring in droves aiming straight for Kane, like a tsunami bowing straight for him.
Kane glares at the swarm of monsters hatefully. He transforms his Spear into a Poleaxe before charging right at the approaching wave of monsters. A violent swing from Kane's Poleaxe catches three spiders and two snakes, in moments he gets attacked, dire-wolves bite at limbs and his torso, the snakes doing the same while the spiders attempt to stab him with their sharp legs and large fangs dripping with venom.
They get in countless hits, stabs digging into tissue, bites mauling flesh, and claws raking muscle. The injuries pile up while more and more enter the field. Kane would already be dead if not for Hunger for Death.
He was dead centre in the middle of the seemingly endless army of monsters despite this, he seemed unfettered. He would slaughter groups of foes in massive swings, regaining large amounts of health every time he did so, he dodged any attack he could, and if he couldn't dodge? He would make the attacker suffer for it in blood, executing it in a quick fashion before moving on to the next target.
There was no elegance in it, no sense of honour or glory. Just two sides wanting to kill the other, on the one side; a feral horde of beasts and monsters seeking to kill and feast, focused solely on one person while on the other; an unyielding berserker. Chopping, punching, stabbing, and stomping his foes, his injuries not even slowing him down, just meant he had to kill even more to heal the injuries.
It continued on, Kane was jumping from both sides of the HP bar, from almost completely empty to almost completely full in moments. A never-ending slaughter, with piles of monsters beginning to pile up, the floor almost like a paddling pool of blood. Kane was slowly becoming more and more slick with blood until he himself was soaked with blood. The horde begins to clear out, and gaps show in the horde's number, granting Kane small moments of respite.
"RAAAAWR!" Three bellows echoed nearby, it was familiar, along with the thumping that came with it.
Three hulking trolls appeared charging right for Kane. The massive beasts of destruction stomp and crush any other monsters underfoot, completely uncaring for them. Kane charges in return, slashing at any obstacle. The first troll raises its palm and slaps down onto the ground where Kane was standing a moment ago, Kane rushes up the troll's arm, beheading it as he pounces past its left shoulder, he stumbles for a second when he hits the ground but continues his momentum.
He spins, using all of that momentum to chop off another troll's leg, the monster dropping to its singular knee at the sudden loss of its leg, before it can even do anything, Kane swings his Poleaxe again, the axe part digging directly into the troll's forehead, killing it instantly. With a violent tug, he pulls it out and the troll's grey matter sloshing right out.
There's one more troll, the troll acknowledging its fallen brethren, becomes more cautious, not charging Kane directly, the troll wasn't alone in this action, the dwindling number of monsters stand on the sidelines, surrounding Kane himself. He stares at the troll with disdain, he takes a step and twists, throwing the spear with all his might like an Olympian doing a javelin throw. The Poleaxe slams into the bridge of the troll's nose, the spike of the Poleaxe jutting out from the back of the troll's head, chunks of it's brain still stuck on the Poleaxe.
Kane lifts his hand and the Poleaxe wrenches its way out, flying directly into Kane's open hand, the action causing the troll to drop to the floor, dead like all the others.
There's a lull, none of the monsters daring to attack. Kane gives a derisive huff and jumps right into the group of monsters, the slaughter beginning again. Like quicksilver, Kane moved from group to group, a few monsters even attempting to escape the Cardinal Hero, but they were quickly cut down, in the end, Kane butchered them all, standing in the centre of the town. Bathed in the blood of monsters and surrounded by hills of corpses.
He stabs his Poleaxe into the soggy mud, leaning on it. His hot breath steamed in the open summer night air, he could see the moon looming overhead in the reflection of the blood. Kane looks over his party menu.
Keel-LVL 58 Berserker.
2,874/9,852 HP
800/2,200 MP
Leonidas-LVL 57 Weapon Master.
4,000/10,450 HP
1,450/3,000 MP
Rifana-LVL 57 Sentinel.
3,823/7,450 HP
1,000/5,000 MP
Shenron-LVL 38 Dragon.
6,950/10,000 HP
4,000/4,000 MP
He lets out a relived breath, the only thought going through his head was that they were alright. He looks over his own status.
Kane Stone-LVL 81 Spear Hero.
