Within moments, mountains were cratered, and the earth was torn apart. What little fungal life that was present quickly disappeared in a fiery tempest. Yet none of the combatants cared about that. Their sole focus was on the enemies in front of them.
Wolken gazed at the ground, and upon seeing the few remaining Legendary forces that were still around, made a decision that wasn’t initially well received.
“Invera, Roc, Harras, you three break off and take out the stragglers. We need to cull their number as best we can. We can’t afford to leave any possible support for these bastards to consume for food after the battle.” His orders took less than a second to be conveyed.
The two Mythical birds in question did as they were ordered to without pause. Splitting apart, they immediately rained thunder and fire on the enemies below.
Harras took a moment longer, but a quick glance from his fellow Imperial Hunters, who nodded in turn, saw him off. Lightning flashed in the distance.
A barrage of Lightning and a rolling carpet of Flames filled the landscape. More Cruor died to the combined destructive forces brought about by the three Mythical beings.
However, this left three of the deftest flyers out of the battle. The Hunters and Spirits still outnumbered the Broods, but the fact that none of them were at the peak of their Tier meant that the battle was still not in their favor.
Not only would the Broods last longer in a fight, but if they decided to take a risk, they could make use of more powerful attacks as well. Though, the cost would be relatively greater than for the Hunters and Spirits.
“Focus on taking out the Broodlords first if you can. The Broodmasters will be too hard a target to bring harm to right now.” Even though his plan would be heard by his enemy, he knew that there was no choice. They needed to change things up, since the enemy was far more powerful than they had expected. “The Deep one will be the simplest to kill. He’s nowhere near his most powerful here.”
Radiant Chaos immediately moved to aid in defending the attacks that were fired at the Deep Broodlord. Lightning and stone spears rained down on the massive fish-like creature. Several tentacles that suddenly grew from its monstrous body pulled it out of the way.
Only for a figure to burst from the shadow cast by the flames that raged below it. Tendrils of writhing shadows, and claws wreathed in darkness latched onto the Broodlord with viscous ferocity.
The Deep Broodlord shrieked in pain as it began falling. Maya’s form had grown to nearly match the Broodlord in size, and she was currently digging at his back with her claws and ripping off chunks of flesh with her teeth.
“Now! Strike him now!” Maya shrieked, her figure barely holding on as the Deep Lord thrashed.
The Fanged Lord broke off from where he had been swinging at Brun, who had attempted to surround them in a sphere of wind that kept him from landing any blows. A gust of wind blew to throw the Fanged Lord off course, but a white skinned and black-haired lanky figure, that twisted around several vines which had attempted to grab her.
The Blood Lord spewed red liquid with an oily coloring. A unique substance that had mind altering properties. Wolken couldn’t help but wince when he saw a scarlet-colored fist make contact with Brun.
There was nothing he could do as the Dog Spirit fought off the effects of the bloody substance that now affected him. Instead, Wolken focused on the large swarm of bugs being held off by the barrier of wind that surrounded him.
“Ocean Spirits! You need to work together against the Blood Mistress! We can’t afford to fall prey to her hallucinogens!” Headren called out while moving to take action against Radiant Chaos.
The oozing Broodmaster had begun to deteriorate, but the Death Hunter was forced to keep his distance, else he would be drawn in by the lashing tendrils of gold tinted Ichor.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue, icy tentacle wrap around Brun and pull him away, washing off the blood of the Scarlet Mistress in the process.
“Focus on your own fight!” Brun’s voice flooded his ears, and so Wolken sharpened his wind, forming a thousand tiny blades of air that buzzed just as loudly as the wings of the insects around him.
The smaller insects died in an instant, but the ones with the more powerful carapaces were only partially damaged. Mostly on the limbs, but that was fine. He had taken their ability to fly away from them.
“Talia!” a deep and rumbling voice that Wolken took a moment to recognize filled the battlefield.
Without thinking, he pushed outward, forcing his wall of air to scatter the swarm. Now, he could more easily view the battlefield. What he saw was enough to make him flinch.
