Eostia: Harem Quest

by EostianScribe

The Gods have given mortals the power of The Gamer as a pass time. A hobby. A means to compete and relax. One goddess, however, sees it as a means of salvation; starting with one world. As such, she rolls the dice... (Harem, Citrus and Eventual Dark Content Warning)

89. Act III-Ch XVI: Behold, The Abomination

[ - Author's Note - ]

Well... Here it is... It's time...

I've teased this thing for the better part of a dozen chapters now, and hoooo booooy, is it overdue to finally show it off.

I'm sure some people will be unsurprised what will happen... I'm curious at how many people will get the why.

And, thanks to a bit of luck, I am dropping this chapter on Christmas of 2023... what a wild year it's been, eh? I guess you can call this chapter a little Christmas present from me to you. Merry Chirstman, Happy Holidays and be safe for the rest of year and, hopefully, next one.

So, onto the chapter.

[ - Act III - Chapter XVI: Behold, The Abomination - ]

Never underestimate desperate people. You never know how far they will go to get what they want until it's too late to do naught but observe their folly.

~Unknown

[-]

As much as I wanted to bring Riri back to Mooncast with us the fact the House Blitzhaus was there as well was a temptation I wanted to avoid. Still it was good to see her once more before we flew back and landed, riding along the ground back to the palace. Awaiting us was both Celestine and Olga who, I couldn't help but note, was both uncuffed and had her staff back. We dismounted and I gave a somewhat jaunty salute as I smiled. "Your highnesses, pleasure to see you both out and about."

"Glad to see you both back, well and healthy." Celestine said Chloe moved up to stand with me to greet them, our escort moving behind us. "Despite the troubles things have gone well."

"We've begun talks good and proper." Olga said as she tapped her staff to the ground twice. "And while my... usual aides aren't here I have had volunteers from the local populace step in and they've proved not fully aware on all matters but helpful and insightful both."

"That's good to hear; I'll be glad to put all this crap behind us." I said, giving an honest smile. "Honestly, I'm just looking forwards to-"

And then, suddenly, a loud pair of bangs sounded as we all jumped in surprise as a dust cloud rushed over towards us. I was confused until I realized... it was my mother... which was confusing; I didn't mention anything about the fight I had to her. Then I noticed Saxon wasn't going at her full speed; more of a cruising speed. "Finally! You're back! Just it time, we just finished talking with the painter!" She let off, skidding to a stop before me; for once not squeezing the life from me as a greeting.

"Painter?" I let off as I blinked at her. "What painter?" I asked a bit confused.

"Remington Brandt!" She let off as I blinked; among nobility he was a well known name, the Brush of the Nobles he was called. A half elf of the Artist's Guild he was one of the most in demand artists for doing portraits of various nobles and other upper class people. Among others he's painted Celestine, four of Geofu's High Governors including Alexandria Freebird, all of Houses Arcturus and Fiorie for the last seven decades, several of the Popes and Archbishops over the decades, every current ruler of the seven kingdoms and even Claudia. "I thought, given your accomplishments thus far, it would behoove us to have a new portrait of you made and when we contacted the Artist's Guild he volunteered to take the commission."

"Really?" Celestine let off as she turned to her fully (And... for some reason Olga had positioned herself to flank the High Queen when compared to my mother; behind and to the side... mostly behind, for some reason...) as she smiled. "He is a fine artist although he's often in demand; I had to wait four months for my portrait due to his previously commissioned works. I'm surprised he took the commission."

"So am I... I don't keep up with art but no one can deny his skill." I added with a nod. I wasn't excited about posing for a portrait but I didn't mind if such a prolific artist was-

"He was very excited when I mentioned I was wishing for a heroic portrait!" Saxon let off with a wide smile... as I stiffened and went white as I chuckled nervously.

"Ahhhhh, a heroic one seems... a bit much..." I let off as I saw Celestine blink then blush, the escorting Dawn Templars snicker and look to me, Chloe blinking for a moment more then the High Queen before her eyes widened and blushed and Olga... blinked and looked confused. "A-a normal portrait would be more fit-"

"Nonsense!" She let off, grabbing me by the upper arm. "Come now, let's start!"

"H-hey, wait and-whoa!"

And the world blurred as I was carried off...

[-]

"Oh dear..." Celestine said before giggling. "I... didn't think Lady Noxdecus would commission a portrait like that..."

"I don't get it." Olga said as she moved to stand next to Celestine once more. "What's so special about a 'Heroic' painting?"

"Eostians have a... different take on such things my queen." Chloe said with a sigh, hand on her hip. "They embrace something left over from the old Imperium in this regards..."

"And... that is?" Olga asked softly as Celestine simply giggled more.

[-]

Celestine blushed a bit once she walked in on my painting session in progress about fifteen minutes after I arrived in the room.

Chloe blushed, crossed her arms and tried to look unimpressed despite her eyes dipping down.

Olga, by contrast, dropped her staff, the weapon clattering to the ground, and gawked in surprise and then blushed at the sight before her; I swear if they could her eyes would roll out of her skull.

"You look so good dear!" My mother let off as I heard someone snort and chuckle.

"Miria. Stop. Snickering." I let off sternly, or as sternly as I could while holding still. Yes; Miria was here too. And Makoto. And Tiffany, Aeris, Akanji, Cress, Mokria and, of all people, the Baroness of Delconna, one Grise Rongera who noticed Brandt, was curious of why he was here and opted to sit in. She was smoking her pipe, eating the eye candy and licking her lips.

The room chosen was a sitting room with a fireplace with a light gray wall (One of the few rooms that didn't feel like an edge lord painted it) with me standing before said fireplace. was directed to stand with my legs shoulder width apart, quarter turned from Brandt who sat behind his easel as he worked with the dragon's claw in my right hand, inverted with the point on the floor, the Shining Gemini held likewise in my left with a deep blue cloak over my shoulders trimmed with white fur and clipped with a brooch over my left collarbone with another brooch, boasting the House Noxdecus emblem, set over it. That was all fine and good. What else was I wearing for this painting?

My circlet.

No, that's it. That all. A circlet and a cape.

You see the Unitum Imperium, the ancient, fallen, Roman-like empire enjoyed making statues, paintings and other forms of arts of its heroes and those they saw as heroic. And they believed nothing was as heroic as a great hero that was laid bare in stone or on canvas. As in naked.

Yes, the Imperium was fond of it's heroic nudes... and so was many of the nations borne from it, but none so much as Eostia; simply calling a piece of art 'heroic' left the 'nude' part unspoken but it was still heard.

"You never see art such as this upon the Savannah to be sure." Mokria let off as I felt my eye twitch a bit.

"Maybe I should see about purchasing myself a copy..." Grise let off as she leaned back and pulled on her pipe for a moment. Yes, the Artist Guild could make copies of this... The original would be twenty four inches by thirty six inches and all copies twenty by thirty; this was pulled off my setting it upon a device that would scan it and use loaded paints to make another; but smaller. It was like a matching quality if smaller image; it also made which one was the original (And thus more valuable) stand out more. As a side note; yes, we did make some money off of this from the copies. The Artist's Guild took the largest cut of each copy sold, then the artist, then the subject. As Grise breathed the smoke out she turned her head to see the new arrivals. "Ahhh, our good queens join us."

"Why is he naked?" Olga asked (In a minor, but notable, 'WTF' tone) as I sighed deeply.

"The old Imperium was fond of it's heroic nudes, a tradition proudly carried on." I replied in a put-upon tone. "Although not my first choice."

"Relax, M'Lordling." The artist let off from behind his work. "You'll love it once I'm done, trust me."

"I know Balanar does it as well, but not like Eostia does." Chloe said, picking up her queen's staff and holding it out to Olga who... didn't notice.

"I... That is what a nude male looks like!?" She let off as her eye twitched and she kept gawking. And staring. Given how... isolated she was, and how she likely wasn't expected to marry or the like she must have never seen a naked person before, dark elf or otherwise, so she must have found the view... interesting...

Seriously, I half expected her to get a nosebleed at this rate.

(As it turns out she had seen more then a few Aberrant nude before and one or two breeding... with dogs, not people. She found them ugly and treated the view as one views a naked dog... which is to say 'just a dog'.)

Celestine seemed to giggle a little at Olga's discomfort... while blushing herself. I mean... she was looking as well... just not in full gawk like Olga who was off balance by the naked human.

The uncomfortable naked human.

"Meh, meh, meh just relax and enjoy the show." Miria let off as she giggled and sipped at some tea as Cress passed her a biscuit which she took.

"C-come on, it's just traditional art!" Cress let off as he looked to Miria with his own smile as I felt my eye twitch.

"Let's do a nude portrait of you and see how you like it." I let off to Cress as Remington snickered a bit behind his easel. I felt my eye twitch at that; all I could see of him was curly, brown hair and a black beret.

(Two other interesting notes on him; one was he had a mustache which I didn't know half-elves could have. As it turns out it is possible but rare as it was most assumed that facial hair on half elves just didn't happen. The second was he well aware of how uncomfortable some of his subjects are in their nude portraits... and he took some joy in it. Just my luck to be his next subject of delight.)

"Oh hush, dear. You look dashing." My mother let off as she smiled to me. My eye kept twitching at this as I tried to hold still. I was just hoping that something would happen that would take some attention off of me!

"Your highness are you, ohhh! Heroic portrait. Nice!" And everyone turned to see my new hero, Campbell Galeraven, in as she looked over me once... and then turned right over to look at the High Queen as most everyone turned to look at her.

"Campbell of House Galeraven, yes?" Celestine said as she turned to the knight. "What brings you here?" She asked as Campbell produced a scroll.

"A message from the General DuLouvenoir. In regards to the situation in Garan." She said as she passed the scroll to Celestine who looked over it... and frowned.

"This is... we'll need to hold a meeting over this." Celestine began. "We'll hold it in a few hours; there are other things to go over regardless." She said before turning to Olga. "Obviously we cannot have you for the full meeting but this item is a concern to Garan as a whole; you should sit on that part at least."

"I see... I'll accept the generosity." Olga let off as Gawk-Mode finally ended. She took her staff back, finally, and looked to Chloe. "I would have her sit with me. She is my aide and I would benefit from her insight."

"Of course." Celestine said as she looked back at me. "You should be done by the time the meeting starts. So there's no need to hurry the painting."

I sighed... I wish it would...

Remington chuckled and kept painting...

(In the event your wondering while he painted me as I was the background he chose was of the battlefield in the Battle of Mooncast City, after Olga's defeat and Garan rout. Not my first choice... and I worried what people looking at the image after the fact might think.

"Wait, dude wandered into a war wearing a cape and a smile? Fuckin' hell, is he hardcore or dumb?")

[-]

"It's difficult to know the exact level or scale of the combat between the Garanian regulars and the Legion but we've noted at least seven battles over the last four days." General Mallory DuLouvenoir let off as she set her sheets down. She gave Olga and Chloe a side eye (The latter giving Arnold von Blitzhaus a side eyed glare while both ignored the General's stare) as she spoke. Indeed the Dark Queen and her aide's presence in the meeting, even if only for this section, was a bit odd for most of them, most of those from the last meeting sat in on this one with a few additions, Campbell being one of them. "It used to be small skirmishes and it mostly still is however there are two large scale battles ongoing."

