"This is our home. our lives. And I will not allow you to destroy it all!"
The first King of Vermillion in the final duel against the Sea Elf Autarch
"Master Idun, the twins informed me that the tunnel for the port is done, and the preparation for the upcoming ships is also done. The Imperials will have their accommodations ready by the time they arrive" An orc said to Idun and William as they finished another Magi-Tech session.
William was close to making a holographic map, a foolish endeavor according to Idun who said regular maps were good enough but he was dead set to do it.
After all, what's the point of magic if you can't have some cool gadgets?
"Your Holiness...Lucrezia I have a bit of grim news for you" Idun spoke up after the orc left. William placed his prototype map on top of the workstation and turned to the dwarf, he was looking way more hale lately.
"Speak freely Idun," William said.
"More workers are having those visions I told you about, they are afraid we will anger Morugarius with the new weapons..." The dwarf looked mighty uncomfortable. William raised his hands seeking to calm him.
"As long we don't make the Sun Bringer we shall not be victims of research and development sanctions by the Goddess of War, you can tell the men that" William spoke with confidence.
"But how can you be so sure Lady Lucrezia?" Idun spoke perplexed, he failed to see how on all hells his lady could even fathom the inner workings of Morugarius.
William stayed quiet for a moment, he couldn't explain that he heard from a developer Q and A session that anything's game on the world bar nuclear weapons without blowing his cover, much less explain how this "Sun Bringer" as the workers have begun to call it worked. Yes he had sent dwarfs clad in both magical and special clothing to the Infinite Mine below the castle with specifications on mining Uranium and they did get the blasted thing but he had no plans on actually going nuclear.
Nor the Knowledge.
So William decided to go for the old reliable lie he was using to these past few weeks.
"Deep in the archives of my parent's private library I found a book that had such information Idun, and as long we do not make such a weapon we are safe, trust me on this" It hurt William to lie to someone he had developed a liking but the alternative was oblivion to him and Lucrezia, so lie he would.
Idun relaxed visibly, with a smile on his face he spoke "Then I'll tell the men they can rest easy and double their prayers so the visions go away. Thank you Lady Lucrezia" he bowed and both moved to the door.
"Now, how about we grab some pizza and check the underground port?" William asked as they walked through the halls of the underground fortress, more and more of the city folk had joined them and a church was being built to accommodate the new faithful. Even the mermen and the Dragonkin were among their ranks now.
Another development brought from William's world was the small (yet) number of trains and train stations underground for faster movement between tunnels, underground roads were also built for carriages but the workers all preferred the new places to relax after work as more businesses opened in these small hubs. Of note was the station near the port that had a number of the more rare mermen who preferred the depths show up to sell their wares.
The trip there was without any exciting things to see or hear, William quickly talked with the person in charge and took notes, interviewed a few workers on their needs (most wanted better gear for the cold and brine, something he could buy from Silverbrand) and spoke with the Freya who was getting ready for the final push in the tunnel. they were eating another pizza in her "quarters" which had a basic bed and stone roof.
"Salutations on the dealings with the churches and their priesthood Lucrezia, it's no small feat get those of the cloth to work together from what I've heard from the merchants back in the Village" she took another slice and ate it in a flash "But this, Spirits of the land this is your best invention ever! Hells you might even get revered as a deity thanks to it!" Freya gave a hearty laugh and looked towards the many workers talking and making merry around them.
"You know we were going without new druids for almost 50 years? and in less than 1 you brought more city elves to the Village than we had ever seen before, I and my sister get to finally flex our geomancy skills, and that old fart Gabriel has some new blood to teach" she held William's hand and with a whisper said "Thank you for this, it means much more than you can even begin to comprehend"
She then let his hand go and started eating another slice, William could only smile and nod.
"A no better chance to ask for the touching of the ear William" Lucrezia whispered to him with barely contained glee
"Oh my god Lucrezia, No! just No!" He fired back with indignation and outrage.
"Heh, yeah right sure dude" she laughed
"You just ruined this very touching moment you two-bit villainess, you are the worst Lucrezia!"
"Love you too William"
----------------------------------------
"Die!" William screamed as he cleaved a Demon Wolf in half with his ax. Erwin had him solo hunt a sizeable pack of the things who constantly pestered farmers and shepherds all year long as a way to fine-tune his Battle Lust and avoid William's pitfalls.
