[ - Author's Note - ]
Hey, how's it going?
So turns out my last chapter was dropped a day early of the fic's third year anniversary. I, ahhh, forgot. Whoops.
I guess I was more focused on pushing through the chapter to get it out over all my other little distractions. My bad. But yeah; Harem Quest year three is here... I'm not sure I ever saw myself putting so much time into one little (Well, not so little) story. But it's readers like you that makes it worth it; those who give encouragement and appreciation. So once more; thank you, all of you. You guys make this worthwhile.
So, enough sap. What's on the menu today?
Well, fighting gargoyles... and James does a little RPG trope he hasn't really done all that much before; a short lil' dungeon!
Time to start the chapter! Enjoy!
[ - Act IV - Chapter VIII: Carved In Stone - ]
Sire, I am aware you've requested no reports but I opted to place a series of excerpts from Dominic James Pencraft's 'Before the Brazen', a tome on the nations that were present before the Brazen Conquests; knowing more about history never hurts, after all.
The Imperium Remnant
Post the end of the First Age of Conflict the Imperium lasted some two hundred and thirty two years, give or take. Dynarex Kaiser, by the end of that series of wars, set conquest aside and focused on retaining and rebuilding what he had left. He mostly succeeded; losing some territory here and there but, otherwise, kept what he had left and stabilized it. He would reign for another ten years but came to the conclusion he wasn't up to the task of managing the Imperium in it's current state and chose an able general, Zolga von Blitz and married him to his daughter, forming the Blitz-Kaiser line, an off shoot of which would become House Blitzhaus.
Zolga would restructure the military but his major focus would be on rebuilding damaged infrastructure, establishing trade deals (Often needing to recognize the independence of said kingdoms from the Remnant, something Dynarex failed to do) and ensuring a lasting, if strained, peace. His grandson would carry on the trend when he took the crown of the empire and even negotiated a peace with the Larentian Ascendancy once he heard stirrings of possible aggression from a new Archbishop as he rose. Griselda von Blitz-Kaiser is often credited for preparing to rebuild the Imperium by waging peace but much of the work was done by her lineage by the time she arose. Sadly if she could have capitalized on what they had done is unknown; Verlangen would see the Imperium's fall in short order.
The horrific fate of the Empress is well known, as was the merciful end she was granted. To be frank, based on all reports of her character, it was an end that she did not deserve in the least and was a sign of the warlord's cruelty. Before then, however, the region maintained much of the former Imperium's culture and fashion to the point it seemed to stagnate; at least until Griselda attempted to correct the course of the nation. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if she had been allowed to finish her family's work.
~Dominic James Pencraft, Before the Brazen
The Rycall Empire
Founded by Xena the Bloody, granddaughter of Victor II, she initially attempted to have her territory known as the True Imperium but as the First Age of Conflict flared who could boast such a claim was confusing at best. She earned the nickname for her hatred of other women, namely those who tried to be warriors and would have their blood fill her bathtub. She would die of illness seven years after the wars started; possibly related to her habit.
Her heir would at first be her own daughter, Donna Kaiser, but at the age of thirteen she wasn't of age to rule and was found dead before she was fourteen by a stab wound to the back; the assailant was never found. Xena's chancellor, Jerome Rycall, was the one to take command following it and renamed his territory as 'The Rycall Empire' until the 'Imperium could be reestablished'.
Stories of chancellors attempting to overthrow ruling lines is a copper a dozen and most of those tales have the realm in decay following such a rise; Jerome, however, was a man who was if nothing else practical and forwards thinking. He was regarded as something of a tyrant but he was unusually fair for a man bearing the title; he demanded all races be treated as equals, did not punish the families of those who opposed him and, in general, did his best to present himself as a fair, kind and caring ruler. Few bought kind or caring but the people were willing to admit he was fair, even naming him Jerome the Even-Handed.
His line would keep up that reputation, one that turned to 'tough but fair', until Durgan Rycall was overthrown by Volo Ardune after the Brazen Conquests; Verlangen would rob them of some of their territory in this time. Realizing that outright war against the warlord would likely end in Rycall's fall Emperor Durgan would instead opt to strike a trade deal with the rising Brazen Emperor for the return of one city to save face. Even so Volo was able to leverage this 'weakness' to overthrow House Rycall and assume the crown himself... and opted to stick to agreement Dugan had laid.
House Ardune, however, would alter the 'tough but fair' treatment to 'tough and unfair' and begin oppression mirroring the Brazen Empire; at least until his house was overthrown by a revolution, leading to the Rycall Republic.
Interestingly enough House Rycall survives to this day; in part because Volo married then eight year old Princess Jessica Rycall (Thankfully waiting eight years before consummating the relationship) due to an agreement with the rest of the house. These days they boast sizable holdings in the form of a large, merchant house based out of an old palace.
~Dominic James Pencraft, Before the Brazen
Larentian Ascendancy
One of the largest of the nations founded after the Age of Conflict broke apart the Imperium, the Ascendancy was formed by Arron von Caulder; a bishop of the, then, underground Clergy of Larentia but publicly was an able general. He was able to assemble enough of the faithful to the goddess and those loyal to him and break away in a small territory based in modern day Ken. From there they would expand outwards and, as always, the details were unclear. Arron was a dragonborne, however, and was able to lead the nation from the start of the Age to it's end and was anointed as the new Archbishop once their nation was stabilized.
Arron would declare only an Archbishop had the right to rule the realm but stressed that those not of their faiths or of different faiths were not to be mistreated and be given respect due to them. By all accounts there was some mistreatment but Archbishop Arron was quick to denounce it and make things right; setting an example for those to follow and earning himself the name 'Arron the Pious of All' and mutual respect with multiple faiths.
By all accounts the Ascendancy was able to rediscover much of what the Imperium knew about all of it's holy magic before the Age of Conflict and was supposedly rebuilding lost knowledge of teleportation magics... at least until, as you might have guessed, the future Brazen Emperor came knocking on his door. Once it was clear that Verlangen couldn't be stopped Archbishop Arron had most of their magical knowledge hidden so it couldn't be used but all recovered knowledge on teleportation magics was destroyed; deeming them too dangerous to risk falling into the wrong hands.
Much of the Ascendancy's old culture lives on in the Anima Lux and Una Vertias Churches, although in different ways. More over when Joanna of the White Cloth established Eostia she choose Ken and Skyguard as her personal seat of power; highlighting the influence of the previous Ascendancy. More over before the Brazen Conquests there was talk about a possible joining between them and the Kingdom of Parquia. What, if anything, would came from it is unknown but it's thought Archbishop Caulder was aiming to curb growing Remnant influence; the details have been, sadly, lost to time.
~Dominic James Pencraft, Before the Brazen
Duchy of Peacerock
Peacerock didn't emerge until the end of the Age of Conflict and it was put in an awkward position; stuck between the Trident Plutocracy, Redlocks Alliance, Golden Axe Commonwealth and Nyaru Kingdom. Not helping the matter was that it was comparatively tiny; one of the smallest in the region. It's military power was laughable and invasion was always possible; that why it was named Peacerock by it's first ruler, Duke Pershin van Drusin. In order to survive the nation had to become a 'rock' for peace by being a neutral party between it's larger neighbors.
As a neutral party it was both at threat and protected by it's odd position; all sides wanted to conquer the nation and none wanted the others to claim it. Acting as a third party House Drusin could play peacemaker in the region between the greater powers around it. Drusin considered their position as peacemakers so important he skipped over his first two sons and his first daughter as heirs to anoint his grandson Alexander as his heir as he felt the young man was better at negotiations and persuasion.
He would learn that Alexander van Drusin's true talent, however, was seduction as he, somehow, married a lady from each ruler's family from the nations surrounding them which, if nothing else, ensured their survival even more... until, as the tales go, Verlangen would arrive.
Needless to say they were overrun in short order and the House Drusin would, after that, cease to be with all of Alexander's female descendants gathered into the new Emperor's harem regardless of how willing they were or weren't. Needless to say they weren't; protected from the rape from others as the Brazen Emperor wanted someone to birth his children.