At some point, while he had been focused on his own battles, the Rot Broodmaster had shifted forms. Instead of the titanic abomination that she had previously appeared as, there was now a new fungal forest growing across the ground.
Multiple copies of the massive figure from before littered the ground, but they were only the size of the average human woman. Yet, the most horrifying thing was the figure that they surrounded. One that was flailing about and ripping at her own body.
One of the fallen Empire’s Mythics had been grounded. Talia, the Mythical Life Hunter of the Willowbrush Empire, was pinned. A small forest of mushrooms, seemingly fire resistant, were growing out of her limbs. All while the same flames that were supposed to kill the fungus killed off her branches instead.
Several hundred meters away, Strom had formed a colossal construct and was grappling with the massive Bone Broodmaster. He was failing, since the Broodmaster was also holding off Narok, the Empire’s Cavern Mythic.
All while Kork tried to dig holes to keep the Bone Broodmaster from standing up straight or walking around. He was having some success, but not much since the Wyrm Lord was also digging through the ground. His scales were too tough for Kork to simply crush.
From what he could see, the other Hunters and Spirits were also having a bad time.
The two Mythical Ocean Spirits had started fighting the Fanged Lord, but the Deep Lord was managing to interrupt them enough that they were having difficulties. Especially since they two Spirits had to worry about washing away as much Ichor as possible. Something that was less of a problem when fighting in the oceans.
Brun was trying to help, but the Scarlet Mistress was doing her best to spread her blood far and wide. This resulted in Brun’s winds having to be suppressed, since it was possible that he would blow the blood onto his allies.
Headren had also taken on the act of holding off Radiant Chaos as best he could. Which was the only reason Maya was able to get away from where she had been temporarily restrained by the golden ooze. She did, however, have several holes in her body that were leaking mana.
The sickly-looking veins running over her skin were also worrisome.
“Roc! Invera! Harras!” A crash of lightning blasted into the Bone Broodmaster. Harras’ lightning-covered fist struck, and though the lightning did little, the impact sent the Broodmaster flailing into one of Kork’s holes.
The slow titan fell over as the earth beneath its foot collapsed, and Narok was freed up to go after Talia, whose Spirit had separated from her, taking out the entirety of the fungal growths that were in her body. It was barely a moment after Narok pulled his fellow Imperial out of the blanket of fungus that there was a sickening crunch, and a burst of verdant light.
Talia jolted in Narok’s arms.
“No!” she screamed, and tears began to fall down her face. Her Spirit was dead.
The swarm returned, and Wolken was forced to turn away, but he knew that things had taken a turn for the worse. The sheer number of Cruor and Umbral beasts meant that Roc and the two Lightning users weren’t able to kill them all.
However, the flames weren’t spreading. Instead, a massive cloud of spores was spreading in its place. It was suffocating the flames, and Wolken could tell that the fires that Roc had tried to spread would be doused in seconds.
The only saving grace was that the number of copies of the Rot Broodmaster were falling as the spores Spread. Showing that the effort it was taking was at least somewhat bothersome.
“Brun! Here! Retreat!” It took almost too much concentration, since he had allowed several insects to get close and bite through his armor, but he knew that things were not going well for them.
They needed a win, but they also needed to get out of there. So, even though he had yelled just three words, it was the secret message hidden within the soundwaves that mattered the most.
A message that only a fellow Tempest user would understand. One that Wolken knew was, thankfully, received in full, if Brun’s rushed and frustrated reply was anything to go by.
“You little brat! This had better work!” With a muffled gust of wind, Brun fled from his battle with the Scarlet Mistress, the Fanged Lord, and the Deep Lord, causing the others to fall back as well.
There was a moment of confusion, but it was brief, because Waren seemed to explode in the air.
A second later, a much larger sphere of wind covered the entirety of the swarm that surrounded him. The razor-like blades of air that were being whipped around grew both stronger and faster.
Mana pulsed outward, and a silhouette of Wolken in his Spirit armor appeared as gray wind.
Radiant Chaos roared in anger, as did the two other Broodmasters. Each one throwing themselves at the Swarm Queen of Wolken. Yet they were too slow.