Cleaning his ax with a spell William took a moment to meditate and center himself, he was using a common Skill employed by squires but instead of forming a bubble of Ki around him he did the same with his Ice mana.
At worst, it took him 20 seconds to center himself, but he was shaving off seconds as the hunt dragged on. Unlike a regular enemy, there was no pleasure to have in hunting an animal that only did what it did to survive the brutal winter of the north.
"Five more then we can ride home Duchess!" he heard Erwin scream from far away "Use magic this time!" He was having William alternate between melee and magical combat as Lobbing spells and using his elemental powers was way less taxing on his mental defenses against the Battle Lust. There was no solid explanation for it according to Erwin, William himself only knew about the fever and lust variants via 1 line lore books in-game.
According to the man, It's a case-by-case scenario, he knew a few battlemages who had the Fever variant in the last war against Grannarius so he figured William was Immune to the magical side of the effect, and it only worked when he got up close and personal. The Lust variant on the other hand had a solid and tested explanation and thanks to Sigrún they were in the know what it was.
"In short Lady Lucrezia, your lust is being bottled up for far too long and it seeks any way to be released, that you got cursed by Uumaries was the final nail in that coffin" she had told him and Erwin. The poor man looked lost in pure tactical genius, called for a withdrawal, and left him and Sigrún alone.
"What are you doing standing around staring at nothing in the middle of this blasted Blizzard William?! get a move on I wanna be within walls with a nice fire going for All-Father's sake" Lucrezia roared on his mind "Stop squirming about that talk with the two earlier gods! we know it they know it, it's ok"
"I'm just a bit ashamed that's all, jeez a man can't even take some time off to self-reflect" William fired back.
"Not in the middle of a godsdamned blizzard! now get a move on!" she spoke again.
Sighing William hopped into his flying sheet of iron and flew towards the 5 wolves who were munching off a Dire Moose, William couldn't help but be impressed, to take down a Dire variant of a Moose took skill and power but these 5 wolves managed to do it.
A good fight was on the horizon as he silently floated upwards right above the leader of the pack. Summoning his mana he pulled 2 small flasks from his clothes and threw their content in the air.
Immediately, William used Magnetism to shape his spell. Wicked lances of steel formed as he strained himself to perfect the mana flow and add a new spell Wilson helped him recreate from the game. The player could add damage over time elements to their magical projectiles. Tinging the steel with Magma Crystal essence extracted before this training session.
The steel lances morphed and their tips had an intense orange hue to them, William was starting to feel the drain on his mana reserves as he dropped the grisly new spell on the wolves and let gravity do most of the work, only adding a bit of impulse and course-correcting the projectiles.
The wolves didn't even get to howl in pain, the Lances removing their heads clean off one by one. Willam dropped down and took their teeth as proof of the killings and walked back to Erwin. He felt no lust rising to him only the cold winter winds on his cheeks.
"We oughta use magic more William" Lucrezia said to him dead serious.
"I hear you" William said with a laugh.
----------------------------------------
William was alone in the innermost room of the Spirit Wing of the castle, he was meditating when The Sword came taking the shape of an Elf
"What worries you, Wulfgrem's last?" It whispered to his ears.
Wulfgrem's last, that was what they were calling him now. It began shortly after he was done with the hunting trip when he saw a trio of Druids casting spells in the middle of the Castle Plaza, a lifelike statue of Lucrezia made out of Silver and Enchanted Ice. When he questioned the druids about it they told him it was by the order of the spirits that they were building it.
They cast a strange-sounding spell, one William hadn't heard in the game which immediately put him on high alert. He felt a small pull from his mana reserves as a roaring blue flame appeared inside the statue.
The druids explained then, that the Spirits had ordered that to keep track of William's health, and should he fall in battle the flame would go out.
He thanked the druids and went to the Spirit Wing.
"Why did you have that statue built? What's its purpose?" He asked It.
"A reminder to the people, soon you will depart these lands and our protection will not be as strong as it should. In the south many an enemy lie and we can naught but watch from afar" The Spirit sounded tired and sad "The Statue will be a beacon, a reminder, and a warning. should you fall the people will rise to avenge you who stood by them at their darkest hour while the world watched" William sighed. He knew the Sword was the most vengeful of the triad but he was taken aback by this plan of his.
It would lead the entire duchy to a bloody war after all. He had no intentions of leaving the Kingdom even if he was gonna kill the first Prince.
