The Winged Broodlord sat upon his throne as he anxiously awaited for the command from his master to enter the battle. At this point in time, he was so close to fulfilling his personal goal that he wished for nothing more than to remain in his den until it was finished.
At this point, as he looked over the large sack of flesh that pulsed and writhed as it shifted in its place within the Broodlord’s throne room, he could feel a sense of hope and longing well up within him.
“Just a little bit longer...” He had long since moved the flesh sack out of the original chamber that it had been in. For the most part, that chamber had been solely used for the purpose of converting Void Mages captured during their initial incursion.
Doing so had bolstered their numbers by a bit, but most of the converted Cruor hadn’t been fully coherent. The changes ultimately granted the physiology of the Cruor, Winged, Fanged, and Bone, but it basically wiped their minds clean.
These converted Cruor, the ones that had survived, had been escorted back into the Desolate Lands a few days ago. The fact that they had managed to retain nearly half of the number of converted Mages was an outstanding success, as it meant that there were now thousands of potential Peerage Members that may elevate themselves in the future. If they survived that long.
“My Lord...” A scared and quiet voice called out, pulling the Broodlord from his anxious musings.
“What?!” The Broodlord’s voice shook the room due to the power that had been subconsciously infused into it. “I said that I was not to be disturbed unless the Hunters were at our doorstep. They can’t have gotten to the edge of the mist more than a few hours ago. There is no possible way they got here that quickly!”
On the ground, the mostly bird-like Tier two Cruor shivered as she knelt on the ground. She was well aware that she had been sent as a messenger since the Legendaries knew the Broodlord would not be happy with the news she was bringing.
But she guessed that they figured that the loss of a weakling like her was better than the loss of someone more powerful.
“Apologies... But the Spines from the three south-most camps have been destroyed. At the same time. The mist has begun to rapidly dissipate, and the Hunters have been pushing like mad with their Artifacts.” The Cruor woman began to cry as she felt a weight push down on her. “They shall be at the edge of the mist... created... by the den’s... Spine... soon...”
As the Cruor began to lose consciousness from a lack of air, her lungs unable to breathe with the weight pushing down on them, the Broodlord shattered the hand rest of the throne he was seated in.
“Broods damn them to the bloodied hells of the abyss!” The Broodlord’s scream of fury released enough pressure to crush and shatter the bones of the messenger. She died instantly. Utterly unable to defend herself as she turned into a smear on the ground.
The Broodlord rose from his throne, striding towards the sack of flesh in front of him. A look of regret and anger on his face. For a moment, he contemplated not going. He figured that was still a choice.
The sudden pain in the back of his head as he felt the talons of his Brood digging into his soul told him that he was wrong. While he had nearly gotten what he wanted, it was clear his master wanted more. They wanted the death of the Exalt that had come for him.
Nothing less would soothe their rage at the loss of a nearly fully cultivated Spine. One that had come from the center of the Desolate Lands at that.
“ThaT... oR tHe VOid HuNTer...” The Winged Brood’s cacophonous voice whispered in the back of the Broodlord’s mind. Obviously, the most powerful Void Mage in the world would be a great treasure for the Broods. Something that might match the value of a dead Mythic Tier Hunter.
He had no idea where the Void Hunter was, however, and it was possible that looking for him right now would mean a total loss. Worse yet, if the Exalt got to the edge of the den Spine’s mist, then they would be close enough to strike at it directly with a ranged attack.
Something like that, coming from a Mythic level Hunter, would have enough power to punch through the Spine, even with how far it would have to travel through the mist.
He realized now, having been pushed into the corner like he had been, that he had been too preoccupied with his personal mission. Had he been calmer, and focused more on the development of the Spines, and spreading the Desolate Land, then maybe he could’ve kept the Exalt away for a while longer.
But it was too late now to regret his decisions. Attacking Harkem directly had been a choice he made that was right at the time. The feelings of encouragement and satisfaction from his master proved as much to him.
Taking a deep breath, the Broodlord placed a hand on the sack of flesh in front of him.
