Chapter 45 – The Good, The Bad, and The Undead
The world. It was split in two, like an egg being cracked and pulled apart, revealing the core inside, either molten lava or a yolk. But then another world was also cracked and pulled apart. But as if it was a magical form of culinary cooking, the two eggs were merged together, and now, surprisingly it is the shell that tastes richer than what's inside. A new melting pot has brought together two fascinating lands, with brand new stories being written, altering the course of history forever. They were once galaxies apart, and by who knows how many, but were now neighbours at the hands of an ancient infant? Well, it's a rhetorical question, but only a few can possibly know for sure. Regardless, there is a metaphysical question, which remains unexplained thus far.
For you see, the concept of what is beyond death for the people of Remnant is a pseudo question. With only one notable known exception, death is the end, and is irreversible.
But this principle is not the same for Runeterra. There is rebirth, there is resurrection, there is conversion to a state of being lying between life and true death. But what is perhaps the most notable thing though, is a location that is isolated from Runeterra. Sometimes it is colloquially known as Brazil, but scholars and believers of the complexities of existence are well aware of the shadow realm. The aforementioned question is brought forward, therefore. How does a realm that is parallel to what precedes it continue to exist when an incompatible ingredient is added? Well, let us explore this new dynamic, as Remnant and Runeterra spring a leak, and a haunting crisis emerges.
"Master, you know what has happened." said the enslaved mortal, who had at some point enjoyed life as a soldier, aeons ago.
"I know that I have." replied the tyrant, clad in almost impenetrable metal. He was sat on an iron throne, inside a gloomy room, in a location you could not accurately pinpoint or even describe. The tyrant in question was a juggernaut of a former man, now not designated to either the mortal realm or his immortal, superseding paradise of glory. He towered over the average person by many times their height. His armour was composed entirely of iron. It was a solid cocoon of his eternal soul, infused with hunger for glory. His chest plate looked like a ribcage, so you could literally see his soul operating inside of him. His pauldrons had two, long spikes protruding from them; the armour on his arms were bulky, as were the ones surrounding his legs and feet, and his helmet had two horns. Two glowing eyes pierced through the helm, and they showed no mercy. To gaze upon this Revenant was literally looking into a unique, dreadful form of death.
"What shall you do about it then?
"I will subjugate them also."
"But, my Lord, is it even possible to do that when the shadow realm is a gloomy mirror of Runeterra specifically? What is this new entity we have seen?"
"It is not a one-for-one reflection of the world that proceeds it. I shall have no problem emerging from the earth and shattering their bones."
"Is it likely that we'll encounter a force that is too overbearing, or at least will be a challenge for you?
"Possibly, but I will not back down."
"How do you know where you want to emerge from?"
"I shall find a populous place, and make it mine. No need to be circumspect."
"But when will we go then?"
"Are you defying me? You sound reluctant to go." the Revenant growled.
"Of course not, my Lord. But it would be folly to step into a world we know nothing about, unprepared."
"Such unnecessary nerves. I have made up mind. We march forward. Now!" the tyrant exclaimed. He stood up and picked up his deadly, spiked mace, then marched to the entrance of the room. The Revenant stepped outside and raised his left hand, summoning his undead army from the ground in an instant. Like the soldier who had just convened with him, all of the Revenant's army were covered in armour, making it hard for someone to simply knock one down, let alone an entire infantry. The Revenant slammed his mace into the ground; in the distant, about fifteen metres away, a dark, misty portal opened with a spiralling staircase leading downwards. "We enter, and brutalise all who stand between us and their rightful place in the shadow realm!"
The Revenant marched in first, consumed by the darkness, followed by his army in his tyrannical wake.
The forest was thick, and hard even for a group of merely ten armoured men to penetrate through. Garen's orders were to not go too far inland. But what did 'too far' even mean? From the looks of it though, they were not going to reach the exit of this forest any time soon. The infantry had already been walking for fifteen minutes.
"I think we need to stop here." Garen said, coming to a sudden halt, which caused one of his men to walk straight into his back. "Sorry." Apologised Garen without actually turning around. "Let's sit and get our energy back."
Ten of the twenty-nine soldiers had been carrying food and water supplies, two meals effectively for each person, in case they got lost. Garen hoped therefore that they didn't have to waste food, and that they had walked in a straight line, and could find their way back to the ship. There was nothing distinct in the forest; no trees or fauna stood out to them. In fact, unless they had known otherwise about the world's situation, they could easily have been in some forest in the plains between Demacia and Noxus.
The cuisine of Demacia was surprisingly good. As a kingdom, they were not especially advanced like Piltover and Zaun were, but Demacia had some of the most fertile land in the whole of Valoran, which allowed fresh crops to grow and for the ideal environment to raise farm animals. Piltover and Zaun did not possess that asset, and relied heavily on imports for sustenance. Fresh bread, meat, fruit and vegetables were staples of the Demacian diet, boiled in stoves or saucepans over hot fires. In the heart of missions though, it was nothing to write home about. Non-perishable food like nuts, dried fruits and veg and cereal were far from luxurious, but sufficient for their purposes.
"We cannot stay for long." Garen said with a whole bite of nuts in his mouth. "Sabator tragically died aboard our ship, by means we are still yet to understand. Hopefully leaving more of our men behind will give them a better chance at defending themselves, should anything arise."
It was time to go back. Garen prayed to whatever might be out there that they wouldn't get lost. Carving markings on these trees might have helped. But the coastline they'd arrived at was short and stood out for its wide berth, so they should be able to spot their ship at any distance. Well, their orientation was decent, because they arrived directly at their ship, but not to a reassuring sight.
"Garen, Garen! It's another disaster!" cried out Garen's second-in-command Sergeant Merrek. He was standing at the shore, waving his hands desperately. So were the other… eighteen? Weren't there supposed to be nineteen, including the sailor?
Garen's eyes widened, and he entered a jog. "What has happened? Tell me!"
"It's… it's Philip, Sir! He's been mutilated too!" he whimpered.
"What?!" Garen exclaimed.
"Yeah, except we heard him this time, unlike with Sabator." said Merrek. "He made this ear-splitting scream below deck, and it sounded like there was some sort of moaning too. When we went down to inspect, we found him dead and full of holes. He was bleeding everywhere…"
Garen took off his backpack and slammed it into the ground with all his might. "Dammit! No one was with him?" Everyone shook their heads. "I told you all not to go down there on your own! Now look what's happened!" he placed his palms over his eyes and took several deep breaths. "Well… let us also remember Philip's name. For Demacia."
"For Demacia." the soldiers said in unison.
"But this settles it. We are leaving this ship behind completely as we go on our quest. Bring all the food and water on our backs. We are not residing with some sort of curse aboard."
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Sir?" questioned Bryn. "You saw how we walked through that forest and got basically nowhere. What if there are hostile things further inland, and what if we run out of resources? We don't know if anything that lives or grows here is edible. What if we get stranded here, with no way of ever getting back to Demacia? Wouldn't it be smarter to just turn around now and go back home?"
