"Many an Acolyte, newly minted Priests, and Paladins of my Order will often ask for guidance and fail to heed it, a most curious phenomenon even observed with long-lived individuals! In facing their deepest fears, the darkness that dwells inside of all living begins, be they mortal or God, Devil, and Interlopers from the cosmos! Within us is the power to be evil, the Truth is often ugly but heed my words, It sets one free!"
Klaj'va, Prophet of Truth.
Lucrezia heaved as the winds howled around her and her group, Her Knight-Commander and an honor guard which she honestly thought was overkill at first held the line with the newly built armored suits and her latest invention in the realm of warfare.
Bang, Bang, Bang the telltale of fully automatic weaponry roared within the clearing that had become a mini warzone, Hope and Arthur floated above with Kaine and Kaede as they rained down spells and in Hope's case. Ki and Miracles as well.
"Forward Catapracht, crush them under your heel, and show these foul demons the power of Wulfgren!" Richard's voice bellowed out as the automatic weapons tore into the warped flesh and sinew of the demonic horde they were fighting, these lumbering giants of Crystal and Steel marched forward with Erwin as the tip of the spear, in his hand a greatsword wreathed in blue ice, with calculated swipes and stabs he broke through the horde and his men followed.
Richard guided the host as the sheen of Orcish power hummed across his entire body, the Orcs under Erwin chanted in zealotic fury, to their side purple Eldricht fire burned the horde together with the vacuum of undeath as Castra-Cam and Vivienne who a short few minutes ago was happily skipping towards them when Kaine sent her a message asking if she was willing to duke it out in the Wastes against wildlife.
Of course, fighting a Demon Cult that had ballooned up to a horde was not in anyone's plans, nevermind Lucrezia as she slashed demons left and right with her Katana and spiked ranged enemies with her Iron, their brackish blood wetting the snow around her and its sickly sweet smell of honey driving her further into a battle frenzy she hadn't had in months. The low-hanging sun was tinged with magenta red as she closed her left fist and felt the raw power of her crimson lighting slam into a group of caster demons.
She screamed and the world screamed around her, like a mad dog unleashed from its chain she leaped and dashed around, the pleasure of bloodletting so strong, so pure it was like she was on powerful narcotics, a maniac thought ran through her mind as she indulged in the carnage, this was her true self. The amalgamation of two souls, one born from the most violent corner of the known reality, and another born out of Ice and Iron.
Despoiler, Demoness, Furiae. Empty titles for now it was only her and the enemy, and she wanted blood.
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Thirty minutes before encountering the forward elements of the demon cult, Hope was enjoying the air ride within Lucrezia's fancy transportation machine, teleporting around had its uses of course and she loved doing it but God be good the power she felt from being inside these war machines was nothing short of orgasmic, so much so she even had to ask the Man himself if that was intended.
Ra'Tyrius smiled in Hope's head as he explained it was but a reflection of its creator, for Magi-Tech arcane properties, took a bit of the one who made the item after all. He then asked Hope to forge an item of her own volition one day and let Lucrezia or another use it, then she would understand it fully.
"...What? isn't that a bit much? the entire Honor Guard? Erwin, are you sure?" Lucrezia spoke into another Magi-Tech device "...Yes Richard is here" She looked at him and wiggled her eyebrows, and he nodded with a smile "Yes he's up for it, sneaky of you Erwin! you know you could've just asked! We will meet at the rally point then, Dire Toads and Pineskin Wolverines. They don't range this far into the wastes..." Hope tuned her out and sat down near Vivienne.
"It seems we are tied to the same beings" Vivienne whispered to Hope once she got closer "I can feel the weapon within your person Hope, most curious" She smiled and waved towards the window of the flying machine "Look, we can see the fort she built for those Heretics, a daring move that would've put her on the grave had she not been this powerful...How do you feel about it?" Vivienne asked.
It was a revelation to be sure, Lucrezia had explained the situation to them under oath, the worst part of the entire thing was knowing All-Father was ok with it! Honestly Hope thought these two often did things at random and somehow the world at large made it so it would end up as a boon rather than woe. Well in the Deity that was the literal Creator and ruler of the plane of existence she was in, that was likely truth.
Lucrezia? Hope couldn't say.
"I feel like hm" She made a thinking gesture rubbing her chin and closing her eyes "Honestly I believe this will somehow end up as a boon later. Call it gut feeling or me being dumb, but somehow this will not blow up in her face" Hope answered honestly, which Vivienne appreciated with a hearty nod. Both women looked up as Castra-Cam moved toward them dressed for combat.