On that note; while many of his sons, grandsons and great-grandsons died in battle his daughters were passed off as prized slaves or married off to choice servants. A few notable houses today bear his bloodline, distant now as it is, ranging from Houses Flarewing, Victor, Silversail, Angelus, Xill and even as notable a House as Roisage. The name of 'Verlangen' has died as the name of a house inside of Eostia; his lone, surviving son would take on the name of Entdecken. That name would, overtime, change to another in a century; Hawkeye.
~Dominic James Pencraft, Before the Brazen
[-]
Kaguya handled the bulk of the healing but I pitched in with the lesser and walking wounded. Jul was rallying his best warriors for the assault on the gargoyle's stronghold once that was taken care of and I took the time to ensure everyone was ready to go. We weren't exactly prepped for a fight but I brought some Mungale guards with me, Kaguya brought members of the Two Blades and Zealand had a small escort of bodyguards with her. Coupled with Or'gon warriors I was confident we'd be able to handle things and it wasn't long before we were underway.
As it turns out the peak wasn't too far away; an hour and a half flight away with Enterprise, although we didn't push the speed that high. We approached from much higher up and as we closed in I slowed down and used a built-in Illusion spell to cloak my ship; as always moving too fast would reveal it and a predator blur could still be made out. Even so it should let us get the drop on them... which was the second thing on my mind in the moment...
The first thing was that was the peak in question... well... it was a cone.
Now, yes, most mountain peaks were conal in shape but this was different. It was like someone planted an ice cream cone, point down, onto the top of a mountain, polished it until it was as smooth as glass and set a dome on the top with an entrance; a square one with slanted plates around the entrance that would push rainfall away from the inside... and a slightly slanted entrance that was lower on the outside. It wasn't small either; it was like the top fifth of the whole mountain in terms of size.
Needless to say this was not natural and if gargoyles had the ability to make something like this I'd eat my wagon. With salt. And pepper. And steak sauce. The question wasn't if someone made it; it's who made it and the list of who was very, very short. If I were a betting man I'd put money down on the Imperium or some branch of it but why build something out here like this? This was weird...
The dome on top was quite large; three stories tall and enough of a footprint to match a football stadium, if it was hollow it would make for a hell of a nest. It made me wonder what this was made for. "I wonder who made that..." Makoto let off near me and I nodded.
"We can guess, but until we look we won't know." I replied as Jun stood near the side with his arms crossed. "Still; we can worry about that later. We have an infestation of gargoyles to handle first. There's no lookout so we might be able to get the drop on them. So, let's head down and get to it." I let off as I started to lower down towards the peak; moving to it's rear to make it easier to deploy. I was still wondering about things as I brought us lower and lower... and saw a flashing light on my console, confused for a moment before grabbing the yoke and pulling us back and away. "What in the hell!?" I let off as I backed the Enterprise up into the air until the light stopped flashing; the ship rocked lightly as people stumbled for a moment as they looked to me.
"James, what's wrong?" Kaguya let off, moving over to my side as I looked back to her in shock.
"There's an anti-levitation field around this peak." I replied in surprise as she blinked at me as Jun walked over as well.
"What does that mean?" He asked as he looked to me, arms crossed as he spoke in an annoyed tone; likely in worry and frustration regarding his people.
"For starters if we enter it the Enterprise falls from the sky." I said as he winced as I moved to the railing to look over the side, directly to the odd peak. "I somehow doubt the gargoyles put it there!"
"But... does not gargoyles use magic to fly?" Kaguya asked as she blinked at me.
"Yeah; such spells cancel that as well but they have wings and can glide once that magic is cut off." That meant a gargoyle could drop into a city with ease and maybe land but not escape by air. "...There's something up with this place..."
"Dammit!" Jun let off as he slammed a fist to the ship's railing, glaring down at the peak. "Even on a flying ship we cannot reach them..." He let off as I snorted.
"On the contrary; there's still another way down." He gave me a look, blinking as I looked over to Riri. "Get the ropes, make sure the weights are on them. We'll rappel down to the peak." I gave Makoto and a Mungale Regular a look that said 'go help her'. Yes, I had considered how to drop into a place covered by such a field as well, just in case. And, well, nothing beats a simple solution, yeah? Riri nodded and rushed off to go and get ye rope with Makoto and the regular following. I would go to the rail and slap my hand on the stone. This time when the gate dropped as opposed to make a walkway a set of eye bolts appearing instead of steps.
Soon the ropes would be brought out; a hundred and fifty feet of rope. Some twenty pounds of weight shaped into a hollow dome with a rubber rim plus a spell stone on the end to help anchor it once it was on the ground. I would take the rope and at my direction most of the regulars would hold onto the rope as Riri climbed to the weighted end as the men slowly lowered her down; I stayed on standby with Kaguya. If a gargoyle popped out we'd have to snipe it before it hit Riri. Thankfully that didn't happen and we lowered her enough that she held up a hand. The lowering of the rope stopped as she started to swing herself about into she was over the edge of the peak, hopping off and landing on her feet. She would make sure the weight was set down and activated the stone; a small wind spell would pull air upwards inside of the dome to create a suction effect.
Once secured on her end the rope was tied to the eye holes and then tied once more to be double sure it wouldn't budge. Riri gave a few, hard test tugs before I moved to grab the rope and started to slide down. "Be careful... It'll be hard to catch anyone." I warned as I slid down the rope. Honestly; if I fell and hit the ledge I'd be lucky if I just broke some bones. Once I was safely down Makoto was next, followed by a nervous Zealand. One by one we braved the journey down the rope as we gathered. Bringing up the rear would be Kaguya who traveled a bit slower; I made sure to get a grip on her as she was close enough. "Okay everyone... Go silent for a moment. Let's try and get the drop on them."
No one argued as I led us around the outside of the dome, left hand on the sheathe of the Dragon's Claw as I readied for combat; how many foes we'd face I didn't know but it had to be two dozen at least. I'd presume three or four dozen at worst. Bad odds but I knew we had two big advantages; one was that the same field that kept the Enterprise away would ground the gargoyles as well. I imagine they could only arrive here by gliding from higher up; whoever worked on this place did a lot of work to keep anyone from getting here but likely didn't know how anyone could get around it. Once by the opening I slowed down and looked down the passage; you could hear moaning, screaming and grunting as I frowned.
"I'll cast an illusion on the opening to help hide our approach." I began, looking to Jun. "This'll be hard but stay quiet. We have the drop on them and if we play our cards right we can minimize the harm done to the women."
"Right. I'm behind you." He said as I first cast my spell before moving in slowly. Sure enough as we moved in closer and closer we could see it; gargoyles raped stripped down women... and more then a few bore swollen, pregnant bellies. Once at the edge of my illusion I knelt to look outwards and take stock of the situation. There was a throne in the back made from carved stone with a massive gargoyle gesturing with a hand to four of his lessers; more over he had dark red skin, a Blood Gargoyle. That could be a handful... Luckily the women were close to the entrance and we had the element of surprise. Without words and just hand gestures I started to point and direct people while keeping a lid on my temper; under the surface I was pissed at these guys but knew I couldn't let it show... yet.
My plan was to have myself and Kaguya open with holy/fire spells; striking as many of the raping gargoyles as possible and move Jun's tribe into place to guard them. Mungale Regulars and Two Blade guards readied to take the fight forwards with many detaching their sheathes from their hips and wrapping it's straps around the guard of the blade to use the hilt, guard and pommel as a bludgeon by holding the sheathe by it's end. This was a technique called 'mordhau'; you could hold a sword by the blade (So long as you had armored gloves or bare if you kept your hands from slipping) and use it as a club which would be more effective against gargoyles then an edged blade.
My biggest worry was the Blood Gargoyle; it was a special sort of Aberrant as one might expect that was stronger and tougher then usual. My guess was myself or Kaguya would need to handle it. Let me check with Observe...
(-)
Name: Blood Shard
Title: Leader of the Jagged Clan
Class: Aberrant/Gargoyle
Level: 34
Alignment: Hostile
Reputation: 32
Status: Healthy, Annoyed, Lustful
Known Traits
[?]
[Stone Skin] Your skin is a natural armor against assault! +30 Resistance to Slashing Weapons. +16 Resistance to Piercing and Blunt Weapons. +4 to Magical Resistance.
[The Wrestler in All of Us] You are highly effective with grappling attacks. +5 damage to all throws, locks and slams. +10% to Str when you have an opponent trapped under you and you are striking them unarmed.