"You are asking relevant questions, Bryn," said Garen. "but we have come this far, so there is no point in turning back now, the way I see it. We have food and water, survival gear, and are all armed. Should we be confronted by anything, then we will have a fighting chance against it."
Bryn wasn't entirely convinced, and truth be told, Garen was not either.
They collected everything they needed and could also carry. This was going to be tiring, walking who knows how long through a forest, with no clear objective in sight, and the weight of survival on their backs. They had no horse, but a cart at least, which could be pushed and pulled as a team effort.
"Men, be prepared for anything." Garen said over his shoulder as they trekked through the forest a second time. "If you spot any kind of life, do not show aggression unless it displays hostility towards you. Take mental notes of things that you see if we ever get out of this dense forest."
"Yes, Garen."
"One thing we must surrender to is the possibility of the presence of magic, or some form of it. This is not our home, so we should be respectful of its natural environment."
Such words were unspeakable in Demacia, and was not smiled upon even in other regions in their eyes. Garen was as patriotic towards Demacia as Shurima was sandy, but this was not Runeterra though, and Garen knew that they weren't in any position to fight it, or even be judgemental.
The temperature was moderate, and the sun was shining through the canopies above. It was a good day for a hike, but the harsh gamble they'd taken was starting to become clearer by the day. What if this was just a continent that stretches for miles and miles and miles without anything beyond trees or something interesting?
No. They would press on, Garen mentally fortified. They'd lost track of how long they'd been walking, although it wasn't like they had been counting. Days were longer now, so what difference did it make?
"What do you think happened to Sabator and Philip?" Bryn suddenly brought up.
"Something was below deck, but somehow it allured us." responded Runcle.
"But how did it even get aboard the ship in the first place? And how did we not see it?" said a soldier called Langham.
"It was probably there before we even got onboard at the coast of Valoran, and hid behind the barrels aboard the ship." Garen conjectured.
"But what even was it? That's what I want to know." said Bryn.
"Are you sure you want to know that?" said a soldier named Qyne, but nicknamed Weast after he had once accidentally misdirected the legion he had headed by misreading the direction of a compass. The consequences of his mistake weren't fatal, but it had led to the legion being tired and hungry on their campaign. Demacia's army would not let this joke die.
"I mean, it might be gruesome and all, but what if we could have prevented it from doing anything, or happening again?"
"Hard to tell, considering we don't know where it came from." Merrek reminded them. "We don't know if it followed us from Demacia or crept aboard at some point on our journey here. Heck, we don't even know if it was a singular entity."
"Well, it's too late for that now." Garen said. "We're sticking as a group, because it would be foolish to split up."
Garen was exponentially regretting his decision to agree going to this new land. King Jarvan had felt a mixture of curiosity and apprehension after the earthquake, the new, shattered moon in the sky, and how the calendar had seemingly changed. To him, it had (somewhat illogically) pointed to the idea of something beyond their kingdom. Even if they were mistaken, they would have arrived at the eastern side of Ionia. But this was definitely not Ionia. Garen was fairly certain that Ionia had unique and vibrant fauna, and not this bleak, green and brown sea.
"Do you think other nations have responded to all this too?" Runcle wondered out loud, mirroring a question Garen himself had.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Noxus have considered or have already made a move," said Garen. "But I would bet that they, as an empire, would feel the need to get lots of ships with thousands of soldiers, weapons and supplies before setting sail, whereas we just went almost immediately after the events occurred. His Majesty ordered it, and is orders are our command."
"If they travelled east from their coastline beside Noxus, then they'll arrive at the westside of this land." said Bryn. "What happens if we cross paths along the way? We'll be hugely outnumbered."
"Good point." Garen said whilst suppressing a gulp of fear. "Let's hope that doesn't happen then, shall we?"
Garen tried to occupy his mind with thoughts to keep him busy. Something happy would be nice. He remembered Lux's infectious smile, and terrifying giggle. He remembered being wowed by the awesome stories one of his uncles told him and Lux about his time serving in the Demacian military, which inspired him to become a soldier himself. He reminisced training with young Prince Jarvan, heir to the throne one day, where Garen hoped to remain friends and by his side under his reign. Garen was proud to be part of this generation of Demacians, where image, passion and might encased the hearts of its citizens. The Dauntless Vanguard were his pride and joy, whom, he loved all equally.
But Garen just couldn't remove his nagging suspicion that Lux possessed magical properties. Those subtle moments where unusually bright light was nearby, and how uncomfortable she looked in these instances. Lux was such a sweetheart; the thought of her being arrested continued to make Garen sweat. Speaking of going to jail though, Garen had noticed that Lux kept going inside the prison voluntarily. He hadn't brought it up with her yet, but this was where all those unholy mages and other traitorous convicts were kept. What could she possibly be doing down there?"
But all of a sudden, a figurative and literal breath of fresh hair graced them. They emerged from the cluster of trees, and a heap of daylight beat their heads. They were still deep in nature, but they had entered a clearing, with less trees on the other side of what was most notable: a pathway! It was made of dirt, but this was not nature's doing. No one needn't say it was their next step.
"Which way do we go?" said Merrek.
"Maybe half of us should go one way, and the other half the other way." suggested Runcle.
"Absolutely not." Garen said firmly. "We're safer in numbers, and have no way of communicating with each other at long distance."
"Left or right then?"
"Right." Garen said without any second thought. So that's where they went. The temperature was pleasant, and their new environment was easier to appreciate, because they were next to nature, rather than being encased in it. Yet there was still nothing to be seen. If this path was manmade, or at least made by something with intent, surely there had to be something nearby to make use of it. They had no way of telling if anyone frequented this path though. Maybe nothing had walked here for years.
They walked, and walked and walked…
The spirit of exploration was starting to drizzle out. How long could they keep going? It was nearing evening now, and the sun was beginning to go down. "We might have to set up camp soon." Garen said. "It could be too dangerous to keep walking in the dark."
"It might be too dangerous to merely stay here at night." Diadoro added.
"True, but if we lay low in the trees, then hopefully we won't be spotted by anything.
Wait!" Garen's eyes widened. In the distance, there was a man, leaning against a tree on the left, and Garen could instantly tell, even without being able to see him clearly yet, that he was not from Runeterra. In spite of this, he looked exactly like a human. He was guzzling on a green, glass bottle. The man was rather tall. His fair hair was long and grubby. He had a long face with a stubble. His getup was unlike anything Garen and the Dauntless Vanguard had ever seen. He wore a dark jacket with torn sleeves over a grey shirt with long sleeves that were rolled up, and a big belt and buckle running diagonally across his chest. He also sported black trousers and boots, fingerless gloves, a red bandana in front of his neck, and lastly, on his left hip there was a holster for a concealed item; Garen had no idea what it has, but it looked ominous.