"My Ladies" she bowed with a smile, Vivienne smirked "May I indulge in a spot of gossip?" the Catkin walked with the grace of a feline and the eyes of a predator but with eyes full of joy "Whispers from below told me a certain someone will be Godmother to Lucrezia's child?" Castra-Cam nudged Vivienne who blushed at the gesture, Hope couldn't help to make a surprise noise "Oh Gods! I am calling it for her next! Vivi how could you" she said in mock outrage as the other two laughed.
Vivienne herself spoke with a firmer tone "Indeed, together with the rebuilt version of my personal Warmachine the ties that bind my family to Lucrezia will be set in stone when her child is delivered to this world" She tapped her sword "Maybe even the weapon itself, I have a feeling my later years will be peaceful you know, but Castra you also will play a role in this you know?" she smirked as the undead woman shook her index finger.
"Can you believe it? Lucrezia went above and beyond to ensure her kid doesn't end up being some sort of dictator drunk on power honestly, it is rather terrifying how quickly others fell in line with her plans, Gods even I was told. Teachers, Mentors, and Combat trainers are all ready and armed with knowledge straight out of Lucrezia's head, and more! she could end up like those peace-loving elves from the South!..."
Castra-Cam shook her head as another aircraft, this one twice as big as the one they were in came up in the window to her right, she saw the thing open up and glittering crystal shine inside its belly like the teeth of a predator, she was about to remark when their surroundings started flashing red and a voice came out from the ceiling "Incoming Magic fire! detecting demonic signatures!"
It was an explosion of movement as Kaine and Hope together with Kaede immediately teleported outside and began firing up counterspells, Castra closed her eyes and felt the foul energy of the demonic horde brimming with power, she hated cleaning up cults like these... With a click of her mana, she disappeared into the half-word between life and death, falling into the thick snow the second she reappeared in the mortal coil.
Castra saw the Cult Leader dapped in the royal regalia of the northern raiders "Cult Leader!" she screamed and lobbed a powerful piece of tracking magic right at his soul, her necromantic powers ready to take the brunt of the horde before backup arrived.
Then she heard thunder, and the earth shook around her like angry Gods of Tempest and Lighting were fighting, Five Armored Warmachines flanked her. Their heraldry made them Knights of Wulfgrem and at the head of the formation was the Commander, who locked eyes with Castra for a second before screaming a mighty war cry and charging into the fray.
The fury was unleashed as Lucrezia landed in front of Castra "A cult? How?" she asked and Castra spoke up "These can spring anywhere! You just got lucky they haven't gotten close to your lands!" she had to scream as the roar of the weapons nearly deafened her words, Gods be good Castra thought to herself as she saw powerful Slabatha demons being shredded at ridiculous speeds, and those things were made out of stone!
A wail was heard up high as a sickly-looking spear tore through Hope's impeccable Aegis spell, this was the first time Castra saw the woman bleed in an actual dangerous setting and a small part of her wished she didn't it, for the reply came as a torrent of fire lances that made her arm hairs rise. Lucrezia had a nasty grin as she began impaling demons with Iron Spikes building up energy for her Crimson Lighting.
Soon Richard and the others joined the battle as the airships landed and their crews set up defensive positions around it, Castra marveled at the building blocks they had, Lucrezia called those her "Get out of dodge" marbles as cover, walls and other formations went up protecting the hardware that had ferried them here. Demons were trying to breach through it but Vivienne was there to stop them with her forbidden powers.
Castra was not keen on asking how the woman had come into possession of powerful artifacts blessed by the forces beyond the cosmos, or how many favors Hope and Lucrezia had to pull to save her but she was an old soul and had seen much in her long life. Plus the mortal was a dear friend.
That short pause was enough for Vivienne to unleash purple fire upon her foes, they screamed in their unholy tongue as the flames of whatever power from beyond turned demon flesh into stone and then ash...Castra focused her vision and noticed that it was not ash but salt! what a bizarre power was that? Castra's mind barely registered the huge brute that had teleported to her left flank.
She screamed and the beast raised both arms, it was a deformed version of Golden Alpha Simian, the demonic powers likely shapeshifted into this awesome beast for its brute prowess. Castra thrust her arm forward and unleashed a barrage of necromantic rays, the demon did not relent and brought both arms down like a sledgehammer, that was gonna break a few bones of her!
