V6: Chapter 3

…

Interlude: Celia

…

Horns blared a deep and clean noise, and at once the constant noise of horses at a gallop that filled my ears for the last hour ceased..

There they were, in the distance, the largest army of monsters the world had yet seen.

"Tormund, report." I brought the binoculars I held to my head to look upon the teeming mass. There were at least ten thousand monsters present, and they were moving in loose formations and with their own kind. Goblins in light leather armor carried shortbows and rode on the backs of wolves. Gigantic spiders skittered in small squads on the fringes of the army. Lumbering trolls made up the center and the front of the army, while feral undead lumbered and trailed after them as a mass of infantry. "What am I seeing?"

Tormund rode beside me, a Necromancer specializing in the control of small, flight-capable familiars. I made use of his talents to pursue the army that we were shadowing, but his talents had many other uses besides.

Such as finding the controller of this somehow-structured army of monsters.

"I see it now. There's a beacon of sorts where they are heading. It is a ruined tower of Ancient construction. It is covered in moss and dirt, like it is freshly arisen." Tormund rode his undead horse with his eyes closed and his pale hands clasped together. His robes were black and hemmed with a deep purple hue, but the luster it once held was gone. It was covered in many stitches and patches, and underneath it he wore full plate and had a helmet beside him. Even with all my knights surrounding us, in battles he too measures to protect himself. "I feel… I feel… no!"

His shout made me look away from my binoculars and I found his half-skeletal visage wracked with pain and agony, but he righted himself before he could fall from his horse.

"Report, Tormund." I ordered him, after he managed to catch his breath, and the grimace he gave rattled me.

"There's a true monster in that tower. Something with immense control over Undeath. We can't proceed with this force alone. We are not enough."

He did not name the creature, most likely wishing to not cause panic or foolishness, but I discerned what he was implying.

"A Death Lord is our foe, then." The pieces fell into place and Tormund grimaced as even my retinue was shaken by the news. They were creatures of our past. Our attempt to regain glory and master death itself. Something which intruded upon the realm of divinity, but was beyond control. It led to a culling of many clans and nearly shattered us as a people. "The first seen in hundreds of years. Hopefully, this one is the last."

"My lady, we cannot attack with this meagre force."

"I know." After the last battle, I bid my retinue onward to follow the trails of power that flowed away from our defeated foe. With the strength and stamina of undying steeds, my retinue and I followed the faint wisps left behind by our foe, until we happened upon the massive army that we found. "Call for an orderly retreat."

The horns rang out and my retinue turned about.

However, I stayed fast, and so did Tormund along with a gathering of my closet aides and guards.

Two of whom were a pair of Champions trained under our finest.

"Mallory and Christine, I need eyes on this position, until I return. The two of you are the only ones strong enough to remain in these dangerous lands." They were twins of tremendous talent and skill. They rose from a pool of individuals with great potential, fought and won through a tournament of warriors, and finally earned the right to be sired by myself. Both were covered in head to toe in blackened plate armor burnished by blazing rubies enchanted by our finest to protect them against magics and many other forms of attack. Their purpose was to hold the line, to fight together, and withstand the sheer strength and power that can be unleashed by either Conquest or Ilych. Both of whom now were subordinate to Jack. Sometimes, it felt like a needed a dozen of the two. "Use this, speak my name, and I will hear you through our bond."

I took off one of my earrings and gave it to Mallory, who gingerly accepted it.

The connection between the sired and the sire was once said to allow our kind to speak to one another across even the vast distance between the planet and our now-shattered homeland. I was growing in strength, I was sure in the future I will able to do it without any assisting devices, for now I had to make use of artifact that we developed. It was a weapon we did our utmost to keep secret, one that we could use to move with utmost efficiency on the field of battle, but now was not the time to hesitate.

Hesitation would mean defeat.

"Your armor obscures you from those who see with magic, but you can still be seen by regular eyes. Stay distant, but get your eyes upon the tower Tormund described." I addressed them both directly as I they gazed at me with scarlet eyes between the visors of their helmets. They were strong, I knew that, but this opponent was beyond mere strength. Preparations needed to be made, so that it could truly be destroyed. They knew this as well as I. "Stay your distance, do not be detected, and gather information. Do not stray from one another, if you must do anything, even retreat, do it together. We cannot lose either of you."

They nodded, and through our bond I felt their resolve and acceptance of their order.

I could force them to accept, but I did not do so.

After they accepted, I turned to Tormund… who looked at me with a tired gaze and slumped shoulders.

"I know that I ask much of you, Tormund, but we both know that it must be done."

"And, I happened to accept the role of courtly mage." He grumbled, but sighed, and nodded. "I'll make way to the nearest settlement and send forth my familiars. I will need your seal. Do we need to call upon everyone?"

I read through his words.

"Yes, everyone. Including the King of Wisdom. If this Death Lord calls upon the strength of monsters and undead alike, then we have no choice. This is a threat only all of us, together, can hope to defeat without suffering immensely."

Tormund nodded and took my seal in his hands to give the letters he'll send be under my name.

Still, though, he advised me once more before I left.

"If I were the King of Wisdom, I'd do nothing and let us all break our backs fighting this Death Lord… and sweep through the rest of the continent."

With that warning uttered, he urged his horse to ride away.

Still, I was sure he heard my response.

"I know, if I were in his place, that is what I would do." I shook my head and took control of my undead steed. "So, I know without a doubt that he'll have a better plan than that."

…

For fuck's sake, I just put down a demonic incursion and the combat tutorial crisis pops!?

That shit's supposed to be delayed by at least a year, if something massive happens!

Okay.

Damage control time.

