The sudden surge of power came in as a surprise. Azar was certain that there was no other living being in the village. So he wandered back toward whatever was calling for him, and the closer he got, the louder the sound. They were the screams and cries of humans, begging Azar to seek vengeance.
Azar brushed through the rubble and found out where it was coming from. Lying in front of Azar, an old, worn, bloody scythe. It was just a farmer's gardening tool, nothing special about it,... except for the voices coming from it.
Azar held the old and bloody scythe in his hand, and a pure tsunami of inferno and rage from all the poor and vengeful souls rushed through his veins, begging him to unleash terror on those who did this to them. And Azar gladly accepted. He hefted it up high and chanted in an ancient language, then drove it to the ground. The earth shook as the air surrounding the scythe thickened with the stench of blood. Then, from every corner of the village, vengeful souls started to growl and moan while their blood formed streams that slowly made their way to the scythe. And as the blood of the fallen humans fused with the cursed scythe, its form changed. Surging from underneath the blood puddle, a serpent appeared out of nowhere. Its skin was as red as the blood of the innocent, and its eyes were as black as night. As its scaly body slithered up on the scythe, the serpent’s body and the scythe slowly merged into one. The long wooden handle fused itself with the serpent's body warping around it and turned into a dark violet-red steel handle with a carving of a golden serpent body curled up along the side. While the blood serpent’s head morphed itself with the scythe’s blade.
The serpent’s fangs turned into a long curing blade and took the colour of the blood of its former wielder. The edge was so sharp and clear that Azar could see his reflection on the scythe’s blade. And at the very head of the scythe, a closed golden eye of a serpent was formed, connecting the blade and the steel handle.
All the souls were chanting Azar’s name, calling the weapon’s new master to take control of it. Azar stepped up to the scythe and grabbed onto the handle. The golden serpent’s eye opened wide, and the golden carving of the serpent turned into life, warping itself on Azar’s arm and plugging its fangs into his flesh. But Azar did not hesitate. He grabbed the weapon even stronger and shouted.
“You’re mine now !”.
When his amber eyes stared straight into the golden serpent’s eye, the creature slowly unwrapped itself and slithered back on the scythe, turning back into the golden carving on the handle, as all the souls growled.
“Take the weapon, become the angel of vengeance,” they said.
Azar lifted the scythe and called out
“Give me your power !”
Hundreds of shadows flew toward the scythe, swirling into the blade. And at that moment, the vision of their deaths flashed through Azar’s mind. A father gutted in front of his family; an infant got his head smashed against a tree until his tiny skull became mush; a young woman got violated over and over again until her very last breath; a child threw herself to the bottom of a well…
All of their anger, all of their hatred, empowered the scythe even more. After the last soul had crossed into the scythe, the weapon started to glow with a dark and dreadful aura. Azar could feel all the power running through his veins. It was unbelievable. God had given him so much power already, but he never knew he could become even stronger. The scythe was incredibly light. Azar could hardly feel its weight even though the scythe was the length of his own body. Azar wielded the scythe and swung it horizontally. It didn’t even make a sound, not even a cutting wind. But everything in front of it, houses, trees, rocks, weapons, even from a few hundred meters away, were all cut cleanly in half.
“Wow …” Azar was amazed by the might of the weapon. It was very rare for such a cursed weapon to be forged. Azar played a big part in this. Of course, no human could create such a weapon. And it kept on calling out to the new master.
“Wield me well, master. The more souls you take, the more powerful you’ll become ….”
Azar gave an ominous grin.
“Soul Taker …” He gave the weapon a name. A weapon created with the help of the mightiest being in this world and the undying vengeance of hundreds of spirits. Azar felt anew, but it was short-lived. This weapon was powerful, almost too powerful. It constantly called him to kill. It was only due to Azar being such a great dragon that he could suppress it. If a human was to possess this, it would be chaos.
“Be quiet from now on ! I shall call you when you are needed !”
The weapon obeyed Azar’s command. The eyes closed, transforming the scythe into a small black quill no longer than a palm’s length. Azar strapped it on his side and flew back to Tolemac.
Azar did not see the army on his way to the Eastern wall, but based on what Azar just saw, he knew how to find them. So Azar headed straight back to Tolemac and stopped at the closest town on the way.