“This will hurt, but it will slow you down more than it will damage our cause!” Wolken screamed, and the wind whipped about ever stronger, a reflection of his anger at the loss of a Spirit from his side.
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The other Hunters made their way out of the battle, even while their opponents turned to charge Wolken as well. There was just no chance that they could risk taking the openings that were presented. If they had failed, then they would be left open in turn.
None of this mattered to Wolken, however, since he was currently burning through the entirety of his mana. The swarm was whittled down to nothing in moments, and the last remaining insect, the large form of the Swarm Broodlord, was all that remained.
Seemingly turning into a blade of wind himself, Wolken flew forward, moments before Radiant Chaos reached, and broke, his wind barrier. But the Broodmaster was too late.
His body seemed to pass through the body of the Swarm Broodlord. Then it turned, and Wolken disappeared into the distance, where the other Hunters and Spirits had fled.
This lasted all of two seconds before his body rematerialized, and Brun was forced to catch the falling Hunter and Spirit.
“I’ve got you. Focus on keeping yourself together. That spell was far too much for you.” The Dog Spirit whispered encouragement, but it wasn’t enough to keep Wolken going.
The last thing that he heard before falling unconscious with his Spirit were the Broods’ enraged cries. Something that would’ve made him smile if he still could.
His last thoughts were about how bad this was going to be for them moving forward.
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Being one of the fastest Spirits in the world meant that Invera was able to get out of the battle zone much more quickly than the others, so her job, as discussed before the fight, was to get the slower members out first.
In this case, that meant carrying Strom, Kork, and the two Ocean Spirits. Both of whom were once more within their specially crafted water containers. Both Spirits were angry and had no problems voicing their emotions while being carried.
“Both of you, shut up! We can’t afford to go back right now. Even if they succeed in taking out one of the Broodlords, it doesn’t matter, since we weren’t able to do anything against the Broodmasters.” Her words were sharp, and bit into the Ocean Spirits’ egos.
Glancing over her shoulder, she barely caught sight of a Wolken’s Tempest sphere breaking apart. Followed by the cries of all the Broods and their Cruor.
“It looks like they did it. Now we just have to hope that they can get away.” Harras, who was carrying his fellow Imperials, spoke from Invera’s side. After getting far enough away, he had split from his Spirit, who was now carrying himself, the other Imperials, and Headren.
Roc and Maya had left under their own means. The first, by fling above the miasma that covered the Desolate Lands. Which was simple for him, since there was no Winged Broodlord to stop him from doing so. The others were too slow in the air to catch up.
Maya was the best at stealth among them all, so she was able to get away on her own. Invera just hoped that she would be okay, since the racoon Spirit had been heavily wounded before Headren had gotten her. She liked the Obscure Spirit, and the short time they had spent together had seen them bonding surprisingly well.
“Don’t worry, Invera, I could sense Maya’s soul. It was still strong, and I [Killed] the [Will] in the Ichor that flooded her body. The strain was immense, but worth the cost. Our Mythical Obscurity will return when we reach the evacuation point.” Headren suddenly spoke up, and Invera was shocked to hear that he had so easily read her mood. “The greater concern is whether or not the damage that Wolken and his Spirit suffered will be worth the cost. Killing the second most dangerous Broodmaster is a great deed, but if he cannot recover, then that will mean that we lost two of our number in this battle, to their one.”
Invera flinched. Even now she could feel Talia’s mana dropping. The woman had been knocked unconscious at some point, likely because she was struggling in Narok’s grip. Headren was doing his best to heal what he could of her soul, but they didn’t have any other healers in the battle. The Ocean Spirits being pure fighters that only worried about maintaining their territory.
Even now, Narok and Harras had been forced to wrap her wounds, remnants from when her Spirit purged her body of the Rot, with every medical Artifact and alchemical salve that they had.
“Will she live?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“I have little doubt of that. However, she will need to be watched. Her soul is recovering from her loss, and fall, quite well. Which is to be expected, given my specialty. However, the trauma might be too much for her.” Headren’s words caused Harras and Narok to sag in relief.
It was at that point that Invera noticed that the deadly aura that Headren let out was no longer present. Not even in its restrained state. Something that, apparently, took great focus to hold back.