"And the other two? They agreed to this?" William asked
"Yes" The Spirit spoke with power and conviction "We have seen your new weapons and machinery Wulfgrem, mayhap you have tricked the people of their true design but not me, and certainly not my brother and sister"
The room grew colder, The Sword became a huge greatsword made out of black ice and it hovered right in front of William's face.
"Warfare, every single thing you made was tailored to war and carnage, so strong is the lust for battle inside of you the Conqueror's Children have moved their people to be in your graces. I'm no stranger to War child of men, the fire that burns in you has burned in your antecessors before. Nay, it burns in a way scant few have seen but that's the point"
"You want them to rally under me in a way it would make them as fierce as me then?" William got chills, he knew that Spirits were very protective of the people they cared for but he didn't think it would be this strong.
"Maybe it's you, it is said they follow the mood of the land, and we have been very much on a 'Fire and War' mood for a while now" Lucrezia gave her two cents while William waited for the Eldrich entity to finish his piece.
"The point, Wulfgrem is that we cannot suffer another catastrophe. The land and its people must know should you die in the south." The Sword finished and William was left feeling overwhelmed still, he had made a pact with the Spirits and thus couldn't complain about their ways.
He wasn't planning on dying in the south either.
"And the storm?" He asked the Spirit
"It grows stronger by the hour, but your preparations should work against it. To which we thank you Wulfgrem" The Sword replied, now back to its regular-sized form. "We have also made sure the animals of the land will live through it. But the vast majority is under the protection of smaller Gods so our work is mostly focused here, we will defend the city against the brunt of the storm" The Spirit turned its form to the window where it could see the great clouds.
"Thank you" William said in earnest, knowing the countryside enjoyed protection his city didn't was still a thorn to his side but that was his lot, his Divine patrons couldn't help him in earnest until his Blessings and thus it fell to the spirits to pick up the slack. He had tried asking for Karl or Idun to call their gods to help, but he got a flat no. It had to be him due to reasons that were beyond his keen.
Annoying but he would make do, that was what William always did whenever shit went south for him after all. Foot forward every day and if something fucks up you rush to fix it as best as you can. Now he had actual lives on the line so he had to keep his cool and move forward. For stopping meant the death of hundreds of thousands and damnation. Not to say whatever the fuck could happen if All-Father got wind of a Terran in his personal backyard.
God help him if that were ever to happen.
----------------------------------------
Lucrezia stared at William who was basking in the sun on a bench. He had previously commented that he missed the warm weather so he took some time before going to sleep to warm himself.
"You know this isn't real heat right? It's just mana and whatever mechanism a mortal soul runs to" Lucrezia told him, she was oddly annoyed at this carefree attitude of him for reasons beyond her reasoning. She could feel his emotions and a dark cloud of self-doubt plagued his more positive feelings, it bit at his heels every time he tried to focus away from it and it doing him nothing but harm.
When she brought that up, William didn't deflect or tried to joke about it to change the subject. No, he was honest with her and dropped his guard around her. In his words, he explained that he would get hit with bouts of intense depression every once in a while and generally stay locked up in his room wasting time. As his responsibility and duties increased, William had also bottled those feelings up but they were far harder to keep a lid on unlike his lust.
"I know, It's nice all the same. " He said with his eyes closed.
"I can sense your feelings better now William, the deeper stuff you keep a lid on... It's like I can almost grab it" Lucrezia finally said it, these past few days she had seen more memories of him and the melded ones where she replaced him.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
They were slowly running out of time and there was nothing they could do about it.
"Don't even think about it" William said from the bench, still with eyes closed.
"What?!" Lucrezia responded with a jump "How?!?!"
"It goes both ways Lucrezia, I can feel you poking around while I sleep you know?" he laughed "What did I tell you again? no Necromancy without the goddamn permit otherwise we are toast" He finished talking
Lucrezia bit her nails in anger, damn this boy and his encyclopedic knowledge of her world! it wasn't fair! she knew that the second they attempted any sort of unregulated Necromancy spell the ripples would trigger a response that would get The Unbroken to send his assassins to her doorstep. But Lucrezia was getting impatient and nervous about the merge of late.
It was also that time of the month and the hormones were wrecking both of them something fierce, William who already was on a razor's edge was barely keeping it together and those feelings trickled down to her in waves.