[Aberrant Leader] Any and all Aberrant feel a desire to follow your command. +2 End to all Aberrant under your command. Additionally all non-Aberrant under your command who is not a human, elf, dark elf, half elf (Any type) halfling, dwarf or catalan gains +1 End
Inspired by tales of a now dead clan of Aberrant he made multiple attempts to form a powerful clan of gargoyles to storm human lands. Despite various false starts he discovered a strange, hard to reach peak and realized it would make a perfect base of operations. Now he is building his flying force to terrorize and slay humans...
(-)
Fun. But yeah; myself or Kaguya should be the ones to handle him. A glance upwards had me frowning as I saw something red and used Telescopic Vision to look at it. I could see a large spell stone up there, likely what was projecting the anti-levitation field. It was the size of a watermelon and while I couldn't tell it's grade from here I was guessing between four and three. I could deal with it after the gargoyles; even if I could deal with it now I wouldn't as it would keep our opponents grounded where they would be easier to deal with.
I nodded to Kaguya and drew mana for a double cast and she quickly followed my example. Finally I started with a Holy Flare at a trio of the rapist monsters over one girl before following up with wide Holy Flare Spread at a series of idiots chatting to the side. By contrast Kaguya fired to the other side to a pair of double-teaming gargoyles spit roasting a girl with a Holy Flare and tosses a second with Dual Cast into another cluster of resting gargoyles.
Screaming followed; both of now roasting gargoyles but also confused, scared and possibly wounded and definitely abused girls who were afraid of the sudden attack, even if they were unharmed by it. Once the attacks hit we charged in as I drew the Dragon's Claw; confident the blade was sharp enough that it could defeat even their natural resistances. My first target was one who took a Holy Flare and survived, knocked down like his kin as I slashed at his neck; while I had felt almost no resistance with most Aberrant as I cut past them I felt some here. Not enough to keep from beheading him but it was more then a steel blade on an ogre, I'll say that.
"An attack!? HERE!?" The Blood Gargoyle let off as I sent a powerful Holy Flare into another gargoyle who rushed at me; screaming as the golden flames exploded into him. Jun would thrust his spear into another with a Combat Art to punch past it's skin, making it cry out. Another would try and attack Kaguya by taking flight, forgetting it couldn't and ended up just jumping and face-planting; Kaguya just crushed his head with a kanabo strike before tackling another charging her with her shield. "Bastards! You dare!?"
"We do, yes." I shot back, firing a normal Fireball at him; no women were around him so I had no worries about friendly fire. I expected him to try and dodge but instead he did a Combat Art empowered hand clap (IE, Hulk style) that made a shock wave that set it off early. He howled and charged me; rushing on all fours like a beast as he snarled.
"You will die painfully interloper!" He screamed as I readied a new cast... finally he leaped at me, fangs and claws bared as I moved to a slide and casted a spell as I slid under him, Permafrost Wall- "What!?" -around him in the shape of a ball; two inches thick and with a few, three inch wide holes in it. I stood, pointed two fingers to one hole as he snarled and fired a Cryo Stream at him from almost point blank rnage; spell wind-up time didn't matter a lick if you couldn't dodge as he screamed out as he was coated in frost in under three seconds. I poured on the power for a full eight; he was done. There would be no recovery for him. Even so I would invert my blade and slam it into his skull; no reason to take a chance that his physiology would let him live.
A war cry sounded behind me but, of course, I wasn't alone as Makoto rushed into a gargoyle trying to flank me with the Kouzenken alight as she slammed it hilt deep into it's heart, spun away and slashed to cut him across the waist and rush another gargoyle to decapitate him; all in the span of my casting time.
There was once a time this 'Blood Shard' would have been a slug fest for me to fight; now? He didn't even get a boss title. It wasn't much longer until they were all done with Zealand slamming her trident into one's gut and I noticed something. At the back of the room was a curving staircase leading down. "Hmmm..."
"Something wrong?" Makoto asked as the last of the Aberrant was dealt with as she looked to where I was and frowned. "I see..."
"Riri!" I called out as I looked to her; she pulled her long knife from a dead gargoyle (With some difficulty) as she looked to me. "There's some stairs in the back here. Take the regulars, Two Blades, Makoto and Kiyono down and see what's there; come get us if it's too much to handle."
"Got it." She called out, waving to everyone as she got her ducks in a row. I looked to Kaguya, Zealand and Jun next as Riri started leading everyone to the stairs then down.
"Kaguya, see what you can do for the women while I see about that stone above us; I think it's what's making the field. We can bring the Enterprise in if we deal with it." I told her; it would be easier to get the women on if we didn't have to go back up the rope. "Zealand, Jun, stand guard." Zealand just nodded as Jun blinked to me.
"How are your going to get up there?" He asked which was a fair question; I couldn't fly up there as it was some thirty five feet up or so but I had a few tricks up my sleeve. I casted a Scorpion Chain and shot it upwards where it would latch on near the stone. I then started to climb up the mana made chain to get over there; thankfully it was more then easy enough to do so by activating my armor's Physical Burst to climb up with ease. Once there I reached out and set my hand on it to scan; for starters it was a grade four stone. Next I started to, for lack of a better term, read the enchantments... and much of my suspicions were confirmed; I had seen this style of enchanting in text books only so far, Imperium era enchanting... more over I could read the anti-levitation spell in it plus a spell designed to make it difficult to sense the magic in the area plus spells that would... not block Scry spells but rather push them aside...
What in the hell made someone go so far to hide this peak..? ... Something was downstairs... and maybe not gargoyles. Regardless I got to work; I took in a breath and focused to 'erase' the enchantment. It's not as easy as it sound; if placing an enchantment was like shaping clay with your magic (With more and more resistance on higher grades) this was more like trying to flatten it with a rolling pin (Again, more resistance on higher grades)... and no, this wasn't easy before considering I was hanging off the ceiling while maintaining a mana formed chain. Still any enchanter with their salt could erase it and any with talent can do it under these conditions. It still took time; nearly a half an hour to finish it... and as I test I used Levitation on myself... and could fly.
Ending Scorpion Chain I then moved to reshape the stone in order to detach it; after all it's a free spell stone. I would hover down and smile to Kaguya as I landed by her. "So the stone was the reason, huh?" She let off as I nodded.
"Yeah." I said as I pulled out my voxlux, calling the man on my ship. Once he answered I smiled. "Keep an eye on the light but the field should be down now; come in and park near the entrance and deploy the walkway. We'll load survivors then."
"Yes M'lord." The regular said with a salute as I ended the call and set the voxlux away, adjusting the stone under my arm.
"How are they?" The women were still nude and huddling; some of the men offered their vests of other tops to give them something to wear.
"I've ensured they won't birth new generations of gargoyles; thankfully none were too far along... although..."
"They ate the others..." One of the women said softly as I stiffened in shock, filling in what happened for Kaguya. I moved to kneel before her; fully nude, blue hair in waves to her hips and a modest bust. I set a hand to her shoulder as I smiled.
"I'm sorry we couldn't do more." I told her softly. "But at least no more will suffer what you did by their hands." I moved my hand off to keep smiling. "I have a flying ship; we'll take you home soon so-"
"M'Lord!" One of the regulars was rushing back to us, panting as if he rushed. He was jogging but didn't look panicked. "M-M'lord! Y-you should come down quick! We've found something... strange!"
"Strange?" I let off, hoping he would clarify.
"There's a big door down there sir and..." He said, pausing for a moment. "...I'm not educated in the manner but I wager I saw an Imperium emblem with the Divina Crucis!"
"...Well that has my attention..."
[New Quest Gained: Peak Raider]
[New Objective: Examine The Door]
Oh hey, been awhile since I've seen that.
[-]
Duchy of Anvil
Castle Anvil, Outside of Sanguinis City
Office of Alundra Van Bludhorn
Alundra could say she feared very little in life. If asked if there was a living person she feared it would be a short list. Olga once but after her defeat she had been tamed... to a degree; she was still a powerful sorceress that Alundra likely couldn't challenge in open combat. Likewise challenging Celestine in open combat was stupid but the woman's weakness was her kindness and pacifism; aside from outright rebellion Celestine wouldn't turn her power on any of her lords. Men like Vult made her cautious but she was confident she could defeat him; although she was well aware defeat was an option in such a conflict. There was a rather well known assassin worth fearing but his cost was so high few could afford his services.