"One large Legion force has holed up in an old, old Imperium Fortress; Castellum Reliquiae if I have my history right." Auryon Reid let off as she read off her on sheet. "Half the outer wall is gone but the inner wall is mostly intact and they plugged up the gaps with logs and rubble. We can make out the banner of House Reclusia on the field and they've begun a siege. I imagine how long that battle will go on will depend on what food stores the Legion pulled together before hand. The other is in a city inside of eastern Blazecrown; it's a messy situation of urban combat that's been ongoing for the last two days at least. Garanian forces control the entrances to the cities but based on what we can make out the Legion is both entrenched and spread out, relying on a combination of strong points and hit and run tactics to whittle down the Garanian forces who, frankly, have simply laid waste to blocks to fight them."

"Good gods..." Someone let off; Soleil Whitelance. I'd only met her recently; six foot even with waist long, blonde hair in flowing locks, bright purple eyes a set of G-Cups (Eostia; the land of the busty everyone...) wearing a flat, golden circlet with a hanging, dark green gem over the forehead, silver colored mana armor with light gold trim that bore a gorget that spread down over the sides of the chest leaving the center of her chest open. Rounded, layered pauldrons over a white cape with gold trim, gauntlets with black gloves, a tube top like, armored top with cups reaching up to hold her massive jugs, a double strapped thong with a frontal codpiece and thigh high, armored boots. "I knew the Legion would care not for the people of Garan but that the regulars would do such harm..."

(-)

Name: Soleil Whitelance
Title: White Knight of Armon
Class: Crusader
Level: 33
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 77
Status: Healthy, Shocked, Calm

Romance Rating: 87
Corruption Rating: 3

Known Traits
[?]
[Manaclad] You wear any Mana Armor like they were made for you. +10% bonus to all Resistances to any Mana Armor or Mana Weave you wear

[Light of the Defender] All defensive and curative Holy based spells have their mana costs halved. In addition casting time for these spells is decreased by 10%

[Lancepoint] Your spear and lance thrusts have a better chance to punch through armor. -7 Piercing Resistance to all targets when thrusting a polearm at them. In addition gain +3 damage to all polearms when equipped

Second daughter and second eldest child of House Whitelance she has dedicated herself to becoming a great knight for most of her life. She opted to spend more time on learning melee combat, magical spells and military tactics over statecraft and economics as her sister was the heir; however with her father and sister both being severely wounded in Garan conflict it's possible that one or both may be forced to retire due to injury; meaning she may become the next Baroness of Armon, and soon.

(-)

To add context; her sister lost her right arm in combat and it was too damaged to be reattached while her left leg was mangled so badly that it supposedly was both bent the wrong way and twisted the wrong way which (Among other injuries) could be the end of any future combat for her while her father was in a coma and needed to be healed multiple times to keep him alive and while he was expected to wake up there was no clue about his condition once he did so.

"They set fire to commoner's homes in this city on their way out." Maia let off with a snort. "I'm not surprised but I am surprised at how enthusiastic they are about it."

"I can say that we have no real experience in defending our own territory." Chloe let off, turning to look at the redhead as she spoke. "The lowborne and highborne might do it because they don't care but I think some of the Regulars would go along with it because they don't have any idea of what else they can do."

"To their credit while brutal it is effective and it denies the Legion a way of wearing them down." Arnold slipped in as he frowned. "That being said the question must be asked; what happened to the peasantry? Even if the nobility do not care for them they must understand they need them alive to serve them, yes?" He said as he looked to the Queen of Garan. "...Yes?"

"With what I know now, I am not so sure." She replied before looking to the Shield Division's Commander. "Is there nothing known of the people in the city?"

"I'm sorry." Auryon said, sighing with honesty. "What we do know is there have been some degree of peasant revolts to the military; intelligence on why is limited but a lack of faith in the Matrons seems to be the reason. I can't prove it but it's possible the city was in revolt before the Legion arrived and assaulted. It could well be that the Garanian force sees the situation as fighting both the Legion and those rebelling... in which case..."

"In which case they're punishing the populace more then saving them..." Prim finished as Olga frowned deeply.

"Once more; it's a mere theory I have." The Catalan of the Dawn Templars let off. "I have nothing to support it beyond what we know; but it does fit as a theory."

"I can only imagine how long this has been boiling..." Olga hissed out. "What of Napreryvnyy? What are the Matrons doing there?"

"No clue." DuLouvenoir let off with a sigh. "They are still basing the bulk of their forces there and what reports we have states their condition is degrading but what the leadership is doing we don't know." She said, looking to her sheet. "Based on reports General Gavrilla Dreadblade seems to be assuming leadership; if not in general then at least of the military. Various mages and academics have been brought into the city; to what ends we're not sure. They seem to be trying to prepare for an attack but I'm not sure they are in or will be in a condition to do so."

"And we're still not in a position to attack yet either..." Alicia let off with a huff. She wasn't wrong; a lot of those injured were now healed or mostly so but the numbers still were not at a point to make an attack comfortable. "I know we're preferring to make peace with Queen Olga but I'd be more comfortable with the option to attack on the table."

"Should we be talking about attacking when said Queen is in the room?" I asked as I looked to Olga who shook her head.

"Do not mind me; I understand your position." She said calmly. "Even if I would much rather you did not attack my city."

"Do we even need to?" Another new face to me let off; Ryan Stoneshard, Duke of Hol'canna and one of the most notable of the Traditionalist lords who sat with his arms crossed. "With all due respect if we do nothing they may well fall apart on their own."

(-)

Name: Ryan Stoneshard
Title: Duke of the Black Gauntlet
Class: Wizard
Level: 37
Alignment: Hostile
Reputation: 56
Status: Healthy, Relaxed, Confident

Known Traits
[Steeped in Shadow] You have a talent for Darkness class magic. -5% Mana Cost when using Darkness spells. +5% Mag & Str when using Darkness spells or combat arts

[Blast Zone] You like it when things go boom. +10% Damage to any spell of any element that explodes upon impact.
[Manaborne] You have a stronger and more active mana system then most. +2 to Mag & Mnc. +5 to Magical Resistance, +2 to Magical Resistance when wearing any form or Mana or Arcane Robe. You regenerate mana 5% faster.

[?]

The Ruling Duke of Hol'canna he's known to keep a near iron grip of his territory, or at least the more profitable western section of it. While he keeps allies he's known to have few true friends and all of them are spellcasters like himself; who is ranked as a Magus of the Spellcaster's Guild. He's known for his cunning and temper in equal measures and boasts a rivalry with Arnold von Blitzhaus that seems to be hostile and friendly at the same time.

(-)

Given he was a Traditionalist I was pre-inclined to dislike him to start with but he wasn't wrong per say and I could agree with the sentiment. However it was Kaguya who replied to him. "Because they are desperate and in desperation may cause a level of destruction and harm we've yet to see."

"I'm force to agree." Chloe let off as she gave me a look. "Because of someone who won't be named we're on the defensive for the first time." I shrugged wishing she didn't single me out like that. "There's a reason they're desperate."

"Maybe we should give Olga some spell paper and a means to send a message to them; ask them to stand down." I suggested... as Olga herself shook her head.

"While I would be willing to do such you needs understand something." She said as she looked to me. "I am being treated with exceptional respect and grace by our standards. Had we caught Celestine she would be in our dungeons, chained to a wall and likely tortured into compliance. The fact is this; they fully expect you and yours to be doing the same to me."

"And thus any letter they gain from her would be assumed to be under duress, if not forged outright." Arnold summarized with a frown. "Nothing short of a face to face meeting might satisfy them. Even then they may argue the point, even if they agree to such a meeting."

"I think they might be opting for a strong offensive." I began with a frown. "And if they can't pull it together they might opt to attack anyway thinking it's better to go down swinging. We have to assume they want to attack and could; the question is what condition will they be in if they do?"

"Without me to lead them I can't say a good condition..." Olga mused, sighing.

"I think that will conclude the topic for now, at least." Celestine said with a sigh. "At least until we have more information on the subject."

"I will presume, then, that's our cue to leave." Olga said as she stood from the table, looking to the High Queen. "I would like to know what is going on there... It seems I'll have more to deal with then I assumed..."

[-]

Come the next day Lulu summoned me to the forge; sure enough the axe was done and ready to go. It just needed my enchanting work to complete it. I reshaped and fitted the stone into place, recolored it and got to work and what a piece of work it was. I was a bit giddy as I started my craft and once done I took it to the training grounds to test it out, refine it, work out the kinks and then finally, summon Gregory over to see.

Naturally he wasn't the only one who came; all of House Noxdecus along with Mokria came as well as Lulu and, interestingly enough, Claudia and Klaus. All loved the look of the axe.

The shaft was not pure but silvered mythril for that extra, near white sheen and bore a rounded butt with a slight, five inch long, blunted hook of golden mythril curling back, likely to be used to grab foes as it's base wrapped about the shaft. Said shaft was straight with an etched diamond pattern that acted as a grip; it wasn't smooth either but bore a slightly rough texture for a good means to hold it firmly. As it reached the head the shaft curved back then up and over as it transitioned into the heavy looking axe head. The back bore a flat, ridged plate that could be used as a hammer head before the rest of the head jutted forwards and spread into a tall, wide blade. Moreover while the head was white hued silvered myhril (With a golden mythril core for added striking weight; more gold then usual which compromised the strength slightly but wrapped in standard mythril it didn't matter so much) while the blade was golden mythril giving it a very holy appearance. A thick, rounded piece stuck up from the top some four inches on which it bore a spear point like spike with a golden mythril blade as well.

Overall it looked like a white/gold version of Arbert's Axe from Final Fantasy Fourteen in overall shape but with some of the bits of that shape different; namely the butt, top spike and hammerhead. As for the spell stone it was set behind the top spike and stood up some three inches in a thick, blade like extension that could be used as a magical focus and recolored blue. There was also a number of Celtic designs etched on the sides of the axe head, focused on a Celtic knot in the shape of an iron cross and painted a metallic blue in color. I showcased the axe's use as an, well, axe with some hacks and swings with a thrust or two mixed in; it was too heavy for my liking but it would fit Gregory and his fighting style like a glove. And then I showcased my next little trick; the new Holyjolt Weapon.

To my surprise it was Claudia who demanded to be taught first although Gregory followed. My father, by contrast, was surprised but clearly pleased. And then it was time to showcase the main feature that was requested. I hopped on my feet and then planted them before I lifted the weapon with both hands as I aimed at a dummy some thirty feet away. I used Physical Burst to help with it as I threw the axe in an overhead toss, watching it spin at the target. My spell meant I put too much force into it and it clipped the target's shoulder before slamming into the floor behind it. Still, on impact the built in Shine Cracker spell went off; sending cracks of electricity over the dummy before I held my hand up and used my mana to send a command to the axe by flexing it in a certain manner. The axe detected it and soon it shot from where it fell and flew backwards very fast to my hand; only slowing down the moment before impact. It still stumbled me back by half a step with it's force as Gregory bellowed out loud.

