Season 3: Chapter 73: Convincing a Justicar Part 1
Standing in darkness, Berus frowned her head looking left and right through the darkness of the cavern she found herself in.
Something was amiss.
She couldn't quite place her finger on it but there was a darkness in the air, one that tickled her muscles and made her skin shiver. A presence of evil the Justicar sick to her stomach.
“Hold.” Berus commanded, her party of scouts taking up a dispersed formation in case of any surprises.
The group of forward scouts paused, waiting, every one of the soldiers possessing dark vision and using it to survey their decrepit surroundings.
After a minute, Berus gave the all clear, her soldiers marching on through the series of winding tunnels.
Still, Berus couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.
“Wait.” Berus ordered, coming to a halt at a four way intersection. “Where is Dee and Chalet?”
The soldiers paused, eyeing their surroundings, noticing there were two individuals missing from their party.
“Spread out! Weapons at the ready!” Berus ordered, the hairs on her arm raising.
Berus focused her senses, listening to the light skittering faintly echoing. Something was there, something moving through the shadows with swift movements but bouncing so quickly it was hard to pinpoint its exact location.
“HeHP!?”
“Davis!”
Berus spun, a soldier gone. Her party down to five.
“Close ranks!” Berus ordered, her group gathering together with Berus at the forefront.
Three men gone. Just like that, seasoned adventurers wisked away into the darkness.
Berus and her group stood in the center of the intersection, the group of scouts fixing their gazes down each of the darkened tunnels.
“Did anyone see what took Davis?” Berus asked.
“No.”
“Negative.”
“Nothing.”
“It was too fast, but it snatched Davis from behind.”
Berus frowned at the report, her hands tightening around her kanabo.
Suddenly, something wet dropped on her shoulder. Berus looked at her armor plate, noticing the viscous liquid that was nowhere akin to water.
“SCATTER!”
Berus kicked off the cobblestone, dodging to the left as a massive blue blob enveloped one of her men.
“Slime! Switch to piercing!” Berus called out, dropping her kanabo and drawing her starlight rapier.
“It's getting away!” Lasky yelled, chasing after the slime dragging their comrade into the darkness.
“No wait!” Berus cried out. But it was too late, Lasky tripped, hitting a wire, ooze seeping out of the ground where it enveloped the man as goblins appeared.
“Sergeant!” One of Berus’s soldier’s called out.
“Ignore him! Goblins on our left flank!” Berus barked, the remaining two turning to face the armored column.
This was a mistake.
The moment the pair turned, a crystal-scale monster appeared, one with four arms that seemed to drop out of the shadows. The creature charged, nearly snatching the two of not for Berus intercepting.
Berus stabbed with her rapier, the weapon clanging futility against the feminoid monster that was a breed of creature the Justicar had never seen before.
The green-skinned reptile roared, slashing, forcing Berus to back off as something entered her peripheral vision.
Berus spun, elegantly parrying the dagger with her rapier, disarming her attacker that at first glance appeared to be a mummy.
The skeleton wrapped in silk glared at her, diverting her attention as the four-armed reptile charged her companions.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
In a futile attempt to save her companions, Berus unleashed a bolt of radiant mana.
Yet this backfired, the attack struck her target and magically richoected, bouncing back and blasting Berus.
“GAH!” Berus screamed, her arm coming up and cushioning the blow with her body striking the nearby wall. Enraged, Berus roared, spinning, bouncing off the wall with rage in her eyes and her companions gone.
The skeleton pivoted, ducking below her fist that nearly took its skull.
The monster retreated, kicking off several walls with expert acrobatics before joining a contingent of armored goblins.
Berus frowned, realizing she was surrounded. Not by regular goblins, but goblin knights. Bigger, stronger, more durable combatants that flanked her on all sides.
From her count, there were twelve of them, heavily armored along with their smaller goblin cousins in a phalanx and one goblin that made Berus uncomfortable as she glared at it.
