A Vulpine Spanner in the Works
Chapter 38: Divinely-Mandated King of the Hill Part 1
[Albedo]
Walking down the hallway of the treasury, I found myself smiling as I considered the report that I had been given by one of my spies. Last night, the whore seemed to undergo some form of transformation, one that was horrifically agonizing to her. I only wish that I could've been there to hear it. Regardless, following her growth of another one of those ugly tails, a pillar of golden mana surrounding her shot into the sky, visible from Nazarick's sight.
Following this, the whore seemed to enter some form of coma. It was after this occurred that more of her kind appeared and began to construct some form of temple around the area, with the whore having not been seen since. Considering that I have had my spies watching her home in E-Rantel, I already predicted that she was hidden inside that hastily constructed temple.
Additionally, with the amount of kitsune that appeared soon afterwards, it was easy to tell that she was most likely still in that coma or in a state where she would not be able to defend herself. The length of said weakness, I could assume to be a few days at the very least, simply due to the activity of her guards.
On that note, there is also my Love's immediate interest and concern with the source of that golden pillar of mana. He was hesitant to try and approach it, worrying that the whore might take issue due to it having occurred in the Re-Estize Kingdom which she seemed to claim as her territory, and because of her still being absurdly upset with my Love's rulership over Nazarick. It didn't help that when he attempted to contact her through [Message], the whore didn't respond. At first, he thought that it was because something happened to the whore, but I convinced him otherwise.
As an emotional and illogical person, the whore was simply ignoring my Love due to her continued anger at him. I helped to facilitate this lie so as to protect him from any further plots that she may attempt to enact on my Love if they were to both interact with one another. Instead, I simply told him that I would send a few of my scouts to investigate the disturbance and report back on anything that was found.
This lie to protect my Love was only possible because Demiurge had taken his scouts off the bitch to follow Momonga's orders as best as he could, leaving the whore and her daughters alone. Sadly, Demiurge doesn't see that there are moments where we need to protect Momonga from even himself at times. This was one of those moments.
And because I convinced Momonga to allow me to take care of the issue as Demiurge was busy with managing the conquest of the Wyvern Rider Tribes and the false-flag attack on the capital of Re-Estize, I was allowed to handle this personally. As such, I was given free rein to utilize some of Nazarick's resources to accomplish this task. After all, since we had been unable to scry the location of this pillar due to it being blocked, we obviously needed to be cautious.
This led to why I was in the treasury with quite a few requests in mind for Pandora's Actor to fulfill.
Reaching the end of the hallway to see Pandora's Actor resting on one of the few couches in this room. Upon seeing me, he got up from where he was sitting and gave me a salute, "Greeting, Albedo! How might I, the ever-faithful guardian of Nazarick's Treasury, be able to help you today?" The doppelgänger said with his usual…enthusiasm.
"Hello, Pandora's Actor. I am here on behalf of Lord Ainz to perform a mission. Because of this, I will require a few items of note that I recall seeing in the inventory catalogue."
"Excellent, mein fraulein!" Pandora's Actor exclaimed with another salute, "What shall you need to complete this mission for mein furher?"
"I'll require two Spider's Harps, the Ring of Amnesia, a Ring of Dispel Search, and multiple scrolls with the [Odorless] spell." I listed off quickly, waiting to hear anything from the yellow-clad doppelgänger.
"Certainly, mein fraulein! I can retrieve those items quickly enough." Pandora's Actor agreed, "Will you require anything else to aid you on this mission?"
"No. Everything else about this mission can be handled on my own." I answered. With a flourish of the coat hanging from his shoulders, followed by an exaggerated bow, Pandora's Actor walked off towards the treasury while I waited. All the while, I ran through my mind the plan I had been forming together.
After much consideration of the restrictions imposed upon me, by both my Love and the need to hide Nazarick's involvement, I had to get creative. As such, my plan worked on multiple different stages that all came together at different parts.
Prior to this opportunity, I had already assembled the start of a secondary false-flag operation after learning of how the whore has been claiming a false godhood that could only ever belong to my Love. Since the Slane Theocracy is highly dogmatic of their ludicrous religion, I planned to frame them as the masterminds behind the assault.
It was simple enough to do after capturing a few bandits and utilizing multiple methods of mind control on them. I forewent using [Control Amnesia] upon the humans due to not knowing the spell myself, nor did I want any member of Nazarick who did know the spell to know of my full plan. This mission I convinced my Love to give me was the perfect excuse to take out the Ring of Amnesia from the treasury to fully rewrite the memories of these humans into subservience.
From there, the clothing that Nazarick acquired after Momonga rightfully killed those members of the 'White Scripture' would have a use in disguising these controlled humans as members of the Slane's operatives.
The Spider's Harps were special summoning items that were consumed with each use. Upon their use, they would each summon an arachnoid commander, two drider assassins, and four giant spiders. My human puppets would utilize these items and become the summoners of these creatures, giving another degree of separation from both myself and, especially, Nazarick.
Once summoned, and all my operatives were in place for the right moment, they would strike. Considering how the whore was incapacitated, her mangy beasts would be more focused on protecting her than they would on her daughter. Part of the attack force would attempt to capture or kill the whore, drawing the beasts' attentions away from the girl, while the rest would go for their true objective of capturing her.
Once subdued, the Ring of Dispel Search would be put on her, preventing her from being found, while the scrolls with [Odorless] would nullify any kind of scent tracking that might be performed by those mangy beasts.
Following this, the easily identified 'Slane Theocracy' members would escape south with the girl in tow, leading the whore's pets on a false trail, before utilizing a scroll of [Teleportation] that I had given them prior from my own inventory to teleport to their original hideout where the girl would be in my grasp, yet not directly in Nazarick itself. From there, the whore would finally be brought to heel, and all the while, she'd think it was the Slane Theocracy pulling the strings.
My Love would finally be safe from the whore, and my nemesis would be brought low. And, in the interim, who knows? I might even toy with the brat as a cathartic release due to being unable to physically punish the whore in an obvious manner. I could be quite creative.
I'll just need the correct moment for my minions to strike.
[Platinum Dragon Lord]
I was immensely concerned at the golden pillar of pure mana that could be seen and felt from so far away. I was completely uncertain on who the power could have originated from. What I can assume, without hesitation, is that it came from a Player.
The real question was about which Player it originated from? The Fox Princess was a possible answer, considering how close her location is, relatively speaking, to the pillar. But I couldn't fully assume that it was her.
It could potentially be from another Player like the vampire I fought. What a horrifying thought that was to consider. I'd have to go uncover the source of this immediately.
Looking to my remote armor, I mentally commanded it to stand before gathering some Wild Magic to myself. I'll send my armor slightly outside the area of origin so that I had time to gather as much Wild Magic to myself as possible. If I must take part in another battle, I will need every advantage I can get.