"My good lad! You've done it!" He let off with a chuckle as he walked over as I shouldered the axe. "I was worried, I'll admit. You don't often hear of weapons that can return after thrown; at least not without a unique armor piece or the like."

"I'm still testing the recall range; but I can have it come to me from one side of the palace grounds to the other." I told him as I held the weapon out to him as he grinned at it, turning it over and getting a feel for it's weight right as soon as he picked it up for the first time. As a side note I opted to change the Shining Gemini's enchantments to return to me in the same manner; now I could throw both and have them return without having to hold onto a half of it! Nice!

"Wonderful! How do I do it!?" He let of, clearly eager to start.

"Channel mana into it for ten minutes straight."

"Eh?" He let off, blinking to my reply as I sighed.

"I'm not joking. You don't need to do it hard, but you need the weapon to learn the feel of your mana system intimately. Once done you can flex your mana in a certain manner while thinking of the weapon and then it'll come back to you."

"Hooo... I see. Different..." He said... and I felt him channel the mana straight away as he shouldered the weapon. "Well I can tell you did good work on it already; nearly as so as our fine blacksmith here!" He said as Lulu grinned and patted her flat chest.

"Honestly, it was fun work for me. I can't remember the last time I got to work on a mythril axe that wasn't supposed to be light." The halfling said as she smirked. "The golden mythril core should be strong enough to handle whatever you do with it and even if it cracks the surrounding mythril will hold up. The gold will add all the weight you need for striking power." She explained as Gregory chuckled.

"Regardless I do owe you both coin for the commission and drinks!" He said as he used his free hand to shake hers. I smiled at the look before looking to Claudia.

"And yes, if you want I'll be more then happy to enchant for you as well. I mean you know one hell of a smith, right?" I let off as she gave a wide smile and nod as Lulu grinned wider.

"It seems I do." The Commander of the Dawn Templars let off with a smile, hands moving to her hips as she chuckled.

"Well, her birthday is coming up..." Klaus said with a smile as he chuckled himself. Ohhhh, someone has gift ideas!

"Well keep me in mind if you need it done." I replied with a smile. "All joking and banter aside let's just hope that axe doesn't need to taste blood soon."

"Indeed... Sad as it is to say the Garanian leadership is up to something, I'm sure..." My father said with a deep, long sigh. "A cornered rat would challenge the lion if no other options to survive presented itself."

"Do you really think they have anything left to throw at us?" Miria asked, crossing her arms as I hummed in thought. "I mean if the Legion is starting to turn on them there's less and less they have to throw at us."

"Maybe; but they have made spawnborne before... I have to wonder..." I said as I mused, thinking as I cupped my chin.

"Wonder what exactly, my dear?" My mother let off. I stayed silent for a moment more as I organized my thoughts then spoke.

"We know the highborne hid the conditions of the people from Olga. Likely other things as well." I began as I looked at her. "What else are they hiding? What if they're hiding another spawnborne? Or maybe doing transmutation experiments?"

"That would be... disturbing..." My father injected with a frown of his own. "And, sadly, not impossible."

"Hey, look on the bright side!" Cress let off. "Whatever it is can't be worse then the Blood Bear."

Indeed, that was something to take comfort in; the creation of Belyy Klyk was such a disaster for them that I doubted even the legendary elven arrogance would prevent them from learning lessons. They wouldn't repeat that mistake.

Of course they could make whole, new ones...

Maybe even worse ones...

[-]

Napreryvnyy City, Magical Laboratory
Southwest Blazecrown
Near the Borders of Blackshard and Onyxcloak
Kingdom of Garan
Evening

Bronka sighed and took in deep, calming breaths as she looked about from her spot atop of the Abomination. She was set hip deep into it, nude and with extensions that she set her arms into; the... material was uncomfortable but the mythril grips inside of it made for something to hold onto. One of the aides was fitting a circlet to her head; made of mythril with cables of the substance leading into the Abomination, connected to the grips in her hands with a black, spell stone the size of a coin set to it's front. It was designed to help further connect and allow her control over the thing she was set to. More cables was set to it's shoulders to the wall behind it as she sat in place of it's head.

"The Rebenok Giganta is adapting to your mana systems nicely." Stasia's voice boomed softly from a raised room with windows set across from the Abomination. Looking up Bronka could see her with easily; magical instruments were littered around and she could see one device turning a line into slow waves that the Operator was looking over. "By all accounts the connections are solid and everything is ready."

"So... We're ready to begin the connection test?" Bronka asked as Stasia looked back to her from the window as she nodded.

"Shortly. We have to ensure a few last connections are secure and correct." Stasia said as she giggled and twirled in the room. "Everything seems to be within the standards I expected! I think everything is accounted for! He he he! My genius is almost ready to bear fruit!" She let off as she looked back down at her; even from this distance Bronka could see her shift to a serious look. "Are you sure about this? I know what you've said and why you're doing this, but as I said we don't know if you can dismount the Rebenok Giganta once activated. To be blunt... this is the last chance you have to back down..."

"I understand. But I am committed." Bronka replied firmly as she set her own face to a fierce, serious gaze. "I will have my revenge on the humans. And I will save Garan as I do so."

"Alright then..." Stasia said with a sigh as she checked on another instrument. "Right... The last connections are secure and checked. This is it. All personnel, get clear of the Rebenok Giganta! We're about to bring it to life!"

"Understood." Bronka let off as she looked down to the people scattering away. She took a deep breath as she tried to relax, flexing her hands on the grips before holding them firm.

"Activating the stones." Came Stasia's voice as Bronka felt the thing under her shudder and she felt it's mana system go from dormant to active... and she could feel all the power under her. All that power... awaiting for her to claim... "Perfect... Activating stone to flesh connections..." That power under her doubled as she tried to hold back a hint of giddiness. She felt like it was ten, no, twenty times as power as Queen Olga herself!

All that power...

Unlimited power...

"Everything is looking good... and making the final connections... There..." And finally that power flowed up to the connections at her grips and circlet... as well as points at her hips, spine and legs... "Everything looks good... Okay Bronka, it's time for the last step. You need to connect to yourself to the Rebenok Giganta directly by connecting your mana system to it's. Brace yourself, until it's complete it will be painful, and very much so..."

"I know what pain feels like." Bronka let off as she took a breath. "Connecting in three... Two... One..." She said as she reached her mana system out to connect to the Abomination under her and as she did-

PAIN! PAIN RAGING INTO HER LIKE A TORRENT! HER VEINS BURNED WITH DARK FLAMES!

She grit her teeth, this was nothing compared to-

FEAR! ALL SHE HAD LOST! ALL THAT HAD FRIGHTENED HER! THE DEVIL IN THE BLUE ARMOR!

She gasped as she grit her teeth. No, she could control it all, no matter what-

ENVY! ENVY OF HER SISTER'S SKILLS! ENVY OF THOSE LABORBONRE RISING ON THEIR OWN MERITS! ALL SHE WISHED SHE WAS BUT WASN'T!

She whimpered out as she felt so much rushing into her, like a shadow filling her-

GUILT! SHE WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO SAVE HER SISTER! WASN'T FAST ENOUGH TO SAVE HER AUNT! WASN'T SMART ENOUGH TO SAVE HER REALM!

She started to cry out, back arching as she focused on control, she just had to control herself and-

SORROW! HER FATHER'S PASSING! THE DEATH OF HER SISTER! HER AUNT! THE FAILING STATE OF GARAN AS IT FLOUNDERED WITHOUT IT'S QUEEN!

The cry changed to a howl as she kept forcing herself through, shaking her head. No! No matter the pain she could endure-

LONELINESS! ALL SHE HAD WAS HER SISTER AND AUNT! WITHOUT THEM SHE IS AN ISLAND! NOTHING MORE THEN A SINGLE LOST SOUL ADRIFT!

"Bronka, are you okay?" Stasia asked from her room.

"I! CAN! TAKE! IT!" She barked back, as it a flood of dark, painful emotions was surging into her from the beast under her, which itself had no emotions to share-

EMPTINESS! SHE HAD ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING! NOTHING! SHE HAD WON NO BATTLES! SAVED NO SOULS! SAVED NO ONE AND NOTHING, NOT EVEN HER HOME! NOT EVEN HER SISTER!

"Graaaaahhhh! GraaaaaaaaaAHHHHHHH!" She let off as she was being overwhelmed by it all! No! She couldn't stop! She had to push on or it all meant nothing-

RAGE! RAGE AT THE HUMAN WHO CLAIMED HER SISTER'S LIFE! THAT TOOK HER AUNT FROM HER! HER ARM! HER EYE! HER CITY! HER HOME!

"I will have revenge!" Bronka let off as she focused on that emotion. She focused on it, that feeling; if she could then maybe-

RAGE! RAGE AT THE LEGION FOR BETRAYING THEM! FOR LOOKING AT HER AND HER FAMILY WITH LUSTFUL AND WANTING GAZES! FOR TURNING ON THEM THE MOMENT THINGS SEEMED TO GO SOUR!

"Reveeeeeenge!"

RAGE! RAGE AT THE LABORBORNE FOR ALWAYS TRYING TO RISE ABOVE THEIR BETTERS! FOR REVOLTING THE MOMENT THEIR QUEEN WAS GONE! FOR TRYING TO UPROOT THE GOOD AND PROPER ORDER! THEY WOULD BE CRUSHED UNDER HER HEELS!

"RAAAAAAHHHHH! REVENGE!"

"Bronka? Are you okay?"

RAGE! RAGE! RAGE AT THE LOWBORNE FOR FAILING THEM! EVEN GENERAL DREADBLADE WAS A FAILURE! THEY FAILED AND ALLOWED GARAN TO FALL! THEY MUST BE REMOVED! DESTROYED! ELIMINATED!

"Bronka!"

RAGE! RAGE! RAGE! THE OTHER HIGHBORNE FAILED AS WELL! FAILED AND FAILED AND FAILED! ABANDONED THEIR CITIES! ABANDONED THEIR QUEEN! COWARDS! THEY MUST BE DEALT WITH ALONGSIDE THE REST!

"Bronka!? Can you hear me!?"

RAGE! RAGE! RAGE! RAGE AT HER 'SO CALLED' TRUEBORNE QUEEN! RAGE AT FALLING IN BATTLE! WHERE WAS HER VAUNTED POWER!? HER INVINCIBILITY!? HER ALL CONSUMING DARK FLAME!? SHE FELL IN BATTLE! FELL TO A HUMAN! THAT HUMAN! THAT HUMAN!

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

RAGE! RAGE! RAGE! THAT HUMAN! THAT HUMAN! SHE WAS RUINED BY HIM! TOOK ALL FROM HER HE DID! PAY HE WILL! PAY! PAY! PAY WITH HIS LIFE! PAY WITH HIS SOUL! PAY WITH HIS EVERYTHING! PAY! PAY! PAY!

