“It all began when the old Marquis died. We all thought that the will of the old Marquis, bless his soul, would instruct his brother to take over because everyone knew the young master was completely… Unwell.” Leviathan said, wiping his forehead as he drank from a water skin.

“What we didn’t expect was for the old Marquis to die from a simple cold, complete with a set of instructions for Marquis Donovan to take his place,” Leviathan continued, looking at Craig and Lawrence.

“Foul play?” Craig asked, rubbing his nose and Leviathan shrugged.

“Everyone from the Justiciar down to the most common servant suspected that the young child had helped send his father on his way, but what were we going to do? Scream at him?” Leviathan shrugged.

“The problem all began when the Marquis found a book in the library which interested him greatly. They said it was seized by his father from one of those weird peddlers, but… “

“Then, the order was for female children aged 12 and below to be brought in. Fine, the guards could still do that. Maybe the Marquis likes them young, maybe he wanted more than one at a time.”

“Next, boys aged 12 and below. Fine, maybe the Marquis likes boys too.”

“Then, newborns. Then, women of any age, men of any age.”

“You have to understand that my men and I stopped following the orders after a while,” Leviathan said, looking at the judging looks in the eyes of all the men there, especially the guard who seemed that he had half a mind to nab him and hang him on the spot.

“However, he had a group of people who were fiercely loyal to him… The Devils’ Advocate I think… I’m not sure. They always wore those red robes with their hoods up. Bloody whip in their hand too,” Leviathan cursed, spitting on the ground.

“Then, when they got the girl, Anya… Anya Feyland… The Marquis was beside himself with worry for once. He even had a carriage ready to send her on the way but he was stopped by those Devils’ Advocate. They said that her soul would have allowed him to transcend death itself and make him immortal.”

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Lawrence scratched his head. Lich? He has never heard of this form of ritual before. Anyway, radiant spells should work if they ever encountered him again.

“So… They made preparations for a ritual they called the Blood God’s Ascendance, where this Blood God will come down and possess Marquis Donovan or something.”

“They had men, women and children drained of blood to soak the grounds of the ritual in that very blood and they had planned to carve Anya’s heart out. What no one expected was for Father Karl Franz and the Feylands to storm here. There was food enough for half a year and everyone with a brain in the castle knew that we couldn’t possibly allow the ritual to succeed, regardless of whether it was real or not.”

“That night, myself and two other guard captains submitted a plan to Marquis Donovan, called Operation Valkyrie. We said that in the event of an actual attack, it takes too much time to call for a war council to decide the plan of action.”

“So, we suggested that at the very least, guards on the outer walls be placed under our immediate command.”

“We had a soldier sneak out by the eastern walls and pass a message to Father Karl Franz. The Father agreed to our plan and he attacked the walls as planned. We placed a few Devils’ Advocate volunteers there but held back all the actual… Professionals.”

“By the time the Devils’ Advocate and the Father’s men were done fighting, Anya Feyland was gone. We thought that it was the end you see, no more girl, no more siege.”

“What we did not expect was for the Devils’ Advocate to decide that the guards would be the next sacrifice for another ritual.”

“I’m going to guess that all of you did not make it easy?” Lawrence asked and Leviathan snorted, a small smile spreading across his lips.

“Oh, the Devils’ Advocate had no idea that these… Commonfolk guards could fight so hard. They attacked us at our quarter but by the time we were done, we forced them into the dungeons. We were even readying ourselves to open the gates to welcome the Father in.”

Leviathan looked at the ground and sighed.

“But… They made the Butcher some… Unlife monstrosity, along with all those sacrifices… We were trapped you see… We barricaded ourselves in the Great Hall. We had no idea where the Marquis went.”

“He never went out to join the fight. No one knew what happened. Maybe he snuck away when the unlife attacked the paladins and sailors. But we know… He is… Still…”

Leviathan’s voice choked.

“Alright. At least I know it works,” Lawrence said, saddling his horse.

“You’re coming with us,” Craig said, pulling Leviathan who was flabbergasted.

“I’m old! I can fight no longer!” Leviathan insisted, attempting to pull himself away.

“Well, you know the forest better than anyone. I’ll be borrowing him for awhile, thank you for your care through the night,” Lawrence said to the guard who nodded.

“No, thank you!” one of the workers said and as Lawrence saddled up, he dragged all the holy spells to the quickslot.

“If the Marquis wants to really be bathed in holy fire, what can I do to forbid him from it? I’d welcome him instead.”