“What is it?” The red Knight asked the divination mage after she snapped her eyes open with a frightened look.
“Pyromancer Cole and the other three have perished.” She shook her head at the expected forthcoming question. “There is no sign of anyone else, and the man they targeted has also disappeared.”
“The three were disposable, but few could have beaten Cole and only a handful could maintain concealment while doing so. No matter, it’s extra work but I can just level this shabby village once our business is completed.” The Red Knight waved away the troubling news as a mere nuisance.
“Three of the beasts approach the wall, Sire.” One of the sentries called down.
“Arrogant fools.” He smirked with his stolen mouth. “They could have escaped and rallied the rest of their forces for a siege. Tell me when they close to within a hundred paces.”
“Yes Sire...” The knight trailed off for a moment. “They have vanished Sire!”
“Greetings, invaders of our land.” The trio of women suddenly stood inside the closed gate, facing him with casual body language and confident smiles. The speaker was clearly the one in charge and up close was a fierce and beautiful creature. “Lovely day for a massacre, isn’t it?”
“Lord Gray would probably want us to at least try a bit of diplomacy, wouldn’t he Leza?” The second speaker was the tallest of the group but had much kinder features.
“I suppose so, Torra.” The one apparently named Leza answered. “Very well. Disarm yourselves. Submit yourselves to us completely and accompany us to EDEN where you may be processed as prisoners of war. Do these things and we won’t litter these nice streets with your carcasses.” She finished speaking and the two cat women at her sides smiled and nodded along.
“It’s a good deal.” The cutest one that must have just barely passed her teenage years added with a thumbs up.
“Indeed Asha.” Leza continued before the incredulous laugh could escape The Red Knight’s mouth. “It is a very good deal.”
“Know your place, servants of the weakling usurper!” A deep baritone blurted from beside The Red Knight.
This man was among his top five strongest subordinates. Ungrius the Hammerhead was a hulking light skinned human with blonde crudely cropped short hair and light blue eyes. He had an ugly face and a temper to match it. His presence and stench was tolerated because of his unrivaled brute strength. His fighting career was littered with many feats. He had once even fought the infamous barbarian Rust to a draw in the Crown City Arena.
He now drew forth his signature weapon, a great flattened slab of dull steel on a long handle. It could hardly be called a sword, but in the hands of Ungrius it was a feared thing indeed, and weighed more than most grown men.
“Did he just say what I think he said?” Leza asked the other two Hellcats. Torra and Asha both took a smooth step back and away from Leza as the air around her began to stir and distort. Her hair began to lighten and glow, turning whiter than the snow on the rooftops. It grew into a mighty mane that reached the back of her knees even as her body expanded in both height and muscularity.
“No man or beast is a match for me!” Ungrius roared and stepped forward, intent on finishing the formidable woman in a single mighty blow. The massive blade rose straight over Ungrius’ pumpkin sized head. “Dragon Slaying Stri-” The shout meant to activate whatever attack he was using was abruptly cut off by a straight forward right cross from Laeza’s furiously glowing fist.
A shower of multicolored sparks exploded forth as protective magic barriers were shattered. A wave of pink mist and flying bone fragments followed the display and assaulted the gathered knights amid gasps of horror and disbelief. Everything above Ungrius’ collarbones was simply gone. The massive sword clattered to the ground with two large hands severed above the wrist still holding tightly to the hilt.
“Soft men should harbor meek tongues. To call our great master a weakling...” Leza glared down at the broken remains with disdain, smoke still rising from her hand. “Repugnant.”
The gears in The Red Knight’s mind were spinning at full speed. Such power was far beyond what he had seen in the initial attack on his anchor camp, and his passive Appraisal revealed that these three were not something normal mankind could stand against. This woman in that form would be a physical match for General Trasana, and perhaps even his own Orkas for a few moments. Far from discouraged, he was now more sure than ever that he must acquire such ultimate power for himself.
“Attack!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, and his voice carried the weight of magical command.
In an instant, all three Hellcats assumed their White Fury forms, and sent slashing attacks into the midst of their enemies. Unlike the disorganized and weaker knights before, the slashing blades of wind impacted multi layer barriers and never reached their targets.
A volley of concentrated and synergistic magic spells flooded forward in retaliation from the back ranks of the tightly formed unit. The effects may as well have been in slow motion compared to the magics used by Jade in their training sessions. However, not all of the barrage was avoidable. Hidden within the torrents of flame and lightning were the insidious effects of invisible spells which attacked the mind, or altered the environment itself.