The man opened his eyes, satisfied with the last gulp of whatever he'd been drinking. He turned his eyes right, and made contact with Garen's own. The man jumped out of his boots, scrambled for the item inside the holster and pointed it straight at Garen's head. "Stay back, or I'll shoot!" he said with a slur.
Unbelievable. Garen, and the rest of his men for that matter, knew exactly what he had just said. "Fear not. We come in peace and only also in the thrill of adventure and discovery." He raised his hands and tried to sound as threatless as possible.
The stranger inspected them all with twitchy eyes. "Never seen people like you here before. You some lousy huntsmen or some'in?"
They may not have gotten the context, but this man was speaking the same language as they did. Wasn't this supposed to be an entirely new world? What if they were wrong and he was actually from some other region in Runeterra, which Garen knew little about, like Zaun or Piltover?
"No, we are not hunters. Only explorers." Garen affirmed.
This man was on edge though, and clearly not fully stable. The hand holding this item of his, that could apparently shoot them, was jerky. He lowered his arm and instead merely held it by his side. "Where ya from then? One'a the big cities in Mistral, or some other Kingdom?"
Garen looked over his shoulder at his men. They shrugged. "We come from a Kingdom called Demacia." Garen said to the man.
"Ehh? Don't gimme that crap. Never heard of such a place, and there's only four Kingdoms, and Demaia ain't one of them. You just made up that name, I can tell."
"Demacia, not Demaia." Garen corrected him. "But allow me to explain. We're from another world, that is completely different from yours. So, we sailed overseas in hopes of finding new land. Thus, here we are, talking to you."
"Cut the bull." the man said before Garen could continue. "I may be bloody stupid at times, but even I know that what you're saying ain't possible."
"I said please, let me explain." Garen insisted, pulling at thoughts that might be able to reason with this tempestuous man. "Have you experienced an earthquake recently?"
The man dropped his bottle and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah…"
"That's precisely it. No one knows exactly what happened, but our two worlds have come together. Are days and nights longer for you also?"
"Well, yeah."
"And you see that new moon in the sky?"
"Guess so."
"Well, this didn't come from your world alone. Think about it, a moon doesn't just appear out of nowhere and you've already seen a change in how your day and night cycle works."
"Umm…" the man was at a loss for words. Honestly, he barely seemed capable of using any to begin with.
"Where is the nearest town? Is there a place nearby that we can stay?"
"Ugh… miles and miles away, dudes. You got no shot of reaching it on foot any time soon. *burp*" he dropped the other item he was holding.
"Where do you come from then? Seems like you're in the middle of nowhere."
"Argh! None'a your business!" the man snapped defensively.
"Can you at least point us in the direction of the nearest settlement?"
"How 'bout no?"
"This guy's useless." Merrek whispered to Garen.
"He's the only lead we've got right now." Garen whispered back.
"You can't reason with a guy who's as dysfunctional as a mage in petricite handcuffs."
"Maybe not, but you can manipulate them." He returned his attention to the man. "If you help us, we can give you anything you want. Gold, weapons, etc."
The man's eyebrows rose. "Gold? And weapons!?"
"Yes."
"Now ya speaking my language. What kinda weapons?"
Garen hesitated at this question. Would this idiot have the same vocabulary, or any concept of Demacia's kind of weaponry for that matter? "Crossbows and swords? Shields and armour?"
"Oh, ya offering protection too? Sounds interesting. I'm sure my boss in the camp back that way would be interested." he pointed over his shoulder.
"That way?" Garen pointed in the same direction.
The man slapped himself on the forehead. "Yeah, that way." he conceded.
Garen contemplated the situation. On one hand, this was so far, as he'd already acknowledged, the only person or thing that could potentially lead them anywhere. But simultaneously, this man did not seem trustworthy. He had a camp of people with a boss, and no idea how many people it consisted of. If Garen followed him, they might just be walking into a trap and being mugged of all their possessions, and Garen had no intention of antagonising anyone in this world if possible. A friendly face would have been so much better, but was an unfriendly face better than none at all?
"Hey, you still there?" the man said impatiently.
Garen realised he had been standing with a blank expression for a while, thinking about what to do. "Yes, yes. Please just give us a moment."
"K, just don't keep me hanging forever." the man said as he reached for the item he dropped earlier. "Remember you said you'd give me weapons."
"I don't trust him at all." Bryn whispered.
"But what can we do without him?" said Runcle. "If actual civilisation is so far away, and he's just part of some rogue tribe in the middle of nowhere, then we're basically screwed unless he helps us in some way."
"Anyone got any better ideas on how we get something out of this scumbag then?"
"Garen, you made it sound like you were just going to give away our stuff for free." said soldier Playne. "There's no way he won't try and exploit us once we hand it all over. I can't see him and his boss making his camp an actual campsite for us. And even if they decide to be helpful and give us something as basic as directions, what do we do without any resources to help us get there."
"The idea was to make the proposition as enticing as possible." Garen explained. "But obviously we can't just donate our things like a charity."
"Exactly, Garen. You're expecting too much from this guy. Look, he's obviously drunk and with no backup from his camp. Surely, we can use a bit of force or intimidation to squeeze some information out of him."
"But this goes against the Demacian principles of justice and not harming the innocent."
Playne suppressed a snort. "You think this guy's an ordinary law-abiding civilian? Plus, I'm not suggesting we inflict any serious harm. Try intimidation tactics first and then mild force if that doesn't work."
"Okay, let's try that." Garen marched forward, holding his sword in an offensive stance and with a purposefully stern frown. The rest of the Vanguard followed suit.
"Hey, I said stay back!" The man pointed the barrel of the item at Garen's head again.
Garen entered a sprint. His sword glowed brightly, then he leapt into the air and swung the sword down with the force of a battering ram. He knocked the object cleanly from the man's hand, squashing it and silencing the man speechless again. Garen placed his sword in the scabbard behind his back, then aggressively pinned the man against the tree. "Listen here, you. We have no inherent reason to be interacting with you and your camp. All we're asking is for which direction we should be heading to get to the nearest town or city."
"What about the weapons you promised me?!"
"I never promised that. It was merely a suggestion. Now tell us where to go, and we'll leave you alone. Fail to do that and we'll come and have a rather confrontational meeting with your boss."
"That… ain't possible, mate."
"Don't underestimate us. We come in peace, but we have the means to use force if necessary." Garen pressed the man's shoulders harder against the tree, causing him to wince.
"No, I mean, you can't speak to her, 'cause she ain't here at the moment. Some cat with a book and furry, little creature kidnapped her."
'Furry, little creature.' Did this man know what it even was then if he hadn't referred to it by an actual name? Or did he say it, thinking that they wouldn't know what it was, as non-natives? No, because he had also mentioned a cat. So, it wasn't just humans "Does your camp have any deputy to speak of then?"
"Yeah, but she won't tell you anything."
"Maybe she won't, but a coward like you will." The man gulped. "One. Last. Chance." Garen rearranged his hands, putting his left hand around the man's throat and raised his right into a clenched fist.