A shield of prismatic light flared on top of her as Kaine and Kaede unleashed spears of pure arcane force, it shimmered with holy power as the demon staggered back, huge gaps in his arms, chest, and thighs, Castra summoned her Scythe and got to work as her Blessing pumped power into her frame. With a sprint and leap, she slashed one of its arms clean off and the beast roared in pain, stunning the mages for a second.
Another leap and she slammed her right fist into its throat, breaking the stun and getting thrown off like garbage to the side, the landing was not smooth as the packed snow felt more like hard stone. Kaine cursed aloud and from the ground chains made out of shadow busted into action, holding the demon for seconds as Kaede pulled enough mana into ghostly formations behind her that the very air around the trio hummed, Kaine closed both palms and the chains tightened themselves around the demon, as soon as the effect took hold he rushed towards Castra and grabbed her arm, teleporting both towards Kaede.
"Incoming in five!" the Kitsune screamed, maniacal glee on her face as Kaine cursed again and layered Shield spells together with Aegis. As soon as he was done a pillar of holy fire struck the demon and the whole zone turned white. Cheers from Lucrezia's men and the others took Castra out of her reverie as Hope and Arthur flew straight into the Cult leader trying to summon a bigger demon!
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Waves of telepathic powers combined with subtler necromantic effects slammed into the horde as Arthur made landfall, Hope smiled at her beloved for it was somewhat rare for the young man to be able to cut loose with his full set of powers. Its outer aura burned with the powers of the Rage, feeding off Hope's new Ki technique that deployed both sources of strength to augment her base strength further.
A stomp with her feet and the earth cracked, and a slash and the sheen of the Ki attack she had learned long ago sliced the other side of the horde, Hope felt arrows and spells tear at her flesh and she smiled with glee as skills and spells she had spent months learning and honing to a fine edge could finally shine. It was pure carnage as she unleashed everything at the horde and to her absolute delight they did not break.
The cult leader, on the other hand, was sweating bullets as they made progress, she saw him trying to teleport once and get zapped by a thunderbolt sent by Lucrezia, who more than once summoned great iron spikes from the ground and called forth cascading crimson lighting at the horde, its bite smiting many of the lesser demons who shrieked and snarled, Hope smiled at the sight as Richard, now shoulder to shoulder with Lucrezia's Knight-Commander charged through the opening with the chants of the other men behind them.
They were calling him Duke.
Will the Royal Knights call me Queen one day I wonder?
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The battle had escalated further into the day into a full-blown engagement, and the demonic cult leader managed to teleport commander-level demonic entities into the battlefield even after Kaine did his best to disrupt his magics, the young mage cursed loudly from the skies as he and Kaede struggled to find how had the enemy dodged his efforts. Lucrezia on the other hand was trying to remember if this, or anything like a demonic invasion in the game.
Lucrezia's parents had dealt with the infernals. Still, they would be inside the city, around the outer county, and near the highway entrances of the Duchy, not this far into the Wastes, which means the worst-case scenario, she would be riding this storm blind, but that wasn't that bad.
Calvary was here after all.
It was a sight to see, her Warmachine tearing through enemies with fury, the same for her friends and loved ones as they linked up with the other elements of the army and aided them the best they could, she saw Arthur together with Vivienne and Castra leading a charge right at one of the commander demons and couldn't help but sigh in pleasure, this chaos pleased her deeply, and she would reward Hope for it later.
Said Hope was currently squaring off against the Cult Leader, the ground shook as the woman unleashed her wrath and that of the divine and profane both upon demons and cult leader alike. Culminating on Hope calling forth the powers of the Firstborn of the All-Father.
Even the demonic horde took a step back as the shinning rays of gold busted forth from Hope, armed with His Warhammer she batted enemies left and right with gusto, soon the horde found their collective spine and charged her, claw and tooth, bone and wrought iron tore at Hope's armor and bare flesh, scarlet blood shone in the snow around her as the rays of gold bathed the battlefield like the sun up in the sky.
As the artillery from the ground and bombardments from the airships swept the rest of the horde, Hope leaped into the air and flew straight at the Cult Leader, a blow of the powerful weapon on her hand shook the demented being but it did not unroot him, blows upon blows came crashing down, Hope's enemy snarled and tried to deflect and dodge with powerful magicks but it was not enough.