10,100/16,645 HP
0/7000 MP
0/9000 SP
100/100 UP
Kane lets out a surprised hum at his rather high HP. He pulls up his Poleaxe, resting it on his shoulder as he walks off, looking for his team and/or any survivors. A deep frown forms on his face as he wanders past decimated homes and buildings, the fires still burning. Only a few BioPlant trees remain, the rest burning or already burnt.
"Kane!" He snaps his head to the familiar voice to find his entire party. A smile forms in place of the frown as he rushes his team, Shen slams into his chest, clutching at him tightly, his other party members joining in the embrace, Kane returning it with a deep hug.
"I'm so glad you lot are all right." Kane lets go of the hug and looks over them. They looked worse for wear, Shen looked the least injured but still bore a few cuts and bruises, Rifana and Leo were of similar injuries, while Keel was the worst off, a large three-clawed cut on her left cheek, blood dripping from the cut, crisscrossing cuts and scratches along her arm. The sight of their injuries causes Kane's heart to thump with fury,
He buries it for, just for now he says, and pops out four HP potions for his party, the group accepting it and gulping it down. Their injuries recover, and the claw marks on Keel's cheek heal but leave a faint scar. Leo points to the tavern. "We have survivors inside."
Kane looks straight at him. "How many?"
Leo shakes his head. "Not enough. At least two dozen… maybe a bit more."
Around two dozen, out of a village of around a hundred, along with homes and such devastated and broken beyond repair.
'Someone is going to pay for this.' Kane's thoughts swirled with anger.
Bad Ending: Red Hood.
Keel-LVL 58 Berserker.
0/9,852 HP
0/2,200 MP
Leonidas-LVL 57 Weapon Master.
0/10,450 HP
0/3,000 MP
Rifana-LVL 57 Sentinel.
0/7,450 HP
0/5,000 MP
Shenron-LVL 38 Dragon.
0/10,000 HP
0/4,000 MP
'Nononononononono.' Kane rushes around, desperately searching for his party, it couldn't be true, his menu was just wrong, they were still alive, they weren't dead.
He could hear flesh being torn off, the disgusting squelch looming over the sound of the crackling fire. He turns the corner to find a group of monsters, chomping on familiar corpses.
Shen's carcass is pulled apart by a pack of dire-wolves.
Keel's legs hanging from a troll's mouth, her legs and tail limp and unmoving.
Leo's head was bitten off from his body, his head used as a shell for a spiderling.
A dagger still clutched tightly in Rifana's single arm, two dire-wolves picking it up and tugging it as if the arm was a toy.
Kane blanks at the scene, jaw gaping open in horror. Rage begins to build in his gut, the dark bubbling feeling overwhelming everything else.
{No! Do not fall to the Curse Series!}
Kane doesn't respond, instead with an animal-like snarl he charges the monsters. Aiming to brutalise every single beast present, intentionally causing as much pain as possible, every kill causes the rage to consume even more of Kane's mind as he gets to see how his party's bodies were defiled even closer. He lets out a maddening scream, as he rips off the pelt of dire-wolf with his bare hands, its howls of agony smothered by the violent roars of Kane, the wolf in his hands torn in half by Kane's hand. The monsters stare at him, instinctual fear, attempting to backtrack or leave, but Kane doesn't allow it, charging them.
Eventually he kills them all, but the rage didn't settle, it wasn't even in any sense satisfied.
{Control yourself, Kane! If you delve too deep into this rage, you'll never come out!}
"I don't care, I will burn this worthless fucking kingdom to the ground, starting with that church in Castletown. I will make every nun and priest scream in pain, I will torture that fucking POPE FOREVER!" Kane spits out with vitriol, his voice becomes harsh at the end, his snarl splits his face in two, his red irises seemingly glowing in response.
Curse Series Activated!
Spear of Wrath unlocked!
The Spear almost completely transforms, half of it remaining it's previous form, as if the spirit of the Spear was attempting to resist the consuming rage but its corruption is inevitable, the maddening fury takes hold and it transforms into the Spear of Wrath.
It becomes horrific to witness, the Spear morphs and twists to the point it's almost as tall as Kane. The singular blade changes into three prongs, shaping into a trident however the outer prongs of the trident become sharp on the sides and elongated, resembling an executioner axe. The metal becomes dark as the night while the red gem dulls, becoming more of a maroon instead of a deep red.