ALL WOULD PAY! ALL! EVERYTHING WOULD PAY! ALL OF IT! ALL HAD HURT HER! ALL HAD TOOK FROM HER! ALL WOULD PAY!

NO MATTER WAY ALL WOULD PAY! PAY! PAAAAAAAAY! ALL SHALL PAY! PAY SHALL ALL! ALL! ALL GAVE HER RAGE!

RAGE! LET THERE BE RAGE! RAGE! RAGE! YES, SHE HAD RAGE! ALL CONSUMING RAGE! RAGE!

RAGE!

RAGE!

RAGE!

RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE-RAGE!

RRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

From the outside Bronka's spell stone eye glowed with a bright light as the stones lodged within the Abomination likewise glowed, inserted just under the surface of the creation. Instruments in the control room fluctuated wildly, beyond what Stasia expected, beyond what should have been the proper parameters. She felt like something was wrong; she must have underestimated how painful it was given the screaming.. and then Bronka went limp, slumping forwards... as the whole Rebenok Giganta did likewise with her, the connection complete. For a moment it seemed like she passed out as her instruments ended their wild fluctuations and she could take stable readings. "Everything... seems okay here... except..." She let off, moving to the window, pressing her hands to it. "Bronka! Can you hear me!? Answer me!" She let out.

She could see Bronka panting... as did the Rebenok Giganta under her. And then it stirred with it's hands moving, then arms. Then it shuddered as a low growl was heard... or was it a groan..? Either way it started to rise upwards, standing at a full height as Bronka looked forwards and sneered.

"Bronka?" Stasia let off, as the pilot looked up to her... before her face twisted in rage and hate.

"Reeeeeeeev-veeeeenge..."

"Br-Bronka?" Stasia let off... as a warning stated to sound inside the room as she heard the strain of metal and saw the scaffolding shudder. "Bronka! Relax! Control yourself!"

"REVENGE!" Bronka let off as the Abomination tore itself free of the scaffolding and it's restraints, it's mythril restraints.

"What are you doi-" Stasia began before the giant beast stomped with an inky, black mist with a deep green tint expelling from it's feet that spread across the room. "NO! DON'T EXPEL THE NECROMORPH GAS HERE!"

"She's gone mad!" Someone else in the room let off as the massive creature looked over those fleeing from the gas it unleashed. Two used magic to fly over the heavier then air mist but would be swatted by the hulking figure, splattering into the floor.

"Run!" Aides started fleeing the room as Stasia backed up from the window, gulping. She knew what would happen to those who breathed in the gas, rich and thick with the Rebenok Giganta's mana.

She had made it after all. "Br-Br-Bronka...?" She squeaked out, too far away for her voice to be projected via the connected spell stone into the room.

"REVENGE!" That was all the warning Stasia has, turning on her foot and fleeing for the room's exit.

She got past the door as the upper limb of her creation smashed through the window, demolishing everything within as the door shut behind her.

[-]

"While Bronka tests the Abomination we must plan." Gavrilla Dreadblade let off as she hovered over the table in the war room, the matrons and matron stand-in gathered around it with her. "Our current concern is the bloody Legion and their betrayal. Do we have numbers on the situation yet?"

"Half of them have abandoned us; deserting or outright attempting to raid our people." Olesia replied as she looked over her report. "We have what's left of our best lowborne commanders leading the charge but the fighting is hard. That old fortress is causing trouble; we know they stocked up on stolen food and we're not sure how much they have... or how well we can supply our forces. Gargoyles are hitting our supplies and supply lines, even stealing some of them."

"That's the main issue; we're already struggling at it is and fighting on these additional fronts is bleeding us more." Tikhiy, the matron stand in of House Chaoxis, said as he frowned. "...I regret to suggest this but... if the Abomination fails we may need to surrender. We may collapse before Eostia comes to plunge the dagger to our hearts."

"That's not even going into Rekakrovi City's battle." Rubin injected, crossing her arms as she glared to the table and the reports. "According to the last reports we're keeping them contained and are demolishing their strongholds... and the city with it..." She let off the last bit with a colder tone as she looked to Gavrilla with a soft glare.

"It's required. And those unwilling to fight and those resisting us are dead weight to start with." The General replied as she glared back. "Do you wish to challenge me over the choice?"

"We are destroying a city and it's populace. The latter being something we have few of and are meant to fight for." Rubin replied. "Had our situation not been so dire I would." Tsarina gulped as the two glared to one another over the table; the Drakepyre clutching her hands as the Dreadblade stood still and strong.

"They're merely laborborne; hardly something to get worked up about." Olesia huffed as she moved to point. "Regardless we-"

"But we need the laborbonre, don't we?" Tsarina blurted out, raising a hand up. "I mean I can't farm." Olesia and Gavrilla both glared to her and while she flinched she didn't shrink back.

"Peace, all of you." The lone male in the room said, knocking on the wood of the table before looking between the divided women in the room; glancing to the younger pair first. "You are both correct. The Aberrant's hold of Rekakrovi cannot be tolerated and must be ended as quickly as possible; even if the solution is brutal to the populace." Then he turned his look to the elder pair in the room. "However we cannot carelessly discard the laborborne; even if they are in revolt we require them for not just the soldiery and taxes but for food, wood, stone and more. Without them our nation will collapse."

For a long, long moment there seemed to be a stand off in the room; the one matron who had survived from the start of the incursion and their strongest general staring down one of it's most promising warriors and one of it's inexperienced fighters with a lone male between them. Tikhiy was worried that a battle could erupt inside of the room; making the matter even worse for them. 'By the giant...' He thought to himself. 'The only comfort I have is this situation is so horrible I cannot conceive of a way it could become worse.'

By contrast Gavrilla nearly snarled as her hands clenched and unclenched. For her everything had turned to shit. They were spread out too thin, they had too many problems in too many places and the Eostians could simply wait and push north at their leisure and crush them with ease. She was her majesty's most loyal servant and general; brought up to her rank through recognition of her power, strength and determination by her queen over those less deserving but of a higher social rank. The queen saw more worth in her then her 'betters' and she never forgot it. And she would save her queen, no matter what needed to be sacrificed or destroyed!

And then the doors to the room swung open. "M-monster! A monster is crawling out of the Laboratory!" The man who ran in was a regular, as faceless as the rest... but his words cut through the conflict in the room and gained the full attention of all of his betters within.

"Wait? What?" Gavrilla let off, moving around the table to storm from the room. "The Abomination isn't meant to deploy yet." She let off as the matrons and Tikhiy followed quickly towards a balcony of the palace, looking outwards to where the laboratory was...

Crawling out of the skylight, shadowed in the evening air was the Abomination, clambering up and setting it's knee to the wall. The wall collapsed under it, sending it down sprawling, only to catch itself on it's limbs before standing. A deafening roar came from it as it turned and lifted a limb before swinging it into the laboratory and smashing it's wall in. "Wh-what is she doing!?" Tsarina let off with a gasp before the limb pulled back as they all gasped; they could feel the mana collect to the end of the limb before it smashed into the building once more.

A deafening explosion of what seemed like a Fireball blew most of the building outwards in a cascade of sound and flame. "Has she gone mad!?" Olesia let off as Rubin snarled.

"She must have... something went wrong..." She turned to the regular who alerted them. "Rally the forces! We must do what we can to challenge it!"

[-]

"What is that!?"

"Run! Ruuuun!"

"Is it some... hellish giant!?"

Horrified looks came about as the Abomination roared and stomped about. It didn't use the streets, rather it stormed directly through buildings; smashing them apart, flattening them or knocking them aside. In one case it uprooted a four story tall building and simply threw it.

The building would sail through the air, coming apart in mid air, before impacting a building... inside the laborborne district.

An apartment complex would be the impacted building in question. Six stories tall it was dense with units to house people and families. Packed enough to house over sixty units, many with families. The impact crushed the top floor without warning before force and weight collapsed the entire building downwards.

Of nearly two hundred living within only seven would survive. Five would be trapped until they perished.

Soon the giant thing stopped stomping and started jogging, the sheer weight of it's impacts shifting and damaging buildings as it passed. In one case a hard stomp flattened a building forty feet from it's foot. And then it leaped over a wall, or tried to; it's foot landing on the top and crushing it... as a thick, inky, green tinted gas was let off from it's lower limb... into the Aberrant District.

One sub-commander, a mage, would fly to a roof as he gawked in horror as he looked over the gas as it coated over goblins, ogres and orcs as they left their pens and domiciles only to cough then choke then collapse down to the ground... before their skins turned black before they rose once more... eyes and mouths expelling a likewise dark mist as they moved to rush those unaffected. Soon combat between gassed and ungassed Aberrant began... but when an Aberrant dropped the infected would breathe upon it... and nearly two minutes later the corpse would rise; wounds still present but stalking forwards like a zombie...

He was from the laborborne initially but knew enough to know what he saw; corpse golems... but he never heard of the living being made into them in an instant... He opted to sneak away towards the palace to report his findings...

As the local Aberrant struggled to respond the giant monster kept it's assault up, smashing buildings and stomping upon those fleeing it. The few spell casters in the loyal Legion flung spells of fire, wind, lightning and darkness to the titan only to watch as none of it caused harm. The response was for it to grab the roof of the local slave pen and throw it at them; now turned slaves moving to shamble into combat.

Bodies were crushed as it stomped forwards.

It was nearly the end of the first hour when the military could respond in a proper manner. Arrows and thrown weapons were preferred along with spell casters as they marched to the entrance of the Aberrant district... where the thing, the Abomination had been stomping about, systematically flattening everything before it.

It would roar and roar and roar and soon a single word could be heard, echoing from the monster.

Revenge.

Revenge.

Revenge.

Revenge.

REVENGE.

Like a mantra spoken in madness the word was repeated and bellowed as it stomped towards them, smashing the districts gate.

Arrows were set loose. Javelins thrown. Anything else, throwing axes, crossbow bolts, ballista on wagons and more.

None broke skin; bouncing off a soft, purple light before they impacted the monstrosity.

Spells followed; those knowing darkness/fire hybrids leading to weaken the obvious shielding with other spells following.

The shield was consumed but the being under it withstood the damage, healed from it and recovered it's shielding.

And then the corpse golems stormed out to meet the line of solders in the front. Much of the zombies were killed in the initial impact of forces... but some of the Garanians would fall, die and rise with pitch black skin to march the other direction, carrying their weapons and turning them on old comrades.

Morale, already weak, shattered. General Dreadblade ordered her forces out of the city and there was no argument. An order for all to evacuate was made as the monster stomped through the city for a time... Until it saw the fleeing force...

To the south they would flee.

Soon to the south the Abomination would follow them, but before it left it would howl one, haunting word into the darkening sky.

"GGG-RRRRRRRRR-EEEEEEEEE-VVVVVVVVV-EEEEEEEEE-NNNNNNNNN-GGGGGGGGG-EEEEEEEEE!"

