Chapter 13: The Black Scripture
Sebas, Shalltear, and Solution were conversing as they waited for their carriage to be set upon by bandits. Their master had given them specific orders: hunt down powerful martial artists, acquire intelligence pertaining to the Re-Estize criminal underworld, and above all else: AVOID THE BLACK SCRIPTURE. They each had been ordered to take a WCI with them, however, because of the limited number of WCIs Pandora's Actor had on hand, Solution had ended up without one. Sebas was wearing the gauntlets [Avarice and Generous], which suited his expertise in hand to hand combat just fine, while Shalltear had been given [Helheim's Mercy], which could revive any player or NPC without fail except for if they had been killed by [Loginus]. Shalltear had been ordered to take it from one of the Pleiades, Aureole Omega, on the 8th floor prior to leaving Nazarick.
"Lady Shalltear," Sebas spoke up. "Forgive me if I'm being rude, but I am a tad curious as to why you keep referring to Lord Dracul as "Father". I was under the impression that you had been created by Lord Peroroncino. Am I incorrect?"
"You're not wrong, Sebas," Shalltear stated as she filed her nails. "I suppose the best way to explain it is that Lord Peroroncino did indeed create me, but it was Lord Dracul who made me what I am. Do you remember when the Supreme Beings used to gather on the 10th Floor to do that "roleplaying" thing they did? I still don't know what that word means but whenever they used that word they discussed matters of great importance or personal matters from which I learned much about the Supreme Beings. One day I heard them talking about how Lord Dracul was the first vampire to ever exist which is why he is known as Father Blood."
"I see. So Lord Dracul really is the god of all vampires," Sebas stated. "So does that mean that every vampire that exists is, essentially, one Lord Dracul's children?"
"Yes. Lord Touch-Me used to make jokes about something called "child support" when that came up," Shaltear said before looking crestfallen. "Lord Dracul… seemed happier back then. He used to make jokes with the other Supreme Beings and spent every minute he could with them. Now he just seems… different. Do not misunderstand me, he is a more amazing ruler than I ever imagined, but do you think he is upset with us?" Shalltear asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"No," Sebas said, afraid to even consider the possibility. After he took a moment to calm himself, he continued. "I don't think our lord likes to admit it, but I think he was deeply hurt when the other Supreme Beings left us."
"I suppose that makes sense," Shalltear said with a sigh of relief.
"Do you think there is a possibility that our lord may leave us one day to join the other Supreme Beings?" Solution spoke up.
"I doubt it. I was present with him in the throne room on the day we came to this new world. He was upset with the others for leaving us all. I believe his exact words were: "Damn you all, why did you leave me". Additionally with the efforts he has taken to strengthen Nazarick in preparation for our conquest of this new world, it is my belief that our master is here to stay," Sebas declared. Suddenly the felt that carriage stop and heard jeering outside.
"I believe our resident scum had arrived," Shalltear said with an evil grin.
Ainzach, the leader of the E-Rantel Adventurer's Guild, sighed as he finished looking over the reports from the undead invasion that had been stopped just a few hours ago. They had finally finished counting all the bodies and investigating what happened in the E-Rantel Cemetery. The Skeleton Dragons had been obliterated and the necromancer who was suspected of causing all this had been fried by magic. What was concerning was the corpse they found of a woman that had been completely drained of blood. Nowhere in his reports had there been anything that mentioned a vampire, and yet, based off the marks on the victim's neck, that's exactly what killed this woman. If there really was a vampire lurking about then it was the Adventurer's Guild's duty to hunt the beast down. As for the casualty report: 1,234 people, not even counting the guards and adventurers who gave their lives to save the innocent, had been killed that night. Now, it was time to talk to the man at the center of it all: Momon.
"Laura!" he called the receptionist. "Send him in, please." Momon walked in, looking every bit a hero, and took a seat. From his confident stride to the dents in his armor, he looked like he'd seen some shit.
I'm glad I beat up the armor a little more to sell the story.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Momon stated more than inquired.
"Yes. From all the reports I've seen, when it looked like E-Rantel was doomed, you are the one who led the charge to retake the city and eliminated the necromancer who was in charge of this catastrophe. I would like your account of what happened."