“Come on, where are you ?” Azar sat quietly in the nearby mountain and watched over the town. The humans were already panicking as the news of the nearby village had already got to them. Everyone was packing their goods and running as quickly as possible. But after around 20 minutes, it began. Out of nowhere, a thick red mist shrouded the town. And then, just like the legend said, a legion of undead army appeared out of nowhere.
Azar confirmed that what he suspected was true. They weren’t just weak necromancy summonings. Hundreds of Liches in the backline, providing a massive offensive range attack. And on the front, thousands of Skeleton warriors. Vary from mouldy white skeletons to newly resurrected creatures whose flesh was decaying and falling apart. These creatures were big and strong, standing at least 6ft tall (182cm), heavily armored, and could perform moderate combat skills with their weapons of choice. Just like the liches, they did not need food or rest, they felt no pain nor fear, and they would charge at the enemy with no hesitation. And on the plank, there were the undead carveries. Just like the rider, the horses were undead as well. With their hollow eyes and rotting flesh, these horses were still as strong and fast as ever.
“Incredible …” Azar had yet to see so many undead creatures all united like this before. And soon, he found the corporates. A group of living humans was indeed among them. There were about 100 of them, all on undead horseback, seemingly commanding the army from a safe distance. Most of them did not look particularly strong, at least from Azar’s point of view. However, he knew that if they were necromancy mages, they did not require much physical strength. But still, it was hard for Azar to cope with the fact that these humans could summon and control at least 70.000 undead creatures.
The legion of monsters unleashed their terrors on the pitiful town. A storm of fireballs poured down, forcing every human in it to scatter and hide. Then the heavy-armored skeleton warriors charged in, slaughtering the humans that tried to defend themselves on the front. They had no chance. These humans were far from trained soldiers, only farmers, merchants, adventurers, … And they all suffered the same fate. Down they all went, like leaves on a winter tree, slashed and torn apart by the horrifying monsters of their nightmares.
The carveries on the planks then rushed to the back entrance of the town, cutting off any human survivors trying to flee their dooms. After that, the undead foot soldiers came barging in from the front, and the genocide began. They left no stone unturned. They found every living being, humans or animals, and killed them in cold blood.
The cries of the helpless, unfortunate humans mixed with the sound of the crackling fire and crumbling houses made a haunting harmony. No more than half an hour later and the town was destroyed. But it was not over yet. It was time for the living humans to enter and have some sadistic pleasure of their own.
Azar had seen enough. He had gathered all the necessary information about their army and how strong they were. But one thing Azar just couldn’t understand was, “Why ?”. Even in wars, these kinds of horrific acts of violence were extreme. And to do it to their own race, Azar had to know the reason behind it.
Azar did not have any grudge against the Red Mist. In fact, if he was still a Dragon King, he would gladly consider them as allies. But time had changed. Still, Azar flew down to the town without any intention of fighting the legion of undead. He just wanted to make sense of what was happening.
Gliding through the air as fast as lightning, Azar landed in the middle of all the wrecks and horror, grabbing the attention of the whole army.
“I just want to talk to your leader !” He shouted to all the living humans.
“Kill that monster !” They shouted back at him as a dozen undead cavalry charged toward Azar.
“I said! …” Azar took the quill and returned it to its original form, the Soul Taker scythe. With one swift swing, all of the charging creatures and the undead horses crashed to the ground. Their heads were cut clean off, even though the scythe didn’t even touch them.
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“I just want to talk ! But if you want to waste even more of your force, I will gladly offer a hand !”
Just then, something came flying toward Azar, a shining white spear. Azar chuckled a bit,
“Foolish creatures …” He thought. Azar was certain that he was immune to their pathetic attack, so he intended to take the hit straight on, to show they had no chance. But the closer the spear got, the more unnerving Azar felt. Something was very different about this spear ….
“Shit !” Only when the spear was inches away from him did Azar feel the true power hidden in it. Azar tilted his head as quick as possible, but he could not dodge the spear unharmed. In the end, it left a thin scratch on Azar’s left cheek.