A thick, dark mist was released from it, floating upwards and over it, swirling overhead as it began it's march... step by lumbering step...

[-]

Come the morning there was an emergency meeting called and my invite came from a panicked Alicia. Alicia is a lot of things but panicked isn't normally one of them. Needless to say once I was dressed and set I went directly to the meeting room. No one was seated around the table and both Chloe and Olga were here as I walked over. A few others would filter in behind me, including Channer and a few more nobles as I saw my scrying device there... and focused on... something. "Good, everyone is gathered." Once Soleil Whitelance arrived Celestine spoke up as I looked over the view the device gave. "I apologize for the sudden summons but we may have an emergency upon our hands."

"Ummm... What are we looking at?" Channer asked to my right as we looked over it. By what I can see the Garanian force was marching south and there was a stormy, black cloud over a segment of the field... but there were a few unusual things about it; starting with the fact that the Garanian force was well away from the dark mist. They knew we had some means of watching them from above and used the mists as a counter; sure, it screamed 'we are here' but it kept us from seeing the details...

Those details being that they weren't marching in an organized manner... and it seemed like they had a large amount of non-military people marching with them... and there wasn't many wagons with them; suggesting little in the way of supplies... and some were pulled by people, not animals. "I might be wrong but..." I began looking over the scene before looking up to Celestine. "They don't look like like they're attacking us... but more likely they're fleeing..."

"Perhaps it is a feint." Kaiden van Bludhorn huffed, arms crossed as he glared to me for a moment before looking to the scene scryed to us. "They know we are watching them. Perhaps they aim to trick us; exposing a fraction of their force and hiding the rest."

"Normally I would consider that." Auryon Reid let off crisply. "But the Black Watch has lost contact with all agents inside the city. There was a brief voxlux call but the agent was only able to blurt out that the city was under assault before it was cut. Which brings us to this..." She said before reaching down to switch our view to the city the Garanians left; what was called Napreryvnyy City... and everyone gasped, gawked or looked on in shock at the sight of it.

The city was flattened. I don't mean that as a joke; buildings looked stomped on. Walls were shoved over and some buildings looked uprooted. You could see what seemed like footprints as if something stomped about. Maybe a quarter of the city was left standing at best. "Oh dear goddess..." Iryna let off in shock. The gate from the city was smashed apart and very little of value remained standing.

It was like King Kong and Godzilla had a wrestling match in the city where the only rule was 'no Atomic Breath'. And the city lost. Badly.

"No..." Chloe let off, gawking as I composed myself for a moment. Channer spoke before I could.

"Those are footprints..." He let off as he looked to Olga. "Did you have a captured Titan in there?"

That made everyone go quiet and look around nervously. The idea of a survivor of the Age of Giants that wasn't a dragon caused understandable fear in the room.

"No. But I think I know what it is... That... ignorant fool!" The Queen of Garan let off, slamming a fist to the table. Chloe flinched and everyone else near her took a step back as she glared with fury to the city. "I ordered that... Abomination destroyed!"

"Abomination?" Celestine said as Olga took a moment to collect herself. When she did she looked guilty as she spoke.

"After the utter failure that resulted in the Blood Bear I demanded no more spawnborne be made." She began as she sighed. "One of the members of that project came up with an idea that impressed the matrons enough that I permitted the project. However no details of it ever reached my desk. Only sometime ago, before Mooncast was taken, did I investigate and... ... I recall little of what she said so... horrified was I by the sight of it... It was... I do not know how it was made but I understood that should it be allowed to see completion we would repeat the mistake of Belyy Klyk... perhaps in a worse way. As such I ordered it's destruction. Clearly my orders were ignored... and I would be unsurprised if the matrons carried on the project behind my back."

"Let us worry about the how and why of it later." Kaguya injected. "Fault and blame can be applied once the situation is resolved and this... Abomination as you call it, is finished. What can you tell us of it?"

"Comparing it to a titan is apt." Olga said, looking to the priestess. "It's leg alone is larger then almost any troll I have seen, as are the arms. It's torso is giant... the material of it however..."

"Olga?" Celestine began as the Dark Queen look away, going silent for a long moment.

"...You would not understand until you see it yourself. But there is a reason I called it 'The Abomination'..." She said as she looked to the High Queen. "...Looking upon it is not for the faint of heart..."

That's... a bad sign...

"If I may..." One of those sitting in on the meeting said as he lifted a hand up to be seen. "Vult and some of his men are in the area. Perhaps it would behoove us to have the Black Dogs redirect and get eyes on the situation. We might even be able to make contact with the retreating forces and see what their condition is; perhaps even gain their help in the resolution."

"Hmmm... Vult isn't well known for such diplomacy, but I imagine he could manage..." Celestine mused. "Yes, contact and direct him, Keane." She said as the man nodded.

The brown haired man in the glasses was the Black Dog's second in command and tactician; I got the idea he was a cold, serious man... and given who he worked for a sadistic streak might be in there...

(-)

Name: Keane
Title: Caster of the Black Dogs
Class: Summoner
Level: 31
Alignment: Neutral
Reputation: 67
Status: Healthy, Calculated, Relaxed

Known Traits
[iMagic] All stats save Mnc increase your Mag by 5% of their total

[?]

[Dual Summons] You can summon two summoned creatures at once without losing focus. All summons cost 10% less Mana.

Found on the streets by Vult he was taken in by the mercenary and, with his help, gained a nontraditional education in the arts of magic. He boasts the rank of Grand Master in the Spellcaster's Guild and is planning on taking the Magus test when time and circumstances allow. He acts as the Black Dog's second in command and is considered by many to be the heir apparent of the mercenary outfit.

(-)

"Celestine; grant me use of your flying wagons." Olga said, looking to her. "This... thing is my mistake. I was under the impression that my orders would be followed and that it would be destroyed. I did nothing to assure my orders were followed; even if this Abomination was allowed to remain and develop behind my back, even if no fault lies with me this... thing is still my responsibility. I must deal with it myself."

That made the room go silent as looks were shared... and I shared a nervous one with Celestine as Olga looked to her with stern determination. "You are in our care." Celestine replied with, the unsaid 'you're recovering still' being left unsaid between them. "I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to-"

"Were our positions reversed in full would you accept such an answer?" Olga replied with as Celestine shut her eyes for a long moment... I was sure Olga was right on that point... Celestine sighed after a moment then nodded.

"Very well... Even if I were to hold you here you may try to fight your way out to see it done..." The High Queen replied. "But you'll not go alone. Chloe, of course, will be your bodyguard. I will come as well, along with all the other Shields, Klaus Curtis, James Noxdecus, Soleil Whitelance, Stark Angelus, Flannery Pugnator and elements of our elite orders. General DuLouvnoir; you will start to ready our forces for march. I want Arnold von Blitzhaus, Jamaica Galeraven, Andromeda Highreign and Roshia Silverglade to prepare troops for assault. We must be ready to throw all we have into the fray. To that end we will send all Cloud Riders out both to deploy forces and ferry any civilians out. We depart in one hour!" She finished, giving a flourish of her arm. I took in a deep breath.

"Channer..." I let off to my... currently frustrated friend. "I don't know what's going to happen, but be sure to take care and keep your chin up."

"James... you're acting scared." He replied back, blinking for me. He seemed very concerned.

"This thing scares Olga..." I replied softly. "We all have reasons to be scared."

[-]

South of Napreryvnyy City
Forest Route Towards Mooncast City

"Giant damn it..." Gavrilla let off as they marched down the road. She had, initially wanted to retreat to the north towards the capital but the situation did not allow for it; a chunk of the destroyed, outer wall was littered over the road northwards and to move that way would mean abandoning their supplies; supplies they had very few of. All they had was what they prepared previously and in some cases they had no beasts to pull them; laborborne were pulling and pushing the heavy loads so they'd have the food needed to make the march through the forests. "To endure this humiliation..."

"We have no choice, not any more." Rubin said as she shut her eyes; the pair marched down the road with the General leading, the matrons and Tikhiy behind her and what was left of their elite forces behind them. Their current forces was a fraction of their power before hand; a mere twenty five thousand... and not all of them military...

That... thing destroyed barracks and camps set up, leveled the Aberrant District and reduced their available legion to less then a thousand and what was left was either dead, turned or scattered. The road was going through a forest and they were set to exit it as a rider rode back towards them on a horse in standard, Regular armor; previously sent ahead to scout. "General! Enemy force ahead of us!"

"Shit..." The Dreadblade woman let off as she huffed. "Eostians, huh?"

"Aye... I think it's a mercenary banner; a red flag with a black wolf's head on it with a blade." The man said as she sneered harder.

"The Black Dogs..." She hissed out. Worse, they didn't have a long lead on the Abomination; they had marched through the night and morning, stopping only for a couple hours at a time for rest. They were in no condition to fight... and yet it was a choice between facing them or... it...

She chose them.

"Ready for combat!" Gavrilla bellowed back as she moved to pull her spear free from her back, already considering how to-

"No." The General looked to Rubin who's single word made her pause in shock; a Drakepyre declining to fight. "We will parley."

"I am the general of-"

"We both know we cannot fight them and what follows." Rubin said before walking past Garvilla, her voice oddly calm and soft for her or nay Drakepyre. "We must survive... and to do so we must pick our fights wisely."

Her walk was paused by a hand on her shoulder. "Girl..." Dreadblade let off as Rubin turned to face her.

"If we face the humans as we are we will die." Rubin told her bluntly. "If we face the Abomination we will die. We must parley. Not just to survive but it is the only hope we have of freeing our Queen."

"To place ourselves at their mercy?"

"Have you another means we have before us now?" Rubin answered to Gavrilla's question... and silence was her answer. "I do not like this either... But I will discard pride to save her and Garan if that is what is needed of me... Do you have the conviction to do the same?"

"... Very well, Matron." The General said with a huff. "I hope you know what you are doing..."

"That makes two of us." The Matron of Drakepyre said, looking to the scout. "Send word to keep moving. And get us a report on the rear; I've no idea how far away it is beyond too close."

"Aye!" The rider said, moving to ride off down the road where they came, moving out... and seeing a massed army assembled a distance away on a slight, soft hill before them.

On the other side Vult shouldered his blade and looked to his current second-in-command (As Keane was back in Mooncast) with a serious look. "Hicks. Be ready to move in a moment. Fuck knows what's coming but if it spooks a woman like Olga then we need to be on guard."

"Got it boss." The Black Dogs detachment was sizable; one and a half thousand men. The force was tasked with maintaining strong points and preventing stray Aberrant from causing trouble in the GOR.

That they offered said Aberrant jobs was one way to do that.