If you asked her a few years ago if a boy of his age could be this complex when it came to emotions, Lucrezia would've laughed and said no but it was in these intimate moments and sharing of his deepest emotions that she truly saw the depth of his character. He was wounded by those he trusted the most, denied his chance at regular life, and whisked away to an alien world only to be put in charge of people he owed nothing.
Lucrezia felt small for making demands but she would do it anyway, William had a bad case of Hero's Syndrome, and if she had to play Villainess to his Heroine Gods above she would!
Of course, it was easier said than done, after all, she lacked the proper mindset to act like one or even knew what it entrails since his ideas of a villain and hers were totally different, alas Lucrezia felt the need to be William's rock, to ground him should he get too full of himself in this hero's charade.
Could she call it a charade? he was doing good work, wasn't he? so half charade then.
"I can feel you squirming right there Lucrezia, spill it out already it's getting annoying, really" He said getting up and stretching himself.
"Not subtle are you?" She fired back at him
"We can't do subtle when our emotions are plain to see, can we? no beating around the proverbial bush when it comes to you and me" He began doing weapon stances. Training the movements helped him solidify the knowledge better according to him and also as an escape valve for his emotions.
"I'm afraid you will lose yourself in all of this William, this life of nobility and rulership. Power may corrupt you" Lucrezia decided to be as honest as she could, otherwise, he would pick up in her emotions.
She felt his emotions mixing up. Surprise, outrage, anger, and relief all tinged with an undercut of that sorrow of before, William finished a fancy ax attack and was sucking up the air as he had just run a marathon, part of it was for the show she knew but he was also actually tired and that carried over to this realm. It was weird in a way but she had grown used to it in this past week since the boy was tired all the time.
"Thank you Lucrezia, for caring and looking out for me. I'll trust you to keep me in line and to not lose focus of our goal alright? I know my word doesn't mean-"
"It means! Gods you daft man your word means something!" Lucrezia cut him off before he could finish that foolish statement "It's just you and me William, your word means everything you hear?"
Lucrezia felt her face get hot but she didn't care, she then noticed a small thread of happiness in William's feelings, and with a smile, he spoke.
"Thank you"
----------------------------------------
The days marched on, it was hectic in a boring way. Which to William was the best way this city renovation business could be. The work on the homes was nearly done including the south district. According to his civil engineers, they were just ironing out any issues now and running stress tests on the whole infrastructure.
A wonder of Magi-Tech it was. Willaim and the dwarves went around blessing specific points of it and many joined in, Lucrezia even joked that he might become a High Priest himself if this got any bigger.
When he told her that was the plan she was silent for a minute before calling him an "Ambitious Peasant" which made the boy laugh. All that was missing was a stereotypical hohoho laugh track.
Sitting on the throne by himself after a meeting with Karl, William caught himself thinking of the recent changes with Lucrezia after their last talk. He wasn't dumb to not notice the young woman had feelings for him and it terrified him. Would she act outside of their plans to return things to normal? sabotage it somehow to perpetuate this state they were so she would never "lose" him?
One thing Lucrezia hadn't realized yet but William knew all too well the deep-seated jealousy that burned inside of her game counterpart. That one targeted the third prince, but what if he fell under the sights?
He sighed, assuming the worst and seeing the worst in people was always one of his flaws, even in this incredulous situation he was in he still fell victim to old habits. A part of him was delighted in that he found out, he hadn't lost it to the many new emotions and acts of this not-so-new world.
It terrified him, that small part of him at how easy it was to take life here, it felt good in a sickly way. The ghost of the pleasure haunted him every day demanding more blood to be spilled by his hands so it could be out of his system. Erwin's training sessions and Gabriel's potions blunted it but nothing more after that. A slip and he was already itching for it like a drug-addicted fiend.
It would be easy for William found, to blame the world, its magic, and even their culture for this change but William was never once to be able to fully lie to himself. Deep inside he knew that it was Him who killed those Knights that did horrible things to Erwin's family, it was Him who murdered in cold blood Lucrezia's parents to appease the crowd and win back their trust.
And it would be the same when the first prince arrived. The day his armies marched in Wulfgrem lands it would be the day he would kill that demon in men's flesh and his cronies.
Making peace with this side of him was proving hard. The weight of the lives he took and was yet to take crushing in his mind but William would do it anyway. There would be no empty platitudes to spout this time, he would do what was right and that would be it.