She once feared her father who was long gone and once her older brother until she jammed a knife of magical ice into his spine... really, anyone she feared was dead or, in some manner, defanged. She was powerful enough in almost every way that mattered to fend off nearly any realistic rival she could have.
Vult had been in Anvil as he went about his planning when he tossed his voxlux onto her desk as a video played as thunder, lightning and fury came down and razed an entire fleet in mere seconds from a flying ship... Noxdecus' flying ship... "...fuck..." She finally let off.
"...if he wanted to do so he could tear Anvil asunder in a week..." Kaiden let off solemnly as he looked to the video with his arms crossed, his usual aggressive attitude dimmed as he considered the problem before them. "...How would we fight this..?"
"I'm not sure yet." Vult said; even his ever present, cocky grin toned down. "But I've got Keane working on it. Nothing and no one is invincible; when the time comes we can bring it down. That being said until we do this thing can be a pain in the ass and I imagine Noxdecus isn't stupid enough to think that his enemies aren't coming up with counter-measures. Likely he's thought of some and has counter-measures to some possible counter-measures." And then finally his grin came back fully. "Be a heck of a feat once done, eh?"
"You've seen that and you're undaunted!?" Kaiden bellowed out, his mother saying nothing, as he showed his surprise as he looked at Vult who chuckled.
"Eh, maybe a little; but we can't let ourselves slow down, now can we?" Vult said with a shrug, Kaiden giving him a look of honest respect. "We'll work a way out to take it out of the game; either by capturing it or grounding it hard. But that said we'll need to work out how to handle it... Heh... Honestly, makes me want to face him down more..."
"Glad you're so happy about this..." Alundra huffed. "Regardless we need to deal with the bastard before he makes better toys... Sooner, rather then later." Vult only gave a shrug to her words; suggesting while he awaited the challenge he wouldn't oppose her nipping Noxdecus in the bud...
Of course if things went her way...
[-]
Once the tribeswomen were loaded aboard I directed the pilot to drop off the Or'gun back to their home before returning here. Half of the Mungale Regulars and the Two Blades would stick around for... whatever was here. We were walking down the stairs with Kaguya in the rear as the stairs spiraled down for some distance; I didn't know how far but maybe two or more keeps worth of stairs...
So many stairs... I didn't relish the return trip. Finally we reached the bottom where Riri and the bulk of our forces were as I walked over. No signs of gargoyles; given how deep this place was they must have found it too tedious a trip to make. Didn't blame them. At least there was spell glass lights on the ceiling; ancient I had to guess.
The chamber the stairs ended in was sizable; a classroom about in size if having a twenty foot ceiling. Carved into gray stone was two, massive doors; ten feet tall and each four wide. Both doors had a carving on them; the old Imperium eagle, much like the Roman sort. With wings spread it held a wreath under it in it's claws and within that was a carved circle. Inside of said circle was the moon and sun of the Divina Crucis and the connecting shaft between them, but nothing under the moon. Inside the sun, however, was a shield with a rounded bottom and a 'Y' inside connecting the bottom to the top corners.
[(⸜∕ ) Examine The Door]
[New Objective: Open the Door]
"That's the Imperium Eagle and holding a shortened Crucis with a shield inside of it..." I mused as I walked closer. "Hmmm... I haven't seen this but I think I know what it is." I said pointing to the Crucis section. "I think that's the seal of the Imperium Inquisition."
"Imperium Inquisition?" Kaguya let off as she moved to stand at my side. "Like the Church's?"
"No, not quite." I replied simply. "The Church tries to make their Inquisition reach as far as they can. The Imperium's was a balance to the power of the original, pre-schism Larentian Church; they were tasked to ensure that bishops, abbots and such were performing their duties and not skimming donations off the top of the pot and lining their own pocket. By all accounts they were a fairly small group answerable only to the Archbishop and the Emperor." That's not to say corruption was impossible in the organization; people will be people after all. "However that still begs a lot of questions; even with magic they went to a lot of trouble to build something in the middle of nowhere and made it frustrating as hell to reach. I don't know if anyone could have gotten in here before now... What's here that they made nigh impossible to access?"
"I suppose if there is an answer it lays beyond this door." Makoto let off as she looked it over. "Do you know how we may open it?"
"Hmmm..." I let off as I walked over to the door. I set my hands to it and dragged them about, seeking for any sense of magic come from it as I frowned in thought. I could sense a bit but it wasn't reinforcing the door that much; it was rather like it was holding something up...
...
Hmmm...
I think I get it; something would come down once a condition was met... opening the door? I gave it a test push; nothing. I grabbed the carvings and used them to pull the door; nothing. There was a lock inside of the door and if I had to guess there was a way to trigger it... and based on what I sensed we needed a magical item that would serve as the key. If I had to guess something would happen as the door opened without the key... which we didn't have. Maybe we didn't need to unlock it however, breaking the lock could work. Finally I drew a finger along the crack between the doors. "Makoto, I want you to use the Kouzenken to cut along this line as deep as you can. Try and make it as clean as you can."
"As you say, James-sama." She said as I moved to stand aside. I readied a Scorpion Chain in case I needed to yank her away from the door as she drew and activated her mana blade in one, smooth motion before standing before the door, blade raised. She took her time, steadying herself and took half a minute before slashing down but that cut was fast and clean; if I didn't know better I'd say she had missed. Nothing happened for a moment after so I stepped in and set my hands on it and pushed; now the door swung open as I looked down the hall. More lights on the ceiling as we saw a long hall. "I wonder why this place was made?" She wondered as I looked about as Riri moved to my side, checking for traps.
[(⸜∕ ) Open the Door]
[New Objective: Press Forwards and Explore]
"Dunno... If you had a dozen mages as capable as my father working with earth magics to carve this place out it would still take a decade or more to do it..." I mused. Sensing nothing and seeing nothing I started to walk forwards. "Sure, you can make water with magic but not food... You'd either need people hunting and foraging in the mountains or bringing food in from a town. The logistics behind making this place must be something else." And keep in mind; there's no records of the Imperium having airships... Can you imagine building this place up without something like that?
"It's a lot of effort but one must ask; what's worth such work?" Kaguya voiced as Riri pipped up next.
"Must be a king's ransoms worth of treasure!" She let off... as I shook my head.
"No; that doesn't make sense." I replied. "I can understand a hidden vault but you need to get your money to spend it. It would make more sense to hide it underground in a city or outside of it. I can think of two reasons; this is a tomb or someone wanted to place something important out of reach of someone or everyone and intended to recover it decades or centuries later... except..."
"It is possible that anyone who knew of this died in a violent manner." Kiyono added as I nodded. It was also possible someone knew something about this place but either A) not where it was exactly, B) lacked the means to reach it or C) was looking for a key they'd need. In that case we were kinda lucky; we stumbled over the place by chance, we had the means to reach it (With some difficulty) and I had the means (Via Makoto) to break the lock without triggering anything. That being said...
What the fuck was in here..?
At the end of the hall was a turn, down a flight of stairs and at the bottom was a room; dome like and sizable, half the size of the dome we fought the gargoyles in. Once inside I paused to look about and try and size up what this was...
The room wasn't the plain stone the rest was but white; shiny white like crystal with flecks of rainbow colors reflecting off it. Something about it nagged at me on what it was but I shut it out for the moment to examine the rest of the room. The floor was plain stone but textured with small swirls. The Inquisition's Eagle was at the room's back, carved into the white walls and over a myhtril statue with it's back to us kneeling before three white statues of the same, white material as the walls; the three aspects of Larentia. There was a round, raised platform between them all; three feet high; if something was on it I couldn't see. The rest of the walls had the Crucis as a design every few feet as I finally looked back to the wall to work out what it was.
"Something about the walls are off; what is it made of?" I let off, frowning as I narrowed my eyes. "It's nagging at me; I should know..."
"It almost looks like a quartz or opal." Kaguya let off as she frowned. I gave a hmmm before I realized something.
"Could it be spell quartz?" I mused as I tapped my chin.