As knights fell by the handful to the onslaught of the Hellcats, something bad was happening beneath the notice of the fiery trio. Asha had been chosen as the target to weaken, and dozens of spells designed to cause fatigue and confusion were being layered onto her in the midst of the chaos.
The Red Knight stayed back from the general melee, allowing his underlings to absorb the deadly attacks while he watched Asha like a hawk. Just a moment later and he saw his opportunity. Just after she sent a fully armored knight spinning through the air like a bloody ragdoll she shook her head slightly once and blinked. The Red Knight made his move.
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Asha staggered and dropped to a knee. Both Leza and Torra instantly disengaged from their opponents and stood protectively over her.
“Asha!” Leza urgently exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
“Something’s in my head with me!” She cried, sounding confused and scared.
Inside Asha’s mind, the Red Knight worked harder than he ever had before. There was something different here. Some dark and oppressive power that he had no experience with was hounding him, threatening to consume him, filling his thoughts with horrible images.
The girl’s consciousness was also there, but she was no demon as he had suspected. Her memories and thoughts freely intermingled with his own. This was the mind of a little girl that had been horribly abused and rescued. She wanted desperately to be as confident and strong as Leza, and it was within those memories that he caught his first glimpse of the Usurper as Asha saw him. He was an ideal of power and kindness, a man who effortlessly controlled everything he gazed upon. The image was only imaginary, the Red Knight told himself. Why then, was it glaring at him with such malice?
“Making ourselves at home, are we?” A voice of pure unadulterated power came over the Red Knight.
“Who are you?” The Red Knight couldn’t resist his curiosity as he continued to rifle through Asha’s mind in search of her skills.
“A fragment, much like you.” The voice replied. “A piece of something long lost to this world. I could tell you my name if you like...” The voice turned smooth and inviting.
That offer sent a bolt of terror through the Red Knight. Every word the entity spoke promised torment.
“What are you?” He amended his earlier question.
“Something that was already old when your great queen was but a puking larva, little orphan hiveling.” The voice was closer now.
Damn. Damn it all! The Red Knight’s mind was frantic. It knew his secret! He was almost there. The skill, White Fury was within his grasp he merely needed to analyze it. Just a few seconds more...
He felt a sudden discordant sensation. It wasn’t pain, but a feeling that pain might admire like an older sibling. The entity was close now, and searching for him. The Red Knight felt like an apprentice that had snuck into a master’s tower to steal a peek at forbidden tomes. There! He had the skill...
“There you are.”
A brief moment of spiritual agony made everything go white, and a moment later the weakened Red Knight was hovering outside the unconscious Asha’s body. He had been ejected from a host for the first time ever, but not empty handed. He split himself into eight spirit fragments, needing at least five percent of his total being to maintain any given physical form. He sent each fragment into the bodies of the closest standing knights. There was no resistance, they had been trained to accept his possession happily. Sixteen eyes collectively glowed with a new inner light, and eight mouths opened.
“White Fury.” The five male and three female knights spoke in uncanny unison, and then transformed. Armor straps snapped and chainmail shirts split. The humans grew much more than the Hellcats, and their stats swelled proportionally. There were limiters which preserved the health of the users built into the skill, and the Red Knight simply disabled them.
“Fall back to EDEN.” Leza ordered Torra. She then grabbed Asha’s limp body and vanished.
“With me!” The Red Knight shouted from all eight of his mouths. The power swelling within his bodies made him all but forget the ominous encounter within the girl. “We run them down and dash the usurper! Glory to the Crown!”
A resounding cheer erupted and as one the remaining sixty knights poured from Ariel’s Gate and charged across the field in EDEN’s direction.
The Mighty Four adventuring team along with Slimer Jaik watched their departure from a nearby rooftop, still fully concealed by Delia’s potent magic.
“Those poor doomed sods.” Rust shook his head.
“How long do you think they’ll last?” Norris asked.
“As long as she wants them to last, not a second more or less than that.” Luna said as she stood up and stretched.
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Twenty seconds later, Leza and Torra arrived on the distant western field. The eight White Fury imbued knights could have easily kept pace, but apparently had decided to not leave the rest of their group behind.
“Welcome home, ladies.” Tabula appeared and greeted them warmly. “You can go inside. I’ll make sure to greet these guests properly.” She glanced at Asha, still unconscious in Leza’s arms. “Her vitals are normal, but take her to the infirmary just in case. I’ll meet you there.”