Vult was in his combat armor; while his normal travel armor was preferred and his more recognizable armor it left his arms bare and in heavy combat for someone like him that was not ideal so he made sure to have a second set handy, or what to others seemed like a second set. The reality was it was just pieces added to his usual armor; red tinted scale mail over the biceps of both arms and forearm of the right with an additional layer of plate over the back of that arm. His torso armor was replaced with a proper, steel breastplate with a red painted, mythril plate layered on the steel over the chest with the Black Dog's emblem over it's left side and a set of plates over the abs and spine. A small, rounded pauldron was set over the right shoulder and over his head was a black helm with the visor shaped like a wolf's face, complete with ears sticking up and red spell stones shaped over the eyes. The visor was up as he walked forwards, alone and by himself.

He would pick a mid point between the force behind him and the force before him at the foot of the small hill. Once there he moved his weapon to place the point of it into the ground as he waited; the dark elven general walking to him... behind and flanking a younger looking dark elf in some form of Armor Weave. That was different. She boldly walked up to him and paused some ten feet away, arms at her sides. She was tense like a coil; ready to spring... and yet it was controlled and kept ready. "I am Vult, Commander of the Black Dogs Mercenaries. So; is what that queen of yours said true? A big'ole monster is following you?"

"... I am Rubin, Matron of the High House Drakepyre." The lead woman replied as the general glared to him. "And indeed... But how would you know what our queen said? You have spoken to her?"

"Nah, not me. She's being held by Celestine; word is the two are acting chummy." He replied with a shrug. "When we noticed ya'll running south like scared chickens and saw a big mist following so we knew something was up and her and that aide of her sat in on the meeting. I'm told she was both mad as fuck and spooked to shit. And I don't think she's easy to scare..."

"... She has a right to be mad." Gavrilla spoke as she huffed. "The one controlling our great weapon has gone mad; why we do not know. But our city is in ruins and our options are few..."

"We are, to be blunt, at your mercy." Rubin said as Vult smirked and chuckled.

"Yeah, ya would be. Hang on." He let off, reaching back and pulling and object out the two had become familiar with; the Eostian communication device.

[-]

It was the early afternoon as we flew up and across the sky towards the Black Dogs location. We were split between four of our five Cloud Riders (One was off fetching supplies and, as such, wasn't on call) with Aeris flying the one I was on (I passed her and Makoto in the hall and once they had an idea of what was up they volunteered to come along) as I sat next to Olga who sat across from Chloe who sat next to Celestine... both of whom looked to Olga with concern...

Actually everyone on the wagon (The rest of the Shields, Klaus, Makoto and a few Dawn Templars) were looking to her with worry because she had her staff set before her on the wagon's floor, held straight up and in a death grip as she kept her eyes down and on the aforementioned floor where the butt of her weapon was pressed to. Her arms trembled softly; softly enough you could almost mistake it for the movement of the wagon. "Are you okay?" I asked her quietly as I leaned in, trying to avoid bringing too much... more attention to her.

"Of course I am." She hissed back... as her arms shook a bit more. I could see her eyes turn to me as I looked back at her.

"You're shaking." I replied as she glared... which was undercut by her shaking and that she looked scared... Not before we arrived on the Cloud Rider, or on the walk to it... but starting when we rode off and fully taking hold as we took off into the air... My guess then...

"There's no shame of having a fear, let alone of heights." She flinched even as she kept up her glare as I whispered to her. "If anything it's commendable that you're still doing this and quite brave. I know some people who wouldn't be able to face a fear, even for reasons like this." She said nothing but her look softened, likely understanding I wasn't mocking her or the like. "When we have the time we can work on conquering it."

"Perhaps." She would whisper back as I leaned back. It was possible Chloe and Celestine heard what we said (Elven hearing) and Makoto was next to me, but none would speak a word of it, I was sure. Hopefully the rest didn't notice the topic. Anything else that could be said was cut off as a voxlux pinged; Celestine's. She would pull it out and look to it as she answered.

"Oiy, your majesty. We've made contact with the Garanians here." He let off, Olga's eyes snapped up to the voxlux as the gruff mercenary leader let off. "They seem to be in a sorry state here... Least you don't hear the words 'at your mercy' from elves often." He said as he turned the voxlux around on his end to showcase, of all people, Rubin Drakepyre.

"I apologize for sending a mercenary as opposed to an Eostian commander to make contact, but Vult was what we had on hand and, whatever faults he may have, he's proven to be a highly effective commander." Celestine began. "That is, of course, no offense intended to you, Vult."

"Some taken."

"Regardless-" Celestine carried on, ignoring Vult's (Admittedly funny) comeback. "-we are on route, along with Olga to-"

"You bring my queen here in chains!?" Rubin was all but shoved aside as Gavrilla barked out as she glared at the High Queen. Despite her current fears it was Olga who answered.

"I wear no chains, General." Said General flinched as Celestine turned the voxlux about as I waved and Olga glared to the device. "I was treated more as an honored, if restricted, guest then a prisoner and with more respect then we would have given another. Regardless I require a report. Why was the Abomination not destroyed as I had ordered and who ordered it's deployment?" Gavrilla went from a look of fury to a look of a scolded child as she looked down and to the side before looking ahead.

"Olesia Reclusia and the previous, now late, matrons gave Stasia the means to carry on, thinking it would be useful. She only revealed it to us after your capture..." The General began as she looked down. "...Although we were reluctant to do so we were... we felt we had no option but to deploy it to rescue you and salvage the situation with now matron Bronka Nightsong as the pilot... but upon activation something... went wrong... Bronka went mad, more beast now then elf. In desperation we discarded your wisdom to save our pride... I beg forgiveness and if you cannot I will offer my head as repayment for my folly."

"Your head shall remain where it is; you will correct your mistake." Olga said calmly but if her tone was any colder I'd suffer hypothermia... through my armor. "We will ally with the Eostians. I have met with many laborborne from across the nation and they, and in turn I, have found many issues in want of fixing. The war between us and the humans, although not yet formalized, is over. We must repair and address the issues of Garan; beginning with this crisis."

"On that note-" I injected, Celestine turning the device slightly to me. "-is this 'Stasia' still alive and around? Whatever this.. thing is it might behoove us to pluck at her mind if this... Abomination cannot be dealt with easily... and if you've tucked tail and fled I'm presuming it'll be anything but easy."

"... Indeed. We threw all we had into it... And we did no more then annoy it..." The General said as Rubin stepped back in.

"My beloved enemy... Sad I cannot challenge you now, even were I in a mood for such." The Drakepyre began. "To answer you; yes. She lives and we have soldiers watching her lest someone wish revenge. She is... in disbelief."

"Keep her that way." Olga let off. "You two have much to answer for but the bulk of the blame lands on her shoulders." She said, frowning before looking ahead to look at Aeris. "How long until we arrive on there?"

"An hour, give or take!" She called back as she glanced. "James upgraded the speed and but even at it's best it only goes so fast!"

"Right." Celestine said, turning it back to her. "Vult!" She let off as Vult's image came back. "See to it that-"

"Wait! There is something else you must know!" The image turned back to Rubin as she frowned to the image. "The Abomination is not alone."

"I beg your pardon?" Celestine said, blinking.

"It emits a... gas." My former opponent began. "It affects the living and dead both and... turns them... Makes them slaves to the Abomination's will and... they act as shambling creatures, not alive or dead..."

"Wait... like zombies?" Someone (Hicks, I think? I'd later learn he stayed back from the talk at the start but wandered closer to whisper something to the big man) let off nearby. That caused a lot of quiet for a moment as I gulped. "Is that possible?"

"The technical term is 'corpse golems' and yes, with the enchantment of an implanted stone with darkness mana in the correct manner..." I let off as I frowned... "But... I've always heard of it as a means of turning corpses to them... I've never heard of a gas being used to make the dead rise right away, let alone the living..."

"Oiy, James!" Vult's face came back to the voxlux as Celestine turned it back to me. "Any idea of how this gas would even work?"

"Well... without any study or notes to look at I can only guess..." I said as I leaned back in my seat, looking up as I thought for a moment, trying to focus on the problem at hand on not any horror I had. "...but if I had to take a stab at the idea it's entering the mana system, somehow, and infecting it directly with the spell meant to puppet corpses into golems. Dead bodies don't lose their mana systems until they decompose so in theory it works but I've no idea how the mechanics would even work without a spell stone to hold the enchantment... frankly, I do not want to know... Regardless a strong burst of holy magic should disrupt the enchantment-"

"We tried." Rubin's voice came in. "It does not."

"... The enchantment is usually on a spell stone of the like..." I mused. "The holy magic disrupts the spell... but if it's directly affecting the mana system then it could be protected; you'd need a lot more holy mana to pull it off, if it can..."

"Well ain't that just grand." Vult let off... and his head moved to the side someone called out 'maton' and 'general' as someone I couldn't see arrived on the scene on Vult's end. He frowned as we waited; clearly something was happening and soon Vult turned the device over back to showcase Rubin as she walked closer,

"We've a problem; we've been unable to rest from the long march with the enemy at our heels and now the 'zombies' as you call them are set to overtake us. They seem unneeding of rest... worse... it follows..."

"I understand." Celestine said as she turned it back to her. "Form a battle line with those you can. Vult! You'll need to bear burden for the moment; hold off the zombies and allow the Garanian civilians to pass as well as those too tired to fight. Do not engage the Abomination itself until we arrive unless you absolutely must and protect your people as best able under the conditions; challenging as that may be."

"Ha! One of the only employers that don't pay us to just die!" Vult said with a grin. "Relax and don't rush your royal arse; we're paid to fight and we love our jobs. Just don't take too long or there'll be nothing left!"

"As glad am I for the confidence I am not joking."

"Rubin. Gavrilla." Olga let off; Celestine turning the voxlux once more as Vult did the same with his. "Assist him. You do not have permission to die. There will be much to talk about and answer for. If you two are to die it'll be by my hands and none others. Is. That. Clear?"

"Yes my queen!" Both women barked out. Celestine turned it back to her (As did Vult; so much turning...) and looked to Vult's face.

"You have your orders. We'll be there as soon as able; I'll trust you to manage the situation until then." The High Queen let off as a thumb came up to swipe at Vult's nose.

"Not to worry! I've no plans to die here and now! I got things to do!" He said with a grin. "Vult, out." He said as the call ended; Olga slumping back into her seat with a frown.

It was clear she was a mix of emotions; enough so that fear of heights took a backseat.

[-]

Since the call ended all Vult could do was wait. Standing with his blade's point into the ground all that was happening as he was watching the convoy of Garanians pass by like a depressed, ad hoc parade, shambling forwards like zombies themselves. He noted that some were resting on wagons with either little or not enough in them as supplies; he assumed they were taking turns pushing the wagons along as only a handful of beasts were helping pull. They looked ragged, worn, defeated and deprived of hope. Even a man like him, one who had committed his share of cruelties and fought them for years felt a little bad for them.

Just a little.

As he waited he let his thoughts drift a bit; mostly wondering if Keane had dug up what he was hoping to find. He had gained every bit of knowledge of Gottes Verlangen that he could, always wanting to know more of the man, his Dragon's Fang Blade, his history and his legend. He had gotten every scrap of such that Eostia had to offer, every tale, every story, every legend... He even visited the Hidden Shrine of the Brazen; a small shrine dedicated to the former emperor in Skycrown City that was hidden away and maintained by the Undying Skulls with one of his bronze statues, one of the few to survive even, standing in it's center.