"Spell quartz?" Makoto let off as a means to ask.
"You can make it from a mix of quartz, a small amount of spell crystal and powdered spell stone." I let off as I tapped my foot. "Compared to spell glass it's fairly resistant to damage but much, much weaker and harder to make. It can be reshaped like spell stone and even fused together; once fused they'll resonate in a couple of years. Some Imperium era cities still have them inside of their walls as defense. Most today prefer spell orbs that are inside of the walls as it's much less expensive. One notable thing is it can transfer it's mana to a detached piece to give it all the power; so long as it's in range."
"Interesting..." Kaguya let off as she frowned. "Perhaps it was used to make the excavation easier." She mused as I frowned.
"Hmmm..." I let off. "Maybe... but what is it doing now?" The power would be on the level of, I would say, a baseball sized grade one stone; powerful yes but expensive to get that level of power. ... Even so... what was it doing..?
And then the walls glowed with he prismatic colors glowing a bit more... before the mythril statue shuddered... "I have a baaaad feeling about this..." One of the Mungale Regulars let off... and yeah, I had to concur. And then... the statue stood up and turned to face us! It was then I could see that it had joints that made it more like a giant action figure... ... oh... ...oh fuck...
"It's a golem!" I let off as I drew my saber. The statue looked feminine in shape and bore a mace in one hand and foot and a half wide round shield in the other and it's body looked like it was wearing Roman-style armor. Standing almost seven feet tall it was massive and stood over us as I noticed a fist sized piece of opal like the walls around us and glowing in a likewise manner as said walls. After a moment a plume of golden light appeared over it's head like the plume on a Centurion's helm before more cascaded from behind it's shoulders to form a cape of cascading light... and then... it spoke...
"Trespassers upon this vault; you shall not claim what is not yours!" Her mouth didn't move as an echoing and ethereal voice came from her as I used Observe.
(-)
Name: ?
Title: ?
Class: ?
Level: ?
Alignment: ?
Reputation: ?
Status: ?
Known Traits
[?]
[?]
[?]
?
(-)
...
Fuck. "Okay, let's fall back until-" I looked back as I spoke and blinked as the entrance we came in was now covered in a door of light. "...Never mind then. We fight." I let off as I turned back to the thing as my view shifted, the boss music stirring up. The cape transitioned into a pair of wings as she flew up a foot over the ground, hovering as she lifted her mace up, point reaching to the sky before pointing it to us. "None shall survive or escape!" She bellowed as my view shifted backwards.
_Holy Sentry of the Hidden Vault_
Magnus Custos Divinus
[(⸜∕ ) Press Forwards and Explore]
[New Objective: Defeat the Magnus Custos Divinus]
She swung the mace to the side as my view returned to normal as I opted to start with a Dark Flare. "Try and keep your distance!" I let off as I blasted off with the attack... only for it to bat it from the air with it's mace as it charged and blocking a powerful Hammer of Smite from Kaguya with it's shield. It was rushing to me and I opted to rush back at it, waiting before impact and leaping up and over it as I blasted down with a Blast Zone at her back only for her wings to shift back to a cape then brighten and take the destructive blast with only a slight stagger that she didn't even need to recover from.
Kaguya used a spell to bolster her might as she and the giant statue clashed weapons; she was being pushed back but cast with her off hand to land a powerful Hammer of Smite into it's face, knocking it back a half step as Kiyono leapt over Kaguya to land a powerful, Combat Art punch to it's head only before she was knocked aside by it's shield; she hit the ground in a roll and quickly came to her feet, sliding a few feet but looking mostly unharmed. Makoto flanked it from the side with a slash to it's knee but the light cape shifted to guard before, for lack of a better term, flicking up; Makoto blocked with her blade but was sent skidding back twenty feet and then finally fell to her back.
Riri was able to get behind it and leapt with her blades in hand wrapped in Shadowblaze Weapon as she stabbed down; these did get past the cape and hit the metal but I couldn't tell how much damage she had done as the rest of the cape started to glow; she kicked off it and back flipped away before the cape let off a shock wave before reforming. Riri was buffeted by the wave but was unharmed as she landed while Zealand rammed her trident into it's hip from the front and left; leaping away from an overhead smash, leaving no real damage.
I wasn't inactive and as people moved away from it I unleashed a powerful Havoc Rend at the back of it's head only for it's plume to brighten and expand; dissipating the attack even as it flinched before turning to face me... and meeting my second, Dual Casted Havoc Rend in the chest as it let off a metallic howl as it was pushed back a half foot as I scorched the surface of it's skin. Damn...
It charged me with it's mace as I brought up my shield in my arm and blocked it head on; said shield cracking hard... but now it was so close I couldn't miss with the next spell I was charging; Burrowed Light through my foot. It blasted up into her as I slid back as the light/earth mana coated the golem to slow it down. It did slow her down as I blocked the next strike with my blade and used my armor's Physical Burst to help give someone another shot; that person being Kaguya as she used her own Burrowed Light; but making it exploded up into it. Even so I was shoved away in the end, skidding back as she charged me with another strike; this time I dodged to the side and slashed her weapon arm... and scratched it.
Fuck.
This is solid myhtril so this isn't going to work. Okay, next plan; I casted a Hammer of Smite right into her chest where the spell quartz was. She was too slow to block... and I saw a shimmer of light appear over it before impact; blocking my spell fully.
Crap.
I was forced to block once more but the force this time lifted me up and off my feet several feet where I landed on my back with a grunt. From the side arrows pelted it's head to no effect as I rose to my feet. Kiyono rushed back in and performed two Combat Arts in a row; one letting her leap to the ceiling and plant her feet to it, the second making her torpedo to the statue feet first while spinning like a drill before impacting it hard. The speed was such it's light didn't put up a defense as the neck tilted and turned with the collision but in the end she shrugged it off, forcing Kiyono to back flip away before she charged a Regular. He screamed (Didn't blame him) and leapt to the side to avoid an overhead strike but was hit with a back swing, sending him sprawling as a powerful stream of water hit her via Zealand's trident that was ignored.
"We're not gonna win like this!" Kaguya shouted out as she grit her teeth, shield up. "It's too solid!"
"Agreed." I called back as I frowned as my mana shield regenerated. "But I'm not sure what we can do..."
"Can we break the walls M'Lord!?" Another Regular asked; bow firing arrow after arrow to little effect as the golem went for Makoto next who deflected a mace strike then started to dance away to dodge follow ups. "You said it took power from it, right?"
"Yes, but that's solid stuff!" I called back, frowning it. "And even if I broke it apart it wouldn't..." I blinked as me words 'drain it's power' went unspoken; I had an idea. "Cover me!" I called out as I leapt back, sheathing my blade and drawing the Radiant Gemini, splitting it in two for the double focus as I Dual Casted. Kaguya moved before me in an instant as I started to blast off with spells; not at the golem but at the walls... spell of choice?
Shine Cracker.
The soft gold colored lightning hit the walls and as they did their glow wavered and lessened with it as I looked to the golem; it's light plume and cape wavering likewise. More over it slowed down a little more as Makoto slashed out with a sonic wave attack that was blocked but still stumbled back. As soon as my casts ended I Dual Casted once more, causing the glow to waiver more as she swapped to charge another Regular; he was able to dodge then duck a follow up strike before stabbing up to it's quartz heart with the tip deflecting off but the golem retreated from the hit and looked down as the shield didn't rise up once more.
Shine Cracker as a holy/lightning spell drained magic from opponents and items. The walls were sending it's magic to the golem and, thus, draining them robbed the golem of some of it's power; showcased as Zealand leapt up and descended with a war cry as Shocking Weapon came to her trident as she stabbed down into it's shoulder. The golem tried to grab her but she was fast enough to leap away as it's cape unleashed another shock wave; but far weaker. "Whatever your doing it's working!" Zealand cried out as she casted another blast of water into the mythril foe.
I cast two Shine Crackers at once into the wall and that made it roar out as one of the Mungale Regulars charged it now; spear dropped in favor or taking hold of his metal rimmed shield with both hands. He would dodge a swing and leap up before slamming the shield's point into the quartz with a grunt; getting a second strike in before needing to leap away while Riri leapt to the golem's shoulder and dropped down; long knife in both hands as she used a combat art to slam it down and wedge it between mythril and quartz... before being punched away hitting the ground hard and sprawling.
