AN: Really long chapter, folks, almost 4000 words.

As always folks, thank you for reading. If there are any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know down below.

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Do you know how annoyingly frustrating it is to plan out the destruction of a small tribe? If I had hair, I would have pulled it all out from the tediousness of it all. First, were the problems. The whole lot of them were well liked by other tribes, and well loved by the populace. Then there was the fact that they were abnormally polite and all around "nice". It reminded me of a country of people, back on my first world, who were stereotypically "nice". So nice were these humans, they had become adorable, and were even talks about adopting them as a whole. Hell, I was a part of the group that wanted to own their very own adorable person, but alas, it was illegal to do so.

I sighed heavily as I was read the reports, and found that this tribe was not nice to the point of adorableness, but to the point of them being creepy. If you are wondering why I didn't just read them myself, it is because their language is too strange. It's a mixture of Chinese characters mixed with chicken scratches of numbers. All in all, I had many imaginary headaches just trying to understand their alphabet.

I was currently in my Kobold form, with the feline girl-child "attacking" my tail, as it playfully swatted her head, face, and body. I was glad she didn't understand what was going on, as well as the distraction of her playfulness against my tail. Every now and again, I would spy a few of the female guards and Undying glancing in her direction. They looked as though they wanted to pet and cuddle her, but refrained from doing so. One issue from doing just that was the girl-child becoming scared and running off. This happened on more than one occasion, to the point where I forbade them from approaching her unless absolutely necessary. Most complained about my decision, but my word is Law amongst them, so they refrained from pressing the issue.

"So? Any ideas on how to proceed with killing them all?" We had thought of inviting the lot of them for a celebration and poisoning them all at the party, but was quickly ruled out. If there were more like the bear-kin, who can resist my acidic poison, then we cannot use it. We also ruled out outright slaughter. Main reason for this was the fact that many of them were merchants and mercenaries, and were not with the tribe at the moment. Such a headache, this was.

"Well," began a four-armed Undying who, by the by, was the High General and the Queen's left hand when it came to her armies. Her right hand in the armies was the Grand General, and he was overseeing the ceasefire, which wasn't going as planned at the moment. "Well, without outsourcing a far away tribe, or creating one ourselves-"

I stood up at this, my eyes wide with realisation. This action alone caused the girl-child to mew happily, as she finally caught my tail. She was being rocked back and forth, as it swayed slowly, unhindered by her weight. "That's it!" I cried out with a feral grin, "We can create our own."

"And how would we go about doing that?" He looked incredulous as I continued to grin.

I giggle maniacally, which caused the girl-child to giggle happily as she crawled on top of  my head. "I have a spell," was all I said.

*****

Later that evening, we were standing on a catwalk that overlooked cages of chained humans. To my left and right were armed Undying, each with either a sword and shield, short pike, or a bow with a quiver full of black arrows. "Is this everyone you could find?" I asked a four-arm Undying to my left, who nodded, which caused me to sigh heavily. "There aren't that many," and there wasn't. There was only about two dozen humans packed into the warehouse, but they would still suit my needs.

"There aren't that many human slaves and killers," came the High General's reply, who looked down at the gathered humans with disgust. "Why did you want these... things?"

"I have a spell that changes the race of one, into the race of a wolf beastman." This caused the General to blink and inquire more about it, but I only shrugged and said he would have to watch and see the results.

After the short climb down, we heard an arrogant human demand to know why he was chained like everyone else. The General retrieved a small stack of papers from a bag at his side, leafed through them, then said, "Harold Su'lan, you were charged with killing your wife," the man denied this quite boisterously, which caused the general to yell over his protests, "and are hereby sentenced to death. However, your sentencing will be carried out by this man, here." He pointed towards my human self, which caused me to grin maniacally at the man.

The man tried to step back as I approached, but only managed to trip himself. He fell backwards, as I stood over him and intoned the spell, "<>." What came out of my body was not the standard silvery magicks, but one that oozed darkness. This darkness seemed to screech and howl, even though we could not hear it, and it leapt from my body. It crawled slowly towards the one called Harold, who frantically tried to get away from it, but couldn't because of the chains.