Depending on the outcome of this investigation, I think that I'll make contact with the Fox Princess again and see if I can persuade her to join my cause. After all, from my personal view of such beings, Players were liable to be highly aggressive to one another if they didn't have some prior alliance.
After her, I think that I will make contact with Rigrit and Evileye since, aside from myself, they have had the most experience in fighting other Players.
If I was extraordinarily lucky, this could be another one of the legendary weapons that the Players left behind and some random soul had found. Were that to be the case, I would take it and store it here at my base. In my personal opinion, it was better for the ultimate weapons of Players to be kept out of the hands of everyone, including my own kind, and locked away.
Too much wanton destruction could be cause by those who lacked the understanding or respected the devastation that these weapons could bring about.
With all hope, it would latter of these potential origins instead of the former.
[Evelyn]
Chaos filled the Magician's Guild as my Sisters and I began mobilizing an expedition team to head towards the location of the golden pillar conjured by our Lady's mana. As Her loyal followers, my Sisters and I knew that our Lady had enhanced the power of her own divinity greatly. In what way?
We were uncertain, but we would embark on this pilgrimage to discover what it was and pay homage to Her ascended glory. Though, there were other possible reasons to take this journey aside from honoring our Goddess. Just as we were witness to the power and glory that our Goddess emitted, so too was the rest of the city.
Yet, they were not as attuned to the beautiful caressing power of the Fox Princess as we were. They didn't understand it as anything other than a massive power that needed to be investigated due to the potential danger to E-Rantel.
The nobles, along with the city's mayor, were too hasty in their decision to send a platoon of soldiers to investigate before we could try and convince them otherwise. And even with the attempt, the nobles that were on the verge of believing in Her loving and inviting power still held doubts that it could be something else.
So, that spurred us to hasten our preparations to leave. And our group was not the only one in tow. There were the greedier folk of the city who believed that some sort of powerful item had appeared and wished to acquire that power for themselves or attempt to sell it.
Such is the way of us mortals, disappointing though it may be. I pray to my Goddess that She will be forgiving of the transgressions of these mortals that were blind to holy truth of the Fox Princess.
And for such a momentous event, I would lead this expedition with Teresia and Mercia at my side along with much of the congregation of the guild following. We all so desired to see our Goddess, yet we readied ourselves for protecting our Lady so that She needn't waste Her energies on such issues.
I only wish that all of Her followers had been able to join us on our journey, yet that could not be the case. There had to be some to see the visitors of the guild, others to protect it, and then there were the Maidens staying behind for their most important task yet. Our second future High Priestess still had questions that only us Maidens could answer.
Gazing at the statue of my Goddess, Kashia Blanc; I had, along with all Her Maidens who had been gifted such holy sight, taken pleasing notice of the golden energies that had begun to congregate upon the replication of Her holy form. Since yesterday after the ascension, we had discovered all of the golden motes, once simply coming off of Her congregation and into whatever direction our Goddess went, had now begun collection upon Her objects of worship.
As such, where once there was simple stone, now it was awash in this holy gold.
And, as walking objects of worship to Her divinity, even us Maidens hadn't been exempt from such changes. Our bodies and ceremonial robes were covered in this energy, while the gold rings in our eyes had been steadily growing. For instance, I only had a quarter of the original blue in my eyes left, and it would likely be fully subsumed within the passing days or weeks.
This was the same for all of the other Maidens. I have no doubt that my Goddess' daughter, Ninya, is likely further along the process if she isn't there already.
Whereas some would be fearful of the change, I prayed for it to speed up so that I might sooner share the same beautiful gaze as my Goddess'. In time, perhaps they might fully change beyond just color to that of Her slitted pupils?
I sent Her a prayer, "My Blessed Goddess, please grant Your followers safe passage as we come to witness Your divine ascension. I give You thanks for the gifts given to us humble mortals. Praise be to the Fox Princess."
As I ended my supplication, I found myself filled with a gentle warmth that told me the Fox Princess was listening. "Thank you for hearing me." I finished before turning to leave the room with a smile as Liesa and Maya helped to dress our flustered and blushing future High Priestess. While examining the girl, I thought about how perfect our two High Priestesses would look when together in their ceremonial garb with the Fox Princess.
I'm certain that my Lady will be pleased by this once I finally speak with Her.
[Ninya]
Day 35:
I woke up with a yawn and a stretch as I recalled what happened last night. I had been sitting here, watching over mom while practicing my spell when I must've gotten really sleepy since I couldn't recall passing out. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I remembered that I had taken my cloak off while practicing. So, why…
As I looked, I found that it was a blanket draped over me and my cloak still hung on the wall. Additionally, the book I had been reading was closed and set on mom's bed in front of me. Speaking of mom, her hair appeared to have rapidly grown much longer over the course of two nights. I couldn't really understand why, but I had a feeling that Grandma was somehow responsible.
Yet, at the same time, her body hadn't moved an inch as she was still soundly in deep sleep. I still had no idea how much longer she'd be like this, and the wait was just killing us.
Oddly, my nose was able to easily pick of the scent of beef behind me, followed by hearing Lukrut's voice, almost like it was right in my ears, from behind me. "Seems you've finally woken up. How are you doing today?" Turning to origin of Lukrut's voice, I found him approaching me with a bowl of stew in hand that he handed to me with a spoon resting inside. I smiled at the gesture and thanked the archer before taking the bowl and beginning to eat.
"I'm doing alright. I only just woke up, so I can't really say much else aside from that. When did you wake up?" I asked between mouthfuls of food.
"Probably about an hour or so. Decided to take a quick stroll outside to get some air before coming back in to get food. Looks like there's going to be a large storm soon." Lukrut answered as he sat down in the chair next to me.
"Good thing that we're inside then." I quipped between another bite of food, "By the way, when did I get a blanket put on me? I don't remember falling asleep, so I'm a little curious."
Lukrut chuckled and patted my shoulder, "You were passed out reading your book when I came back to Kashia's room and found you. You looked a bit cold, so I put a blanket on you and moved your book."
"Thanks."
"No problem, Ninya."
"Do you know if Peter and Dyne are up as well?" I asked. I had mostly emptied my bowl at this point, so it seems that I was a lot hungrier than expected.
"Our friends were eating breakfast when I saw them. Probably still are right now." Lukrut replied as he began studying mom's comatose form before looking back to me. I gave him a nod and finished the rest of my breakfast before setting the bowl to the side of my chair. "Hey, Ninya? Is it just me, or have your eyes mostly become gold at this point?"
It definitely wasn't just Lukrut who thought this. I ended up catching my reflection the other day and quickly spotted that change. To be honest, while I wasn't exactly worried, I had no idea why my eyes were a mostly glowing gold at this point. Was it because of mom fully becoming a goddess or is it due to something else?
"It's not just you. But I couldn't tell you why it's happening." I answered. This earned a snort from Lukrut, making my golden eyes give him a questioning glance.