With Kaine and Kaede working in tandem, they broke whatever spell or ward was stopping their attempts to stop the summoning and the horde thinned out in minutes! It was a thing of sheer beauty seeing Kaine teleport with Kaede, both flanking Hope as they unleashed beam spells of such magnitude, that it tore into the tree line for miles! Hope did not miss the chance and with both hands holding her weapon, she leaped into the air and came back down with a swing, exploding the Leader's head with a clean hit smack dab on the top of his head.
And then it was over, all the fury and rage gone as silence took over the battlefield for a solid second before the cheers came, war cries and bellows of cheer, weapons raised in the skies as a wave of noise hit Lucrezia in the chest and she smiled "Time to go back to the Academy I guess"
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Of course, saying she would go back was something, but getting through the bureaucratic mess she found herself in was another matter entirely. First was a response of the Divines in charge of keeping rogue Demonic summonings at zero were screaming at Hope for information, until the woman outright put Lucrezia on the proverbial line by absurd ad hoc spell casting, Castra and Kaede together with Kaine and Arthur doing some mindboggling work to avoid the game of telephone.
Norms and Customs to adhere to, rituals and prayers, and that was not even accounting for the rather large quantity of coin she had to spend to get their mortal servants up in the Wastes, but if there was one thing she prized about her transport: speed. All-father as her witness they got the important people up there in record time if the shell-shocked faces staring at her told her anything.
After making sure this investigation team was all set up, the group was unceremoniously kicked out of the premises and told they would get a report within a week or two, Lucrezia waved and smiled as everyone got inside her aircraft and they were off to the Academy, arriving at the early noon, the air crisp and clean of the iron smell of blood and rotted demon flesh.
"Rest up, prepare for the combat that comes tomorrow my friends" Lucrezia spoke and her future teammates nodded. She elected to skip lunch and go straight to bed for she knew the next day would be an early rise one.
Lucrezia often didn't remember her dreams but today was a special day it seemed, her mind conjuring phantoms from her better half in what felt very bizarre but comfortable as she spoke with its echoes and the evil that lurked beneath the facade of them. Her mind boggled at the absurdity of it all for at least in her case her parents had been corrupted by outside forces, their evilness, not the main piece of their beings unlike these two she beheld in her dream.
But that was nature. Terrans were ruthless for good reason, their world was cruel and so they would be in kind, and yet...
I'm afraid that's not right.
A feeling, a yearning for better, Lucrezia's mind was taken aback by its power as her mind went on, this time she was back to familiar grounds within her castle, she overlooked a grand formation of men and machinery, up in the skies a thousand airships glittering as the sun bathed them with its glow. and yet it was not her who took center stage in this dream, a faceless armored figure, wielding a blade wreathed in flames in its left hand, and the weapon gifted by the spirits, the Talon in its left.
The armor she did recognize, was Richard's personal Magi-Tech suit made larger, the figure towered Lucrezia, and a cape made out of Direwolf fur floated behind. It had finally come then, the vision of a mad Warlord, her would-be daughter. It was a powerful sight to behold but one she would do her best to avoid even if a small part of her was happy.
Happy that her progeny would be this powerful.
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Calgar stood tall among his retainers, his sisters were in deep prayer as the sigil of the Silent Soldier glowed within their room. Fear broiled within the young man as he took deep breaths.
He was the one who had asked for a fair fight after all.
He rolled his shoulders, feeling the magical artifact click and grind, this suit of armor was a relic from the motherland, hand-crafted by the elven ancestors of his clan and it shone with their colors, magenta and black. He knew his parent would be in the crowd watching him as well and the weight of such knowledge made his fear shoot up again, his hands shook with terror until a palm grabbed his left shoulder.
"Peace my Lord, you will bring no shame to the house on this hallowed day" spoke the elven woman who had guided him and his sisters ever since they were infants, Lady Mulier was the youngest of daughters from their extended family in the Imperium, sent to their family as punishment for her warmongering ways "Look at your sisters, and the men who together with me have trained for weeks for this, we face an insurmountable challenge today but we will not fall to despair" Mulier shone, her scarred face and toothy smile-inspiring Calgar.
"You two, be sure nothing touches the young lord, the rest will be shield and spear, we must give them no downtime, death will not stop you today so reckless abandon is to be employed" She barked orders and the people around him nodded. The crowd outside roared as the announcer screamed their names and the names of their opponents, Calgar could hear the faint sound of roaring thunder as well.