"Riri!" I let off, resisting the urge to rush to her side as I used more Shine Crackers. Finally the golem looked to me and seemed to work things out as she lumbered to me, her light dimming... before the Regular tossed his shield away and leapt to her chest, grabbing the knife and placing his knees up and pulled hard. She moved to lift her weapon, ready to crush him... before he fell back; weapon and quartz both coming loose as she froze... and fell back as the boss music came to an end, it's power source removed.
[(⸜∕ ) Defeat the Magnus Custos Divinus]
[New Objective: Examine The Treasure]
[Defeated List]
Magnus Custos Divinus=13500XP x 1.25 Kill Bonus=16875
+20% Hero of Eostia Bonus
Gain 20250 XP Total
I ignored that objective and report for the moment so I could rush to Riri's side, Blessed Waters ready to cast before I reached her, cradling her softly as I started to heal my maid. Kaguya was already moving to others as Riri groaned and coughed. "Is it... over...?" She asked as I nodded.
"Yeah... good work." I said as I gave her a smile. She chuckled and soon pushed herself up as our hero of the moment walked over with Riri's knife in hand, even as I kept the healing up.
"Apologies ma'am it, ahh, bent a little..." He said, shaven face and brown eyes under his helm. Observe told me he was Leon Ardone.
"It can be fixed..." She said, taking the weapon as I finished with my spell; indeed just a couple inches over the guard was a bend.
"Better the blade then a person." I said as I looked to him, patting his shoulder. "Name?"
"Leon Ardone, sir." He said as I nodded.
"I'll be sure Gregory hears of this one; you've earned something from this." If it was up to me there would be a promotion in his future.
"Th-thank you, M'lord." Seeing Kaguya had the wounded covered I opted to turn to the table by the statues and walk over. I saw no other defenses as I approached and saw what it was... a pair of odd tablets... They were six inches by ten inches and half an inch thick with rounded corners but what was weird was they looked like they was made of plastic; a semi-transparent, cyan one and ruby colored one. I... didn't know what this was as I gently reached out and lifted up the cyan one (Senses keeping watch for trouble) as I looked it over. It felt more like glass, really as I hummed... and then it hit me... it was mana stone!
Mana stone was highly advanced stuff made in the Imperium and very rare today. It was made of a collection of spell crystal, powdered spell stone and other substances that I was unaware of; or rather everyone was unaware of it; the secrets of the material was lost to time when the Imperium fell. It was, for lack of a better term, a nigh indestructible spell stone that, while not able to power things like weapons or armor due to a low output, it was used as a means of storing important information and history on it. It could carry some spells on it but these were used for record keeping mostly; the secrets of this material was taught to humans by Allannia Grassfoot, aka the first love of Dynatos Pateras, founder of the Imperium. More over the material was first introduced by the Knight and Sage aspects who helped humanity against the dark elves invasions thousands of years ago. That said there was something odd; the rare examples of mana stone tablets bore a small emblem of the Imperium in it's lower right corner; an eagle, thunderbolt, helm or wreath depending on what the tablet was for. Some were rewritten by the Kaiser dynasty but these gave us a lot of insights to the Imperium, if in certain fields but... this one lacked any mark.
Finally I used my mana to activate it in order to see what was on it and a 'page' was projected over the tablet as I started to read. "Know these words well." I spoke as I read. "These are the testimonies of I, Deedligh Wisewing the Sage, bearing of a piece of Larentia and her wisdom and grace. I teach you... now the tales... of what once and offer guidance and... ... holy shit... It's the Biblica Lux..." I let off in shock.
"Those are the words of it, yes..." Zealand said as she walked over to me, blinking. "But... I don't get why a copy of it was-"
"I don't think this is a copy." I told her, shock and awe in my voice still. "I think this is the original Biblica Lux... The one humanity was given when the Knight and Sage helped us against the dark elves." She paled as realization hit. The Imperium bore both originals of the Biblica Lux and Primum Verbum on mana stone with both going missing as the Kaiser Era hit in full swing. Neither had been found... I moved to grab the ruby one and lifted it up and turned it on... and sure enough, the opening page of the Verbum greeted me. "And this is the original Primum Verbum..." I let off in shock. These were priceless artifacts and commanded all the wealth of Zenith for one alone. "This is..."
"A find of unequaled amazement..." Kaguya said as she came close, clearly overhearing us. "...What do you intend to do with them?"
"...I think the best thing to do is bring them to Celestine directly." I replied as I looked to her. "Once we're aboard the Enterprise we should make our best time to Skyguard..."
"Agreed." Kaguya said with a serious nod before looking to Zealand. "I trust you wish to join us."
"I wouldn't miss this for anything..." She said, gently taking the Biblica Lux to look it over... "I never thought I'd ever see something like this..."
[(⸜∕ ) Examine The Treasure]
Quest Complete!
[Quest Complete: Peak Raider]
[Gain 5000XP]
[Gain 5 USP & 5 RSP]
[Gain 12 UTP & 12 RTP]
[-]
Secundus City, Dominion of Geofu
Merchant's District
Lorcan Pugio looked about as he wandered through the alleys of the city; literally called 'Second City', Secundus was the second largest city of Geofu and the stronghold of House Hullda, a minor house that ruled that section of the Dominion. He pulled a black cloak around him as he huffed softly; staying quiet and relaxed kept him from noticed as he stepped out into the street finally near his destination; an office owned by Mortadella Trading Enterprises; compared to the old Imperium style buildings around it it was more standard to the modern era and coated in a light red paint. He would lower the hood around his head; it made him less suspicious as he walked to the door and opened it to go inside. The cozy reception area was manned by a woman behind the front desk; black hair in a ponytail, sharp green eyes behind glasses and a curvy body in a white tunic and black slacks. She seemed stern even without speaking a single word.
"Ahem." He let off as he walked closer; the women looking over her glasses at him. "Percy Oldale, here to see the brothers."
"They are in, one moment." The woman let off in her stern tone. She set a finger on the voxlux on her desk, the item pinging for a moment before showing a pigman's face. "Mister Oldale, here to see you."
"Ah, send him in, send him in!" The pigman said as she nodded and ended the call.
"Last room down the right hall, sir." She said in a calm, dismissive tone as he nodded and moved to walk. Frosty lil' bitch...
They were always the ones to moan the loudest once you dragged them to bed. He'd go down the hall and knock on it twice before entering, shutting the door behind him. Inside both of the pigmen brothers were behind the same desk. "Sorry about the delay; some new intel about the situation over in Balanar. They're gearing up to fight Justical and King Xerander expects a long war. Not sure why." He said before reaching into his cloak and pulling out a book; modestly thick and clearly a worthwhile read full of information. "But that said here's all the details the General was able to dig up; current troop strengths, hidden weapon caches, a list of doctrines; the whole nine yards. I dare say he went above and beyond."
"My, my..." Ponti let off as he took the black bound book and opened it, giving a page a quick glance over as he chuckled. "Good, good. We'll see it to the boss as soon as we can. Having your General on board is going to make things much easier..."
"Pffft, should see all the fun things he showed me about Fortress Geofu." Lorcian said with a shrug as he took a glance around. Typical office; shelves of books and records, decorations here and there, including a tasteful nude painting of, all people, Andromeda Highreign. Conti would stand up and move to a shelf, pulling off a book before grabbing three glasses and set them all on the desk before moving back for a bottle of gin and moved back to fill each glass before sitting down and setting the bottle to the desk.
"Can't wait to hear about it." Conti let off as he smiled. "More over there's move developments we need to see to; at least those that Varro deems for us."
"Turns out a total shit show happened in Roxford while the High Queen visited." Ponti injected as he took over. "That's the reason for your intel. By all accounts it'll keep Camafran and Balanar so tied up that no matter what happens in Eostia they'll be unable to do anything. What we need now is to know more about the other nations around us to set up the proper conditions..."
"To that end we need to do our due diligence to see it done..." Conti would pick up. "But we also need to know more about elements in Eostia herself; Hol'canna, Coppic, Maros, Brell, Ironport and Eastport namely. We've a good idea of which way the local lords will swing but less about the minor houses. We need to take their measure so when the time comes-"
"-we know where our potential allies and enemies are." Ponti finished for them both; Lorcian enjoying sips of his drinks as they wore on.