"It started about an hour after my return with Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness. We were separated while Nabe and I registered Hamsuke with the guild," Momon began as he took off his helmet, showing the face created by [Mortal's Mask].
"Please, I don't mean to sound like a asshole, but can you skip to the part when the fighting broke out?" Ainzach asked.
"Sure," Momon replied. "Nabe, Hamsuke, and I were on the south side of the city searching for leads as to what happened to Nfirea when screaming people started running away from the north. We decided to investigate and we discovered the army of the undead. I told Nabe to go alert the guild while Hamsuke and I held them off until reinforcements arrived."
"Good work, but what happened in the graveyard. Why was there a woman who had been killed by a vampire?
Dammit. I'll need to cover this.
"Nabe handled the necromancer, Khajiit, while I-"
"Hold on!" Ainzach interrupted as he leaned forward over his desk. "Did you say Khajiit?"
"Yes. Do you know him?"
"Yeah, crazy bastard was a big deal in Zuranon. Who knows what those undead worshipping psychopaths were up to by attacking the city?"
Cultists who worship the undead? They could prove useful. I'll have to figure out how to get in contact with them.
"Sorry for interrupting Momon. Go ahead," Ainzach said as he laid back in his chair.
"Right," Momon said, a little annoyed by being interrupted again. "While Nabe dueled Khajiit, I engaged the two Skeleton Dragons he had summoned and after a fearsome battle, we managed to kill the enemy." Ainzach went silent for a few moments.
"Skeleton Dragons?"
"Yes."
"And you killed the both on your own? How?" Ainzach asked awe. Momon smirked and pointed to the swords on his back.
"With these," he proclaimed proudly. Ainzach stared in disbelief.
"That's absolutely insane and I wouldn't believe you if it wasn't for the eye witness accounts regarding the Skeleton Dragons and the fact that they're immune to magic so Nabe couldn't have killed them."
No, she couldn't. Narberal on the other hand….
"So that woman, who was she?" Ainzach asked.
"I believe her name was Clementine. She was working with Khajiit and the moment the fighting started she ran away. After Nabe and I had dealt with the enemy, we found a vampire hunched over her corpse, but it fled before we could engage." Momon lied.
"Clementine… I've heard that name somewhere," Ainzach muttered. "What did this vampire look like?"
"Couldn't get a good look," was all Momon said. Ainzach sighed before handing something to Momon. Momon's eyes widened. Not just one, but two Orichalcum Adventurer Plates!
"You and Ms. Nabe have more than earned this," Ainzach said with a smile. "E-Rantel would be a city of death if it wasn't for you. I'd have made you an Adamantite Plate if it wasn't for Igvarge's bitching, but I have no doubt it's only a matter of time until you reach that point!" Momon smiled in response on the outside, but on the inside he was already coming up with a plan to kill this Igvarge. "Go get a good night's rest and tell the innkeeper it's on me. You earned the hell out of it!"
"Thank you, sir," Momon replied as he headed back to the inn.
Shalltear wasn't just livid, she was beyond livid. She was ready to SHIT A CHICKEN! Everything had been going so well. She hunted down those bandits and followed them back to their lair, humiliated the man with blue hair, and killed all his fellow criminals. That's when things started to go wrong.
Lord Dracul told us to avoid leaving witnesses. Oh, he's going to be so mad at me! Why did that earthworm, Brain Unglaus, Brian Unglass, whatever the vermin's name was, WHY DID HE HAVE TO ESCAPE!?
Now Shalltear was staring at a group of adventurers who had just so happened to appear from atop a ridge. She was in her True Form, which looked a crazy old woman who had been born from cross-species breeding between a human and a fish. At least these lower life forms were intelligent enough to stay in formation.
"Noooooooot baaaaaaaaaaaaad," she hissed in an inhuman voice. The magic caster of the group straightened up when he heard her.
"Hostile might be a vampire! Silver weapons and magic only! Victory unlikely! Don't look at its eyes! Our goal is to keep that thing at bay while we retreat back to E-Rantel!" he shouted to his comrades.
"Doesn't look like any vampire I've ever seen!" one of the warriors exclaimed.