Once the darkness touched the human's foot, however, it grew large, and blanketed his form completely. The body struggled for a time, then became still and seemingly melted into the ground. The melted, darkened body then began to form itself into a shadowy form of a beastman of the wolf tribe. However, there was no fur for it, but shadowy wisps that mimicked its fur. The only part of its body that wasn't made up of shadows and darkness, was its eyes which were wispy orbs of crimson. Everyone was stunned for a time, then began to scream and shout, trying to escape as it began to snarl. Curious.

"It's a Shadow's Reaper! Run!" One of the Undying shouted, which caused the rest of them to scatter.

This action caused me to blink and stare slack-jawed at their actions. "<>," I intoned on this "Shadow's Reaper", and watched as my silvery magicks sank into its flesh, and turned it into an overgrown pup of a wolf. "What's a Shadow's Reaper?" I asked the chained and frightened humans, who looked at me as though I was insane.

From what I was able to gather, a Shadow's Reaper is a mutated tribe of Wolf Beastmen who can replenish their tribal numbers through infecting others through a bite. The change was quick, and can change the victim within a few minutes, to a few hours after being bitten. There wasn't a cure for it, other than death, as all who were bit would become a copy of the one who bit it, and go insane if their bodies rejected the infection. Those whose bodies rejected it, would start killing indiscriminately, until they just fell over dead.

This was fascinating, and I had the Shadow's Reaper start biting everyone, much to the horror of those present. They screamed, cried, and begged me, as the wolf bit each and every one of them. Their last memory, before being consumed by the darkness, was of my feral, cracking grin.

There was only one whose body rejected the infection, but was put down almost immediately after it went berserk. This caused all of the wolves to drool as the corpse, so I tossed it into their little group, whereupon they began to tear into it with silent barks and yapping. The only sounds which could be heard from their group, was the sounds of flesh being torn, and bones being crunched. Once finished, they turned towards "Harold", who was the first to turn, and was their alpha. He, on the other hand, looked towards myself, waiting for instructions on what to do next.

Their heads swiveled to a sound behind me, and from a window I could see torches and pitchforks from a local rabble. They had surrounded the building, which I thought it odd when I saw them. Sighing once more, I intoned a shielding spell called, "<>." Small stone slabs appeared from the earth beneath us, and began floating about my person. Each had an unknown carving etched into the center, and glowed a dull pink. Once complete, I used another called, "<>," and watched as a translucent cloak of shimmering gold wrapped itself around my body, then disappear as though it was never there in the first place. I was considerably drained of energy from this, and downed a vial of a thick, blue substance. This substance allowed me to regain my energy, which allowed me to prepare a few more spells for the fight that was ahead.

Once outside, however, I, and my new wolves, came face to face with an armed mob of a variety of creatures, and the Undying. At the head of the Undying was the High General, who seemed angry for some odd reason. Well, I knew what angered him when he said, "You have gone too far, sir. For trying to revive the long dead tribe of the Shadow's Reaper, you are hereby charged with treason, and sentenced to death."

I stared at him as though he was an idiot for a solid minute, before finally laughing. He seemed to bristle with anger, and probably thought I would beg for forgiveness, or some such thing as that. No, I would not beg, and they could not harm me. Especially when I said, "Do you know what I am, my dear, unfortunate human?"

"A monster in sheep's clothing," was his reply.

I shook my head at his simple answer. "No, little human. I am an Enchanter, and we Enchanters are the masters of chaos." Raising my arms, I pointed my hands, palm up, at the rabble before me, grinned madly, and intoned, "<>."

Moments before I cast the spell, those Undying who were recognised as my thralls had either vanished from the crowd, or were at my side just as it afflicted the minds of all before me. My grin turned feral and my eyes glinted with madness, as the rabble began to fight amongst themselves, going so far as to kill any and all that stood in their paths. "The High General has incited a rebellion," I shouted with a tinge of panic in my voice, "He means to slay our queen! To arms, good people of New Wair! Protect the queen! Kill the High General!" I did not have any means to amplify my voice, and had to rely on whatever system my thralls used to send messages throughout the city and castle proper.