"Mmm... Good drink. And I note they're our eastern boarder territories... save Maros..." The roguish man noted as he smiled.
"Aye, that." Ponti said with a nod. "Given things... might not work out fully on that end of things we might need to consider an eastern front, like it or not."
"And as for Maros..." Conti started to add. "...well, as you know there's been... changes there recently so... perhaps some of the minor lords and more... amicable to the future order."
"Ahhh, that's the hope then, is it." Lorcian said with a smile as the pigmen took their own sips as he took one more. "Mmm... makes sense... Fuck, glad I ain't Varro with all of these fucking moving pieces on the board. Must be a full time job to keep track of what's what."
"That's half of our job, it seems." Ponti said with a piggish snort. "That's why he hired the General too, I bet."
"We need more then one person to keep track of this shit." Contri added with his own snort. "Honestly; I think the boss only gets the important bits because damned if we have trouble keeping track of our parts of it."
"Keeping track of it and finding time for the little pleasures, eh?" Ponti replied with a snortish laugh.
"Word to that... word to that..." Grave's man let off with a chuckle as he finished the glass. "So... about the job..."
For the next hour and minutes after the three would talk. At the end Lorican woudl leave with a spring in his step, if a slightly off-kilter one, giving the receptionist a flirty look as he left.
She would wait for a long moment and, hearing nothing, reached for her earring. "How much did you get?" She whispered, seemingly to herself.
[-]
After the golem fell the door opened so once we were sure everyone was okay we collected the tablets and made up to the peak; I also used Levitation to help get the golem up to the ship. Because it's free mythril. Enterprise was a few minutes out so we boarded quickly once it arrived and stopped over by Jun's village long enough to be sure they were fine before rushing towards Skyguard. Zealand called to her people to explain she'd be gone longer then expected (Without explaining what we found at my request) as we powered over to the Capital while I called ahead to Celestine saying I found something she needed to see and to keep it on the down low until we were face to face.
Naturally myself, Makoto, Riri, Zealand, everyone took a moment to take a picture before the statues with myself holding the tablets that we could share once we've done everything we need. It was going to be a day so I told the men they could break out the drinks and have a small party on deck; as long as they stayed off the quarterdeck as we needed to mind course until we were clear of the Thunderblaze. Once free of the peaks I was able to speed us up to the point we arrived the next day around noon; myself, Zealand and Kaguya using the Cloud Rider to get to the palace with Makoto, Riri, Kiyono and, at my insistence, Leon in escort. I carried the tablets wrapped in a blanket; hell I slept with the damn things to keep them in my sight until it came time to pass them over. Finally we were directed into an office where Celestine awaited us. "Ahhh, my friend. I did not expect to see you so soon. And nice to see you once more Kaguya, Duchess Redhull. So, what is it you found that demands such haste in seeing me?"
"You might want to brace yourself for this one, Cele." I said as I moved to her desk and, gently set the bundle down (Despite how hardy the items were) before unwrapping them and setting tablet by tablet. She blinked, not fully sure what she was looking at but aware of the value of mana stone and what they were often used for. Then recognition hit her as she lifted the cyan one up and activated it; if I had any doubts that they were the originals then her dumbfounded reaction laid them to waste. "These are... ... I would have thought them lost for thousands of years... How did you find these..?"
"Well we... somewhat stumbled over them." I replied before moving to tell the tale; Kaguya's wish to visit the Thunderblaze, the attack on the Or'gon Tribe, finding the gargoyle's nest (I made sure to request that no one mention how we repelled down; I wanted to try and avoid someone else from considering it, just in case), fighting the Aberrant and discovering the door, how we explored once the tribeswomen were taken care of, the fight with the golem and finally finding the tablets. As she listened she was flipping through the 'pages' with gentle uses of her mana, reading it before setting it down and looking to me.
"I... I have... few memories of my previous reincarnations..." She said softly as she softly stroked the tablet with one hand. "They are not something I can just call upon... I cannot just pull them to my mind for recall but at times they appear to me... And one I saw was when my past self as Deedligh with Pirohess as we passed these tablets to humans in trust..." She would take the ruby tablet next and turn it on, flipping through it in the same way. "I recall the pride in how far these short lived creatures had come yet worried and hopeful in how far they had to go... These are pieces of Eostian history and my history, yes... but it's more then that, it's a part of human history on this realm." She smiled softly as she set the tablet down and looked up to me. "What do you wish done with them?"
"I think they're better off in your possession." I replied simply. "As you said; these are part of our history and we need someone to hold them in trust for all. I can't think of anyone better for that." She smiled and stood from her desk, walking around it to me and quickly pulling me into a hug, arms around my neck as I slid mine around her waist; pulling her close and squeezing before letting go. She moved her hands to my biceps as I kept mine on her hips.
"Thank you. I will announce what was found soon; such a daring tale is rare as is the prize gained from such." She told me before letting go and turning to the others quickly. "And thank you all as well; and those who further assisted you." She would move to set a hand on Kaguya and Zealand both; pulling them to a hug (Getting a squeak from Zealand) for a long moment before moving to collect the tablets. "I will set these in a safe and guarded place." She said as she turned to us. "Kindly stay the night and rest. More will wish to hear the tale and we can work on discussing how such an announcement will be made."
Oh, right... My fame grows...
Shit.
[-]
Thankfully I'd be well away of the blast zone once the announcement was made but I knew I'd not escape the radiation of this fame nuke. Oh well. Dinner was still good and it felt like Celestine ordered extra care be taken with it. I opted to invite Kaguya to my quarters if she wished it and she said she'd see about preparing something. What I didn't know and I'd have to wait and see. Sort of eager to see, to be honest.
In the meantime I contacted Edmund to get the newest rumors that could get me on the track of the Black Storm; nothing yet that I could act on but I've gotten bits and pieces on a thief around Aurum Forum City and other cities in the Federation of Rad as well as reaching as far north as Longroad's Wagon's Rest City and as far south as Steelroar City in Alcanth. Supposedly there was an expert thief who stole from the rich and gave to someone, likely him or herself, but it's believed this thief has been mucking around in more militarily sensitive regions; nothing's been stolen but some papers and items were out of place... with a fleck of clay being found on a key suggesting they've been copied.
This told me two things; the Black Storm didn't have people everywhere and needed more direct infiltration to get information as well as their leader valued intelligence on his opponents highly. It also told me the thief was a bit more careless then his or her otherwise high reputation for stealth would suggest... If the thief could be pinned down...
My thoughts were cut off as the door was knocked upon and I called out 'come in' before the door opened. To my surprise it wasn't Kaguya who entered but Zealand in a thin, silky blue robe that she clutched to herself with a deep blush highlighting her freckles as a hand pushed her in gently by her shoulder. Said hand was Kaguya's and my fiancee followed her in wearing a matching white robe; she would turn and shut the door as Zealand waved weakly. (For the record I had changed into a simple pair of loose white slacks and a blue tunic) "Zealand; I'm a little surprised to see you pulled along here."
"Well I was told you've... enjoyed her already." Kaguya said with some humor as I shrugged as Zealand hung her head.
"Oh yeah. Walked in, stripped down and pointed at me without saying anything. It was cute." I replied as Zealand whimpered softly and shivered in place as I sighed. "Okay now. Relax." I told her.
"I'm relaxed!" She let off as I felt a pang of deja-vu. I sighed and set a hand on her head, pulling her in as I kissed her forehead.
"How can you stand up to a guy three times your size, fight giant bugs and gargoyles without flinching... but be scared of a little sex with someone you've had sex with before?" I asked her honestly as my hands moved to her shoulders to rub them softly.
"...fighting is easier then dealing with boys..." She said softly as both myself and Kaguya chuckled/giggled at that as the priestess moved to kiss her cheek and undo the robe Zealand wore.
"And your reason for inviting her?" Clearly I didn't mind but I was curious.
"She's cute." She replied with an honest smile that... wouldn't look out of place on Prim's face. I sighed, even if I couldn't help but smile as Zealand's robes hit the floor; I pulled the redhead to a hug before pulling Kaguya in for a kiss on the lips.