"Shut up!" a woman with red hair ordered as she applied alchemical silver to everyone's weapons. With the properties of silver now applied to their weapons, they began their organized retreat. As Shalltear glared at them, she became conflicted with herself. She knew was supposed to capture them but her bloodlust had clouded her judgment. She wanted to tear them apart and bathe in their blood! SHE COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! She jumped towards the closest one and stabbed at him with her hand. Her hand tore through his shield, into his chest, and then ripped out his heart as she laughed maniacally. While the others were in shock, Shalltear continued her work on the corpse.
"[Raise Dead]!" she giggled as the corpse became a low level zombie. She then vomited a small amount of blood onto the heart and stuffed it back into the hole from which she had acquired that heart. After several convulsions, the zombie began to transform. The other adventurers stared in horror as its skin cracked and turned gray, fingers extended into claws, and canines grew into fangs. The adventurers had just witnessed the birth of a Lesser Vampire.
"Impossible! I've never heard of a vampire who could do anything like that!"
"Well you have now!"
"Meh."
"What do you mean "meh"!? We're gonna die!"
"Retreat is impossible! We have to fight!" the magic caster cried.
"My lord, the God of Fire! Destroy this unholy creature!" the adventurer's bishop chanted as a burst of divine energy was released. Because the zombie hadn't fully transformed into a Lesser Vampire yet, the attack was effective against it, but not Shalltear.
"DIE!" Shalltear hissed as she grabbed another warrior by the neck and tore out his throat. As the Lesser Vampire continued to fight the other warrior, Shalltear turned her attention to the bishop. The redhead jumped in front of him as if to be a human shield for him.
I'll save her for last.
With that thought, she jumped over the woman and bit the bishop's head off as she made her landing. Suddenly, a blade coated in silver erupted through Shalltear's chest as the redhead stabbed her from behind.
All was silent.
And then Shalltear started laughing as the redhead's eyes widened in fear. The magic caster raised his hand to cast a spell but he was interrupted as the Lesser Vampire, who had finished its fight, pounced on him like a wild animal and sunk his fangs into the poor man. With him taken care of, all that was left was the redhead, who had pulled the sword back out of Shalltear and had been hacking away at her for a good thirty seconds now. Shalltear smacked the sword out of the woman's hand and slowly approached. In a last ditch effort, the redhead took out some kind of red potion and threw it at her. Shalltear allowed it to hit her so she could see the woman's expression of hopelessness when she realized that it had no effect. As potion bottle shattered on contact with Shalltear and the potion splashed onto her, she felt something: pain. Shalltear hissed in pain as her bloodlust instantly vanished and she finally recognized the bottle. It was the same type that was used in Nazarick. As her appearance returned to normal, she turned to her Lesser Vampire and pointed at the fleeing redhead.
"You! Bring me that woman!" she ordered with her voice returned to normal. The Lesser Vampire sped off to obey its mistress and shortly after, returned dragging the redhead by her feet. "Look into my eyes!" Shalltear commanded as she used [Demon Eyes of Attraction]. Once the mind control took effect, Shalltear started asking her questions. "Where did you get that potion from?" she demanded.
"A man in black armor at a tavern in E-Rantel," the redhead replied. Shalltear felt something she hadn't felt in a long time: fear.
Oh, no! Did father give this woman instructions? Is she part of the plan? HAVE I RUINED MY MASTER'S PLANS!?
"Was this your entire team? Is there anyone else?" Shalltear asked frantically.
"There's one more of us. A ranger. He is supposed to head back to E-Rantel in case we need reinforcements," the redhead responded. Shalltear panicked.
"Keep an eye on her!" Shalltear ordered the Lesser Vampire as she jumped out of the basin and started scanning her surroundings. She didn't hear or see anyone. She growled since this was the second person she had lost tonight.
HOW COULD I BE SO FOOLISH!?
"Come children!" she commanded as her shadows wriggled and level 7 Vampire Wolves emerged. "Hunt down every human in the forest and kill them!" The wolves rushed into the forest to carry out their mistress's command. Shalltear was very upset with herself because of how she had gone against her master's orders. "I'm in so much trouble!" she sniffed. She couldn't even kill the woman now because she didn't know what her master intended for her.
"Mistress Shalltear?" a Vampire Bride spoke up.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"
"We have found a number of women tied up within the bandit lair. We believe they were being used as sex slaves. What shall we do with them?" Shalltear was about to yell that she didn't know when she sensed her Vampire Wolves get killed. The problems just kept adding up. Shalltear sighed and, deciding to face the music, used [Message].