“I’ll be back for you.” He then released an earth-shattering screech as his wings flared out behind him. Gazing into the sky, through the open roof above him, with a single flap of his wings, he broke the sound barrier, and flew to the south. He had an Exalt to kill, and Hunters to massacre.
The feelings of rage filled glee and anticipation that filled him were feelings that he knew were mostly not his own. But his smiled, nonetheless.
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It had been a while since Ezekiel had found an appropriate hiding spot near the den of the Broodlord. While he had been unable to do much from his current position, he was happy to see more and more waves of Cruor heading to the battlefield. The only reason such a thing would be happening was because the Cruor were being pushed back.
“How much longer do you think we’ll need to wait for?” Shine had begun to grow impatient. It seemed like they were eager to finish here and get out as soon as possible.
“Not too much longer, I think.” Ezekiel was uncertain, but the number of Cruor that he had seen around the den had decreased by nearly half. So, it was likely that the Broodlord would be entering the battle soon. It wasn’t like either side could last much longer without the balance being tipped.
During this time, Ezekiel had entered a meditative state several times, swapping with Shine so that they could maintain their Shroud while also regenerating mana. Up until now, this plan has worked fairly well. Their mana hadn’t decreased from the point it was at when they stopped moving. But they weren’t gaining any either. At least, not enough to matter at this point.
A sudden shift in the air indicated something was beginning to move. Ezekiel and Shine both focused on the den in front of them. A loud screech echoed through the area. The Cruor that were still around flew into the air or rallied together in the direction of the battle.
A loud ‘CRACK’, followed by a shockwave of air that nearly shattered Ezekiel’s Shroud knocked him off his feet. He crawled back into cover before he could be noticed. Fortunately for him, he managed to conceal himself in time.
A blurry figure flew out from the top of the den. The Broodlord, whose speed was well beyond anything Ezekiel could follow, had decided it was time to enter the battle.
Behind him, also blurring into movement, the Legendary Cruor that were still remaining followed after him. On the ground, Bone and Fang Cruor charged like a stampede. While in the air, Winded Cruor whipped up a whirlwind of miasmic fog.
It took less than a handful of minutes before the area around the den was clear. The Cruor, much like the Mages and hunters, knew that this battle was now do-or-die. So, there was no point in leaving any forces behind. Perhaps some Umbral Beasts that hadn’t been ridden into battle would still remain. But it appeared that the den was now open for Ezekiel to do with it as he wished.
“How fortunate for us. It seems like we will have the run of the place. Shall we destroy it?” Feelings of anticipation and excitement filled him as Shine wordlessly expressed their answer to him.
They were in agreement. It was time to destroy this den of Cruor once and for all.
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Harolt looked towards the battlefield once again. They had been fortunate in that the Cruor had been struck a devastating blow from the unexpected opening attack. Of course, if it wasn’t for the three simultaneous explosions that had occurred, it was unlikely that their first strike would’ve been so effective.
“That boy needs to be rewarded for this...” Harolt’s mutterings were ignored by those around him. He had long since made his stance regarding Ezekiel clear as day to all of them.
For Naeri’s part, she agreed, but was getting annoyed at the repeated phrase. As for Exalt Harras, he was also growing frustrated, but he was also growing tense.
The battle had been going well so far. To the point where he was feeling confident that they would win. That was ultimately the problem he was trying to avoid. Confidence would ultimately breed complacency. Something that he couldn’t afford to have when he finally entered the fray.
As the army of Hunters moved forward, slowly pushing the Cruor further and further back, another wall of mist appeared in the distance. This one was much taller than the previous one.
Exalt Harras recognized it as being nearly the same height, if not slightly lower, than the height of the mist recorded during the patrol and scouting mission a week ago. It meant that there was a nearly full-grown Spine in the Broodlord’s den. They would not be able to proceed much further than this. But given the estimated area of effect of the Spine, he could strike the den directly from here.
So long as he wanted to weaken himself for the battle with the Broodlord.