“I am tired,” Headren spoke, answering Invera’s unasked question once more.
Ignoring the Death Hunters' uncanny ability, Invera just asked a different question.
“What did you mean by the second most deadly Broodmaster? I thought the deadliest was Radiant Chaos, followed by the Rot?” The others looked to Headren for his answer.
“Simply put, if the Swarm were allowed to reach nigh-ascension, then they would have yet another army that we would have to fight against. One that could be refilled much more quickly than any others outside of the Rot.” Headren spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, but Invera could see his hands tremble.
She felt a shiver run up her spine at the thought. It was bad enough that they had to fight with a nearly Ancient Rot, Bone, and Radiant Chaos. If they had to fight a Swarm as well, then it was possible that they would be overrun before they could mount another attack.
“Why didn’t they focus on raising the Swarm to the peak instead of the Bone Broodmaster?” This time, it was Strom that asked the question. “They’ve shown that they are intelligent enough to know that that would’ve been the better choice for them, right?”
“Proximity? We don’t know where all the seals are. Just that they’re within the inner regions of the Desolate Lands. It’s possible that they had to move in order, and that it takes quite a bit of time before they can pull the Broodmasters’ consciousness from the seals.” Headren shrugged, and Invera couldn’t help but feel irked at his nonchalance. “Of course, it could be that there was infighting, or any other reason. I don’t know how the Broods tend to think.”
Invera let out a sigh. By now, they were at the edges of the Desolate Lands. Just a few more minutes would see them at the temporary safe house, where they would be able to get some small healing before they had to move on to a safer area.
Which was good, because she was tired, and unsure of how much longer she could go for. She had been burning her mana quite a bit and was still in the lower Steps of her Tier.
It was only a few minutes after she had settled down onto the ground. The human passengers immediately got off, and teams of healers and other Mages and Hunters greeted them. Within moments they were being treated for their injuries.
Most were Ichor related, but the physical ones were also wearing down on them. Especially Taia, who had been tied to a stretcher in order to be treated. She had begun thrashing in her sleep.
“You don’t look nearly as upset as the others. Do you not care about what has happened today? About the fact that we are currently losing. It is unlikely that we will be able to recover fast enough to take out another Broodlord before they free the consciousness of another Broodmaster.”
Currently, since her part in the battle was relatively less than the others, since she was the retreat option, Invera was sitting outside with Headren, who was staring into the sky toward the Desolate Lands.
She had decided to join him in his watching, since it would reveal when Roc and the others finally caught up to them. There was hope that they would return before the second retreat, but it was small.
“I am, indeed, not upset, but not because of any particular enjoyment on my part... Something good has simply happened, elsewhere in the world. It happened not long ago, actually, but given the situation, it was inappropriate of me to let myself indulge in my happiness.” Headren continued to stare into the distance.
“What happened?” Invera didn’t allow the nagging anger she felt to be expressed. She figured that, with his words during the flight, he already knew.
“A plague that was set upon Eldramir nearly years upon years ago had been... somewhat, relieved. A part of me witnessed it happening, but to hear it confirmed by the Broods themselves... That was a good feeling.” Headren cracked a smile.
“Does this have to do with what Radiant Chaos said about the seals being strengthened?” She couldn’t think of any other moment that the Death hunter could’ve been speaking of.
“Indeed. The Herald helps us even now. Lost as he is. Hopefully, his return will be able to scales of this final war into our favor.”
Headren’s casual mention of Ezekiel having helped them made Invera’s eyes go wide.
“You know that it was Ezekiel? He will be returning?” She turned to look at Headren. It was almost too much for her to believe. They’d all been briefly informed of Headren’s info before they had headed into battle. She just hadn’t looked into it much further, since there was no need to at the time.
“Correct. However, rather than focus on that, perhaps you should turn your attention to the spear that is flying toward us from the Desolate Lands.” Headren’s voice became tinged with panic.
Invera whipped her head around, a crack filled the air, since it couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. Her eyes focused on a seemingly small object flying through the air.