It was a rocky, foolish mistake, something that Azar should never make… getting too cocky and underestimating his enemies. That could have been a costly mistake; he was lucky this time …
His eyes went sheer cold, sending a pure sensation of fear to every living being's heart, like a bloodlust monster looking for its next victim. The scratch healed almost instantaneously, leaving not even a scar or a drop of blood behind. Azar turned his fury toward a handful of humans within the Red Mist army. They were old, their magic was weak, and they wore black rope covering their head to toe. Azar cleaved his scythe horizontally and off with their heads. Unlike the undead warriors, when Azar chopped down the humans, their souls could visibly be seen screaming as they were dragged into his scythe.
“Last warning ! Take me to your leader or I shall gladly demolish your entire army in one swoop!”
Azar's voice was as frosty as ice, but his gaze was as furious as fire. A moment of complete silence lingered throughout the whole town. The only few things that dared to make a sound were the crackling noise of the raging fire destroying the town or the howling wind echoing through every corner of the place.
Then finally, the undead army created a path.
“You’re not human !” A clear and commanding voice came through. “So what are you doing here, monster !?!”. A human male stepped in front of Azar. Unlike those other necromancy mages Azar just killed, this one was young and warrior-like. Eyes that were as dark and deep as an endless abyss, long, thick and wavy raven hair all the way down his shoulders. And like Azar, he wore no armor, just basic dark-coloured clothing.
“I’m just here to talk …”. Azar stared at the human straight in the eyes, enough to send a quiver down his legs. Without answering Azar, the leader of the Red Mist raised his hand, and the white spear flew back toward him. However, before the human could touch his weapon, Azar made a move.
Shock !. That was written on everyone's face. Azar had stopped the weapon in mid-air. It could be seen physically shaking, trying to escape Azar’s grip, but Azar held on tight to the spear with seemingly little effort.
“Don’t do anything stupid !” Azar threw the spear at the leader, narrowly missing him by the skin of his teeth and plunging the weapon into the ground. The human tried to lift his weapon … but he failed. Azar gave the little human a stare of utter disappointment, and with one hand, he pulled the spear from the ground and gave it back to the human.
No word needed to be exchanged; Azar just kept walking forward, commanding the leader of the Red Mist army to follow him. When they finally reached a house that had not yet been burned down, Azar gave the human a distinct look. The leader of the Red Mist turned back to hís army and said
“You all stay back, I’ll go in alone !”.
The house itself was almost empty. The former owner of this place was either very poor or had packed all of their goods very quickly; the only things remaining were a small dining table and two chairs. They both took their respective seats and began questioning each other.
“Who are you, monster ? And why are you intervening in my crusade ?”
“I’m the one asking questions.” Azar set the human straight. “And you’re just here to answer me. I’ll answer yours only if I feel like it. Do we understand each other”
“That doesn’t seem like a fair deal.”
Azar leaned forward and gave the human the chill of death’s door, running through every fibre of his body. “Do. You . Understand ?!”. And all the helpless human could react was swallow his dry throat and nod his head obediently.
“Who are you ? And why are you killing all of these defenseless humans? Aren’t they your kind as well?”
“They are not my people !!! They are venomous backstabbing snakes !!!” the human slammed his hand on the table and shouted.
“My name is Liam Leonidas and I have waited 25 years for this moment ! No one ! Not even you can stop me from seeking my vengeance and taking back my rightful throne !”
“Your … rightful throne ???” Azar sat back, curiosity filled his head,
“The snake that these people call king, is nothing but a coward and a backstabber.”
“Yeah, that part I’ve already figured out. Anything new you want to add ?”
“How about in order to become king, he had slaughtered all 24 members of my family in cold-blood ?”
“Go on …” Azar leaned forward.
“25 years ago, that man … no, that snake was just a prince. And he was an incapable one, unsurprisingly. The only reason he received the crown was because his father was the current king, and he was the first born. He knew next to nothing about how to rule a nation, always had to depend on others to give him advice or make decisions for him. Lucky for him, he had many outstanding members in the high council to aid him, and among them, my father, Perseus Leonidas. He was well respected among his peers, and loved by the citizens of Avalon. So much in fact, that many mistook him for the true heir to the throne. Still, my father never thought about that. All my father ever did was help his country and its people, he never cared about power or status. But the more love and respect my father gained, the more envious the prince became. He was afraid that his own father would choose my father to be king instead of his incapable son. So on a cold and rainy night, when all the light in the kingdom had long been overtaken by darkness, the prince and his minions came to our family residence and slaughtered us all. Everybody died, my father, my mother, my brothers, even the servants. They all died under the hand of that snake. I was the second youngest among the four brothers and the only survivor. I was only five years old at that time. They stabbed me in the chest, but somehow, I survived. I had to play dead, and watch as they beheaded my father right in front of my eyes. They picked up my younger brother by his leg and swung him against the wall, bashing his head until his blood painted the wall red. And before they left, they burnt down the house, erasing all evidence that they were there. But they didn’t know, I was still alive.”