In his nightmares, William would often see the faces of NPCs from the game who were allied with the first prince's faction. Many were good people who were only low-level knights and commanders, unaware of the evils Galius and their leaders had done. These Knights would die in his nightmares, killed by a beast covered in blood and rusted iron, and even if William attempted to slay the beast or stop the Knights they would eventually die.
It only took a second repeat of the nightmare for William to understand what was going on.
He was that beast, tearing through the battlefield Killing the "people" he knew from the game. It was hard for him to accept it at the beginning but as the days went by and the nightmare kept repeating itself he eventually did so and then it changed. Now it was him killing the people and it felt good, so good in fact he woke up moaning and sweaty thanks to it.
Another issue to deal with it after the blessings, add it to the fucking list William thought with sarcasm and fury.
With the meld slowly pushing itself forward William was feeling the dread of being "lost" setting in, he found himself staring at the storm and in his mind turning the event into a character that represented all of his personal and public problems.
His relationship with Lucrezia, the playing of being a Duchess and pretending to be Lucrezia. His Battle Lust and warmongering ways, the battle against the first prince, and his punitive forces. And even the Gods playing their game and how he sat on that particular board.
The spirits had told him the storm would hit them soon, but he saw no storm on the horizon. No William saw the amalgamation of everything that was poised against him and progress and how well his defenses would hold up against it.
It was with these heavy feelings in his heart that he got the news from a maid that Hraax had called for an emergency meeting.
----------------------------------------
William was getting ready near the end of the port when Hraax showed up. She looked nervous but had a smile on her face.
"Lucrezia, Mother, and Father won't be able to give you the proper greetings today, they are marshaling the troops should the imperium bastards strike your islands" she bowed.
William waved her concerns away "This is no time for ceremony my friend, Let's go to this outpost you told me"
Hraax nodded and cast a spell on him and Saa'ryu who stood by his side looking mean and ready to fight, her sisters had brought her old gear from the Owl's headquarters. She was looking like a proper assassin now.
It was weird William felt, watching Hraax cast the spell that would allow him to breathe and walk underwater felt familiar in a weird sort of way. It was like he could do the same but couldn't at the same time.
"It's the Ice aspect of your mana pool, at the end of the day Ice is still water, if you talk with Wilson he can teach you how to tap into the Water aspect but it will take time" Lucrezia explained to him as William smiled. Something so basic and he forgot all about it.
"Don't beat yourself over it, we all forget about stuff all the time" Lucrezia tried to cheer him up. It didn't really work but hey, the thought counts right?
Right.
"If you two could follow me" Hraax finished the spell and jumped in the water, William and Saa'ryu followed her, as they fell and hit the seafloor William's vision grew sharper and he picked up many a form around him, all manner of mermen coming and going, some stopping to wave at him and other even calling their friends and pointing at them. Hraax walked fast and with her head up high and more than a few bowed to the Princess.
According to his people, William knew how much the Magi-Folk of the Diamond Reefs respected the young Princess, she had fought in the decisive battle to free the land dwellers from their tyrannical ruler and single-handed reestablished trade and got the port to be rebuild.
Suffice to say, Hraax was loved by her people. so when the news got out the Imperials were on their way the surge of people to the draft stations was something no one at the upper echelons of the Diamond Reefs could've predicted, so much so, that like Hraax mentioned, her father and mother had to step in to keep it all running smoothly.
They arrived at a station where the huge manta rays William had read about in-game lived. these Magi-Folk were tailor-made for speed and hit and run tactics and today William would have the rare honor to ride on top of one of them. Something very few could due to their nature.
"Name's Euubly M'lady" the manta ray spoke with an accent William couldn't rightly place "Ya might wanna hop on fast together with your lady friend there cause Fuujur over there wants back to the frontlines fast" he pointed to the other ray who was talking with Hraax.
"Up we go then Saa" William sent mana to his feet and floated upwards together with Saa'ryu and sat on the back of the giant manta ray Euubly, he looked to the side and saw Hraax giving Fuujur something to eat that made him grow red lines across his body. they both flew by several mermen on the way to the outpost Hraax was in charge of and ready to meet the Imperium's envoy.