“Yes my lady Tabula.” Leza and Torra both bowed deeply and hustled past to follow their orders. They resisted the urge to linger and watch what the almighty android might do to the hapless intruders.
“They’re all inside my perimeter!” Rain’s chipper communication caused a corner of Tabula’s mouth to lift just a tiny bit. Was this what they call excitement?
“Jade. Fence them in, prepare the guillotine.” She commanded as she watched the onrushing group close to within a hundred yards.
“I already did!” Came the terse mental reply.
“Very good. Both of you come stand with me, then.” She said, and no further response was needed.
“Hold.” The Red Knight’s eight stolen mouths ordered in unison a few moments later. The knights stopped their charge mechanically. Two women and a small bird like creature in human clothes stood before them. They were dangerous. He didn’t need to appraise them to know that. He decided to forego any conversation and take the initiative.
“Enhancement magic on me! Heavys, protect your mages!” The expected flurry of chanting and effects did not come forth as expected. The Red Knight turned around with one borrowed body and all eight of his hearts suddenly hammered and lurched in their respective chests.
Fifty three of the kingdom’s most elite soldiers had been dismembered and arranged on the snow in precise order like models waiting to be assembled. Heads and limbs were neatly arranged around torsos, as a wide swath of snow was replaced with steaming red slush around them.
“What will you do, Mr. Red Knight?” The tall woman in glasses asked. Her question wasn’t sarcastic. She sounded genuinely curious.
“Better hurry. Those bodies are already coming unglued. Humans aren’t built for those hellcat buffs.” The green haired girl added.
She didn’t need to tell him that. The Red Knight could feel the cells in his stolen bodies beginning to break down. He shook his head. Something was wrong with all of this! The intel said nothing about such monsters. How could they have missed so much? Where was the Green Knight right now?
“Hiya Red.” Speak of the devils. The twins canceled whatever invisibility effect they were using from behind the women and The Red Knight allowed himself a moment of hope. "You don't look so good." Rolen added.
“Ha!” The Red Knight crowed. “This is what happens when you underestimate the kingdom! Green, you take the green haired one!”
A sudden giggle that built into full scale laughter interrupted whatever he might have said next. The green haired girl was hysterically laughing and holding her sides. The twins were also grinning, and even the cold looking woman had the hint of a smile on her face.
“Since you’re feeding all of this directly to that scumbag Typhon, let’s just say the Green Knight has decided to resign from their post and join the enemy faction. Rest in pieces, and don’t worry the rest of your army will be joining you shortly.” With those infuriating words, the twins turned their backs on The Red Knight.
Eight mouths shrieked in rage, and like white streaks of lightning they charged forward as one. An explosive flash of blue energy repulsed them at equal speed and they cracked into an opaque green barrier behind them.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Tabula said calmly. “Something of your level doesn’t warrant this, so consider it a show for your masters.” She continued, reaching her arms out to her sides. “Phase Black.”
With a strange flipping jump, the little bird at her side suddenly melted into a puddle of blackness in midair and stuck to the woman’s chest and began to spread like tar. A moment later she looked like a black silhouette of her former self. Glowing blue lines appeared through the blackness, symmetrical and flawless. Finally two eyes of the same color opened, and a wave of energy was unleashed that caused The Red Knight’s heart to literally skip a beat.
“Ohh yeah!” Jade cheered. “Me too!”
As if to cement The Red Knight’s despair, the girl assumed her own Phase Black form which could only be achieved when Tabula authorized it. It was similar in size and shape to her normal dragon form, but her scales and spell effects both turned jet black. Additionally, all of her abilities which healed or enhanced were reversed to cause damage and debuffs instead.
Tabula blinked out of sight then, and at the same time, a White Fury possessed knight vanished. There was no blood, fire, or pain - just a sudden and simple absence of being. Five percent of The Red Knight vanished along with that body That was a new sensation, a terrifying new sensation.
The Red Knight was able to abandon a single body in that following second before all seven others were simultaneously destroyed without a trace. He limped through the air weakly, homing in on the mass of his essence gathered in General Orkas, now located near the entrance to Grandring. He heard the girl turned dragon complaining far below.
“You didn’t let me do anything!”
"What do you mean? You took care of all the weak ones."
"Exactly..."
Far away in the inner most sanctum of Crown City, Typhon watched The Red Knight’s defeat and the Green Knights’ betrayal and his eyes narrowed. This was going even better than he could have hoped.