[Father?]
[Shalltear, how pleasant it is hear from you. How goes your mission?] Her master messaged back, evidently in a good mood. Shalltear cringed as she realized she was about to ruin that good mood.
[I've run into a few snags, sir.]
[Go on.]
[I ran into a female adventurer who had a potion from Nazarick] She heard her master chuckle a bit before he answered.
[Ah, Brita. Kill her, she is a liability at this point and we can't afford to leave witnesses.]
[I also eliminated a bandit hive and found that they have sex slaves with them. What shall we do with them?]
[Kill them all. We will come back for their corpses later and add them to our army.]
{Yes father. But I have some bad news. A ranger from a group of adventurers has escaped me and is heading to E-Rantel to gather reinforcements. Additionally, another human who was skilled in martial arts escaped me.]
[How did this happen?]
[I…. uh …. May have gone into a blood frenzy….]
[YOU WHAT!?] Came her master's true, terrifying, demonic voice. Shalltear was shaking in fear of her father's wrath.
[Please, father! I will accept any punishment when I return to Nazarick, but right now we have a bigger problem! Something has killed my Vampire Wolves!]
[Investigate with extreme caution and whatever you do, DON'T GO INTO ANOTHER BLOOD FRENZY! We will discuss your failure later.] And with that, Lucifer ended the spell. That word kept echoing through Shalltear's mind. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Her discussion with Sebas, still fresh in her mind, made even more worried as she along with her Vampire Brides and Lesser Vampire raced through the forest. Under any other circumstances she would've turned back into her True Form by now, however, based off how that worked last time, she decided not to risk angering her father anymore.
There can't be anymore slip ups. If father decides that we aren't worthy of him like the other Supreme Beings did then he'll leave us and it will be all my fault!
Jigsaw stared down at Clementine's corpse. It was still fresh. Behind him, stood the five Clockwork Soldiers that stood at the ready, prepared to butcher anyone or anything that got too close. Why had Jigsaw been allowed outside of Nazarick? Orders from his lord. He was to secure the corpse before anyone could attempt resurrection magic on it in an attempt to learn more about the "mysterious" vampire that had killed her. What would happen to the body after they brought it to Nazarick? His benevolent master had left that up to him.
Perfect.
Jigsaw leaned closer as he thought about which body parts he would replace and, much to his dismay, found that flies were already being attracted to the lifeless husk. He had to move the corpse quickly before the adventurers came back. He looked back over to his Clockwork soldiers and started ordering them about.
"Oi! Help me move her, ya bloody wankers!"
She will make a fantastic Bride of Frankenstein.
Shalltear and her servants observed the humans from the trees at a distance. Their leader had long, green hair and was, honestly Shalltear wouldn't have been able to figure out if it was a he or a she if it wasn't for the fact she already knew who they were and what that meant. Divine Class gear, the vibe they gave off as combat veterans, the information Nigun had provided Nazarick, the crest of the Slane Theocracy, and the fact that she could clearly sense that they far above the average humans. All of this together could only mean one thing. These were those humans that had the WCI [Downfall of Castle and Country]: the Black Scripture. The Black Scripture had been sent out by the Slane Theocracy on a secret mission to stop the Catastrophe Dragon Lord from reviving. They looked like they were getting ready to set up camp, that is, until one of them turned and saw Shalltear poking her head out of the forest.
"Captain!" a man in impressive armor hold an enormous lance called out. "Possible hostile!" Ruvik Alaf spun around and his eyes landed on a short, but beautiful girl. But it wasn't her looks that got his attention, it was her red eyes.
"It's a vampire, Gregor!" Ruvik, declared in a calm tone to the man with the lance. "Defensive positions! Prepare to engage! Gregor and Beaumarchais with me!" he ordered as a man in yellow with a tattoo on his face rushed to Ruvik's side. "Cedran, protect Lady Kaire!" once those words left his mouth a man in heavy black armor with a red bandanna jumped in front of an old woman, who wore a white robe with the image of a golden dragon upon it, and raised his shields. One shield was blue and gold, looking like it belonged to a hero, while the other was similar in shape and design to the shield that Death Knights employed. The robe the old woman wore was [Downfall of Castle and Country] itself. Ruvik, Beaumarchais, and Gregor charged at Shalltear while Cedran and Kaire slowly brought up the rear.