Kane walks off in the direction of Castletown, a deep snarl on his face.
Before he can get very far, he's interrupted by Quinn, Griffin, and Artoa, their voices unheard by Kane. He turns to Quinn who walks in close, Kane lifts his weapon and slams it down on Quinn, his two halves dropping to the floor.
"What the fuck is the matter with you?!" Griffin pulls out his shield and spear and gets into a defensive stance. Kane stares at Griffin for a moment before rushing him, like a blur he gets within attacking range, Griffin's trained reflex causes him to raise his shield to block Kane's attack only for it to puncture straight through and pierce his chest.
Kane lifts Griffin off the floor with the Spear, staring hatefully into the veteran's eyes. He grabs the leg of Griffin and tugs downwards, the Spear cutting through his upper half and causing him to drop to the floor, almost in two piles.
Kane turns to Artoa, staring directly at the woman, she stares back in terror, backpedaling. Kane is on her in a second and her screams echo out into the night.
Naofumi twists the pestle into the dry herb sitting in the mortar, silently grinding it into a fine powder. She grabs a bottle and pops it open, pouring a bit of it's contents into the mortar. The herb absorbs the liquid as Naofumi continues to grind it, the powder becoming a slimy paste. She examines the paste.
Healing Salve.(Masterwork quality.)
Naofumi gives a small smile at it, a decent healing salve would be worth around 3 silvers, something like this would most likely be ten times that and it was extremely easy for her to make.
"Shield Hero."
Naofumi almost jumps out of her skin, letting out a yelp. She turns to the voice with a growl, she spots a Shadow staring directly at her, she's not sure if he was just her imagination but the Shadow's stance looked anxious. "Can you not do that?"
"Gather your party, head straight to Castletown immediately." The Shadow states, not even deigning Naofumi's request with a response.
"What? Why?" Naofumi said, a curious look on her face.
"The Spear Hero's entire party has been killed, as a result, he has gone insane, killing indiscriminatingly. He's making his way to Castletown right as we speak and his intentions are violent."
"What?!" Naofumi shouts out. "The fuck do you mean his entire party is dead!"
"His entire party has been killed by the actions of the Church, we believe the Spear knows this somehow and is pl-"
"Keel, Rifana, Leo, and Shen… they're all dead?" A weak voice calls out, Naofumi turns to Raphtalia to find her staring at the Shadow in pain. The Shadow doesn't say anything for a moment before giving a short nod.
Raphtalia's ears fold in on themselves, staring at the ground as her eyes begin to water. Naofumi looks at Raphtalia with sadness. "We need you to return to Castletown, the Bow Hero and Sword Hero are already gathered there but… we have doubts they would even be able to defeat the Spear Hero."
Naofumi turns to the Shadow with a stoic stare. "We'll get there and help stop but only to get him better, we won't take any part in attempting to kill him."
"He's killing patrolling squads and caravans on his way to Castletown, he's gone completely insane."
"I don't give a fuck, he's one of the few that helped me, I'm not going to spit on that help and forgot him in his time of need." Naofumi's voice was like iron, she wouldn't be convinced on this, as such the Shadow relents, Naofumi walks off gathering Filo and Sakura, leaving Raphtalia and the Shadow.
"Tell me… was it quick?" Raphtalia fidgets with her bracelet, staring at the Shadow with moist eyes.
The Shadow gazes at Raphtalia. "I believe it would be in your best interest, to not know their final fates." The Shadow backpedals into a corner and like magic disappears. Leaving Raphtalia all alone, sniffles are heard from her.
Kane walks into view of Castletown, a whole company of knights blocking his path forward. He's slick with gore, with an intestine on his right shoulder, and chunks of flesh still stuck to the Spear. He stares at the group with heat.
"You will go no further, Spear Hero! Your mad slaughter ends here!" A knight commander calls out, kitted out in full regalia and medals. Kane snorts, steams escapes his nostril like a bull.
The knights stare on, a grim feeling washes over the group, but despite it, they stand in place, defiant.
Kane takes a single step and then moves so fast it looked like he teleported straight to the commander. Grabbing his head and beheading him in a smooth motion, his body slumping over. Blood gushing out and painting the grass around it red.