"Another mystery to add to the growing pile. Wonder when we'll uncover the answer to that one?" He explained good-naturedly.
"Who knows? But we'll just have to live with these questions until then." With that, I pulled the blanket off of my shoulder and set it onto the back of my chair before standing up. "I'm going to stretch my legs for a bit before I come back. I'm feeling a bit stiff right now."
"Then I'll keep Kashia company in the meantime, Princess Ninya." Lukrut said in assurance while teasing me at the end. I quickly started walking away to hide my blushing face and gave him a short wave.
"Be back soon." I said before exiting the room and walking down the hallway until I reached the stairs and made my way up the steps to the main floor of the temple. Oddly, even without the [Foxfire] lit torches, my eyes were able to easily see everything, almost like something filtered my vision and made everything brighter. Another change that could be added to the list of things I couldn't explain.
I spotted a few kitsune in their fox forms who gave me nods or words of greeting.
"Good morning, Princess Ninya." Aoi, a brown and purple kitsune with seven tails, said to me in his normal chipper tone. Though, it was hard to hide the flush of slight embarrassment at being called a princess. For the past two days, since mom ascended, whenever I've spoken to any of the kitsune, they'd refer to me as 'princess'. It made me feel strange and a little uncomfortable.
From what I could figure out; because Tuare and I are mom's daughters, that automatically promoted us to the title of princess. This was only enhanced because mom had ascended to become a full goddess, at least, that was how they explained it. When I tried to question them more on this, they all kept quiet with friendly smiles while saying, 'you'll understand one day'.
And then there was the teasing the other guys gave me after they heard that. How did mom ever get used to it?
"Morning, Aoi." I replied as I walked for a bit while also examining a few of the changes that the temple had gone through since the kitsune first crafted it.
For one thing; a circular skylight now hung over the golden pool in the center of the temple. Then, there were the stone benches arranged to face the fox statue of mom. Each was made of stone that was somehow colored a reflective gold. In fact, walking throughout the temple to examine the walls; where they had once been mostly plain, but beautiful marble, now they were decorated in gold filigree patterned with the shapes of foxes in a multitude of poses and actions.
It felt like this was less of a temple to worship in and more of a work of art that had been crafted by masters. None of it felt gaudy in the slightest and seemed more natural than anything else, like the gold had been grown into the stone itself. Examining the artwork a little bit longer, I noted that my body no longer retained that stiffness that had been plaguing it earlier. With that taken care of, I turned around to walk towards the fox statue.
As I was about to head back down to mom's room and continue my practicing, the doors to the conjured temple abruptly opened and I turned around, wondering who it was that entered. The moment I did so, my heart felt like it was about to burst in my chest as I began hyperventilating. The memory of that night filled my mind as my right hand trembled upon recalling the image of acid melting it down.
Strutting through the doorway, accompanied by a group of three others, while nine more could be see waiting beyond the doors, was a man that was almost the spitting image of Clementine.
He had blond hair that was styled similar to that monster's. Red eyes that looked around the temple before falling on me as if in judgement. He had a soft smile on his lips, yet it lacked any true emotion to it as it didn't reach those eyes of his.
"Hello, young lady. Would you be willing to answer a few questions of mine?" He asked, yet no words were able to escape my lips. As he began walking towards me, I found myself stepping back, earning a look of cat-like curiosity from him, "Are you well, young lady? You look as if you've seen a ghost. Or…"
My heel slipped and I found myself falling to the ground with a panicked yelp. But that moment of falling was enough time for this man with the face of Clementine to now stand over me, looking down, "…do I look like someone familiar to you?" He asked with a hint of interest, "Hav-"
"-Greetings, visitors!" The Puraimu's deep voice interrupted as he arrived from out of nowhere dressed in a white robe layered over blue trousers and a red silken shirt. Additionally, his vulpine features had now been hidden, making him appear like any other human.
Slipping between myself and that man, Puraimu maintained a diplomatic smile. "How might I assist the newest guests to this humble temple?"
This took the man's attention off of me as he now gazed at Puraimu with studious eyes, "Yes, I would appreciate your help. Two days ago, a source of great mana created a pillar of golden light that could be seen for miles. We wished to uncover the origin and would be most appreciative of your cooperation." He answered.
Puraimu continued maintaining that smile, while at the same time, I noticed a few more disguised kitsune start appearing around the temple, looking like normal human clergy folk.
Aside from the innate fear I had of the man due to his resemblance to Clementine, I also felt worried about his interest in mom, even if it seemed like he might not know of her yet. Lukrut was in mom's room, sitting with her after I went to walk. Peter and Dyne were in one of the underground rooms nearby eating breakfast. About ten of the 20 kitsune were visibly disguised as humans inside the temple, while the rest were unseen to me.
This should be the safest place imaginable for mom as she slept, yet why did I have an ominous feeling in my gut right now?
"Yes, we were witness to that miraculous pillar as well. Yet, we didn't see any sign of what the origin might be after investigating. Sadly, I don't believe you'll find what you're looking for here." Puraimu said with a sympathetic tone.
If the man was accepting of the answer, I couldn't tell. Instead, he asked another question, "Mana origin aside, pray tell, could you inform me on what god it is that this temple worships? It doesn't appear to be any of the Six Great Gods."
"This holy temple is dedicated to the glory that is the Fox Princess. If you'd like, I could tell you more about her since you seem like a man with an open mind." Puraimu replied with a friendly and inviting tone.
As they continued conversing, my eyes noticed the way the men accompanying this familiar stranger all seemed to become enraged at hearing about a new goddess. And then, I came to the terrifying realization of what the stranger had said.
Six gods. Not four. The only people who referred to the gods as six were…the Slane Theocracy. And these weren't just normal travelers; they were armed with weapons at their sides and armor or clothing that was of great quality.
Who were these people?
"While I appreciate the offer, good priest, I must sadly decline. But before my compatriots and I take our leave, I have one final question." Slightly moving the side of Puraimu so that he could get a good look at me, he asked, "Girl, does the name Clementine sounds familiar to you?"
Gods, he truly was related to her!
I couldn't find the words to confirm or deny the question, but that was all he needed, "So, you have seen my traitorous sister. Good. You will tell me everything you know." He said, stepping closer until Puraimu put an arm in front of Clementine's brother to block him.
"Son, the girl doesn't want to speak with you, and you'll find nothing of what you're searching for here. I would ask that you leave." The disguised kitsune suggested, his smile no longer on his face.
"I've played this farce long enough, priest. I know you're lying. Step aside since my question was for the girl, not you." The man stated with a cold look to Puraimu.
"And I am offering you an out. I recommend you take it." Puraimu warned.