"Insignificant lower life forms!" Shalltear exclaimed as she and her Vampire Brides engaged the enemy while taking care to remain out of range of Kiare's [Downfall of Castle and Country]. Beaumarchais whipped his chain towards one of the Brides.
"[Divine Chain]!" he shouted as the chain acted as a whip and left the Vampire Bride with the end result being a gash across her chest glowing as if it was burning her. Shalltear cringed as she saw what the clearly holy weapon had done to her subordinate. Gregor was locked in heated battle with the other Vampire Bride but it looked like he was slowly overpowering her. Shalltear winced in pain as Ruvik's spear grazed her left arm.
"[Blood Blast]!" she roared causing a red explosion erupted near Ruvik. Ruvik rolled out of the way and attempted an overhead thrust. Shalltear dodge and as the spear struck the ground, a small fissure appeared, cracking the earth. Shalltear's eyes widened. She had never imagined that a human could be so strong. "[Mass Hold Species]!" as those words left her mouth a number of the Black Scripture found their movements constricted. Although slowed, Kaire was still getting closer and it was making Shalltear anxious. She was almost in range! Shalltear had a WCI, but she didn't want to take unnecessary risks that may further disappoint her father. "[Purifying Javelin!]" she cried as she threw a javelin made of light at her. Cedran jumped in front of in order to use his shields to defend Kaire but in vain. Shalltear's attack went through Cedran's shields, through Cedran and then struck its target: Kaire.
"Lady Kaire!" a man in brown and white robes with blonde hair and pink eyes shouted. Taking advantage of the Black Scripture's momentary distraction, Shalltear and the Vampire Brides immediately fled back into the forest.
"After that monster!" Ruvik ordered. However, Shalltear and her subordinates were faster and easily obtained sufficient distance between them and the Black Scripture.
With a feeling of satisfaction since she had managed to eliminate the biggest threat, or at least critically injure her, Shalltear used the [Message] spell to contact her master once more.
[My lord?]
[Now what?] He was still angry.
[I have good news and bad news my lord! The bad news is that my and Vampire Brides and I engaged the Black Scripture. I just escaped and they are attempting to hunt me through the forest!]
[Are you alright?] Shalltear was glad that despite how she had failed her father, he was still concerned for her safety.
[Yes my lord and that brings me to the good news: I managed to take Kaire, the one who can use [Downfall of Castle and Country], out of commission!]
[Exemplary work Shalltear now fall back immediately! Perhaps we can use your previous mistakes to our advantage in this situation. Begin surveillance of the east side of the forest!] Part of Shalltear was still angry at herself for allowing so many mistakes to occur while another part of her was admiring her father for, apparently, being able to turn this unfortunate turn of events into an opportunity.
[Yes father!]
With that, Lucifer ended the spell and put his hand to his temple as he formed a plan to deal with the situation.
That ranger will be back soon and will tell Ainzach about a powerful vampire killing his comrades. They've seen Shalltear's True Form but her usual appearance should be safe once Lucifer Dracul makes his public appearance. This martial artist, whoever he is, is the only loose end, but if he really was travelling with bandits then we can use that as an excuse. Once Ainzach hears about this vampire, he should logically assume it was the same vampire who killed Clementine so that means…..
An evil grin emerged on Lucifer's face as he finalized his plan. It was foolproof. It would allow him to clean up Shalltear's mess, raise Momon's fame, and hurt the Slane Theocracy in one fell swoop. He activated [Message].
[Albedo, get Pandora's Actor and Demiurge along with any Death Knights we can spare and establish surveillance around the forest near E-Rantel. No one gets in or out of that forest without me knowing! I'll send you the full list of the forces I want overlooking the area later.]
[Yes my love! Anything for the Supreme One!]
The reason I made Momon Orichalsum instead of Mythril is because he let the situation get worse before he saved the day to make him look even more like a hero. The blonde dude you saw a minute ago is Kuaiesse Hazeia Quintia, Clementine's brother. I fell asleep yesterday before I could finish this chapter but I woke up early today so I coud get more done. More will be up later today.
HAIL AND KILL!