Kane pounces to and from, like a predator. Killing knights in droves, Cutting them in half, removing their legs before stomping their skulls into a putty, the knights' number beginning to dwindle fast. A bundle of crossbow knights fire at Kane, the bolts stabbing into his arm but it has no effect other than causing him to notice the crossbowmen and chopping them down in moments.
"Wind Arrow!" A magical slams into Kane, the gust pushing him back a few feet. Kane looks up with a snarl, finding Itsuki and Ren with their respective parties. The few knights remaining retreated, reforming their position in line with the two other Heroes. Kane rushes them, Itsuki firing off arrow after arrow, the magical projectiles hitting Kane straight in the torso to no effect just like with the crossbow knights. He reaches them and does a massive swipe, cutting even more knights and catching one of Itsuki's party members, the member screams in agony before being put down by Kane, too quick to be stopped by anyone.
It becomes a brutal melee, the speed at which Kane kills decreased due to the high level of the Heroes' party members but it still progresses slowly, Kane completely finishes off the remaining knights, and Itsuki fires off constant arrows at Kane, while others slash and hit at him. Kane's anger completely numbs the pain, unable to feel anything but fury.
He kicks out the leg of Ren's party members, a large man wielding an axe. Kane slams his weapon down to execute the prone party member.
"Rebounding Shield!" A translucent green Shield blocks his attack before violently shoving it back, throwing Kane off balance. The large man underneath slams his axe into Kane's stomach, the blade cutting into his gut.
"Wind Slash!" Kane is struck by Ren, the force knocking back off his feet, creating distance between the two.
"Knock it off! Now!" Naofumi barks out. Walking in the centre of the group, Filo and Sakura in their Filolial Queen forms followed directly behind her, with Raphtalia lagging behind, a sullen look etched on her face.
Kane growls, rising like a resurrected zombie. He charges once more, His teeth grinding against each other, "No!" Naofumi rushes in front, blocking Kane's furious charge. The two are stuck in a deadlock. "Kane, I get that you're pissed but you need to stop!"
Kane lets out a snarl. Removing his weapon from the deadlock then hitting Naofumi's Shield with the side of the Spear, pushing her back away from the group. Kane charges, restarting the effort once again, rushing directly into the group. A green-haired martial artist attempts to kick Kane, but the lower half of the woman is chopped away, and she drops to the floor screaming in agony. He stabs the Spear into her skull.
"Bakta! No, you bastard!" The hooded member of Ren's party shouts out, charging at Kane, dagger at the ready to stab him before Kane's hand shoots out, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off his feet, crushing his throat in a second. He tosses the body at one of Itsuki's party members, the body being impaled directly onto the spear of one of Itsuki's party members.
He tugs out his weapon, and Itsuki and Ren's party both become afraid of Kane, even Ren and Itsuki themselves were beginning to feel a bit of worry.
"Drifa Mirage…" A morose voice calls out. Everyone disappears from Kane's view, the whole world around him becoming dark and shadowed. Only one figure remains Raphtalia. She walks towards him. "I understand, Mr Kane."
Kane seethes but doesn't charge at her.
"I'm angry too." Kane stares at Raphtalia, his snarl weakening just a tad. "But this isn't what they would want. Rishia, Keel, Shen, and Leo, all viewed you as their Hero, someone to aspire to be like. So, plea-" Kane lets out a roar of pain as a Sword pierces his chest, going straight through his heart. "No!" Raphtalia screams out,
"Ren, what the fuck!" Naofumi shouts.
Kane goes still for a moment, slumped in his standing position, there's a moment of silence. Ren pulls the sword, about to pull it out before Kane seemingly resurrects, his blood igniting out of nowhere. He elbows Ren, rocking the sword wielder with the hit, leaving him open for Kane to rip the Sword out and grab Ren by the neck. He lifts Ren into the air, Everyone around attempts to dash to Ren, to save him only for Kane to stomp the floor with his foot, causing a mini-quake and unbalancing everyone.
Kane's skin begins to blacken, becoming like charcoal. His eyes begin to boil as a gout of flames escapes them. The hole in his chest blazes like a pit directly to Hell. The flames jut out of the back of Kane's chest, from the gaping hole in his torso, the flames look as if they were broken bird wings.