"Okay, okay! You win! If ya keep walking down this path, you'll reach a fork. Go left and you'll reach a little village. Think it's called Higanbana, and it also leads to Mistral City. You'll probably find a place to stay there."
"See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Garen let go of the man; he didn't regain his balance, and fell on the tree roots on his butt. "We'll be on our way now." Without any further word, Garen and the soldiers walked past the tree and followed the path.
"Thank goodness we were headed in the right direction to begin with." Bryn commented.
"I mean, there might have been something else eventually if we'd turned left initially." said Runcle.
"How do we know if that guy was telling the truth though? He could have spouted out any old false information just to get us to leave him alone."
"I made him say it in the moment when he was panicking." Garen pointed out. "So he might have felt more inclined to tell the truth."
"Although, for an isolated camp dweller, he might be so out of touch with normal society that he himself didn't know what he was talking about." Playne pointed out.
"I conjecture what information he did provide is better than nothing." said Garen confidently. "He gave us two names we can work with. Just don't forget them. 'Higan…bana, and Mistral City.' 'Higanbana and Mistral City.' Chant them until you remember them as much as you do Demacia itself."
"Higanbana! Mistral City! Higanbana! Mistral City!"
Shay D. Mann clumsily picked himself off the dirt. His line of sight wasn't fully straight, and he could feel his stomach burning. "Assholes." he said aloud. Shay suddenly remembered his gun. He knelt and felt around with his hands, at last putting his fingers around it. The damn thing looked like it had been trodden on by a Goliath Grimm. How had that man's strike been so strong? Argh, whatever. There were more armaments back at the Branwen camp anyway. Shay tossed the gun behind him and made a tottering stroll in the direction of the camp. His head was a yoyo, and the kid pulling the string was so petulant. His innards started to curdle. He hadn't even made it four trees into forest. Shay opened his mouth and let loose the contents of his dinner and the alcohol. He didn't even notice the log right in front of him.
Shay fell forwards, face first.
"Shay! Shay! Where are you?!" the voice of a young man bellowed.
Shay groaned. His eyes were still closed, but a nasty smell had embedded itself right inside his nostrils. His face was also buried in the grass. He moaned in the same way a child would if they were being woken up early in the morning.
"What the hell?! Shay, what happened to you?!" a woman's voice said. She and the man flipped Shay like a pancake onto his back. His face was bespattered with vomit, which dribbled down his cheeks. His hair and clothes were soaked from the rain that had ensued after losing consciousness, and his shoulders ached.
"You were drinking again last night, weren't you?" the woman deduced.
"Yeah. Probably had a bit too much."
"Probably? More like definitely. More than definitely for that matter."
"Hmph." Shay eased himself to sit upright. It was raining heavily and nearing dawn.
"Shay, you can't afford to keep doing this. With Raven gone and the world in an unpredictable state, we need to stick together. Vernal's been genuinely concerned of where you were."
"Yeah, I get it." Shay said irately. "Expect the unexpected and all that crap. I just wanted a breather from all this paranoia."
"C'mon, let's get you back to camp." They both offered a hand to Shay. "It's alright, guys! We've found him!" the woman bellowed at the top of her lungs, to which Shay covered his ears.
"God dammit, my head…"
"Let that be a lesson for you then."
The walk back was a slow and clumsy trek. Shay wasn't making much attempt to keep his eyes open or move his legs and feet. Thankfully it wasn't too far away, but nevertheless Shay's fellow tribe members eventually had his arms around their shoulders with his feet being dragged along the grass. Once they were back inside the camp walls, they laid out Shay flat inside a tent.
"Thank good you're safe now, but you still need some rest. Go to sleep." the woman ordered sternly.
"Wait!" said Shay. "There's more that I need to tell you, and Vernal for that matter."
"Can it wait until morning?"
"…yeah."
"Then go to sleep then. Thanks to you, we had to get our asses out of bed to go on a rescue mission."
"Sorry." Shay said with somewhat disingenuous regards.
He only had about five hours of sleep, with likely only a quarter of that time properly asleep, with the majority being just dozing and unable to stop thinking about that squadron of men who had violently assaulted him for no reason!
The clouds had adjourned, and the morning sun was puncturing the canvas. Shay moaned again, feeling his shoulders ache as he tried to simply sit upright again. He could smell the waft of food in the air and heard his stomach grumble.
The woman came inside the tent. "How are you feeling?" she sounded genuinely concerned.
"Not great, but alright, Jane." replied Shay, using her name for the first time since he went off drinking. "What's for breakfast?"
"Mealworms and berries."
Shay scoffed. Mealworms provided a lot of protein, but they were nowhere near as delectable as gamey meat and bread.
"I told Vernal that you had something important to feedback." Jane said, pretending she hadn't heard him. It wasn't like she could be offended about someone else's cooking. "We'll talk about it after breakfast."
"kay." He got out of the tent and limped to the campfire, where everyone was already gathered.
"Here." said another member of the tribe, handing Shay a plate of crispy berries and mealworms.
Shay simply nodded, scooping up a mouthful of the berries in his hands and shoved them into his mouth.
Vernal looked attentively at Shay. "Thank goodness you're safe, Shay. But seriously, you can't keep spending money on booze and running off nowhere." she said crossly, basically repeating Jane's lecture from last night, to which Shay growled with annoyance. Vernal was more the de facto leader now than anything else, therefore Shay felt less respect towards her than he did innately for Raven.
"Don't use that tone with me. We could have just left you out there, but I noticed you were gone and made the executive decision to go and find you. We're all one big family."
Shay made no further comments. He was tucking into the berries, and procrastinating from the mealworms effectively.
"You have something to report, though?"
"Yeah."
"Well, once you're finished eating, come into Raven's tent so we can talk."
Shay was the last to finish eating, he forced himself to swallow the mealworms without chewing on them, then put his plate on the stacked pile next to the campfire, ready to be washing in boiling water later. He moved to Raven's tent and pushed the flaps aside. Vernal was sitting cross-legged where Raven always sat. It kind of felt like Vernal was an imposter. Shay sat opposite, but with his legs stretched out instead.
"This'd better be something serious, and you'd also better not be lying."
"Of course, it's important!" Shay said indignantly.
"Sometimes when people are drunk, they make up stuff or have a skewed perception of things that are happening around them. But anyway, spill the beans. What happened?"
"So yeah, I went to Higanbana last night and got something to drink. Big deal. But when I was on my way back, I took a stop at a tree, and then some army of men approached me. They weren't wearing any uniforms I'd ever seen, but they claimed to be from another world and asked me for directions. At first I said no, but after that, they offered me some weapons and cash. Now that obviously sounded better, but then they got all hissy and pinned me against the tree and I was basically forced to say where Higanbana is. After that they left me and I don't remember what happened from there."
Vernal thought about his story. She laughed and shook her head. "Just as I thought. You were either drunk as hell, or are downright stupid."
"What do you mean?! I didn't say I believe them."