“Tell our forces to hold their position. Stop pushing forward and prepare for a direct assault.” Exalt Harras voice was firm, but quiet. One of his household members went to spread his command.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Harolt and Naeri tensed alongside Exalt Harras. As did the Other Legendaries that had held back for the moment when the battle had turned in their favor. They could all sense it. A sudden vibration in the air. A sense of foreboding that told them that death, or something like it, was approaching.
“My battle is about to begin. Brace yourselves and be ready to finish things quickly. I may need your assistance.” Exalt Harras’ words were gravelly, and only managed to instill a sense of grim determination in those that heard him.
The Mythic level Hunter quickly donned his Spirit Armor. As the glowing violet armor manifested around him, a spear condensed in his hand. Created purely from Lightning, the Legendaries around him could sense its sheer power.
With the sound of a thunder strike, Exalt Disappeared from where he was near the backlines of the battle. He suddenly appeared directly at the front, where a crack in the sky suddenly appeared.
The shockwave of a sudden impact shook nearly everybody in the area, and they all instinctively looked towards one specific direction. The place where Exalt Harras and the Broodlord were floating in the air. Spear and talons locked together from where the Broodlord was clearly looking to strike the lower Tiered Hunters.
“You’ve come to die! Good! I was worried I’d be waiting too long!” Exalt Harras called out in anger as he locked eyes with the one who had run away the last time. “I do hope that you won’t be running away this time.”
“I had more important things to do last time. I still do, in fact. So, let us finish this quickly. I have matters of importance to attend to.” The Broodlord’s voice was carried over the wind. A Power within his words that matched the might of the Exalt’s mana.
All around them, the weight of their power pressed down on the lower Tiered beings around them. Seeing that their forces were suffering, the two quickly broke off. For a moment, Exalt Harras thought that the Broodlord would retreat into the mist and make a series of quick strikes against him. Perhaps bait him into entering the mist himself, if only briefly.
That was not the case, however, as he found himself in the reverse position of the last time that he had begun a fight with the Broodlord. He found his face squeezed tightly in the Broodlord’s taloned hand. Then, with a flap of his wings, the duo were gone from the battlefield.
There was silence for a moment as everyone just processed what just happened. Not a single soul in the area had thought that they were going to live.
A sudden war cry from the reinforcements from the Cruor’s den brought action back. The battle began again, with the Hunters receiving different orders, to hold the line, and ensure that the Cruor could not assist their master. The same as what the Cruor had planned for the Hunters.
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Exalt Harras impacted on the side of a small mountain, far from the battlefield, and outside the mist; having ensured that he would not be pulled in that direction when moved. Said mountain ceased to exist as a mountain and was turned into more of a broken and cratered hill. Looking down on Harras from above, the Broodlord just looked disappointed.
“I do hope you aren’t expecting me to immediately follow up on that.” The Broodlord said, as the, originally, rictus grin began to shrink. “I know full well that you are waiting for me to charge so that you counterattack when I get close.”
Rather than a burst of Lightning, one that would force all the rubble on top of him to fly away in an instant, Exalt Harras merely flexed his body, ever so slightly. He reabsorbed the mana he was charging into an attack. His plan was found out and no longer feasible.
Instead, he idly bushed off the dust and dirt from his shoulders and chest before looking up at the enemy before him. The calm determination had returned, but there was a fury boiling beneath his eyes.
“Before we begin, why did you leave?” Exalt Harras slowly floated into the air, until he was level with the Broodlord. “You got something from us. Something from Harkem. What was it?”
“... Not that it is any concern of yours, but it was someone important to me. Someone who I knew would be there.” The Broodlord sounded frustrated and confused. He had never expected a Hunter to speak to him this way. “Why are you not simply trying to strike me down like I am some beast that must be removed from the area?”
“Because we both know that you aren’t just some dumb Umbral Beast.” Exalt Harras shifted himself into a ready position. “I’d hoped to get an idea of what the Broods wanted here. But it seems like it was personal on your end. So, your reasons don’t matter to me anymore. Rejoice. For you now have the honor of dying at the hands of Harras; Exalt of the Willowbrush Empire.”