Ren struggles in Kane's burning grasp. Ren swings his Sword down at the arm holding him, the Sword cuts into Kane's flesh but doesn't go any further than the bone. Kane's eyes narrow at Ren. The flame in the arm holding Ren begins to flare up, ruby flames escaping the skin and beginning to consume Ren, the young boy lets out howling screeches as his skin begins to melt, his flesh dripping as he attempts to escape Kane's grasp. Ren's calcified bones hit the floor, the legendary Sword impacts the ground, and a slight clang is heard marking Ren's end.
Kane turns towards Castletown, holding out his hand as hundred of red circles appear, all aimed directly at it.
"Airstrike Shield!" The Shield projection slams right into Kane's stomach, digging into the cut left by the axe, staggering Kane, the red circles dissipate from the loss of focus.
"As source of thy power, we order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and bring forth a raging wind! And produce a wind to blow away our foes! Gale!" Filo and Sakura shout, the two side to side and raising their palms at Kane. A green circle appears in front of them, and a large gust of wind shoots out, combining into one, the blast slams into Kane, and he strains to keep upright from the blast. Chunks of his weakened flesh are ripped off violently from the raw force, Filo and Sakura stare in horror, not wanting to perform any permanent damage to Kane.
"Thunder Arrow!" The arrow hits right into Kane's throat, the arrow explodes in electrical energy,
Kane drops to his knee, using the Spear to keep him upright. The flames burning from Kane's chest seem to dim only to come back with a resurgence, burning even brighter as he leaps 30 feet into the air before he surges towards the ground, the weapon slams into the axe wielder that cut open his stomach, the raw strength from the blow breaking every bone in his body.
Naofumi stares angrily, unsure of how to proceed without killing Kane if they even could at this point.
{Remove the Spear from the Hero and tap my green gem with the Spear's gem.}
Naofumi blinks at the sudden pop-up. Letting out a whisper, she doesn't let her eyes off Kane. "What?" Kane charges Itsuki once again, Naofumi lifting her arm. "Rebounding Shield!" Kane slams into it but powers through the rebound, leaving him open to a magic attack that sends him feet away.
{The Spear is the thing keeping him alive, remove it and the rage will consume him completely.}
"I don't want to kill him." Naofumi frowns deeply.
{There is no other option, The Hero is becoming more and more volatile, and his rage is growing increasing his power, eventually, you will all be killed if you do not stop him now.}
"Fuck." Naofumi growls out. "...Sorry, Kane." She charges at Kane, and shouts from the others as she performs a suicide rush. "Itsuki! When he drops the Spear, perform your strongest move!" Itsuki pulls back the bowstring, waiting for the moment.
Kane meets her charge with his own, barely even resembling a human anymore, the fire consuming more and more flesh, leaving only his mouth which is in a tight snarl. He slams the Spear downward at Naofumi with one hand. She blocks it, her muscles screaming in exertion, she twists the Shield, deflecting it to the side. "Shield Crunch!" A large wolf's head appears from her Shield, latching onto the arm holding the Spear, the arm already weakened by the fire and Ren's desperate slashes, is ripped off. The Spear drops to the floor. Kane lifts his arm to throttle Naofumi, she lifts her Shield ready to block.
"Shooting Star Bow!" What seemed like a shooting star directly impacts Kane, narrowly missing Naofumi, the blow throws him back.
Naofumi grabs the Spear, a sense of rage and hate swelling in her mind, she shakes it off and taps the gem of the Shield onto the Spear's dull red. The air shifts, and the dull maroon gem of the Spear turns to a soft green. Kane's body begins to fall apart, his lower half turns to ash, the fire still burning. With one arm he begins dragging himself towards. His snarl is still present, he doesn't get far before his remaining arm fades to ash and with that eventually, he does himself, leaving behind nothing but ash.
Naofumi blinks, her eyes wet. "...I'll get those fuckers, Kane. I promise."
A melancholic silence fills the air. The future seemed bleak, with two Cardinal Heroes dead.
End of Chapter 19.
The Church makes their move, devastating Lerno village and endangering Kane's party…
I'm sure that won't cause any trouble.
The Bad Ending was inspired by Slave Knight Gael if the Red Hood title wasn't obvious enough. It's just a small thing, I thought up while playing Dark Souls, like what if Kane unlocked the Curse Series and went fucking ballistic.
Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and I shall see you next time.