"Well, clearly they aren't from 'another world'," Vernal made quotation marks with her fingers. "because you were able to communicate with them and you didn't describe them as creatures. You said 'men.'"
"But they also pointed out how days are longer, and there are now two moons. Apparently, they sailed over here from their own land."
"If you didn't recognise the uniform they were wearing, they're probably just a bunch of people from somewhere in Remnant. Again, there's no way you could have talked with them if they were from another world entirely."
"But if our world has stuck itself with another, surely anything can happen at this rate? Remember that talking furry creature and the cat? It surely ain't something seen on Remnant before, but the cat was accompanying it. What if those men are from the same place? I mean, they said that they sailed over here, and that furry creature was found with a tiny airship."
As much as she loathed admitting it, Shay was making some good points, which was uncustomary for him. Maybe Raven was also right and this was Salem's doing. So much activity at the moment had been paranormal. To what extent was Salem involved with this though? Maybe it wasn'tjust her. Could she have any involvement with these supposed aliens who looked and spoke like them? "*sigh,* very well, I will take this information on board. Thank you."
Vernal got up, stepped out of the tent and cleared her throat loudly. "Listen up, everyone! The stupid shenanigans Shay got up to last night were very in character for him, but he did provide me with information that may further prove the idea that Remnant is no longer the only land that is out there. I won't go into detail here, but our response to it is to not take any further risks. We will continue to go in search of food in packs as usual, but never stray too far away from camp. Effectively, we will continue our way of life as it always is, because until we have any lead on where Raven could be, we are to stay put."
The camp responded with simple grunts and nods of acknowledgement.
Vernal finally turned back to Shay, who had also stepped outside the tent. "Now then, since you've been a bad boy, I'm putting you in charge washing up duty this morning."
"What?!" Shay's eyes widened. "I still ain't fully recovered from last night after those guys beat me up."
"You said that they only pinned you against a tree. And the drinking was your fault. You may have a headache, but you can still hold and scrub plates properly."
Shay opened his mouth to argue, but not a word came out.
"Exactly, so get to work then." she grinned.
Shay scowled and moved to the fireplace. He sat down and began rubbing two sticks together.
The Vanguard marched with newly found spirits, knowing that civilisation was ahead, and that they could communicate with this new world no less. The names of Mistral and Higanbana were now etched into their memories. It made them wonder about the names of other places on this planet. Learning the geography would obviously be super beneficial.
Unfortunately though, it wasn't long before the clouds compressed together and turned grey, blocking out most of the sunlight. In the distance, a flash of lighting struck the ground, followed by a bellow of thunder. On its own, this was fine, but their spirits were literally dampened when droplets landed on their heads. They had no way of actually knowing how much closer they were, but it couldn't be too far. That scruffy man had probably got his drink from that particular village. Needless to say though, they did not walk at a leisurely pace.
And by an absolute miracle and one in nine-hundred octillion chances (or even more), they could read the sign that said "Higanbana." They had arrived! And... it certainly wasn't much to write home about. Although, in Demacia's eyes, anything at all was remarkable in this new world. It was a small town surrounded by the forest. Immediately next to the sign were a row of quaint houses. However, they looked rough, with holes in the roofs and floors, and broken windows. They ventured deeper into the village and saw no faces. At this time of night and in this weather though, this was scarcely surprising. Because of how small the village was though it didn't take long for them to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of an inn. The inn looked more intact than the other houses and buildings, but still with a few holes in the walls and roof. They approached the entrance, with broad smiles on their visages. Garen ordered ten of his men to their dismay to stay outside to protect the supplies, whilst the rest marched inside the foyer. They were directly on the left side, hugging the walls. The inn was very cosy, despite two holes on the other side of the foyer, with a roaring fireplace on the right wall. Several tables and chairs were situated near the fire as well, with guests tucking into delicious-looking meals. The only thing that seemed slightly off were four paintings in frames that were leant against the wall, rather than being hung up. The glass was missing, with only a few jagged pieces still attached. Garen approached the front desk; his tall stature was mildly intimidating to the receptionist.
"Greetings and good evening." Garen said calmly. "My men and I have come from a faraway land, in search of discovery and adventure, and we would like a place to stay for the night before we continue our journey to Mistral."
The receptionist regained some confidence. They seemed friendly. "Good evening to you too. I see that you have a lot of men with you, Sir. How many of you are there in total?"
"Twenty-eight, including me." said Garen. "Is that too great a number?"
"We seldom have a lot of people staying here at one time, because of how remote we are from Mistral. That being said, a lot of the town's residents have temporarily moved in here, following an earthquake that damaged the town. But, according to our logbook, if you were willing to squeeze each other into just a few rooms, we should have enough space to accommodate all of you. From what I can tell, it seems like some of the residents opted to go out of town and spend time with friends and family in other regions in Mistral."
"Splendid." Garen smiled.
"That'll be two-hundred and ten Lien, please."
Garen's smile faltered. "Two-hundred and ten what?"
"Yes, sir. One night's stay here, not including meals, costs ten Lien per person. Were you under the impression that we charged guests per room rented?"
Crap. Well, it wasn't like everything in the world came for free. Why should they have expected this place to be any different? "We don't have any money, unfortunately."
The receptionist's lips went from a smile to a straight face. "Then we can't let you stay here, Sir."
"I understand, but the thing is, when I said we come from a faraway land, I mean it in the truest way possible. We don't have your currency because our home is from a different planet entirely."
The receptionist eyed Garen suspiciously. "Sir, please don't joke about this. We are a business, and we won't offer you our services if you don't have the cash. It's as simple as that."
"It's not a joke though. You've noticed that days and nights are longer, and you have two moons orbiting your skies, right?"
"...yes, we have."
"This may be hard to believe, but it is almost certainly confirmed at this point that your world and mine have somehow been stuck together. And the earthquake you mentioned is related to this. My nation underwent the same catastrophe." Garen was dreading the idea of having to convince every sceptic he encountered. No doubt it would get tiring.
"Even if this is true, sir, this doesn't change the fact that you don't have any money. We're already struggling financially and are in debt because of this earthquake that damaged our inn, and the rest of our town. We were lucky that our council even bothered to give us a loan to rebuild the inn, when they have other major cities to prioritise."
"Do you know if there's anywhere else we can stay overnight that won't cost us anything?"
"Nowhere run by other people. That's not how business works. So unless you have any camping gear, or you can find an abandoned shelter, you're sleeping in the rain. I hate to put it so harshly, but that's the honest truth."
"Please, I implore you." Garen persevered. "Is there a way we could pay you back by alternative means than monetary ones?"
The receptionist pondered the question, remaining silent at the lack of an answer.
In the end, it was Garen who made a proposition. "What if we volunteered to help rebuild your town? Assuming that no one else needs the space that we take up in your inn, we could stay and help we the reconstruction process. You could probably do with extra hands, after all?"
"It's a generous offer, I'll grant you that much. But how much good are you gentlemen at this kind of responsibility? Are you adept with tools?"
