The sound of daggers running along whetstones filled the small shack. It was filled with young men and women, each wearing a piece of clothing with a yellow cats paw on their person. Their simple hideout sat at the back of an alley along the city wall in the worst part of the city slums. In a small chest nestled in a corner was the gang’s treasure, a collection of bronze coins with a few silver coins sprinkled in. The members all gathered around a crate with a worn map of the city.

“All right everyone,” the leader, Julen, said, “Now’s our chance to carve out a part of the city for ourselves.”

“It’s about time,” the woman next to him said.

“First thing firsts, we need to get collect protection money from all in our territory,” Julen drew a rough circle with charcoal, “No more having to steal it.”

“What about the Legion?” a man across from Julen said scratching his head, “I heard they took out the Street Dogs last week.”

“That’s because the Street Dogs were trying to move onto their turf,” Julen pointed to a large red circle, “As long as we keep to ourselves, I don’t think we have to worry about them. From what I understand, they don’t have the manpower to rule this city. If we move quickly, then we can become a major player in this city.”

“That’s right,”

Pounding came from the door. They all turned with suspicious glares. Julen gestured, and one of the members went to open the door. As soon as the door is opened, the member who opened it is thrown back. A group of eight stepped into the shack with the leader covered in a cloak.

“You have a lot of nerve coming here,” a female member shouted drawing her dagger, “This is the Golden Paws territory.”

“We know,” the leader chuckled. It sent shivers down Julen’s spine, “We’re here to incorporate you into our legion.”

The members of the Golden Paws shifted uncomfortably, “We’re honored, but we prefer to remain independent.” Julen smiled uncomfortably.

The leader slowly approached and towered over Julen, “This isn’t an invitation,” he picked up Julen by the throat, “One way or another, you will join us.” Julen screamed as pain ran through his forehead.

Reviled stepped out of the small shack with his entourage. Four bodies lay on the ground while the three remaining Golden Paws members cowered at the back of the shack with torn clothes.

“We’ll see you all tomorrow night,” Oria chuckled as she closed the door. She quickly ran to fall in step behind Reviled, “It’s a shame we couldn’t get more of them to join us.”

“True, but we can make use of them,” Reviled sighed as it turned down a street, “They were quite pretty. I think those three women will make fine prostitutes.”

“I… think we have enough of them,” Mina said looking back at the shack, “We could use more men to act as enforcers.”

“True, hopefully the next gang will be more reasonable,” Reviled sighed turning to Oria, “Who are we recruiting next?”

“The Green Spears,”

“What’s with these names?” Mina scoffed, “Street Dogs, Golden Paws, Green Spears. Couldn’t they think of anything better?”

“Sweet Mina, these are street urchins,” Oria hugged her, “They’re not the most educated. We should be lucky they can even think of these names.”

“Where can we find them?” Reviled gestured for Oria to lead.

Oria led them through the streets. Without proper streetlamps like the upper and middle city had, the streets of the slums were completely dark. Oria effortlessly moved through the streets while Mina held onto Reviled’s cloak for support. They came to another ruined shack with lights pouring out from the cracks.

Reviled took the lead once again and knocked on the rickety door. A drunken young man opened the door, and he stared in confusion at the towering Reviled. His gaze then fell onto Oria and Mina and a sleazy smile spread across his lips.

“Who is it?” Came from inside.

“Don’t – hic – know,” he chuckled, “But they have some beautiful women with them.”

“We’re here to see your boss,” Oria stepped forward with a sly smile, “Can you show us to him, please.” She playfully ran her fingers across his chest.

The man’s smile widened, and he gestured for them to enter. The Green Spears’ base smelled heavily of booze. Several independent prostitutes moved around the place serving the drunken members. This was the largest street gang they visited tonight, and they also looked to be the toughest.

The Green Spears boss sat on a broken and torn sofa with two whores on either side. He lazily eyed Reviled and his gang, letting it linger on Mina and Oria. The whores never took their nervous eyes off Reviled.

With a deep sigh, he sat forward, “So, the Legion has finally come for us,” he said taking a bite from a piece of slightly molded bread.

“You’re well informed,” Reviled chuckled as the celebration quickly died down.

“Word travels fast,” the boss sneered, “Ever since the King fled, your gang started filling the void. We know you took down the Street Dogs, and now you’re coming for us.”

“That’s partially correct,” Reviled said, “We didn’t destroy the Street Dogs, we brought them into the fold, even if it was a tad… violent. Now we’re here to make you the same offer.”

“Piss off bub!” a tankard flew at Reviled, but it fluidly dodged.

Reviled glared at the thug and raised its claw, “Cursed Sores,”

Dark red magic struck the thug, and he screamed in pain as his flesh started to eat at itself. The other members drew their weapons, but the gang boss raised a hand to stop them. The Green Spear members watched as the one member fell to the ground, his flesh filled with erupting pustules and wounds seeping black blood.

“I take it, that was a demonstration,” the boss sighed.