"Funny, so was I." The man flatly retorted before a spell array appeared next to him. Yet, before it could be fully cast, Puraimu slammed his outstretched arm into the man's chest and ended the man's spell, launching him off his feet and through the air and into his companions. This continued to fling all four outside the temple's doors and towards the feet of the nine men remaining outside.
Immediately, weapons were drawn and spells began to be prepared. Unlike his fellows, the blond man immediately jumped to his feet. The fact that he could stand up so quickly after taking the brunt of the attack, whereas the rest of his men couldn't, was terrifying to behold. How strong was he?
"That's it! [Summon: Gigant Basilisks]!" He shouted, rage evident on his face, as spell arrays lit up and two massive basilisks erupted from them.
They were terrifying to look at as they were a death sentence to most but adamantite-plate adventurers. Reptilian in form, with a snakelike body that had eight legs, a massive toothy maw, crimson horns the color of blood, and green armored scales that able to block all but attacks that could penetrate mithril.
I pushed myself to my feet as I tried to move past the immense fear I felt from the reminder of that night and Clementine. This man was after me, and he was especially after mom. I had to help the rest of the kitsune protect her!
"I'm giving you one last chance, boy!" Puraimu now shouted as he strode forwards to the doors, the other kitsune now taking defensive positions around the temple, "Take your people and walk away! This will be your last warning!"
"I will, once you give me the girl so that I can question her and the magic item that you're hiding!" He said in ultimatum.
"Wrong answer. I'm going to pry your face off." Puraimu stated, letting his illusion fall away to reveal his inhuman traits. This only further enraged the men, all obviously Slane Theocracy soldiers, at seeing a demi-human.
Instantly, the gigant basilisks charged the temple while Puraimu rushed out to meet them. With a slap of his tail, one basilisk was knocked aside, while he caught the other monster by the throat with his tail before slamming it face-first into the ground.
A few blasts of magic were shot at him by the mages, but he put his tails in front of the attacks to block them. After the first barrage, he pulled up the basilisk that was still implanted into the ground with his tail and threw it towards the group.
Yet, instead of impacting, the basilisk was unsummoned, disappearing into mana, and Clementine's brother summoned a new one charging at Puraimu just as the first basilisk got back onto its feet and joined the charge.
But as the Slane attackers focused their efforts on Puraimu, they failed to notice two more kitsune appear behind their group until a few of their soldiers were dragged to their feet or stabbed with tails.
I felt myself slightly relax as it seemed the group was easily being handled until a grouping of black bolts of mana was fired at the crowd, both kitsune, human, and basilisk alike.
Rushing to the door with two other kitsune, I looked outside to see four beings, more like walking corpses than people, arrive from the west.
One was a man in expensive looking clothing that seemed a century out of fashion, with half of his old face being completely skeletal and the other half gray flesh.
Another was a woman in red robes that covered her body, with long white hair. Her face, all gray flesh, showed traces of beauty, but that was countered by how it seemed her appearance had been pickled in a preservative than natural. And whatever technique used on her face had not been used with her eyes as they were empty sockets with red dots.
The third; a man with a human appearance that looked the oldest of all his companions, along with being the most preserved, shared that same gray flesh. He had long white hair and a long wispy beard with empty eye sockets filled with glowing red dots. He wore white robes under black armor that almost seemed like it could be made of adamantite.
Finally, there was the youngest looking of the group. She had brunette hair that went to her shoulders and clammy colored flesh. If given a little color, she could still pass for human…if one ignored that her entire lower jaw was only bone, all flesh having rotted away. She wore robes that seemed like those of the Slane Theocracy soldiers'.
Behind all four of these undead figures was an army of skeletons and zombies.
"ENOUGH!" The oldest of the quartet shouted. His voice, which was unnaturally audible over the fighting, was like falling sand to my ears, as if his vocal cords were turning to dust as he spoke.
This somehow grabbed the attention of all combatants as they separated from one another, Puraimu and the two other kitsune jumping towards the entrance of the temple, and the five Slane Theocracy soldiers, along with Clementine's brother, still alive pulled themselves together. Then, they turned to the newcomers.
"This fight is finished! We have come for the source of mana that was detected here. Hand it to us or become one with our horde. It makes no difference. We will have what we came for." The undead ordered.
Puraimu glared at the quartet, "As I have told the boy and his men, there is nothing of value for any of you here, lich."
Gods, those were liches! They were here for mom as well!
"You should've obeyed Nikto's order. Now, I get to have fun!" The woman with the exposed jaw said excitedly, the flesh from her upper lip curling into a gruesome smile.
With a wave of her hand, an army of skeletal and zombie animals rushed out from the ranks of the undead army and towards us. Almost like the world announcing the start of a battle, thunder cracked from the clouded sky and twelve kitsune now stood outside, with only eight remaining inside the temple.
"Always in such rush Klatennu." The lich missing half his face remarked as he waved his hand to cause the skeletal humanoids to follow the animals.
"And you're too slow, Baral Raddas." Klatennu shot back.
"Enough squabbling in front of the mortals." The preserved woman intervened, earning a 'humph' from Klatennu while Baral Raddas remained silent.
With almost a silent agreement, both the kitsune and Slane put aside further fighting to deal with the undead that were swarming upon them.
Clementine's brother sent his basilisks at the wave, doing a decent job at destroying them while half the kitsune went for the wave, and the other half went around for the liches. Hearing the rapid sounds of boots hitting the stone floor behind me, I turned around to see Peter, Dyne, and Lukrut rushing over to me with weapons in hand. And it wasn't just their weapons as Lukrut held my staff in his hand before tossing it over to me.
Catching it in my hands, Peter was the first to ask, "We heard a lot of noise coming from up here and armed ourselves. What the hell is happening?" While asking this, he, along with the others, looked out the open doors to the battlefield full of kitsune, Slane, and undead.
"Originally, a group from the Slane Theocracy, led by Clementine's brother, arrived because they wanted whatever it was that caused the pillar of golden mana." I began.
"Wait, Clementine's brother? As in, that Clementine?" Lukrut asked in shock.
"The very same." I confirmed with a grim nod, making the others feel understandably nervous. "Puraimu threw him and his men out of the temple before going to fight them. After a few other kitsune joined the fray, those liches arrived with an undead army, also after mom." I said, pointing out to the four that seemed to be in various small skirmishes with kitsune upon them.
"Looks like everyone is after something today." Dyne jested as he took his mace from his side. "While dangerous, I'm willing to join the battle if the rest of you are."
Looking at the staff in my hand, and then back to the battle where all of the kitsune were fighting to protect mom, my fingers tightly curled on the staff as I made up my decision.
"Let's help." I answered.
With a grin, Peter drew his sword out and it quickly lit aflame as Lukrut unslung his bow. "Well, Pete, got a plan for us?" Lukrut asked.
"Stay out of the main mess of the fighting and pick off any of the undead that we can. Additionally, stay away from the Slane since we don't know when they'll likely turn on us." Peter answered quickly.