"Architecture is one of our city's greatest assets. Given the right tools and materials, we could work together to not only reforge your town, but also expand it. How does that sound?"
"Very nice in theory, but money doesn't come out of nowhere. Without the materials needed to build houses, no progress can be started, let alone finished."
"What if we start a fundraiser or find ways to receive donations?"
"The majority of Mistral aren't going to be concerned with a small town like ours. Like I said also, we already received a loan from the council, and they certainly won't give us another one any time soon."
"If I may ask, why did you spend the loan on the inn and not the houses of Higanbana, who are permanent residents and not just travellers?"
"Because we as an inn asked for the loan. We didn't do it on behalf of Higanbana."
This seemed selfish in Garen's opinion, but he didn't go into a tangent about it. "I heard that there are other kingdoms in this world. Do you have any idea if they would be willing to help?"
"I can't say for sure. Maybe Atlas would be able to sacrifice some of their budget, as the most developed kingdom on Remnant."
"Remnant?"
"The name of our planet."
"Oh, I see."
Awkward silence followed for seconds until the receptionist broke it with a final proposition. "Okay, here's the deal: We'll let you stay here. Tomorrow morning, you'll immediately start working on Higanbana's houses. At the same time though, some of your men will travel to the city of Mistral alongside other residents of this town in search of donations if you can. But more importantly, I want your men to try and find jobs in the city to earn some money that you can repay us with. We'll also feed you, because I know that this is obviously not possible without food and drink. Lastly, I will be taking all of your names in case you try and run and not uphold your end of the bargain. And if you do, we'll report you to the authorities. You said you wanted to discover more about this world; well, you'll at least get to see the City of Mistral for now, which is one of the more notable settlements in Remnant. Then once you'll all done here, you can move on and explore the rest of Remnant. How does that sound?"
Garen could tell that the receptionist was only going to accept them on the premises under these conditions, without adjustments. It sounded like hard work, but the only feasible gateway into the rest of Remnant. Moreover, Garen saw this as an opportunity to developed good relations between Demacia and this world. No doubt this was better than being stranded in the middle of nowhere. "Sounds perfect." said Garen with an exaggerated smile.
The receptionist nodded several times. "Good, now may I ask for all of your names?"
"Yes." Garen said, and the receptionist opened the guests log on the counter and grabbed a pen. Garen announced all their names to the receptionist from memory. He was also fortunate that he could spell out names too.
"Thank you." the receptionist nodded again and closed the log. He then opened a drawer under the counter and pulled out four keys with tags on them, corresponding to the room it unlocked. "You said there were twenty-eight of you. It's up to you to decide who goes in which room. You unfortunately won't all get a bed, but that's just how it is. Also, do not lose those keys."
"Bless you for your kindness." Garen said as he took the keys from the receptionist's hand.
"You're welcome. I also apologise for my sternness. I've been very stressed recently, and this is an unprecedented situation for me."
"I completely understand."
"Can I offer you some dinner?"
"No need for tonight. We still have some rations left over from our journey here, but thank you for the offer."
Garen gathered the ten men who had been waiting outside in the rain, and they all carried their backpacks into the foyer.
"Down that corridor. Follow the numbers." the receptionist said.
"Thank you one again." Garen replied.
The corridor was made of plain wood and contained no other features beyond this. The same was true for their four rooms. They were nothing but barebones, perfectly cubic rooms. They all contained double beds with plain, white sheets, having their head sides against the left side of the room. Each room had a small, square window, a chain dangling from the ceiling with missing lightbulbs, but absolutely nothing else. Either these were the most budget rooms possible, or some of the furniture had been removed after the earthquake. The absence of a lightbulb suggested the latter. Seven men were put in each room. Room 17 contained Garen and soldiers, Runcle, Diadoro, Albert, Carper, Narnt and Kado. Room 18 housed second-in-command Merrek and soldiers Bryn, Taylo, Ector, Felix, Hanril and Qyne. Room 19 consisted of sailor Tyson, and soldiers Winyl, Feak, Oaktai, Wilson, Playne and Ryan. And lasty, room 20 accommodated soldiers Parson, Nile, Adruey, Zarni, Xazk and Yarnel.
To many, these were obscure, or seemingly made-up names. But to Garen, they were indigenous to and commonly found in Demacia. Although no one there came close to his friendship with Prince Jarvan, their presence maintained the sensation of unity, and it stung that there were two names missing: Philip and Sabator. Garen had foregone his privilege of being the leader of the Vanguard and was purposely sleeping on the floor instead. He stayed awake for an hour, with his head resting on one of their supply bags, and his eyes open.
They had done it! They had made it to the new world! Not only that; they had made contact and conversation with actual people. And it looked this was the start of something so much grander. If this was only one, small settlement, and Mistral City was only one, big city amongst other cities, and this was not the only kingdom, then who knew what else Remnant had in store for them. Garen finally grinned and closed his eyes, trying to imagine what Mistral looked like.
Although the continent of Anima was not as big as Sanus, the Kingdom of Mistral, claimed more territory over land across the whole of Remnant, and was home to some of the most bustling cities in the world. The City of Mistral was the eponymous capital of the Kingdom, but arguably the most important city in Mistral was Argus. It was Mistral's northernmost city, acting as a conduit of essential trade between Atlas (the most powerful Kingdom in Remnant), Mistral, and by extension the rest of Remnant. It was one of the few areas in the whole of Remnant where Atlas had military coverage outside of Solitas, on an island just off Argus' coastline, and Argus also had a CCT relay tower. As a result, Argus' architecture was the most modern in Mistral. It had a ginormous gate protecting it from any Grimm that lurked in the forest immediately south of it and had the highest economic GDP in Mistral.
In some ways, Argus was more like an overseas extension of Atlas, because of how remote it was to the rest of Mistral's territory. Certainly historically, the Kingdom of Mistral had been unsuccessful at establishing a settlement so far up north, but colonists from Solitas took their experience from living in a cold climate and brought it to Argus, doing Mistral's job for them. Nowadays, Atlas still held a condescending level of pride from founding and protecting the city, especially the incumbent commanding office, Caroline Cordovin. But Atlas officially had no proper jurisdiction over Argus, only de facto leadership. Plus, you would make Argusians angry by not acknowledging them as Mistralis. Besides, it wasn't like Argus was completely sequestered from the rest of Mistral, since a one stop train ran directly between it and the capital.
But... of course, Argus was an eastern city, and had suffered damage from the earthquake. And although Argus had a lot of internal resources to work with, its remoteness the from rest of the Kingdom, and the border to Atlas being closed was causing delays in reconstruction. Thankfully, the Mistral Council recognised the importance of Argus, and materials had been sent via cargo trains. The Atlesian military had also stepped in to lend a hand at fixing the city, and progress was being made. The boundary wall had survived, and the community's efforts had restored roughly a sixth of all homes and essential stores back to normal. Thank goodness wooden camps and shelters had been erected just outside and around the city too.