“Yes,”

“You want us to join you,” the boss scratched his chin, “What’s in it for us?”

Reviled tossed a purse onto the table and gold coins fell out. The boss’ eyes widened in surprise.

“Consider this an investment,” Reviled said, “Of course, you’ll be expected to earn your keep.”

“Our keep,” the boss chuckled taking the purse, “And how would you like us to do that?”

“Right now, we’re in need of muscle,” Reviled looked around, “You seem to have plenty of that.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The boss stroked his chin, “Indeed we do, and can we expect proper equipment?”

“Of course,”

“Boss, are you sure?” The Green Spear members looked to their leader.

The boss threw the gold coins through the shack. The members greedily eyed the coins, “What do you think?” he turned to Reviled and bowed, “Danien and the Green Spears are at your service Sire.”

“Excellent,” Reviled tossed another purse full of gold, “See to it your men are properly outfitted. You are street toughs no longer,” Danien nodded when he took the purse, “Tomorrow night, come to the Crimson Maiden. We’ll give you your first assignment, and it comes with some… excellent perks.”

“As you command, Sire,”

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Mina leaned against Reviled’s box with her head resting on her hand. It had been a long night, and she desired nothing more than to go to bed. Of the five gangs they visited, only two willingly accepted to join them. The others were beaten down and forced to submit, and unfortunately, the only surviving members of those gangs were women. A part of her felt guilty about subjecting the women to the same lifestyle she once lived, but it was necessary for Reviled’s plan.

Mina felt cold metal brush her hair, “We have a few more things to talk about, then you can go to bed,” Reviled said gently.

Mina nodded as the other members entered. Baron and Taela sat at the bar while Meridith joined Oria and Mina next to Reviled’s box. Skivret and his group sat at the small tables near the sewer door, and Cappy and Antwuan slept in the corner. Mina gave a dejected sigh when Kogna didn’t come in. Ada and Yula served everyone.

“How’d the headhunting go?” Baron gave them a sly smile while taking a sip.

“Quite well,” Reviled chuckled, “I’m sending you some more girls Taela.”

“T-thank you master,” Taela smiled politely, “I’ll see to it Katrina properly trains them.”

Meridith smirked at Taela’s discomfort, “What’s the next step,” she said looking to the tome sitting next to Reviled, “We went to all that trouble trying to get the necronomicon, but you haven’t done anything with it yet.”

“We were planning on ascending that night, but Mother stopped us.”

Everyone looked at each other in fear. “By mother, do you mean the Dead Goddess Elithis?” Baron shakily set his glass down.

Reviled chuckled at Baron’s quaking, “Yes,” it said approaching Rench and handing it a stack of papers, “Can you and the other wererat crafters make this?”

The elder rat leafed through the papers while stroking his whiskers, “It’s possible,” he said cautiously, “We won’t be able to create the individual pieces, but if they’re premade, we can possibly build it,” He looked at the monster, “We won’t be able to build it in the sewers though.”

“We’ll rent a warehouse then,”

“Why not buy one?” Baron pulled out a crumpled slip of paper, “The Duke fined my old man the day we killed him. Even if he’s gone, I’ll still need to pay for it, so I’m going to sell all his assets. You’re free to buy them if you want.”

“Of course,” Reviled said handing Meridith the list of materials.

“Do you have a plan to sneak these parts in?” Oria peeked over Meridith’s shoulder, “Some of these parts are awfully… conspicuous.”

“We do,” it stared at Meridith, “Tomorrow, we need you to go to the castle and try to negotiate a contract for renovations on the lower city.”

“I see,” Meridith flipped through the pages, “I’ll try my best, but we may need to pull on some other strings as well.”

“We plan on visiting our princess soon,” Reviled chuckled, “Also, what would we need to create our own band of mercenaries?”

Meridith tapped her chin, “We’ll need the Duke’s favor as well as a writ of authority,” she said, “However, the Black Horn Guild may see it as an encroachment on their territory.”

“Not if we work together,” Everyone looked at Reviled in confusion, “The guild lost a lot of members thanks to us, and I doubt they were able to recruit enough to cover loss, even if there is no end to foolish children.”

“True,” Meridith flinched, “But I don’t see your point. The Black Horn Guild recruits from every major faction in the city. Paladins, mages, priests, thieves, guards, knights, everyone is free to… join.” She gasped in understanding.

“Exactly,” Reviled said happily, “The goal isn’t to usurp the guild’s power, but to add another pool for them to draw from. This way, our influence can creep deeper into the city’s infrastructure.”

“That’s going to take a lot of capital,” Baron scoffed gesturing for a refill.

“We don’t have to worry about money,” Reviled stepped behind Taela running a claw against her jaw, “How goes the expansions of your brothels?”

Taela suppressed a shiver, “Thanks to you, we have no shortage of girls to satisfy our clientele,” she said calmly, “Ou-my second establishment will open by the end of the week, and construction of our third brothel in the middle city will start a week later. We just need to remove the independents off the streets. We could also renovate some of our smaller brothels too.”