"Sounds good enough." Dyne said with a grin.
As we stepped out of the temple, Lukrut added, "Considering how many undead we ended up killing in the dungeon, this will be a pretty average day for us."
I snorted at the observation, "Weird how we consider this average." I said before conjuring a bolt of [Foxfire] and sending it hurling at a skeletal dog, igniting it in blue flames.
Peter and Dyne charged another grouping of skeletons, with Peter slicing a pair of humanoid skeletons in half at their ribcages like a hot knife through butter. As Peter did this, Dyne's mace swung and a heavy bundle of roots would rapidly grow out, crushing a trio of undead in a bundle of bones and rotting flesh.
Lukrut took a more economical approach to the fighting by picking out groupings of undead not near any ally. Once located, Lukrut would fire his root arrows into them, creating an explosion of spiked roots that would pull the nearby undead into a tangled mess of bodies and roots. I tried keeping up by launching more [Foxfire] blasts, igniting each of my targets.
I could only hope that this battle could be handled quickly.
[Ramsel the Gold-Plate]
It had been two days since my team and I, the Delver Dragons, had made our way from E-Rantel to the direction of the golden pillar that was seen from the city some time ago. When our mage, Tomnus, said that the mana being produced by it was like nothing he had ever felt before, we all knew that there had to be a payday involved. Some magic item had to be there which we could get and either use or sell.
That made us very excited at the prospect. If we could sell it to the right people, then our team could probably retire from adventuring and spend the rest of our lives experiencing the high life. But that was only if we could get it first.
Looking around us, I spotted a few adventuring teams that had the same idea as the rest of us. There were the mithril-plate teams called Kralgra and Sky Wolf, the gold-plate team of Grasping Claw, and even the silver-plate teams of Eistvahn and Red Displacement. And that was just the teams of adventurers, not counting the few individuals that had also come along. We'd all been rushing to this place to be the first to claim the prize.
While there was some competition, none of the adventurers here would dare to attempt to sabotage, injure, or even kill one another. We'd be outed from the guild for that with bounties placed on our heads. Instead, we simply had to move fast in this race. But discounting the adventurers who smelled money to be made or power to be acquired, we were not the only ones who had been interested in what might be found at the power's origin.
Trailing behind us a short ways away were two groups. The first of these groups was the E-Rantel military which was being sent to uncover what could possibly be a danger to the city, considering how close it was and the power that had been felt from it by all the magic users. While their hats were only in the game for investigation, they also helped act as another measure of temperance to prevent any hostile acts between all the adventurers.
Following aside from the guard was a whole group of worshippers of that new religion worshipping the Fox Princess goddess. We found that they were coming with since they said it was a sign from their goddess. I really didn't care much, only that they didn't interfere when our team tried to acquire that magic power.
Funnily enough, there was one final group in this race, though they technically weren't even a competitor since it was just a pair of merchant wagons with a small team of adventurers guarding it. From what we learned of the merchants ahead of us, they were on their way to E-Pespel to trade some goods when the event happened. As such, they were willing to offer us some of their wares for trade, but they really wanted to get past the area without issue or hinderance.
I was happy to say that I bought a new pauldron from the group to switch out with my old one that had developed a crack in it. Cost me only trading in my old pauldron and a discounted price of 3 silver.
Pretty good deal to say the least since this piece of armor was made of pretty good steel and would probably go for 10 silver at the very least.
"Hey, fellas." Tomnus said to us, "Once past this small hill, we'll be extremely close to that source of mana. We should get ready to move fast very soon." The five of us smiled at hearing these words from the scholarly mage.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Tom. Ready ourselves, boys." I said as my body tensed.
"Got it, boss." The others said in answer. A little bit further, and we'd hit the payday of our lives.
That was when I suddenly noticed the merchant wagons suddenly stop up ahead before a shout was made following the whipping of their horses' reins. Both wagons began speeding off to the left, which made all of us adventuring teams rush over to where the wagons once were.
As we did so, I heard the growing sounds of fighting before all of us finally saw what was going on upon making it over the hill. Absolute pandemonium!
There seemed to be a massive fight going on between some foxes with many tails, humans with many tails, regular humans, and a whole host of undead in front of a temple. I could see the merchant wagons quickly trying to go around the entire battle with as much haste as could be mustered.
But looking back to the undead host, all I could think is that it needed to be defeated, else we'd be next if the people over there fell. It could even move onto E-Rantel after that! Normally, we were motivated by money, but if that host of undead grew to a large enough size, then money would be the least of our issues.
Reluctantly taking my bearded axe from my back, I looked to the others, "Tom, are you sensing that the mana is coming from over there?" I asked, pointing to the battle. With a displeased expression, he nodded. "Shit, guess we'll have to do a bit of extra work for our payday."
With a shared reluctance, my team also unsheathed their weapons. At the same time, I spotted the other adventurers nearby us doing the same. "Let's go!" I commanded. As I said this, thunder rumbled in the sky, followed by flashes of lightning before the rain began to fall.
Then, we, along with every other adventurer with the same idea, charged to join the battle.
[Captain Martin Rolbeck]
Our force had been making good headway towards the origin of that pillar of light. Two days of marching, and our force of 100 would soon be there. Looking up to the sky, I saw the gray storm clouds gathering as multiple roars of thunder echoed down to us. I could only pray to the gods that the storm would pass quickly since it was always a miserable experience to trudge through the rain.
"Captain Martin, what will the orders be upon reaching the source? The mages of the guild say that it's extremely close." My lieutenant, Harvold, asked.
Looking to the younger officer, a man who had done well in rising through the ranks based on his own merit, I answered, "Considering that the adventurers up ahead, and the worshippers of that goddess next to us, are all heading to the same place; our best course of action is to try and prevent any mass chaos. Our primary job here is to uncover whatever this thing is and report back our findings to the city. But our secondary job should be to prevent any potential bloodshed among all parties involved."
"Of course, Captain! Though, do you really believe that things could come to conflict? No one knows for sure what this could actually be, even if those fox worshippers say otherwise." Harvold questioned with a refreshingly optimistic view.
I looked the man in his green eyes and nodded. "While I would love to believe that this will only be a simple mission and all parties will act civil, human nature has a tendency to prove otherwise. I can only advise that you should hope for the best, but expect the worst." That was when I heard commotion ahead and turned to look at the adventurers who were all drawing out their weapons as they focused on something up ahead.
Shit, something is going on. "Men! Draw arms!" I shouted as Harvold and my second and third lieutenant, Atrian and Wallace who were further in platoon, repeated my orders.
The sounds of blades being unsheathed filled my ears as I did the same. On doing so, thunder roared and lightning flashed the sky before rain poured down. Up ahead, the adventurers all began their charge. Damnit, what is going on up ahead?!