Not just the goddamn Imperium but the northern raiders as well, Fat fucking luck William had thought to himself. To get both of those rights as the storm was about to hit them! When Hraax gave him the news he was almost ready to call it quits, get a chariot to the nearest All-Father temple, and out himself right there and then. It took Lucrezia screaming at him to stop that plan.
Panic always made him do stupid decisions.
"We will be arriving shortly, the outpost I'm in charge of will have food ready for us so we can wait for the scouts to return!" Hraax screamed from her side, William nodded and took in the sights.
It was amazing, to say the least, the gleaming reefs looked so pretty he wanted to touch it. He also saw great lava lakes in the depths, walking grazers the size of a double-decker bus walking in the seafloor and the shadow of a sea python even!
Lucrezia was really happy with that last one, she was a fan of the sea pythons due to their inborn magical talents that could predict the future. Alas, they were stealth creatures who disliked the other races bothering them for future reading, thus they stayed in special pocket realms and only their shadows could be seen. William pointed to Hraax who made a cross sign with her arms.
No talking with the future seeing snakes it seems, Lucrezia wasn't happy with that part.
They arrived at the outpost and were greeted by the crabman in charge, who quickly led William and Hraax to the barracks where they were prepping the food, all locally sourced stuff according to the chef.
"My scouts are also prepping an island not far from here should we manage to parley with them, now usually I and my people wouldn't bother but the Imperial armada and the raiders are sailing as one! something's off here Lucrezia I can feel it" Hraax said as she devoured her dish with such speed it looked like the woman was trying to speedrun the damn thing.
William took his time eating, it would take a good while for the scouts to come back from what he heard and he wanted to chill for a bit. the shock from the news was still on his system after all.
It felt weird, eating underwater. He kept waiting for the water to choke him but whatever rules the spell labored under didn't let that happen. He once again took on the sights, at first it was just an outpost. as he watched more closely he noticed the little details around the place. Stuff like the small diamonds decorating the watchtower, or how they kept spears made out of some sort of green coral around.
A few of the Crabmen walked up to him making questions about the surface, they were polite enough until their commander barked at them to stop bothering William, Hraax had a hearty laugh at that exchange.
As they finished their plates, William and Saa'ryu retired to Hraax's room where they napped in hammocks. Hraax left them saying the spell would last for a few days so William didn't have issues with sleeping.
----------------------------------------
Once again William found himself in the Sea of Wrath, the metaphysical manifestation of the Rage-that-Dwells entity. he walked along its shallows waters that burned his feet and ankles. William could feel the weight in his shoulders, that maddening desire to cut loose and destroy everything in his path to power. Endless bloodshed and war would consume the entire world.
The Entity loved it, it sang to William as he walked.
Alas, Lucrezia didn't have the potential to tap into the deeper teachers like the game's protagonist or Queen Malphas. But this power would go a long way to ease up the upcoming battles.
There was fear inside of him, he didn't want to lose himself after all. Useful or not what point there was to go further into the madness of war? William stood still until a familiar face plopped down on his side, her silver-gray hair and azure eyes staring defiantly at the waters that threatened to consume William.
"Unbelievable, the Sea of Wrath... out of all things I've heard from you William this was the one I couldn't really believe but now..." She walked up to him and poked him in the ribs.
"Afraid?" Lucrezia asked
"Yes" William responded
Lucrezia took his hand and they walked forward. It felt like hours for William but the more he walked the more the pain went away and a surge of power took hold of his very being, he could also feel the madness close at bay but with Lucrezia's help it stood there nipping at her defenses. They arrived at the ends of the shallow waters and found a simple stone stair leading deeper into the Sea.
"I can feel the power denying us entry, a shame... if we had the powers of a Deeperegrine..." Lucrezia trailed off.
"Thank you, Lucrezia, for everything" William said a little embarrassed, the young woman smiled at him and opened her mouth to speak when a clap of thunder exploded near them sending both to the waters.
----------------------------------------
Lucrezia watched in sheer existential terror as the membrane between planes and soul tore itself akin to a black hole she had learned from William's memories, rays of pure white light blinding her vision as the Sea of Wrath screamed in bloody murder against whatever the fuck had just come in knocking.
"The terror from beyond the stars" she whispered in fear as the light bent and sequestered William's soul to somewhere. the fear in her was gone in a flash as she tapped into the Rage-that-Dwells and exploded forward towards his form, the whole sea urging her. Its power was neverending as she leaped in great sonic booms. The light, on the other hand, didn't seem to care and after a few short but excruciating seconds Lucrezia's soul dove right into William's.