But Arblade was founded by one of his old commanders, Dreadrick Arblade and, as such, could boast more knowledge not found in Eostia. Moreover based on what they knew the place of burial for the Brazen Emperor by the Legendary Seven Shield Maidens was likely in what was once Arblade with Dreadrick's permission, even if he likely didn't know exactly where...

How he was buried and with what was the things of legend and myth...

"Hey boss! Look alive!" Hicks let off as Vult looked up with a frown to the forest road as it left the trees. The last of the shambling, Garanian convoy was passing them and the shambling, groaning masses of zombies was following them, starting to emerge from the forests. He looked over them and clicked his tongue. This was... a clear problem.

The opposing force was made up of a collection of dark elves, goblins, orcs, ogres and imps. He saw a wolfman in the mix as well and all moving forwards... all with skin as black as coal (Save the wolfman who had gray fur, but likely under it was black skin) with a dark, dark gas with a hint of green leaking from their eyes and mouths as it flowed down along the ground where it dissipated. On first glance it seemed like a mass mob of mindless creatures lumbering forth on instinct.

On a second glance he noted that many of them were armed; spears, swords and more in their grips. Moreover he could see one with a bow and arrow... with the arrow notched. They, perhaps, bore a fragment of the training and instinct of their former selves... That was enough to worry him, even before the zombie troll walked into view. More over the troll was missing an arm but showed no signs of regrowing it meaning... something. What was beyond him.

Indeed, most of the zombies bore wounds, injuries and lost limbs yet ignored them all as they marched on. He could even see one, once a female dark elf, missing a foot yet limping forth on the stub; none of the injuries mattered to them... If they put them down would they just get back up right away? Would they 'die' and stay down... until revived by their brethren?

He would admit, there was a bit of fear in him at the idea of facing a foe that could not be stopped... and that fear was drowned in excitement!

What was a true battle without some fear, eh!? Nothing! There was a certain thrill in it all; not knowing if you'd live or die! It was kill or be killed! Survival of the fittest! War was where the strong feasted on the weak and devoured them and all they had! Without fear there was no heart, nothing to conquer beyond the enemy! And he had defeated fear time and time before!

Fearless!? Him!? Bah! No, courageous! That was better then fearless!

If a man could conquer fear then he conquer anything set before him! ANYTHING!

"Alright you scoundrels! Listen up!" He bellowed out, drawing his blade from the earth and holding it straight up as he grinned. "There's an enemy before us! What are we gonna do about it!?"

"Break them!" His army barked back at him as he grinned wider.

"You're damn straight we are! And we're gonna break them in half! Let's get in there and turn these zombie turds to food for the grass!" He let off, slamming his visor shut before charging with a wordless war cry.

The speech was short and to the point and when he charged his men charged with him; Hicks at his direct flank with his twin blades out, spinning them once on route to the enemy as he gave off his own, wide, wicked grin. This is were the Dogs of War thrived! As soon as he was about to hit the opposing, loose line he braked and used the energy and momentum to swing his heavy blade in a mostly horizontal arc; three zombies came apart on the first strike. His follow up cleaved another's head off it's body before a shambling orc lifted it's weapon up as it rushed in. Vult would cleave it down the middle with a vertical slice but he noted that it attempted to block with it's club; his heavy blade went through both but it confirmed his thoughts from before; they did recall their training to some degree.

That could be trouble...

He would run through an ogre with a thrust and slashed to the side before the oncoming troll's head exploded; Keane was training one of their men in casting spells and he quickly learned to cast Fireball. The massive beast fell backwards, crushing zombies under it... before he heard a cry to his side; a tackled Dog being breathed on by that thick gas. He swiftly kicked the zombie goblin off him with enough force to punt it into a risen orc, his man coughing as he got up. "How ya feelin'?" Vult barked out.

"S'ok... l-cough-cough-look out!" He let off as Vult looked to the side... right before his sword arm was grappled by an undead orge with one hand, it's other grabbing his shoulder before less breathing and more puking it's gas onto his face as a feeling of illness washed over him. Even so he fought through it, smashing the pommel of his massive sword to it's head, cracking it before shoving it back and lobbing it's head off.

He coughed but stayed in the fight, lobbing another zombie in two, then a dark elf zombie as he finally got his breath back and the feeling of illness faded; luckily not breathing in enough to turn. One other of his men, he'd see from the side of his vision, would not be so lucky; pinned by a zombie orc and breathed on by it and a turned goblin and he would, after a couple of minutes, turn himself, finally rising to oppose them.

Now that he thought of it the dark elves suggested the turn was supposed to be instant or nearly so and yet they were resisting the turn... was it less effective against humans or was something else at play? There was no time to think about it; there was fighting to be done...

[-]

"Fuuuuuck!" Hicks let off as he clicked his tongue. In contrast to his boss Hicks fought in a much different style; where as Vult favored a single, massive blade Hicks favored a pair of smaller, leaf bladed, long knives and used a series of throwing knives as needed. Where Vult was heavily armored in plated steel Hicks wore no armor save an Armor Weave vest that offered limited protection at best; the thing was low grade and akin to leather armor in resistances but it was something at least even if it didn't look like armor.

This led to Vult being a juggernaut on the field; charging in with reckless abandon and swinging to maim and kill with heavy blows. Hicks, by contrast, stayed nimble; backing away when the quarters became too tight to let his better armored kin press in and using quick, precise hits to get quick kills or crippling strikes. Thankfully he had the room to maneuver, dodge and weave.

Unfortunately his targets were well packed together meaning he had to be mindful of who and how he attacked; slamming his blades into two throats, backing away before a counter could come, deflecting an arrow before it could hit him (They could still use bows!? What kind of zombie can use a damned bow!?), ducking an axe before an upwards swing slammed a knife's point into a head from under the jaw, ducking as a zombie goblin leaped at him and latched onto someone behind him turning and stabbing it in the back... then gawking and stabbing his kin in the throat as he ended up breathing the odd gas, turned in a near instant moment.

He didn't think it would be that fast!

The dark elves, of course, were fighting on the flanks and in the rear taking the easier jobs... he'd complain about it if they hadn't collapsed for a long nap until just before the battle was to start. It was weird, saving and fighting alongside the people they were usually paid to fight... Life as a mercenary was an odd one...

Case in point, zombies... He pushed past the horror of seeing a man turn into a member of the undead legion and instead turned to slash down a turned goblin as it jumped at him, bringing the other blade to bear only for another to grab it which let a third leap onto his shoulders and puke gas onto him.

It smelled worse then that one time Pekron farted and it... wasn't all gas... He didn't know what the orc ate and didn't want to know...

He was coughing as he slammed his blade to it's ribs, throwing it off, doing the same to the neck of the other before recalling what just happened as he felt sick to his stomach; he was gonna turn! This was it! He was feeling...

... Less ill now that he had the chance to breathe... but... the other guy turned straight away, why..?

A charging, one armed ogre gave him no chance to think; spitting a ball of gas onto the last goblin Hicks stabbed before he rushed in, stabbed it's throat before jumping back and-

-tripped over the corpse of that goblin rising up again! So they could bring back the zombies they just killed!? FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

Sometimes his job sucked...

[-]

For Gavrilla the situation was a humiliation; their great weapon had turned on them because the matron of Nightsong went berserk, flattened their city and now her queen was furious with them... And that was all without mentioning their failures in the war thus far, the Legion splintering and those splintering off turning on them and that now their people fighting the Legion would now have no one to report to beyond ruined buildings, sparse survivors and corpses...

The situation was as complete a disaster as it could be. And that was before she had to work with humans. More so that human.

She was well aware of Vult, of course; he was less a human and more a monster, a beast of war that was just smart enough to know when not to fight but over the course of combat with Eostia he had burned distant border villages to the ground, plundered it's women and left ruination in his wake. When she heard reports that many of his own minders and employers didn't care for him beyond his sword arm she found it all to be unsurprising. They had fought twice before; the first time she was defeated and only avoided death or worse as a troll attacked him giving her the chance to flee; a troll he would cleave in twain. The second she was still forced to flee; had she not fled she would have been taken for sure. Having not fought human legends like Hogan 'the Hero' Levantine or Percy 'Bloody Rose' Fiorire she couldn't say he was the strongest man Garan ever fought but he might have been the strongest alive today. We was not to be trifled with.

She had her kite shield set to her back to use her spear with both hands, focusing on thrusting and quick slashes to keep the zombies at range. She had noticed that some of the human mercenaries turned the moment they were caught but the bulk seemed to resist it somehow, which was baffling her. She wasn't sure why and she didn't have the time to work it out right now; the enemy before her demanded the bulk of the attention. She could only guess at the numbers opposing them; she had to assume thousands but knew that even defeated zombies could be brought back.

She grit her teeth, slamming her spear into the throat of a turned ogre and channeled a powerful darkness spell in the form of a scatter shot of dark shards in a wide arc, blowing through it's body and sending it's head flying off as the spell knocked over and slayed several of the turned. That was a frightening thought in fact; the numbers of bodies the Abomination could raise and manage could escalate from thousands to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands and more.

She grit her teeth in frustration; what had she allowed to rise..? What had her foolishness done to them..?

And then a hand in the opposition came up with a Fireball in it's hand... that was bad enough... but it was smoking with the same gas as the zombies were breathing. That they could use magic was a shock; that their magic could bear the same gas was a horror. She was readying a shield-

-before a rain of dark purple fire slammed into the line of zombies, leaving patches of burning flames as she looked backwards. "Fall back!"

Landing on the ground as if having leapt a great distance was Olga Discordia, spinning her staff once before setting it's butt to the ground as the Black Dogs and her few, able fellow elves started to pull back. "Your highness!" She let off, knowing she was repeating her spell but a dozen odd risen were charging her, some even while on fire. They closed in with her queen paying them no heed-

-only to watch them be cut down by a barrage of silver colored bolts that blew limbs and heads off before, of all people, the Dreaded, Cerulean Dragon, landed by her and behind with his saber in a reverse grip and half of his odd staff weapon in the other as her queen launched another magical strike; pointing her staff upwards and forwards before firing off five balls of blazing, purple fire upwards into the air before they exploded and sent bolts of matching flame in arcs towards the undead armies...

"That's a hell of a spell..." And then the human spoke as the lines of zombies were decimated and blown apart with her Queen's righteous fury!

[-]

I never thought I'd see a zombie apocalypse of all things here but here we are. Once Olga saw what was going on she leapt from the wagon and flew off to attack the zombies; to my surprise as I knew she was scared before following her. Celestine trailed behind me, landing and walking to Olga's other side as the Cloud Riders landed with the rest of the gang hopping up and moving to relieve the current forces in the aftermath of Olga's attack. "Is there going to be anything left after Olga's done?" Maia let off as she looked to Vult once she noticed him and waved at him with a wide grin as he gave a salute in return.