"Artillery, for a show" Mulier spoke with a grin that betrayed her blood lust, Calgar could understand why the Lady Elf was so eager, the chief deity of the Imperium blessed Lucrezia, she had commanded Legions and might as well be close friends to the Emperor and Empress, for someone like her that was shunned by their parents and relatives back in the old home for her "battle madness" fighting such a person was nothing short of sublime.
And so he strode forth, his group followed and they cheered when the crowd screamed their names as the sun bathed the arena with its warmth, his parents waved and shouted his name and the name of his sisters in encouragement as he beheld the enemy, Lucrezia stood tall with her Katana, the crystal arm shinning due to the sunlight, by her sides were Richard Silverbrand and Hope Chosen of the All-Father, these 3 alone were enough to break his group.
Third Prince Arthur was decked out in Royal Armor, the Sigil of the Shatter-Spear House proudly shown in his chest piece, by his side the daughter of the Arch-Duke also clad in her House's colors and sigil, and wielding a blade of fearsome reputation. It was well known by now that the young woman had a weapon blessed, or cursed by powers from beyond the cosmos, and was allowed to keep and use such an eldtrich tool.
"Small mercy, that the Arch-Mage's son is not there to round the absolute powerhouse of a group that is staring us right now" Mulier whispered as the announcer bellowed the names of their opponents and the crowd roared again "Keep your brother safe, if we want to bleed these killing machines he is our only chance" she spoke and his sisters nodded with vigor, they were in for the kill now.
And it was on, with the sound of the announcer's spell the battle started and Calgar immediately summoned the strongest shield spell he could, his sisters layering aegis meant to block miracles and Ki attacks, as well as their Knights and Mulier, leaped forward.
A beam of pure light struck true, Hope had floated backward and had both hands up in the air as she channeled divinity, his sisters went down to their knees as the sheer backlash cracked their spells, before getting up and screaming in pain as the Third Prince chanted loudly, mind magic striking the women near him with impunity as he grabbed his sword and raised towards both of them.
A blast of dispelling magic, combined with anti-necromantic miracles his family was granted by the Silent Soldier washed over both women as the Third Prince smirked, Calgar focused on his spell and felt the sweat tickle down his brown as his sisters struggled to keep the shield up again, now being peppered by the combined attacks of Hope and Vivienne, whose purple flame had a nasty effect, disrupting their spellcasting by eating away the mana powering the structure.
Seconds ticked by as he felt the spell take shape, with a grunt of power he hurled the arcane construct towards the ranged element of Lucrezia's gang, and a crack was heard across the arena, his Golem had been summoned at last and now the tide either turned in his favor, or he would face a crushing defeat. Lucrezia smiled and pointed to the golem as Richard leaped towards it, bellowing a massive war cry that shook the arena.
Calgar couldn't help himself as he stared in awe at the warrior, but his mind was quick to snap back into the fight as he peppered Richard with spells meant to distract him, his Golem would not be destroyed in one fell swing! then he heard screams and his head snapped towards Lucrezia who was holding off Muleer and the other Knights alone! the elven woman screamed and revved her machetes at Lucrezia, while the Knights tried to stall her movement with pikes and great shields coated in mighty Ki that extended their range ever further but it was not enough.
A smile and red lighting slammed into Mulier, she was locked into place and Calgar saw the grim iron spike form just above Lucrezia, ready to slam into the elven heart, only for one of the Knights to leap forward and take the hit, disappearing into light with a scream, followed by a pained cry from Mulier who tried to chop off Lucrezia's flesh arm with a series of wild chops.
Another bolt of red lighting froze the woman again and this time Lucrezia didn't bother with a ranged attack, stepping in with her blade up high and only being blocked by the great shield of the remaining knight, who also sacrificed himself to save Mulier, and yet it wasn't enough as Lucrezia's blade sliced clean though his head and with a lightning fast strike, slashed across Mulier's belly.
Things fell apart in seconds, the combined magical might of Hope, Arthur, and Vivienne knocked back his sister's valiant efforts to keep the protective spells up, Richard cleaved the golem in two with a mighty swing of his ax and Calgar had barely time to react as the spell backlash stunned him. Another roar from the man and he felt steel bite into his neck, Richard threw his ax at him and nearly decapitated his head!
Calgar felt tears of frustration flow across his cheek as his body was hijacked by the protective spell in the Fields, so much training, so much endured only to be bested this fast and this thoroughly! he saw the Duchess bow as his people all became light and swore upon himself that he would train twice as hard, put in effort twice as much and one day win, gods as his witness he would win!