“We should only renovate the ones bringing in money,” Reviled said, “Close down the others.”

“Of course, master,” Taela bowed.

“You see everyone,” Reviled addressed them all, “The plan is to start bringing the money to us. If we can turn the slums around, then we can draw in the wealth from the upper city. Let it be a hideaway of sorts for them.”

“And we’ll use their money to build… what is this?” Oria ran over to look at the blueprints.

“A Grand Phylactery,”

Silence filled the room.

“You planning to become a lich boss?” Oria cackled, “If so, then why not make a normal one. It'll be lighter on your purse.”

Reviled slowly walked over to Oria. Her laughing quickly faded as the monster towered over her. She tried to look away, but Reviled gently took hold of her face.

“Sweet Oria, we would never debase ourselves by becoming a lich,” its mandibles clicked with its laugh, “We’re missing a few… components,” it ran a claw down the side of her face, “This is something else entirely. A gift that’ll enhance our power a thousand-fold,” a threat lingered in its gentle tone, “So don’t mock it.”

Oria nodded vigorously, “Sorry boss,”

Reviled pressed its lower face to Oria’s forehead, “Just be careful what you say,” it embraced her, “Now that the tome is free, Mother can see and hear everything, and we won’t be able to stop her if you anger her, understand?”

“Yes boss,” Oria whispered as she returned the hug.

“Good,” Reviled released her and turned to all of them, “That goes for all of you.” All eyes gazed fearfully at the tome. “Meridith, Baron, let’s talk about purchasing those assets.”

As everyone else went back to their tasks, Mina couldn’t take her eyes off the tome. She reached out and pulled it closer. The ivory ant head looked menacingly at her like it was ready to bite. Yet, her fingers ran along the cover and opened it.

The only thing Mina could understand were the names of the spells written in the book. The incantations and runic symbols made the spells look completely alien to her, but a strange sense of fascination pushed her to keep looking. As she flipped through the pages, she couldn’t help but feel as if someone was lingering over her shoulder, and it didn’t help that a weight seemed to press on her shoulders. Her arms started to feel heavy, a feeling she remembered from when the pirates had shackled her. As she continued reading, the image of the pirates wrapping a metal collar around her neck came to mind, and it felt like it was back in place. Finally, she stopped on a page, and she couldn’t take her eyes off the name. Evolutionary Transmutation glowed alluringly in the lamplight.

Naughty girls need to be punished.

Mina gasped and turned when she heard a woman’s voice. She stared into Reviled’s piercing red gaze, and tears started forming in the corners of her eyes as Reviled reached down and closed the book.

“M-master… I’m sorry,” Mina cried, “I-I don’t know… what came over me.” She flinched when Reviled reached out to her.

Its clawed hand gently petted her head, “Be more careful Mina,” it said trying to comfort her, “The necronomicons… aren’t meant for casual readings. They’re dangerous.” Mina nodded as she wiped her eyes, “Go to bed,” It turned to everyone, “You’re all free to go.” Slowly everyone filed out. Meridith wrapped Mina with a comforting embrace.

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Reviled waited until the sounds of footsteps faded before turning its attention back to the book. Its gaze quickly turned to the Cappy and Antuan who were still sleeping soundly. With a wave of its hand, it cast Silence over them which muffled out their snoring.

Reviled slowly opened the book, “Why did you do that mother?” it gazed up at the portal in front of it.

“Why do you want to know?” Elithis said. Although the shadows hid her features, Reviled could see she was lounging on her throne. A collar with a chain hung from her right hand, “I nearly would have had her had you not interfered.”

“That’s why we did,”

The teasing smile could be heard in Elithis’ voice, “You’re quite fond of them aren’t you,” she looked up, “I’m surprised you haven’t killed Baron yet, especially since-”

“Enough, not another word,” Reviled growled.

The air grew heavy as Elithis sat up straight, “Reviled Legion,” her voice shook like thunder as ethereal chains formed around Reviled, “Kneel!” Reviled quietly took a knee and lowered its head. “My sweet boy,” Elithis took Reviled’s face into her hands, “I was bored. I promise, I won’t hurt your pets.”

“Actions speaks louder than words mother,”

Elithis chuckled, “Cheeky boy, you truly are my son,” she leaned back on her throne as a ball of red mana appeared in her hand, “I hereby bless all those who bear your mark. From this day forward, they shall no longer worry about disease, poison, or pain. The women need not fear growing old, and the men shall be forever strong,” she clapped her hands, and the mana dispersed. “Happy now?”

“Yes,”

“You know son, you should heed your own advice,” The threat evident in Elithis’ loving voice.

“Forgive us, mother,”

“I understand your desire to protect what is yours,” Elithis said calmly, “But understand, you are an important piece in a plan that has taken us centuries to construct. When everything comes together, we’ll finally steal this world away from the Virtues. You are more vital than they are, remember that.” The portal vanished when the tome closed itself.

“Yes, mother,” Reviled sat back in its box with its hand resting on the tome.