It was descending toward them at a ridiculous speed, but from what she could tell, it wouldn’t actually his them. It would actually be off by quite a distance, and would fall short by at least a few kilometers, but that was not the problem.
“It’s filled with peak Mythical Rot Spores...” Invera’s voice was barely a whisper, before she let out a terrified shriek that nearly cracked the ground from how loud it was. “Incoming! Evacuate the base! We need to fall back, now!”
The entirety of the safe house fell into disarray, but with the Mythics on their side, they were able to get everybody out within seconds, but that was barely enough.
Everybody had just gotten outside of the base when a loud crash from the impact of the weapon thrown by the Broods. A massive cloud of sickly-looking yellow spores filled the air, and began rolling across the landscape.
All of the Mages and Hunters fled as fast as possible. It was a struggle, but they managed to keep ahead of the spreading spore.
However, as they looked back on the area, they were horrified to see that all life in that area had been destroyed by the rampantly growing fungus that now filled the area.
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Cruor and Umbral Beasts alike knelt in reverence and fear. The three of their Broodmasters, currently conscious in the world, were standing tall, gazing over them all like ants.
“Will you be able to do that again?” Radiant Chaos asked his companion.
The Rot Broodmaster shook her head. “Not any time soon. Even if I were to feast upon the entirety of this forest, I cannot regain my power that quickly. Your form is more capable of residing in these lesser bodies than mine, after all.”
The tallest of them, the Bone Broodmaster, nodded, and Radiant Chaos rippled, shifting form into something more humanoid. He didn’t dispute the Rot Master’s claims, however.
“That is a shame... We will have to hope that the distraction that your Spore will cause will be enough to hold them back for a while longer. Tell me when you can do that again. We will need to delay their return as much as possible.” Radiant Chaos turned around, floating into the distance.
“Wait,” the Bone Broodmaster called out, “What are we to do, now that two of our hosts are no longer present? It will take time to elevate more, and they will be unlikely to last a year if elevated too quickly.”
“That will be a problem for the future, but if the plan I have works as I think it will, we will not need their bodies to last more than a few weeks.” Radiant Chaos looked back, but didn’t stop moving. “Now, hurry up. If we wish to break one of the seals, we will need all of our power combined.”
“You still haven’t explained how that will work, nor why you didn’t want to do this earlier. If it was possible for us to possess our [Blessed], why did we not do this during the last few centuries?” The Rot Mistress moved to catch up, while the Bone Broodmaster began walking as well.
“Simply put, the seals were never weak enough for us to break out our consciousness like this. Even I was only able to take possession of a false host in the most recent couple of decades.” The army of Cruor and Umbral Beasts moved to keep up, falling behind over time, but the Broodlords kept the pace. Silently, and with a nearly begrudging look in their eyes.
“As it is, even though we are at the peak of the Mythical Tier, our powers will not be enough. It was only after I learned new information, developed by the Herald, and taken from my current host, that I discovered a method. The means through which I can return to my full power, even with my primary body sealed away. Then, and only then, will I be able to break the seals on us all, and release you back into the world in full.” Radiant Chaos’ words were filled with arrogance, and his companions didn’t look impressed.
“So, you will have two bodies capable of wielding your full might,” the Rot Mistress said. “Who’s to say you won’t turn that power against us?”
“The fact that the body I will be using to destroy the seal will be destroyed in turn.”
The Rot Mistress looked somewhat content with that, but the Bone Broodmaster didn’t.
“Why can you not free one of us instead? Can we not break the seal in your place?”
Radiant Chaos shook his head. “No. You need mana in order to break the seal. That is why I must get out first. I can channel mana, in addition to my Ichor. Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter no matter how much more power you would have in your real body. Do not forget that it was I who managed to open the original crack that let us [Bless] our followers.”
The two other Broodmasters grunted in annoyance, but didn’t dispute Radiant Chaos’ words.
“Now then, if that is all, let us move on. We need to break out as many of our peers as possible, before the seals are further reinforced.” The Broodmasters all fell into silence one more, their speed increased, and they moved on, toward yet another seal.
All the while, the smallest of shadows flicked momentarily, then disappeared, racing toward the border of the Desolate Lands.