I ran forwards in my plate and leather for a short way before cresting over the hill. Upon doing so, I found myself witnessing absolute chaos as the adventurers surged forwards to a battle up ahead between a mixture of humans, foxes with many tails, demi-humans with multiple tails, and an entire army of the undead.
By the gods, this was horrifying! If that undead army were to grow large enough, then all of E-Rantel would be in danger! Behind me, I could hear my soldiers charging up the hill with me. Turning around, I pointed my sword upwards.
"MEN! FORM RANKS!" I shouted above the noise of the storm as my voice echoed to my soldiers. With my command, as my men crested the hill with me, they broke into division squads of ten. "DIVISION SQUADS ONE THROUGH FIVE WITH ME TOWARDS THE DEAD! DIVISION SQUADS SIX THROUGH TEN WITH HAROLD FLANKING THE RIGHT!"
Harold gave me a nod as the army split in half. "SQUADS SIX THROUGH TEN, MOVE ON ME!" He commanded before immediately running with his squads north-west to go around the temple.
"SQUADS ONE THROUGH FIVE, CHARGE THE DEAD!" I cried out and moved forwards, leading the charge. I will never sit behind my men as they charge to danger. As their captain, I led by example, and my men would follow me into hell because of it.
Yet, as we all began sprinting, I heard a new roaring coming from the sky to the north. And I knew that this was not the sound of thunder. No, it was animalistic and alive.
[Eddrick the Serpent]
My boys and I had been getting real excited as we got closer to this powerful magic item. We were all real excited at the gold we'd be raking in once we sold it. Especially so, because our contacts, along with the Eight Fingers' base in the area was wiped out. We found this out when we went there to fence some of our goods to them since they were fair with payments.
Instead of the hidden base filled with illicit goods to be traded, we found nothing more than smoking rubble and bodies. That was a difficult thing to swallow as it was hard enough to find a good fence that would pay out what is owed. Most would end up stiffing you since they knew that there was really nowhere else one could go to trade stolen wares.
So, after that, we figured the area wasn't exactly good for men of our…employment and were heading to the town of Wuldantus where a few contacts lived when we saw that golden pillar of light in the sky. Figuring that something of immense power was there, the boys and I decided to check it out and liberate it from any bastard that picked it up.
Since we figured that an item like this wouldn't exactly have an owner, it would be a hell of a lot easier to sell it to the legal authorities for an immense sum. That's what got us all heading right back south to where that light appeared.
I could just see the gold that my boys and I would be rolling in. That, and the women who would be more than interested in my 'personality' that I acquired. I was just loving this shit!
"Got any idea on what you'll do with your share of the gold?" Bruccus, a runaway criminal from the Baharuth Empire asked. The man was almost seven feet of pure muscle, perfect for intimidating others into giving us their valuables.
"Buying a new pair of boots and enough ale to drown myself in." Steffon, a dwarf that had escaped an execution for killing a few neighbors for their riches answered.
As this occurred, thunder cracked in the sky and it finally began raining.
"Ale, Stef?" Edouard, a thin twig of a cleric questioned, "With the amount of gold we're going to get, you can get the best booze in the world. You'd waste it all on simple ale?"
"Don't forget boots. All I need is clothes on my back, ale in hand, and foot in my belly. You humans just don't appreciate the simple things in life." Steffon retorted. He then chuckled and stroked his red beard.
"What a waste." Edouard commented with a shake of his head.
Deciding to throw my two coppers into the conversation, "We've each got our own wants. Me? I want money and women, both of which I'll be getting real soon since we're probably about there." I said as we made it up a hill where we could all see a temple's roof cresting just above it in the distance.
"Even better, boys. Bunch of priests probably have it. Taking our prize from them will be easy- holy shit!" I exclaimed as we made it over the hill and saw a massive battle going on with people, beastkin, and undead. They were probably all after the same thing we were.
My boys and I just stayed still for a short time; our eyes wide as we watched this ridiculous battle play out.
"Boss, in my professional opinion; I have to say, fuck that. Whatever thing this is, it's definitely not worth whatever the hell is going on up ahead." Steffon said dryly.
I gave him a nod, especially because I saw what appeared to be the E-Rantel army arrive before splitting into two groups as another massive group of what seemed to be mages arrived and were now firing spells into the chaotic clash.
"And in my professional opinion; I am completely in agreement, Stef. Let's get the fuck outta here!" I shouted to my band of 15. All of them also gave answers of agreement and we immediately began to turn away when a roar from the sky just east of us filled our ears with its noise and our hearts with dread.
"That wasn't thunder!" Edouard said.
"DRAGONS!" Bruccus exclaimed. No. No. No!
Turning left, I looked to the sky and saw a trio of white-scaled frost dragons flying towards us! I looked to everyone and shouted, "RUN!" Which probably wasn't even necessary as we tried to get away. Yet, looking over and up, I saw the dragons open their maw and icy death raining down upon me and the boys.
We couldn't run fast enough, and I first felt cold, then nothing anymore.
[Platinum Dragon Lord]
After having readied my Wild Magic enough to feel confident, I flew my piloted armor to the location of that pillar, hoping that it was just an item that made such an event and not a Player. Yet, growing closer, I spotted what appeared to be a temple with multiple groups converging onto a battle in front of it.
Looking among the groups, there was the massive army of the undead that I could see were being led by four liches. Paying a bit more attention, I was able to recognize at least one of them, the bearded undead in black and white armor. His name is Nikto, and he's probably one of the oldest night liches around. He was alive when the Players known as the Six Great Gods roamed the world.
Yet, I did not recognize any of the company that he kept with him. That such a being was here fighting against those of the Fox Princesse's race bode ill. Nikto knew that there was power here, and he wanted it for his own. I couldn't allow such a thing to happen, and yet, it was not a good moment to enter into such a battle while the confusion among its combatants was already high enough.
Aside from the undead, there was also the fox people that were fighting alongside humans against the undead threat. Quite a few were even attempting to take out the liches so as to end the threat quickly. And yet, it seemed a more difficult endeavor than expected.
Whenever the fox people attempted to get close, they would be harried by death magic, intercepted by conjured undead, or the liches would simply teleport away. But while it was annoying for the fox people to catch the liches, it did not mean that they were in trouble.
In fact, it wasn't wrong to claim that these liches were on the back-foot as they had to continually evade the fox people from catching them. Another figure I was familiar with ended up catching my eye. Quaiesse of the Black Scripture was here as well. That was the most surprising, yet also concerning, thing to find on this battlefield.
The Slane Theocracy was also interested in this place, enough to send one of their strongest warriors to retrieve whatever was here. I've kept my eye on the Slane for years at this point as, aside from being the location where the Players had spent the longest time cultivating, it was also the place where they had left a great amount of their legacies.
From the items that were too powerful to be left in the hands of any faction, the secret spells that they were taught… And then there were the Godkin. Those children and descendants of Players that the Slane hoarded and bred as weapons to be used against their enemies. While such an issue was an immense concern centuries ago, it had become less so with each passing generation.