"Well... Seems she got most of them... wait..." I let off as the zombie did something I didn't expect; they retreated. "... That's weird..." I let off as they fled into the forest and relative safety of the trees.

"Yeah, well these thing are weird." I heard Vult let off as he walked over to us. "They're not utterly dumb, that's for sure. Fuck, one of them was about to cast a damn spell!"

"Wait a moment..." Alicia let off at that before she looked to me. "Is that... normal!?"

"Yeeaaaaah... with corpse golems it depends on the user and how they're made but in the end their ability to think is limited..." I explained frowning in thought. "They would be directed by the one to make them... But I've never heard of one, or any golem, casting a spell before..."

"I thought Bronka went mad?" Olga let off as I saw her general come over to us as she moved to kneel before her, Olga only giving her a side glance. "General..."

"Forgive me, your highness..." She began. "But yes... Bronka has gone mad... how and why I do not know..."

"We can ask and answer later." I replied to that as I looked to her. "We need to figure out what to do now."

"Agreed." The Dark Queen said with a nod. "We need to keep our people moving and..." Her words ended before she stiffened and looked out to the forest entrance; Celestine matching her in the same moment. I wondered why but then Kaguya did the same followed by Prim. Why did-

-there... What the hell!? I could sense the mana coming at us, stalking forwards... a strange, bizarre feeling... It was... how do I put this..?

I felt... ... ...the mana I sensed was both natural and yet unnatural... It was the magical equivalent of the uncanny valley; like hearing a theme with a deep, strange, hum that drills into your soul... It was on the knife's edge on what should and shouldn't be... It felt real and fake... It was... it was... it was unnerving...

And then the sounds came... thoom... thoom... thoom... Something came closer and closer... You could hear the steps now as I gulped.

"James... Do you hear that?" Vult hissed out as everyone looked to the forest.

"Vult, I feel that!" I replied. The cracking of a tree sounded before it was shoved aside, or so it sounded like. Another followed. Then a whole tree was uprooted and this time we could see the motion, from our spot, of a whole damn spruce tossed backwards. I backed up... We all backed up as we waited, watching as the trees started to shake, shake more and then shake more... And then two trees were ripped to the sides before us as it finally arrived and-

-I gawked and nearly threw up.

Prim shrieked upon the sight and Alicia stepped back.

Maia lowered her drawn weapons in shock as she paled, as Lulu dropped her axe in full as she gazed up.

Kaguya shuddered and covered her mouth with a hand as Claudia let off a quiet 'oh goddess'.

Celestine went wide eyed and stepped back as Chloe stumbled back in disbelief.

Vult's arms went slack as they dropped to his sides, low enough his blade's tip hit the ground as he gave a hundred yard stare. "By the seven fucking hells..."

Even Olga was affected, shivering as she glared at it. "There it is... that Abomination..."

So... what was it..?

In general shape it was humanoid. Two limbs upon which it walked upright. Two more limbs up higher attached to shoulders. It bore a 'head' that was misplaced to the front of the chest and with something where that should have been. But it was made of...

This... thing... it was made of...

...people...

...It was... it was made out of... people...

Human bodied were... fused together as if they were melted and pressed into one another with torsos and limbs visible and heads with all hair removed looking out at us... with the eyes still moving and mouths opening and shutting as if moaning or trying to say something... Not that I knew what as they made no sound... And it was huge! It was sixty feet tall! And it wasn't lanky or skinny, it was built like a brick shithouse! It was built like fucking Zangief!

How... how many bodies were used to make this... this... unholy thing!?

Oh, and it gets worse...

It bore huge, trunk like feet with a dozen toes... and those 'toes' were torsos with the heads removed and another arm placed there... and these arms weren't stitched or anything; it was set there in such a way you'd almost think it was natural if you didn't know basic anatomy! And all of the arms were grasping out as if to grapple anything in range!

Likewise it didn't have hands either; instead it had claws... also made out of people! It was attached to the 'wrist' via the ankles, had the torsos turned one hundred and eighty degrees to face the other way, had the heads removed for two extra arms and all grasping as well... oh, and there were four to a hand!

Up and down the arms, legs and sides of the torso were curled spikes that I eventually realized were ribs and each sharpened to pointed blades. A ring of heads was set around the shoulders and the top of the chest (And as I would later learn the upper back), all moving slightly, looking about and with their mouths moving soundlessly! And then there was the 'head' jutting out some ten feet at the top of the chest with alligator like jaws lined with too many teeth... that were more, repurposed, sharpened ribs with two heads at the nostrils... oh and arms running along the sides of the top and bottom of the jaws because why the fuck not at this point!?

And then you have Bronka, riding atop of it where the head would normally be without any (Visible) clothing; her arms stuck into human torsos where the necks should be and their arms reaching up to hold her shoulders with a metal circlet around her head that bore cables that drove into the thing near her... and finishing the look was a large, five foot long, slightly curved and jagged, black spell stone placed between Bronka and the head of the thing like it was a horn, one that should have limited her view.

What made it all worse was that the whole thing bore uniform, healthy, pink, Caucasian flesh; as if it wasn't just an undead monstrosity but a proper, living and breathing thing. There was no rotting flesh, no cysts or signs of infections, nothing that looked unhealthy... in a way that made it look worse because those would be signs of how unnatural it was...

(In case your wondering it smelled human too. Yes, like a normal person. Once Miria had a chance to get a whiff she'd say it smelled 'like a city full of humans' and was horrified by it.)

Everything about this was set right in the uncanny valley in every way that could be called the worst way. I'm sure the guys behind Castlevania would look at it and say 'it's a bit much'. Finally it leaned over and opened it's main mouth and let off a deafening scream.

"GRAAAAHAHHHHHHAVVVVEEEEENNNNNGEEEEEEEEGGAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"...holy mother of all fuck..." I let off softly in a trembling voice.

"Indeed..." Olga replied with narrowed eyes. "Indeed..." I opted to use Observe; let's see how fucked we are...

(-)

Name: ?
Title: ?
Class: ?
Level: ?
Alignment: ?
Reputation: ?
Status: ?

Known Traits
[?]

[?]

[?]

[?]

[?]
[?]

?

(-)

...

Pretty fucked, I'd say. "This is not good..." I let off. No, I was not scared of the giant abomination of flesh, magic and decency before me.

I was fucking TERRIFIED!

"Perhaps... But I shall end this now..." Olga said firmly before I felt her draw on her mana in a heavy manner.

"Olga...?" I let off, worry in my voice as I looked to her.

"Do not fear for me. I am fully able." She replied as she glared to the beast before her. And then she vanished and it occurred to me that she used Shunt Shift, or at least a spell like it. It took a second to relocate her and when I did she was standing thirty feet from the Abomination and drawing even more mana as I rushed towards her starting with a Heroic Leap...

I knew what she was charging up; her Annihilation Stream... and even as the shields called my name I kept going as fast as I could because I know how this situation goes; Olga would fail...

Because it's never that easy!

[-]

"In spite of my condition I should have done this at the start!" Olga Discordia let off as she aimed her staff to the Abomination as it hunched over to howl at her with what seemed to be a garbled word. When she used her spell on James she held nothing back in spite of her poisoned state to deal with him; it was only through preparation and the use of thermal dynamics leveraged with magical means did he survive.

The Abomination however was not that smart, nor likely to use ice as a means of defense... and to ensure it was destroyed she would increase the power of her spell by a quarter; she didn't know if her mana systems, even if now on the mend, could handle that level of mana surging through her but it should be enough to destroy it. Even if she caused herself harm doing this she could not allow it to remain.

This was the responsibility of the Queen of Garan to protect her people and see the monster destroyed!

"So I say to you, blasphemy... begone!"

The wave of purple hued hellfire and blazing rage that came from her staff as she pointed it at the thing looming over her erupted from her staff in a tight, controlled and focused stream; a mere five degree arc this time. It would be hot enough to melt through stone in seconds and even Dagon the Demon King would be burned by what she had unleashed; a flash of purple light from the Abomination blocked the flames for a fraction of a second before they were consumed and she struck flesh under it's massive, horrific jaw as it howled in rage and pain, arms moving to block the stream as it pressed forth.

Still she poured her flames onwards, sure she would burn through... and her eyes were widening as she did not do so... Indeed the flesh burned and turned black where the flames licked and raged and the flesh beyond turned an angered red and painful pink... but the flesh held and held fast, enduring her onslaught as she realized her most powerful attack would fail her once more for vastly different reasons... The moment her attack ended; a mere half foot hole burned into it that arm it shuddered as the colors started to visibly shifted back to what they once were, healing instantly from the attack before it lunged with it's mouth and screamed; unleashing a powerful wind spell that knocked her to the ground despite the shield she raised up as she grit her teeth. Her mana systems, taxed and strained, waived as it stepped in and lifted it's foot up before sending it down to stomp on her and bring her a crushing death-

-only for dark orange mana to form around her in a rocky dome before her arm was grabbed. "Come on!" She heard, looking up at James Noxdecus as he pulled her away and to her feet to run from what was above them.

[-]

Okay I expected it to survive Olga's attack... but not that well!

It roared out loud as it stomped down, my Earth Wall holding it's weight back for about seven seconds... long enough to grab Olga, yank her back none-too-gently out of the way as we started to run before we then stumbled forwards as the Earth Wall was crushed behind us; the weight and impact of the stomp making the ground rumble... before it sent another spell into the ground akin to Earth Shaker that made us both trip and fall as the earth rocked in a wave that sent dirt flying up over a foot; landing next to each other.

Before we could get up a shadow loomed over us as it's foot loomed over us both; positioned to stomp down with a horrific weight and force behind it...

[ - Author's Note - ]

So I was writing that last bit and said to myself 'Hey! This is a great place for a cliffhanger!'

So you have a cliffhanger ending. Oh well.

As for the Abomination... yeah, the initial idea came from seeing Legion in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and I was like 'hey, what if it was human shaped?' and well... this is the answer I came up with. I wanted something that looked instantly horrific but also uncanny; as if your mind was slipping between 'this looks likes it could exist' and 'blasphemy! Kill it with fire!' on sight alone... if I pulled it off, great. If not, oh well... My bad...

The story is now over two and a half years old... For some reason it doesn't feel like it's been that long... Kinda amazing, when you think of it... and with the new year coming up we're closer to reaching three years since the story started... Yeah... Regardless this will likely be the last chapter given until the next year starts. Here's hoping 2024 was better then 2023.

Anyway, aside from that we also got some tensions between the general and the matrons, James is embarrassed by his mother for very... Eostian reasons and Bronka goes nuts while in the Abomination.

As a side note I'm curious if anyone can work out why she went berserk once she connected before the next chapter. I will say you can piece it out yourself if you think about it and remember a couple of things. Fingers crossed.

As always let me know what you liked or didn't like, leave a comment and share your thoughts! And next time...

Well, you know where we're picking up from...

Until then! And once more, Merry Christmas everyone.

~Eostian Scribe