Sarala was busy keeping my economy in the black, so I couldn't send him out. Riegert was setting up for a new expedition and that was mandatory, since I needed information on other enemies and as many Ancient Wonders as possible. Ayah needed to stick around, because I needed someone to watch my back. Khanrow and his people were busy doing clandestine shit, and Ilych, Rita, and Morgan were going out to put the Academy down before they did something else stupid.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Leaving me with only one option.

Well, two options, really.

"Khalai's still sleeping off his hangover, right?" The celebrations went on for a week and he'd partied it up every night, after I turned in after the first. Every time I went out to meet with dignitaries from cities and villages and fortresses in my territory, he'd be in the background strumming up a lute, playing a wind instrument, drinking, or dragging someone away to somewhere less conspicuous. Honestly, I respected the hustle. He was slutting it up, but he was making lots and lots of friends. "His delegation stayed the whole time?

"Indeed, the High Justiciar and his retinue are still within the city."

"Send a message to him that we need Sirena to help handle a Death Lord. I'm going to send word out to Conquest. She's consolidating the Conqueror's former holdings in Academy lands, right?" Since she was out of Citadel range, I couldn't use a communicator slate to get to her. However, I could send an easy message over to Crusher, since he was now relegated to the backline. Death Lord found by the Guardians. Tens of thousands of monsters being mustered in old Academy lands. Need as much military strength as you can spare and Conquest. Meet at Conqueror holdings in Academy lands. Sent. I got a response in just a few minutes. 'Understood, our armies will meet at the Slayer's Keep.' And that was that. A text message and I can get armies rolling. Neat and convenient. "The Conquerors are on the move."

"We cannot move our people." Ayah stated, and I nodded.

"We can't let our guard down, yeah." We were reorganizing our armies, building fortresses, and generally creating another layer of defenses facing the other factions and our borders with the outside. The announcement that the Ancient's foes controlled the world was controlled, but that still meant that there was plenty of fear and trepidation going around. Our armies were busy moving in plain sight, clearing our lands of the last remains of wild monsters beyond a few key habitats for exploitation, which was intended to make our citizens calm. It also showed that we were capable of protecting them. Civil war and strife were the last things I wanted now. "But we do still need troops. We have supplies to spare… but we're going to need to call on the Forgers and the Merchants."

With most of the fighting against the Conquerors utilizing militia, and the troops arriving there hardly being needed once the main source of corruption was put down, I had two full-stacks at the ready and the Citadels churning out a thousand Guardians each every year. My mortal armies were four thousand heavy pike, three thousand rifles, a thousand mages, a thousand heavy ground cavalry, and a thousand aerial cavalry each. Slap a general Champion on one, and I'm confident that either one of those two armies can take any force sent by any of the other Citadel Holders, especially with draftees added to pad their numbers.

However, the issue was that the Death Lord was the tutorial crisis, but it was still a crisis. It flaunted this fact with the sheer numbers that we were dealing with. According to the Guardian's reports, we were looking at nearly a million monsters. A million neutral mobs, building up territory and breeding grounds, and guided by something that could think.

Lore-wise, this was all because the monsters were growing desperate due to continued eradication and destruction of their homes. They went and searched for a savior, found the Death Lord, revived it, and offered fealty in exchange for salvation. The Death Lord, being a crazy motherfucker with a god complex, accepted the offer and commanded them all to come to him. In-game, it was a neat way to explain why all the neutral mobs stop spawning/being free EXP and teaching everyone that the knives need to go away sometimes for everyone's sake.

In reality, it was going to be a massive challenge, especially if the Death Lord targeted me.

I have no right to ask them for help.

"We need shaping operations. Clandestine ones that'll make sure the monsters will head away from our lands." Morally, the plan is awful. However, in regards to my duties as a leader of a nation and for the sake of survival, we all needed to work together. If the Death Lord beat one of the Citadel holders and took their lands, a nation of monsters would be constructed in that region. If you had mods, that faction could actually be a viable opponent, but in the base game with expansions they just ruin the region and never use the Citadel to its full extent. I couldn't allow that to happen, especially with the real crises looming in the distance. Even if they were my opponents, they needed to be able to hold their own, or at least have lands that I could conquer that I could use. "Find as many mercenaries as you can and have them engage the monsters. I want bounties on every single monster out there. And, I want those groups infiltrated so that whatever tactics they use, they'll lead the Death Lord's forces towards the others, save for the Wardens and us… unless it's too obvious."

How did that old, edgy quote go?

There's no such thing as good and evil on the world stage. Only national interests?

Yeah, well, it still fucking feels horrible to give the order anyway.

I'm basically directing disasters towards other people, so that I don't have to fight it on my own.

"I understand. Your will shall be done." Ayah nodded and accepted my order without question. She gave a small bow and left me alone with my thoughts. "I will go fetch Khalai and formally request aid from his people."

With things set into motion, I let myself breathe a little and slump back into my chair.

This was only going to get worse.

I need to keep doing this, making horrible decisions that kill innocent people, if I didn't take over the other Citadels and this political bullshit kept persisting.

If I had all the Citadels under my control, if everyone on this continent was my subordinate, then I could turn this place into a weapon that could bring us all victory.

But, that wasn't the case, so I had to do this… and I'll have to keep doing it until I bring everyone else down and take their Citadels.

That'll take time, resources, and people that we couldn't lose, too.

That was why I wanted to make a schism in Khalai's people and swoop in after both sides were weakened.

Now… even that plan looked too expensive in terms of time and resources.

So, I guess, it was time for plan B.

I'd been dreading it, but I couldn't run from the fact that time was a finite resource, that I needed the Wardens' Citadel, and that I was of age.

I'm going to try and use marriage to get these psycho zealots off their path of performing ritual suicide on this entire world.

No, I'm pretty sure that I can't fix them, and that the divorce/civil war in the future is going to be fucking horrifying.