The blood of Players grew diluted and weak as the Godkin would breed with those without said blood, creating a weaker child. From what I've spied of the Slane, they have been attempting a eugenics project to try and maintain the strength of each new generation. As it was, the only Godkin in their theocracy with any merit was the half-elf, Antilene Heran Fouche, better known as Zesshi Zetsumei.
She came to be when the only first-generation Godkin I know to still live, Decem Hougan, the king of the elves, raped the girl's mother. Somehow, the mixture of Godkin blood was great enough give her such strength.
As for Decem, even being a first-generation Godkin, he was actually someone who I was the least concerned with. The man is arrogant, lazy, and a hedonist. He rarely, if ever, would venture outside his kingdom's territory. He had little ambition besides producing a powerful child. Any children he does have, typically are too weak in his eyes are sent to fight his war against the Slane Theocracy in his stead to die. That, or he kills them.
After so many centuries of keeping an eye on him, I've learned that Decem is the smallest concern among the many I already have. If he does become an issue, I feel confident enough that I could kill him if it came down to such a duel.
Still, with the Slane involved, I will have to ensure that they do not acquire whatever it is that they are after.
To my west, I eyed a few spider-like creatures that seemed to near the battlefield. Two arachnoids, four driders, and eight giant spiders. They seemed to eye the chaos with interest before the driders turned invisible. I wouldn't bother worrying about them unless they became a problem since they seemed more curious than anything else.
Towards the east of the battlefield, I found many humans charging to aid. The first to arrive were adventurers, then mages and soldiers followed, yet, looking over to see another group of soldiers flanking around the battlefield, I spotted three frost dragons, out of their adolescent stage and just recently adults, approach from the north-east before breathing their frost breath down upon a newly arrived group of humans, killing all of them. Once finished, they turned towards the flanking half of humans and began to rain frost down upon them.
What in the hell is going on? The frost dragons typically kept to their territory, so why were three young adults here? I know that Olasird'arc Haylilyal was currently embroiled in dominating the mountains, his sights not yet turned beyond it. The only thing I can guess is that these three are young hotheads trying to get stronger to prove their strength.
Idiots…
Continuing to focus on the battlefield, I watched it play out as living and dead alike fell to one another. Just as I decided what I was going to do I spotted a massive amount of movement from the corner of my vision and looked north-east to a giant horde of winged monstrosities flying towards the battle. Leading this great flying host was a large creature that I could barely begin to describe the race of.
It was partially skeletal, at least its head, some of its torso, and three of its many arms were. Its left shoulder held the arms of a skeletal humanoid, an insectoid arm that seemed familiar, and a fleshy arm of darkened skin. On its right, two skeletal arms with one much larger than the other, and what seemed to be a clawed arm of a golden dragon that was also familiar.
But when I saw the wings and tails of the creature, I quickly recognized them. The golden paw, wings, and tail were from the Evil Deity known as the God Dragon. Its insectoid wings and arm were from the Demon God of Insects. And then there was the third set of wings.
A platinum set of wings along with the tail that I instantly recognized had belonged to my father!
And those were only the parts I could see from the dark robe it wore. This thing… This abomination had harvested parts from the Evil Deities, my father, and who knows what else!
I felt immense fury and hatred as I looked upon the thing that had desecrated my father. He may have done wrong by this world, but he was my father and did not deserve to be looted for parts!
This thing dies today. Once I find the right moment to attack, it will be erased from this world. But even with my anger, I had to keep a level head since this wretched amalgamation was accompanied by hundreds of chimeric abominations while it had unknown abilities, especially considering the body parts of the many powerful beings grafted to it.
I watched as it flew above the main area of conflict, with its army hovering behind waiting for a command of action. This newcomer actually caused the fighting to slow down, and then cease between the living and dead as they all watched with caution.
Then, the monstrosity spoke, its voice echoing over the thunder and rain…
[Earlier]
[Ninya]
As the rain continued pouring down on us in fat droplets, I didn't know if I should be thankful that I hadn't been wearing my cloak before this battle began or annoyed. On one hand, it'd likely be ladened in water and slowing me down by now. On the other, my clothes were throughly soaked and I was cold.
The one thing keeping the cold at bay was the physical activity that I was going through as I continued to fight. It was hard to see far past the rain and the frenzied fighting of the living and dead. "Lukrut! Do you see Peter and Dyne anywhere?!" I shouted as I shot a zombie wolf off of an adventurer with a bolt of [Foxfire].
Lukrut grew a root arrow from his hand and quickly stabbed an approaching zombie in the head before kicking the zombie off of it and firing it into a crowd of skeleton. An explosion of roots followed before all the skeletons were sucked into a mass of roots and bones.
"No! We've pretty much lost them in the rush of new fighters and the rain picking up! I can barely see anything further than 15 yards!" He shouted back before pulling out a normal arrow, drawing it, then turning to me. "Ninya, duck!"
I bent down as the twang of Lukrut's bowstring echoed in my ear followed by a meaty thump as a zombie fell down next to me. "Thanks," I said while standing back up and wiping the hair and water from my eyes.
"No problem! We gotta try and stick together and find the others!" He shouted back to me. Yet, in the distance, I spotted a massive dark figure charging towards us. It almost looked like-
"Is that a zombie bear?!" I asked as the undead beast roared while attempting to shake a blue-furred kitsune that was lodged on top of it, stabbing the bear repeatedly with its tails or tearing chunks out of it with its teeth.
"Yes! Move!" He jumped to the right of the bear and I jumped to the left as the bear barreled on past us.
I skidded across the muddy ground, coating my left side in it. Pushing myself to my feet, I was about to turn to Lukrut when a skeletal wolf charged at me. I swung my staff at the undead beast, the head of my staff impacting its skull, batting the creature aside as I finished it off with [Foxfire].
Hearing the heavy slapping of feet against mud from behind me, I turned around to see a human skeleton charging at me with a rusted sword three yards away. Diving aside from its swipe while still facing it, I lit up the undead in blue flame as my back slid against the ground before I stood back up again.
Yet now that I had a moment, I looked around and couldn't see Lukrut anywhere. "Lukrut!" I shouted, but if he had heard me, then his shout back was lost in the sounds of battle, rain, and thunder.
"Shit!" I cursed to myself as I stayed put and tried to keep my eyes open for any further undead. Then, my eyes widened and my jaw dropped as, in the sky, I could make out the flying form of some multi-limbed creature that seemed amalgamated from many others. And behind it, a horde of white creatures hovering with it.
"ENOUGH FIGHTING OVER MY PRIZE!" The creature shouted causing the fighting of the living and undead to slow and eventually cease as we all looked at the newcomer. "FOR THE CRIME OF FIGHTING OVER WHAT IS MINE, YOU WILL ALL JOIN MY LEGION!"