The Broodlord just chuckled for a moment. Though, not once did he take his eyes off of Exalt Harras. Instead, he spread his wings out, and took a mocking bow.
“As you have so graciously given your name to me, as unwanted as it was, I shall do the same.” The grin appeared on his face once more as his Brood master howled in sadistic glee. “I am Derrick Driftmark. Ex-Void Mage, and exile from the city of Harkem. Let me just say, that killing you will undoubtedly most pleasing.”
Both figures then disappeared once more. The ground then ruptured and exploded beneath their feet as spears of Lightning and wings of steel feathers clashed once more.
This time, both were determined to ensure the other did not leave here alive.
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Ezekiel and Shine were unaware of the events occurring at the battlefield where Exalt Harras and the Broodlord were battling it out. But as they moved deeper and deeper into the Cruor’s den, they realized that this was not the same as the bases that they had been to in the past.
“Is the wall... breathing?” Shine was feeling a mixture of awe and disgust as they wandered around inside the den alongside Ezekiel.
“It certainly looks like it is.” Ezekiel was just as freaked out as Shine. He was just thankful for the fact that he was able to deaden his emotions, or else he would certainly be freaking out right now.
From what they had been able to tell after entering, this den was previously one of the larger outposts that had been constructed by humanity in years past. However, it was obvious that the Cruor had done some remodeling. To the point where it was an almost unrecognizable structure.
If it wasn’t for the familiar carvings in the remaining visible stonework, Ezekiel wasn’t sure he’d have recognized this place as anything but something out of a biological horror film from his past life.
Not all rooms were the same, of course, and it wasn’t as if organs were growing out of the walls. It was just that it seemed like a fleshy growth covered most of the stone, and large veins seemed to connect different areas. From the pools of Ichor on the ground, Ezekiel figured that it must be like piping of some sort.
“Stop! Small group. Fang and Bone. Just around this corner.” Shine’s warning came at just the right time. Given proper prep time, Ezekiel readied Shine in his hands. Still fully Shrouded, Ezekiel was hidden as he chopped off the heads of two Tier two Umbral Beasts. Behind them, before they could get a chance to scream, the Tier two Bone Cruor behind then was pierced through the top of his head from below his chin.
This hadn’t been the first team they had run across up until this point. However, it had been taking less and less time to reach different patrols as they moved on. Ezekiel figured that the patrols would likely go around the more important part of the den.
With this in mind, he started following paths where he was actually more likely to run into guards. That way he knew he was likely on the right track. Shine hadn’t disagreed, so he figured that his idea probably didn’t have too many flaws. At least, not at the moment.
But as they wandered deeper and deeper, it was becoming more and more obvious that Ezekiel had no idea where he was going. Worse yet, it was unlikely that Ezekiel would be able to simply walk up to the Spine like he had been previously. Access to it from outside was nearly totally blocked off. He also didn’t know how his ‘Jump’ spell would work in the mist.
While his bad feeling had dulled somewhat, especially after the Broodlord flew away, it would suddenly send a spike of warning into Ezekiel whenever he considered ‘Jumping’.
“I think we’re getting closer. But I’m not sure if it's towards the Spine, or something else.” Shine sounded nervous as they spoke. “I’m also sensing something different. I can’t tell what it is, though.”
“That’s fine. So long as we have something of a destination, we’ll get there soon enough.” Given the current, relative, emptiness of the den, Ezekiel didn’t think they were in too much danger. But he didn’t allow such thoughts to linger. He couldn’t allow himself to get cocky.
As they crossed the threshold into another room, however, Ezekiel started to feel more confident once again. Within this room there were two noticeable features. The first was a throne. The second, was a strange fleshy sack that had Ezekiel’s guts churning in his stomach like mad.
Ezekiel noticed that the throne seemed to be partially crushed on one side. Recently as well, since the small bits and pieces of rubble were still there. But the thing that really caught his eye was the flesh sack. It was clear that something was inside it.