“So let me get this straight, you were five years old, stabbed in the chest, the house was on fire, how could you still be alive ?” Azar asked
“My father's weapon saved me” Liam looked at his white spear then replied, “When I was lying there, waiting to reunite with my family on the other side, the spear started to vibrate. Then it began calling my name, asking me to grab hold of it. So I crawled and crawled, and the closer I got, the louder the calling. And when I managed to touch it, the spear transformed. Its color changed, and so did the carving on the side. Then I could hear them, the spirits of my father, mothers, brothers, everyone ! They told me that I have to live, that I need to avenge their death. The spear then gave me power, more power than any man ever had before. My wound healed and I escaped this cursed nation with my life.”
Azar realized something, that spear and his scythe; were both cursed weapons, born in almost the exact same way. And so, Azar easily predicted
“And let me guess, that spear of yours, it grants you the power to resurrect and control the dead, am I right ?” ‘
“Indeed, I don’t know what it was at first. I was too young to understand. But the weapon led the way, guiding me to Arcane, the nation where magic means supreme. And it was there that I was taken in by the temple of Nabu, the god of Death. They practice necromancy and my power and potential was unleashed to its fullness.”
Azar wanted to know why this human did what he did, and after listening to Liam's side of the story, Azar understood. Perhaps Azar did not believe that what Liam was doing was right, but he could not say it was wrong either. Not to mention, Azar already knew what kind of king Henry Leon the IV was. A coward, manipulative and incapable one. So it was not a surprise for Azar to hear what he had done in the past.
After Liam finished his story, Azar just stood up and proceeded to walk out of the house.
“Wait !” The human called out to Azar, “Who are you … What are you ?”
“None of your concern ….”
Liam then quickly blocked Azar's way and asked him one last question “Then are you going to stop me ?”.
Azar stood there, letting the silence string out, then walked past Liam.
“I’ll have to think about it.”
Liam held Azar's arm firmly. “That’s not an answer !”
Azar turned to Liam and gave him a chilling glare. Liam immediately let go of his arm, and Azar spread his wings and flew away.
“FUCKKKK !!!!!” Even from high above the sky, Azar could still hear Liam’s shout. Azar continued to watch over the Red Mist army for a little while, as there was one more thing Azar had not figured out yet. A red mist appeared out of nowhere, covering the army trace. But this time, Azar was close enough to see what was truly going on.
“So that’s how they did it….” Azar mused.
Hundreds of liches joined forces to open up a tunnel underground, and the Red Mist army escaped without sight. That was a tactic unimaginable for humans or dragons. It required a lot of energy and numbers to conjure such magic. Some mages use such techniques to escape in a short distance but never had that method been used on such a scale. There was no way humans could process such stamina and strength to continuously create underground tunnels for thousands and thousands of soldiers. But the undead was different. They did not feel tired, their power limit may be low, but they were many. Those liches could hold on forever if they had to. Not to mention, the undead did not need to rest or breathe air. The Red Mist army could march continuously underground for as long as the few hundred living humans wanted or for how long the air would last. It gave them the ultimate element of surprise. If it was not for the fact that Azar knew they were heading straight to Tolemac, he could never guess where they were. They could bypass every town or city and attack wherever and whenever they wanted. The thick red mist was only to hide their track, but honestly, even if they did not, Azar doubted anyone could follow them.
Even though the city of Tolemac was infused with a lot of magic, which may prevent the Red Mist army from just popping up right under the city, the Red Mist would be able to get close enough to the city wall with minimum casualties.
“Tolemac will fall ….” Azar concluded after the brief meeting with Liam Leonidas and the Red Mist legion.