"Alonne," The ancient bearded lich asked as he floated up from the ground to greet the newcomer, "what right do you have over that which is ownerless?"
"IT IS MY RIGHT AS THE FUTURE GOD OF THIS WORLD!" Alonne spat back with arrogance. What did he mean by future god of this world? Did he know that mom, specifically, was sleeping under the temple?
"You are an arrogant child believing himself king because he stitched some body parts to himself. You are centuries too young to try that with me, boy!" Nikto returned.
"AND YOU ARE CENTURIES TOO OLD TO REALIZE WHEN YOU'VE BEEN SURPASSED BY THE YOUNGER!" Then, Alonne held out an extremely long skeletal right arm at Nikto, "BEGONE! [LESSER BLACK HOLE]!"
A dark array of magic appeared at Alonne's outstretched index finger and Nikto seemed to realize something was wrong as he flew back just in time to save his life, yet not fast enough to save his right leg that seemed to stretch towards a black dot hovering in the air, like honey being poured, until it was finally ripped off and sucked away into nothing.
"MINIONS! EXPAND MY ARMY!" Once Alonne said this, all of the creatures floating behind him sped down to meet the living and dead like meteors.
"Living and dead alike! We must stop Alonne before he kills us all! [Grand Fireball]!" Nikto shouted as a massive ball of fire engulfed a group of ten of the undead monstrosities.
That seemed to be the signal for all-out pandemonium to erupt as everyone on the battlefield focused on the new threat that united us.
One of the creatures slammed down in front of me and I was forced to run back and avoid the deadly attack. Countering, I shot a bolt of [Foxfire] at the creature and found my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach as the only damage it suffered was the slight melting of its skull.
This thing was stronger than me…
The monstrosity attempted to slam its fists down on me, but I slid out of the way and shot off another blast of fire at the same area as the first blast, melting away more of its head. I was about to move again when it slapped its tail out at me.
Unprepared for the attack, I did the only thing I could think of in the moment and put my staff in the way to block it.
The impact hit, and I was launched off of my feet and into the air for what felt like a few seconds until my back painfully slammed into the ground as my staff flew out of my hands. For a few seconds more, I skidded along the muddy ground until it seemed like I was at the edge of the battlefield.
Both my arms and shoulders felt like they'd been hit by warhammers, but I didn't think that they were broken. At the same time, the creature was still charging me and I was going to be its victim if I didn't move now!
Painfully pushing myself to my feet, I was about to fire another spell at it before a pair of giant spiders jumped over me and tackled the monstrosity.
"What the f-" I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my neck, followed by a warmth flowing from that pain. Rapidly turning my head, I found what seemed to be a woman with dark hair biting down onto my neck before pulling away with some of my blood trailing from her mouth. It was when I paid closer attention to see that she had eight ruby eyes dotting her face and a grinning mouth filled with horrifically sharp fangs that I realized that she wasn't human! Then, the bottom of her jaw split apart into a grotesque grin.
"We have you now." She said in amusement, all the while, the warmth in my neck was spreading. What is happening?
Turning to the battlefield where I could spot a few kitsune tearing into the monstrosities, I cried out, "HEL-MMPH!" She put a sticky clawed hand to my mouth, muffling my shouts.
"Shh, shh. Let the venom do its work." The eight-eyed woman playfully said in my ear as I looked at my salvation off in the distance. I gave out more muffled screams and tried to pull away, but the inhuman woman held me in place with one arm and caressed my cheek with her free hand, making me realize that something was keeping my lips shut together.
"HMMMMMPH MMMMMPH!" My muffled voice attempted to scream out to anyone that could hear me, yet my voice was drowned out by thunder, battle, and rain. No one noticed what was happening as the chimeric undead took all their attention to fight and survive against. And all the while, the inhuman woman continued to make shushing noises in my ear as if I was a wailing infant.
That warmth kept spreading through my body and I eventually found myself unable to move anything except my eyes, while even if something wasn't already gagging me, I could only make the quietest groans at my loudest. Then, a thumping of multiple legs against the ground could be heard next to me.
My eyes looked over to see a woman that looked like twin to the inhuman woman holding me. But then, looking lower from the black leather armor covering her torso, I saw only the black plated abdomen and eight legs of a spider. I wanted to scream as the woman gave me a split-jaw grin before reaching into a pocket on her armor and pulling out two things. One was a platinum ring with the design of a closed eye on it. The other was a spell scroll.
"For such cute prey, why don't I give you a proposal from my master?" The spider woman teased before she gripped my left hand, pulled off my glove, and slipped the ring onto my ring finger, "This will make certain that no one peeks in on our fun, but just to make sure you don't lose my master's gift…" She closed my hand into a fist and spun her hand around it, leaving behind a trail of silk that ensured I wouldn't be able to open my fist to remove the ring.
With a malicious grin, she spun her hand around my fist multiple more times until my fist was a ball of silk. She then activated the spell scroll and we were all covered in its effect, not that I could tell what the effect was. Once done, the spider woman holding me scooped me off of my feet and carried me in her arms like I was a bride being brought through a threshold.
"I just love your gold eyes, cute prey. If we didn't have to bring you to our master intact, I'd pluck them out and keep them as a pair of earrings." The spider woman carrying me purred out increasing the fear in my racing heart as both women sped away from the battle with me in tow.
Looking back to the battle, my eyes caught the flames coming off Peter's sword in the distance. And joining him, I could see a new army of kitsune appear on the battlefield crashing into the monstrosities and slowly turning the tide of battle. Above them, frost dragons clawed and bit at the undead in aerial combat.
I continued to try and scream out for help, but the venom did its job well, and the gag reinforced it. Tears streamed from my eyes, mixing with the rain splashing against my face, as we got further and further away from anyone that could save me.
"I hate leaving a job incomplete, but we had to move quickly so that none could spot us, cute prey. But don't worry, we'll make certain that you'll have a new set of silk clothes before presenting you to our master." The second spider woman promised while tauntingly wagging the glove she took off from me earlier.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another spider woman join us, looking the same as the first two. "Sister, where is our last sister? Did you accomplish killing the false goddess?" The spider woman carrying me asked. Oh, gods, did they try to kill mom?!
"No, our sister and the spiders accompanying us died in the attempt. I managed to escape due to more of those strange undead intercepting the foxes before they could get to me." The new spider woman answered, slightly alleviating my fears about mom being killed.
But then the woman looked at me with a split-jaw grin and I felt my fear grow, "Our prey is even cuter than expected. I'm so excited to play with her! Can I be the one to clothe her?" I renewed my attempted struggle to move, to slip out of the claws of these monsters, but my body wouldn't answer me.
"Don't be greedy, sister. We'll all get the chance to clothe our cute prey before presenting her before our master." The spider woman carrying me answered.
Mom! Grandma! Please, save me!