“... Let’s move on. I don’t think we want to stay here if we can help it.” Ezekiel said to Shine as he walked towards another door to a separate chamber.
Inside, even though his stomach was already churning, it seemed like things could still get worse. Ezekiel was once again thankful for his deadened emotions at this point. It made things seem more like he was looking at a comic book. A painting or a drawing rather than the real thing.
Inside this chamber there were numerous mutated humanoid corpses. Each one looked like a halfway mix between a human and an Umbral Beast. Looking them over, he could see that they also seemed to be incredibly emaciated. But Ezekiel figured that, judging from the wounds and veins connected to their bodies, they were drained of Ichor, rather than starved.
“What is this?” Shine’s horrified voice whispered in the back of Ezekiel’s mind.
“This is what happens when Mages get corrupted by Ichor... I think these are Void Mages that didn’t survive the process...” Ezekiel was aware that non-Void Mages would be turned into Corrupted Cruor and Umbral Beast abominations. But he hadn’t known that it was possible for it to happen to Void Mages as well.
“What makes you think they’re Void Mages?” Shine had their doubts about what Ezekiel said. They hadn’t known that Void Mages could mutate either. Even Ezekiel just had a logical assumption.
“It’s well known that non-Void Mages mutate, no matter what. So, there wouldn’t be any point in trying to corrupt them if they wanted more first generation Cruor.” Morbidly curious, Ezekiel turned one of the corrupted Mages over to look at their face. A face that was half human, half avian, stared back at him; utterly twisted in pain. “I imagine that it would be more efficient to harvest the other Mages for their mana, than to waste time corrupting them.”
A sound like a bursting water balloon pulled Ezekiel from his thoughts. Still Shrouded, he wasn’t too worried about being caught, but he was cautious as he turned around all the same. Moving to examine the room behind him, he was shocked to see that the fleshy sack in the throne room had begun to deflate. A stream of oily Ichor was draining from it via what looked like a puncture to the side.
As the Ichor drained from the flesh sack, Ezekiel subtly sent a few Void Stabs towards it. It seemed like the sack was fairly thick, however, and he wasn’t able to penetrate it.
“What the hell...?” Ezekiel couldn’t seem to look away. A sudden sense of foreboding flooded him as he stared at the flesh sack in front of him. Shine observed in silence.
A large claw pierced the side of the sack, causing more Ichor to leak. A gurgling growl, followed by a hacking, snarling, cough, echoed through the room. What followed horrified Ezekiel just as much as the bodies in the other chamber had.
Bursting out from within the sack, a bird-like monstrosity emerged. It had a set of wings that sat above a pair of what looked like clawed hands connected to relatively long arms that could fold up like the wings. All of its body was covered in feathers. At the same time, it had a long tail that ended in a fan shape that had steel tough feathers. Below that, it had two enormous talons that were clearly meant for ripping and tearing. Fortunately for Ezekiel, it was facing away from him.
“What is that?” Shine squeaked out in Ezekiel’s head.
“That’s a corrupted Mage that wasn’t a Void Mage. Though, it seems much saner than the records of corrupted Mages indicated.” For the moment, Ezekiel could see that the abomination in front of him was not only fairly balanced out for a corrupted Mage, but also seemed to not be falling into an uncontrollable rage.
“We should go. Help me keep an eye on that.” Ezekiel told Shine, hoping they would sense something better than he did. From what little he could sense, the abomination was at least a Peak Adept, if not slightly higher, since its physique would be far greater than Ezekiel’s. Half a Legendary, he figured.
Unfortunately, as they were so focused on the beast in front of them, they failed to realize that there was a loose piece of stone beneath Ezekiel’s foot. He didn’t fall over, but the slight grinding of stone on stone is what made the beast turn sharply towards him.
Ezekiel froze. His mind just stopped, temporarily, as he tried to process what he was seeing. Much like the corrupted Void-Mages, this figure had half an avian face that was twisted into shapes that he didn’t think a beak had the right to twist into. While the other half...
“Drew...?”
The abomination didn’t reply. He just lunged with a painful rage filled roar.