The northeast of Argus had been where most of the initial efforts had taken place so far, but work was now moving south. Caroline Cordovin, the elderly and vertically challenged but exceptionally prideful and priggish commanding officer of the Argus-based Atlesian military and stickler for rules, headed the community project to restore Argus, alongside the mayor.
Along a street of houses where most of the damage had been to mainly the rooftops, bricklayers in hardhats were hard at work, standing upon the scaffolding and lapsing cement between fresh, new bricks. The team comprised of both professional builders and volunteers. The sense of community and togetherness had also been prevalent in Argus, but even after travesty, this new kind unity reignited the spirit of Argus.
"Alright, our estimated goal for finishing the refurbishment of these houses is Saturday, five days from now." said the foreman.
"Yes, Sir!" the twenty builders saluted. It was going to be a tight finish, but not an unrealistic deadline.
The foreman moved to the perpendicular, neighbouring street, which was also under construction, next to a local supermarket. His fellow foreman was patrolling up and down the street. The foreman smiled. He would get his own hands dirty in the latter half of the day, but he was secretly glad that he didn't have to bend his back early in the morning. At noon, food from the food pantry and coffee were provided to the builders.
It was time to swap over. The foreman put on a pair of gloves, a high vis vest and a hard hat. As he worked and began to sweat more and more, the heavier his hands and arms felt. Up until now, he hadn't really appreciated how much hard work the people of Argus were doing. The sunlight was diminishing, so it was almost time to stop for lack of visibility reasons.
The foreman noticed however that it wasn't just the sky that was turning dark. Not only was it coming sooner than usual (it was almost as if time has resumed its way prior to the earthquake), but it felt like the atmosphere on the ground was getting darker. For this reason, the foreman kept on his high vis vest.
"Are you seeing this? This... fog?" a volunteer near him asked.
"Yeah, I am."
There were murmurers all around them. Whatever this gas was didn't smell, but was ghastly in appearance.
And then, in the far distance, they heard an eruption of screams. The foreman's scroll buzzed inside his trouser pocket.
It was Cordovin's voice that screeched from it. "Emergency! Get all the citizens evacuated! All personnel of the Atlesian Military, get to the local park in the centre of Argus!"
"What is it, ma'am?! A swarm of Grimm?!" the voice of an Atlesian soldier responded.
"I don't know, but it's is a hostile being of some sort!"
A being? The foreman reverberated Cordvin's instructions to the builders on the street. "Everyone, get to the city wall now!"
To which they did, but as to be expected, not in an orderly manner. The foreman proceeded to jog to the local park. What else other than Grimm could call for a city emergency? Well, hopefully his former days as a combatant in the Atlas Military would help.
"Keep it up, keep it up!" Cordovin clapped. She was overseeing the reconstruction of a street near the park, which was one of the more beautiful spots in the city.
The daylight was sinking away, but it shouldn't have been fading away this fast. And for that matter, why on Remnant was the city level also getting darker?
"Ma'am, I think something might be wrong." said an Atlesian military man standing by her side.
"Yes, I agree. It is distressing me..."
The ground began to shake, and an odorous light emerged from around the corner, where the park was. Screams immediately followed, with citizens running for their lives in all directions from the park.
"Find out what that's going on at once!" Cordovin ordered.
"Yes. Ma'am!" the Atlesian soldiers all said, and they sprinted to the end of the street, with Cordovin following on her little legs. They arrived and instantly fell on their backs in terror of what they saw. A large hole in the centre of the park had opened, and something was slowly stepping out from it.
It was a towering figuring, as tall as a two-storey house. It was fully covered from top to bottom in a sickeningly, dark iron armoured suit. Its pauldrons were spiked; its chestplate was formed like a ribcage, and inside you could see glowing, green energy inside. The armour around its limbs, hands and feet were bulkier than tree trunks, and its helmet allowed for only two, glowing green eyes to gaze piercingly at those beneath it. As it rose, other much smaller, but still ghoulish figures emerged also. And last but certainly not least, the armoured titan carried an enormous, spiked mace.
The giant was glowing with a ghostly, green aura, and it looked at everyone and everything immediately around it in a circle. "This place intrigues me." it said. Its voice was masculine, horrifyingly deep and echoey.
Cordovin's blood turned to stone. Never before had she felt this afraid, and she'd faced physically bigger Grimm before. She opened her scroll and shouted into the speaker. "Emergency! Get all the citizens evacuated! All personnel of the Atlesian Military, get to the local park in the centre of Argus!"
"What is it, ma'am?! A swarm of Grimm?!" said the voice of an Atlesian soldier on the receiving end.
"I don't know, but it's is a hostile being of some sort!" She put her scroll away, gingerly limped forward and shouted as authoritatively as she could at it. "E-excuse me, beast! How DARE you set foot in our great city! L-leave now or face the might of the Atlesian Military!"
The armoured beast titled its head in confusion but then laughed a bone-chilling laugh. It marched slowly towards her, making thunderous claps on the pavement with every step it made.
Cordovin pulled out a pistol and shot several bullets into its helmet; they were deflected like a tennis ball against a racket.
"Foolish mortal!"
The foreman arrived at the scene just in time to see the titan point the tip of its mace at Cordovin. A loud snap occurred, and they both vanished in a flash. Only two wispy lights remained, which moved around the park.
Cordovin witnessed the entire park become surrounded by a ring of dark, green smoke. She ran to the edge but crashed into it, instead of being able to walk through. The stuff was solid. It behaved exactly like Atlesian barrier tech. "Let me out! Let me out!" she screamed, pounding her fists against the wall of solid gas (what a strange oxymoron).
It was no use. Cordovin stepped away from the wall, and decided to run around the ring instead, hoping that it would accomplish something.
The titan rose its hand left hand, which summoned another hand, the size of a bulky human, from the ground. It swept Cordovin off her feet and pulled her right next to the armoured brute. Cordovin attempted to scramble backwards on her bottom, but she wasn't fast enough. The titan grunted and brought his mace thundering down.
The ring of gas disappeared, but only the titan re-emerged. Everyone in the vicinity looked in horror to see Cordovin flatter than a pancake. Yet, to the shock of even more people, an incorporeal version of her slowly got up. She no longer had pupils; they had been replaced his purely dark green eyeballs. "All shall serve me, Mordekaiser, the true lord of the living AND the dead!"
Everyone cried out in terror and began to run. The Iron Revenant known as Mordekaiser though had better ideas. He raised his hand again, summoning even more terrorising hands from the ground. No one escaped as they pulled everyone in. The ghouls who had emerged along with Mordekaiser held them all down, and one by one Mordekaiser subjugated them to brutality with his mace, Nightfall. "Get them all!" he commanded, and Mordekaiser's newly undead army began their onslaught. They didn't even respond with any noise.