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The High General, and those loyal to him, were stunned the moment I shouted out my words, and a few grew pale and fled the scene. Unfortunately for them, they would not get very far, and their heads began to roll down the streets just as several dozen of my four-armed thralls began jogging in our direction. You see, they were a contingency plan just in case something went wrong, but I never thought the High General would try to kill me. No, but I was glad for my thralls' timely arrival, as I would have loathed to fight as a giant skeleton. Thus revealing myself to the general population.

Within a few moments, the wholesale slaughter began, and I could barely hear the general shouting orders to attack, defend, or run for their lives. I had started to laugh and clap my hands with glee, when an arrow struck my arcane shield. My smile turned into a frown, and glared at the archer who was quivering at my sight. This caused me to growl, and, raising my hands once more. I began to intone a spell that would drain me to the point I would need to use another vial of the thick, blue liquid. "<>."

Blackened smoke, tinged with droplets of liquid crimson danced around my form. It swirled about me at a faster rate, and, if one were to look closely, one would see frightful creatures that should only exist in legends. Mask of the Forsaken is one of a few dozen forbidden spells in my arsenal, for it has the ability to alter the bodies of the intended target/s to such a degree, that they may never return to what they were before. However, what truly makes this a forbidden spell is not the transformation of the body. No, it is a forbidden spell because it does not touch the mind of the target/s.

You see, Mask of the Forsaken only warps the body of those it has been cast upon to such a degree, their friends, family, associates, everyone is forced to attack them. Even if they see themselves in a mirror, they, themselves, must attack the image until it is no more.

If you are wondering if there is a spell that is like it, but still different, then I will tell you that this is so. There is another forbidden spell that is much like it, and I do have it in my arsenal. However, know this. I have never used it, not once, and I never will. Because it has the power to make others worship the one it has been cast upon. So great is this worship, that all are compelled to do so, even going as far as to worship their breath, fluids, and fecal matter. Yes, as with Mask of the Forsaken, this only affects the body, not the mind. Unfortunately, it is a far more torturous experience than the other Mask is.

It's name, you are wondering about? It is "Imago Dei", the "Mask of God".

How powerful is Mask of the Forsaken? You may be wondering if it is as terrible as I make it sound, and it truly is. Right after I intone the spell for it, I collapsed, and had to fumble for the vial of thick blue substance. It was at this point I spied the effect of the spell beginning to shape the unfortunate victims with its terrible curse. Over half of the General's men and woman, and many of the local, chaotic rabble were afflicted by its touch. 

These men and women began to sprout beaks from their mouths, or grew several dozen regular mouths and muzzles while their heads grew larger. A few had tentacles and tendrils of flesh and bone sprout out, while several more grew hair out of every orifice or pore. Claws, extra hands, legs, arms, everything you could imagine, and many you cannot began to appear where once their bodies had stood ready for battle.

Instead, they were attacked, and slaughtered by all. I could even see the High General gleefully  tearing a tentacle off a screaming creature that was once a female human who held a torch. That same torch was being used to shove down her throat, burning her from inside-out. There were tears in the general's eyes, as he tried to fight the compulsion the spell had on them. I do believe he knew they weren't really monsters, but had no way of fighting it.

Ah, but you see, there was a special effect that comes into play after those afflicted with the mask have died. It was this effect that made it a true forbidden spell. Which was, once the being afflicted the spell was dead, their twisted bodies became their real bodies, and those that attacked them would have their memories altered. They were altered in such a way, that they would not remember fighting monsters, but instead they would remember butchering their friends, family, associates, or what have you whilst they pleaded and fought for their life.

It was truly an evil spell, and at the time, I had no qualms in using it when it suited me.

"The General has dared to slaughter innocents in his quest to slay the queen!" I shouted in mock horror and disgust whilst pointing at the carnage before us, "Quickly! Before more lives are lost, capture him, slay him, before more lives are lost to his greed."