Her world went dark. Lucrezia felt a range of emotions so strong her very being couldn't handle it. It was like she was being judged again and again by thousand eyes and they all deemed her unworthy, yet she pushed forward kept lucid by the sheer power of the Entity, kicking and screaming, clawing and biting like a mad animal who would never give up. All-Father above she made a godsdammned promise and she would keep it, even if it costed her life!
Light came again, and she found herself floating in an ocean of blood. Its coppery smell assaulting her senses so much she was almost knocked out.
Then she felt a push. and a sense of Wrongness knocked the wind off her sails. This whole place was Wrong.
Flashes of wars long gone and soon to be popped in her head, the screams, the rage, and madness. Soldiers losing themselves in bloodlust and breaking down after the combat was over. Again and again, as the wheel of war ground them to dust only to reform and being again. There was no reason for it, they had excuses she felt. convenient lies or not so convenient ones to bring destruction so great it would traumatize Gods themselves.
Pure evil. Pure greed and no morals to hold them in check. The few that tried were quickly dispatched.
Lucrezia screamed as the terror overwhelmed her mental defenses, she cried ugly tears as the coppery smell made her dizzy but it was at that moment where she was nearly lost that she saw William floating near her.
A sense of purpose she didn't know existed flooded her senses, the terror was pushed away deep inside as she rushed in the water, swimming as fast as she could to reach him. something told her that if she could wake him up this nightmare would be over!
With a speed that would make mermen blush, Lucrezia arrived at the floating soul and grabbed his arm. That was when she felt the rays of blinding light coil right above her and after a tense few seconds, it did something she would never have imagined in her life.
It talked.
"x x x x x XXXX X X!"
Lucrezia's head hurt after hearing that unholy scream, it was an attack on both soul and body. Then it stopped and Lucrezia was lifted from the ocean of blood, a gentle wind cleaned her and a soothing warmth filled her hands and face.
"X X X X...x x x XXX... Spawn of Faal, keep this one safe you will..."
"XXXX ... Name... Zarueeel..."
Lucrezia eye's bulged as the Horror from beyond the stars gave its name to her, she knew what that meant as anyone with half a brain did. The power to summon it now lies with her and all the connotations of it.
Never mind being damned to the hells, summoning something that strong would get her a personal visit of the All-Father's elite Gods tailor-made to keep the realm safe, and that meant William's existence being outed to the ruler of the universe.
She didn't have time to pounder more as William finally woke up and her world went black again.
----------------------------------------
William woke up feeling powerful, faster, and stronger. The power-up from the Rage-that-Dwells on the first level granted him peak performance for up to 10 minutes. Of course, the side effects left him unable to fight for the rest of the day. Only being tapping further into the Sea of Wrath would that nasty side effect be gone. Alas, Lucrezia was unable to, she told him that he attempted to walk down the stairs a clap of thunder knocked them out.
Strange, but William never had read up the deeper lore of the mechanics so he added to the bigger list of things to read up when he got to the Capital.
"On your feet Lucrezia, we have Imperials to meet" Hraax poked him hard, she had armor made out of diamonds and coral plates. In her hand a sword made of dragonbone of the same making of his Ax.
Saa'ryu took William to a private room and dressed him up. He had Idun and his people to make new Magi-Tech armor for him and it looked wonderful, even had a little crown made of gears, the symbol of their faith.
With his ax strapped to his back and The Sword summoned to his side William went forth to the Island where the representatives of the Imperium and the Northen Raiders waited for him. Is mind racing as the manta rays exploded with gusto.
They exploded into the surface with flair, William saw the great black ships of the Imperium and the sigil of the Silent Soldier in their flags. further still, he saw the many longships of the raiders.
Landing on the beaches of the island. Horns blared across the Island and two people came forward. The shield in the arm of the tall woman told Willaim that was the Legate of the 1st Legion, Paladins, and War Priests sworn to the Silent Soldier. Elites who are the spear whenever the Imperium's enemies turn to Gods for help against the Imperium.
The man that walked beside the Legate on the other hand looked like a hardy seaman, furs all over his body. His face was marked with tattoos proving he was chosen as leader of this multi clan raid.
"Gods above this will be messy" Lucrezia said with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.
William smirked and began to walk towards them. Time to finally meet the Imperials.