The aforementioned foreman tried to run, yet was somehow outran by the resurrected, immortalised Cordovin. He stood up, no longer possessing any true consciousness. All Mordekaiser's subjects were entities dominion to him. They may have moved and talked as if they had free will, but in reality, they were literally mindless. It didn't matter though, and they needed no brain to act out Mordekaiser's rampage of the city. They tore at bricks and stone, erasing the citizens hard work, and as more and more people devolved into Mordekaiser's pawns, the harder it became for any stragglers to escape.
The Iron Revenant examined this mortal realm. It had potential. So much land to conqueror, and no deceivers to ruin his plans either. Mordekaiser moved to the nearest building and swung his mace with all his might. It smashed the brickwork away like a house a cards in the wind. If Mordekaiser still had a mouth, he would be smirking and licking his lips with delight. He smashed the house until only the floor remained, and gave a sinister laugh. Argus had become a children's sandbox full of sandcastles.
Back on the Argus military base island, they could no longer see the great city. It was engulfed by a miasma of death.
"Cordovin? Cordovin? Come in, Cordovin!" said one of the two very obsequious Nubuck guards. No response… "We must do something!"
"Indeed, we must!" the other said. They wore bulky, Atlesian military uniforms, but distinguished themselves with excessively large caps with visors that covered their eyes. They were as servile as could be, but even they could not mask their fear. This was unlike anything they'd seen before, and for that matter they couldn't even actually see what was going on. All they could hear was screaming and the sound of demolition.
They sounded the alarm. "Take to the skies at once! We must survey and protect the city from above!"
One of the Nubuck guards opened his scroll and shouted into it. "All personnel still remaining at base, get to an airship immediately! We must protect the city at all co-"
ROAAAARRRRR!
He dropped his scroll and goosebumps crawled over his skin, as did everyone else's, who was at the base. They all turned to the direction the noise had come from, outwards at sea. Things could not have gotten worse from this point onwards…
An enormous creature was wading towards the city from the horizon.
"No, it can't be?!" The Nubuck guards said in unison.
An almost entirely black body, limbs with webbed fingers and toes, two sets of four red gills, an outer-ribcage made from stone, dorsal black spikes that were red webbed with white tips protruding from its back, a long, spiked tail, various white spots on its body, a head shaped like a porpoise, but with many razor-sharp teeth and six glowing yellow eyes. It was one of the biggest species of Grimm to have ever inhabited Remnant: The Leviathan; an amphibious creature of Grimm. Thankfully, it was a rarer species of Grimm, but its aquatic status made it hard to know for sure how many existed.
But this wasn't the full extent of their newfound issue. They almost fainted at the sight of other Grimm swarming the skies, including Sphinxes and Manticores.
The members of Argus' military bases stomachs sank to the bottom of the ocean.
"Cordovin isn't here, but we must not stand around!" said one of the Nubuck guards.
"Agreed." the other concurred. "Get to the Colossus at once!"
Up to thirty Grimm landed abruptly on the island, drawn to their fear. They caught everyone off guard, and charged at everyone they saw, whilst breathing fire and setting their clothes alight. In less than a minute, the Argus military base was in a state of chaos, ransacked by an ambush of Grimm. Gradually they fought back with their tech, but this wasn't stopping the rest of the Grimm flying into the city.
Also, where had the Leviathan gone? The Nubuck guards, in addition to other Atlesian soldiers, dashed to the northside of the island, but the humungous creature was nowhere to be found.
"It just vanished?"
"I don't know, but if so, we need to send forces into the city now!"
"Wait a sec." said an Atlesian soldier. "Isn't the Leviathan aquati-?"
ROAAAARRRRR!
The Leviathan erupted from the sea below, splashing a wave of water over the island, and stood on its legs.
"Retreat, RETREAT!" the Nubuck twins shouted simultaneously, but it was too late. They hadn't deployed the shields in the sea due to being so distracted by the other Grimm, their hand weapons were futile against a Grimm of its size, and they couldn't reach the Colossus in time.
The Leviathan readied itself, raised its mouth upwards, then unleashed a bellow of flames at the military base. The fire engulfed the main building and it exploded, perpetuated by storages of dust, causing all the airships to do the same. In less than ten seconds, the whole island blew up in a horrific display of metal, body parts, and multicoloured dust…. The Leviathan made a roar resembling triumph, then continued wading its way towards the city.
Meanwhile, Mordekaiser was having the time of his undead life. He watched his army grow like a plague spreading exponentially, and the city crumble to bits. It was no longer Argus, but rather the first city of the undead in Remnant. Suddenly though, the Grimm all descended from the sky, but as they entered the smog, they began to feel dizzy and swayed awkwardly on their feet. "What is this?" said Mordekaiser. The Grimm then began to shake violently, which turned into rapid convulsions, and they fell to the ground. After twelve seconds, the seizures stopped, and they rose to their feet. The red marks on their faces turned to green, as did their eyes, and their skin lightened into dark grey. "What were these creatures?" Mordekaiser thought to himself. But it looked like it didn't matter, because they also were his. Their biological makeup could not withstand his presence.
ROAAAARRRRR!
Mordekaiser grunted. "What was that?" He plodded in the direction that the noise had come from. He made it to the perimeter of his new city at the shore and saw the Leviathan, towering over him. Never before had Mordekaiser seen a being so large. Yet, Mordekaiser looked up at it, not with fear, but with drive. At a surface level, it seemed to resemble the exterior of these creatures he had effortlessly recruited. This would be the crown jewel in his army!
He pointed his mace at the Leviathan, clouding it in undead smoke. It attempted to swat away the smoke, but inevitably succumbed to its corruption. All of its red markings on its face, gills, webbed dorsal spikes and fingers turned green, as did its eyes. Its skin went from jet black to dark grey, and its teeth grew marginally longer.
"Come forth!" Mordekaiser ordered. The leviathan stepped onto the road by the shoreline with a tamer roar of acknowledgement. "All shall die and be mine! Move on from this city and demolish and dominate everything else you see!" he commanded his battalion.
The undead Grimm flew ahead, and the undead citizens of the desecrated Argus ran too.
"You did it, master!" congratulated the mortal whom had consulted with Mordekaiser before entering Remnant. He approached Mordekaiser's side with a sword and a cheesy grin.
"It is not done until all are beneath my iron thumb."
"But this is no doubt a great start."
"Yes, although servitude has no limit. No matter; this world is mine for the taking!"
Mordekaiser approached the city wall and looked up. He was admittedly impressed by its enormity. But this was nothing more than a glass window. "You!" he yelled and pointed his mace at the Leviathan. "Tear down this wall!"
Without hesitation, the Leviathan rammed into it with its left shoulder, crumbling it to pieces. It then shovelled the rubble away with its webbed hands, letting Mordekaiser and his army through. Outside, he noticed the Grimm had been ravaging on the citizens who had managed to evacuate the city. They could not outrun the Grimm and had no means of defending themselves. Mordekaiser waved his hand, summoning smoke that fell upon the dead victims. Now they too rose, with green eyes and grey skin.
Argus was literally a shadow of its former self, but Mordekaiser was only just getting start. His exodus to utter tyranny began.