I grinned with madness, as I watched my thralls slaughtering their way to a dizzy, and sick High General, who was easily captured and tied up. Once this occurred, he was brought to me, I waved a hand over the confused rabble, and intoned the spell, "<>."

We watched as the rest of the rabble, and those still loyal to the general, collapse onto the ground. Looking down at the general, who was tied with chains, I saw his look of horror and madness. It was truly a sight to savour, and savour it I did. "You-" He tried to say something, but a boot found its way into his gut. To which he bent over, and began to cough. I believe I even saw a few flakes of blood when he did so.

I grinned down at him, as I intoned, "<>," to remove the cracks that began to form when I fell. "Inform the torturer he will be having a prestigious guest for a time. We need a confession of his crimes, you see." I stared down my nose at the general, and felt my eyes glow a bright crimson as I said this. "Ah, but first, I will need to manipulate your memories a bit." He tried to struggle as my hands reached for his head oh so slowly. Once I grasped it, I intoned another spell, "<>" and listened to him scream with a maniacal grin.

*****

It has been a week since the incident with the High General, and things couldn't be better. Well, the destruction of the bear-kin's tribe would have made my mood much greater than it was, but that would not happen until after the party. Well, I would call it a party, but everyone else would call it an event. For you see, the general had confessed to wanting to dethrone the little, squeaky queen, and place himself in the chair. This confession was done in front of LD, RS, myself, the torturer, and the new High General. Who, by the by, was one of my thralls. As a matter of fact, I made an effort to turn all of the castle guards, Undying, everyone into a thrall. I did wish to turn the populace this way, but seeing as how they were too spread out, I didn't see the point. No, I would stick with the people in the castle for the time being.

This event/party was the execution of the former High General, and everyone was invited. We even sent a message to the Grand General, who, as it turned out, was his older brother. However, he could only send a witness to the event, as his presence was still needed on the frontlines. I had decided to alter the memories of the messenger, or perhaps turn him into a thrall, just in case he became a nuisance. No need to outright kill him, if he stuck his nose into something he shouldn't. Even if I wanted to, I could only alter his mind.

The nobles, who were collared and those who weren't, yet, were invited to the party. A high ranking individual caught as he tried to kill the queen, was such a scandal that had many a tongue wagging. They would also come to try and get into the good graces of one another, the queen, the "hero" who foiled the human's plans, and the new High General. Ah, but there were some who loved the former general, and had made many attempts to free him from his prison. The attempts were comical, and all of them were subsequently killed off. Well, after the torturer had his way with them, that is.

The execution of the former general was set for that day, but I would not be the one to attend it. Instead, I would be one of the few that would watch from a distance. It was not because I didn't wished to attend, but because it was tedious, and was currently occupied with playing with the young feline girl-child.

I had found a ball of yarn in a basket, and was rolling it back and forth between my hands whilst sitting in front of the girl-child as a kobold. She was currently staring at it with large eyes, and would oftentimes paw at it cautiously. This was amusing to me, and kept us entertained when I heard a large bell toll a dozen times. She stood up, frightened, and jumped into my arms, shivering at the new sound. Her action caused a chuckle to ensue from my lips, as the toll of the bell was to signify the passing of the general. He died by hanging, and his body would be set aflame immediately afterwards. Apparently, it was some tradition to keep traitors from being resurrected, or some such thing.

Chuckling once more, I pealed the girl-child from my chest, and asked, "Would you like to go to a party?" Her head tilted to one side in confusion. "There will be lots of food, you get to be in pretty clothing, and you can bring the big dog with us."

Her eyes were wide at this, and she rushed to the other side of the room. Once there, she jumped on top of a large, black creature that seemed to be made of shadows with a pair of large, crimson orbs floating where its head should be. This creature was, in fact, a Shadow's Reaper, but was not the alpha. No, it was a young female that had taken a liking to the girl-child. For some odd reason, the pair had formed a bond, and would whine if ever separated. Well, no matter. For now, there was a party to attend to, and I would very much like to see, and hear, the reactions of others when we walk through the doors.

With this thought alone, I grinned evilly.