"You wanted a taste for yourself, huh?" I let off as Zealand's head snapped to Kaguya as her robe came off as well... before my fiancee reached down and cupped the duchess' ass with both hands, lifting up firmly as she held them. Zealand squeaked and I took the chance to move my hands to cup her modest breasts before kissing her lips; Kaguya's own lips moving to kiss at her neck.
Chuckling a bit I moved to kiss at the other side of Zealand's neck as I dropped one hand down and cup her sex directly as she gave a long, drawn out moan between us before I drove two fingers in her... and then she squeaked out as I felt something else inside of her and realized Kaguya opted to finger her ass.
Zealand was gonna have fun tonight. That said she wasn't fully idle in all of this she fished a hand into my pants to take hold of my cock and fish it out with one hand and started to stroke me softly and I heard Kaguya give a soft gasp and moan; likely the redhead between us was reaching back for her sex as well. Given how soaked she was I decided we didn't really need to bother too much with foreplay and, as such, pulling my hand back to lift Zealand's leg up under the thigh then knee before stepping in a hint closer. Getting the idea she pulled my cock to her lower lips and let me press into her as I groaned softly, burying half way in on the first stroke.
She moaned out, hands moving to clutch my neck as Kaguya kept up her anal fingering with one hand, snaking the other between myself and the redhead to cup her breasts and squeezed it firmly as my hips started to rock harder and harder into her. The hand not holding her leg moved to her ass, cupping it as I rammed up into her as she moaned out. "You two are picking on meeeee!" She whined out between us.
"Are you... complaining?" I let off as my hips worked her sex as I gave a groan almost directly into her ear.
"N-n-no!" She let off as my hand moved to swat her ass once as I chuckled and kept up my pace, groaning into her ear once more as I kept slamming pelvis to pelvis. I groaned harder as she gave a long, deep squeal as I felt her squirt softly as I shuddered and, after a few more strokes, came into her as I gave a longer, lower groan as I pumped a heavy load of seed up into her. I pulled free of her... and Kaguya was already pulling her to the bed. I chuckled a bit, taking a moment to strip my clothing off fully now before following. "Yeeeep!" Zealand let off as Kaguya almost yeeted her onto the bed; giving her a somewhat gentle but stronger then I'd expect toss by the hips, landing on her back.
Zealand was, as you might have guessed, a bit stunned by that and let off an 'eep' as Kaguya crawled between her legs and set lips to pussy; I wasn't at an angle to see but I imagined kissing then licking of the pussy before her, cum filled or not. A small healing spell kept me stiff and Kaguya's position had her on her hands and knees, ass up and facing me. Naturally I wasn't going for her ass, I doubt her god would like that a second time but as I moved onto the bed on my knees I lined up with her sex before pressing in firmly. I gave her butt cheeks a firm little clap before starting to rock my hips into her.
Kaguya gave a long groan as she kept eating out Zealand as my hands slid up to her hips as I rammed into her deeper as I groaned out as I leaned over her a bit. She was clenching down hard as I shivered a bit more, enjoying the feel of her velvety insides gripped me and given Zealand's moaning she was enjoying her own velvety insides being eaten out.
Not that I overly payed attention to it; I was watching Kaguya's ass jiggle in waves each time I slammed down into her sex with my cock and boy was it a nice view! I would grab her cheeks with both hands and slammed into her sex, dick first as I groaned over her. Of course there was a good view when I looked up too; Zealand, for her part, had her head leaned back, hands tangled in my fiancee's hair as she moaned, eyes shut as her freckled visage looked, simply put, cute layered with dripping lust.
It's hot.
I couldn't help but ram harder and harder into her as I leaned over her, groaning deeper as she squeezed on me harder and harder as I worked to pleasure both of us at the same time as I shivered a bit more as Kaguya moaned harder and harder into Zealand's sex. I would be a bit caught off guard when the redhead squealed loudly and almost in an oddly shrill tone as her hips rocked upwards before, a few moments later, Kaguya came on my cock. I lasted, maybe, three strokes before I came in her in turn, groaning hard as I did so...
Fuuuck...
I would pull out of Kaguya as all three of us panted with pleasure as I moved to lay next to Zealand and pulled Kaguya to my other side.
Cuddling would follow as, for a time, the problems of the world were set aside.
[Fucked List]
Banged Kaguya, Sun of the East=100xp
Banged Zealand Redhull=100xp
Multi Girl Bonus=10 x 2 Girls=20xp
+20% Hero of Eostia Bonus
Gain 264xp Total
[-]
After that night of fun and breakfast with Celestine I would give Zealand and Kaguya a ride back to Eastport and Thorn respectfully. It was then time to turn to home once more, which I was glad for. The amount of time I spent there after Roxford was short and I wanted to kick my feet up for a day or two before getting back to the grindstone.
I had time before the Black Storm came a callin', so I didn't need to go all out all the time but that time was limited so I had to prepare as best as I could; training, inventing, building, preparing... and trying to hunt down the Storm's agents... I hoped my contacts payed off on that front but only time would tell...
That's not all I had to consider; House Blitzhaus was a rival house to my own and my relationship with Channer while intact seemed to have muted during the war, I knew Alundra and her son Kaiden from Bludhorn wouldn't mind seeing me dead and I wouldn't put it past them to hire someone to try, Mandeville is gonna Mandeville, the Archbishop and his Church likely had me in their sights and would not be happy by my finds and, oh yeah, I had dealt with assassins in the past; possibly hired by one of the former.
I also had to consider something else; how did the Storm intertwine with any of those other problems I had, if they did? It was hard to say...
I had things to worry about... but I always did, even in my old life. But life was more then problems.
And I planned to live.
[-]
Early Afternoon
Western County of Erogus
Road Through Grassy Plains
There was a series of towns and villages on the western part of Erogus that traded mostly with a smaller city in the region named Tallgeese. Between them was mostly grassy fields, gentle hills, shallow creeks and spare trees and brush. The road itself was mostly dirt that had been compacted with spots that were paved, although not in the section of current concern. The concern?
"Hurry! Keep going!" A young woman in red shouted out before thrusting her hand back; a Fireball slamming into a ogre and slaying it outright as it's escort of three goblins were knocked off their feet. To one side of her a large group of Aberrant; ogres and goblins being the bulk but an odd, larger, horned goblin leading them and a massive troll. She had managed to slam as powerful Blast Lance spell as she could manage to blow a heavy chunk of flesh from it's thigh and disabling it... for a time; it's regeneration meant it was just limping after them in the rear. The leader kept the bulk of his forces back but the ogre was overeager and had charged in; leading to it's death.
On the other side of her was a batch of two and a half dozen pilgrims she was hired to escort to Tallgeese; women and children of the Verum Via sect of the Larentian faith, The Way as they were called, who both sought to establish themselves in a new region of Eostia and remove vulnerable orphans from living near Albia lest they be enslaved. Very little of the magic known in their number was healing spells and they had no, sizable combat abilities between them. The two warriors in their number were retired due to injury; they carried weapons but couldn't be relied upon if it came to a real fight. They had hired her and three others expecting only small bands of bandits at worst.
Her fellow sell swords were dead; she was the only one left of the escort as they ran... but those she guarded were not soldiers fit for march or active warriors; most were women who's goals were worship and care who only needed to corral the children they cared for. The Aberrant leader wasn't interested in fighting more then needed and was willing to wait until they were too exhausted to resist; she knew what they wanted with her...
They didn't want to waste a womb after all...
All she could hope was to pray for a miracle to save both her and her clients...
[ - Author's Note - ]
And there we go. The gargoyle fight was short... but there was a more powerful foe behind them... and a neat little prize was found, expanding the lore a hint. Also while our least favorite Duchess is discussing issues with the Enterprise the Black Watch is shifting behind the scenes... A fun little threesome and... a light cliffhanger for the next chapter to pick up.
The Mana Stone bibles have two main reasons to be made; one was to have a prize worthy of someone making such a hard to find vault to start with and two was to, if I pull it off right, stir further issues with the Church. That it makes James more famous is... not something he'll enjoy.
As for the last character... well, wait and see.
As always leave a comment saying what you liked, didn't like and would want to see! Leave your thoughts and I hope to see you all next chapter!
Until then!
~Eostian Scribe