Berus clenched her fists, her mana rising, every mana circuit in her body churning with energy as she prepared to fight her way out. Come hell or high water, Berus wouldn't become a pollinated seedbed for these monsters.
The Justicar roared, her hair turning white, the ground cracking beneath her feet with the world seeming to quack from her power.
In response, the shadowed darkness answered back. Monsters feeling her presence and answering with their own cries of bloodlust.
She approached the light-skinned goblin and with every step she took, the very floor shook.
Still, despite her display of powers the goblin held firm. The abnormal returned her glare with golden eyes that bore more sentience than she was used to from the greenskins.
Still, unlike the various goblins around her that quivered in terror, this lone goblin stood before her, blade in hand, the sword, bearing the insignia of a Paladin of Destina, bits of it's armor, scavenged from some unfortunate comrade she did not know.
“Commendable. Most commendable.” The Justicar said, baring down on the goblin that knew no fear.
Suddenly, out of the shadows, the hulking reptile returned. Marching towards Berus with Its four muscular arms flexing, crystalline scales twinkling under the glowstones, and green skin with a face more human than monster snarling.
Another abnormal. A monster she wasn't aware of.
Now up close, the two stood eye to eye, the reptilian woman growling with its green eyes locked on Berus's.
“I'm going to turn you into a pair of scale boots.” Berus spat, clenching her fists, her muscles bulging with her abs becoming harder than steel. “I'll kill every single one of you.”
“Before you do that, we should speak.”
Berus blinked, the familiar voice moving her eyes from the ten-foot tall gator-girl to the human man walking through a squad of armored goblins.
“Lhikan?” Berus whispered with disbelief before her hand shot out, a spectral gold fist slamming into the man.
Lhikan raised his palm, catching the attack, his own body radiating with holy aura.
Berus went wide-eyed, her jaw slightly agape before her brow furrowed.
“What is this? What are you doing here?!” Berus demanded, noticing the man wore no air purifier. For a moment, she considered the possibility of a mimic, but the man's holy aura wasn't something that could be faked.
“We… need to talk.” Lhikan said, standing face to face with the Justicar as the goblins did an about face, pivoting to welcome the oncoming hordes of monsters barreling their way towards them.
“Shieldwall!” Lhikan spat, the goblins interlocking their armaments and brandishing their spears, moving with such coordination Berus could only gawk.
“You?! You're the one that trained them?!” The Justicar spat, numerous thoughts passing through her mind.
“Yes and no. It's a long story.” Lhikan said giving the hand signal for peace. “But if you-”
Suddenly a blade was poised at Lhikan’s throat, the Justicar furious.
“What did you ask of me during the battle of Cornwell?” Berus asked, narrowing her eyes at the man.
A question, one posed to ascertain if the man that stood before her was the genuine article or some trick or mimic.
The silver-haired paladin inhaled, his jaw clenching.
“Nothing. You weren’t at the battle of Cornwell.” Lhikan replied, realizing immediately that the justicar was testing him. However, Lhikan decided to go deeper, to cast away the doubts of his identity. “However your father was. And so was your brother. Both men giving their lives to stand beside me to defend the chapel abandoned by our bishops.”
“Say your name backwards.”
“Nakihl.” Lhikan replied, a countermeasure in case he was a Succumi Trickster.
The Justicar blinked, her eyes wide, realizing she was dealing with the geniune article. “Where are my men?”
“Safe. Lord Hiro has guaranteed their safety,” Lhikan replied, the Justicar’s eyes glancing down at the talisman of a duck that hung off the paladin’s belt. “So long as they aren’t aware of my presence here.”
Berus pondered the man’s words.
“Lord… Hiro? Have you abandoned your oath? Fallen sway to a demon?” Berus asked, her blade still held at Lhikan’s throat, her eyes glancing at the four-armed lizard nearby and the light-skinned goblin with its hand on its sword.
“I swear on the goddess Destina and the Bookkeeper, that I am of both sound and mind. That my actions are my own and what I do I do of my own volition.” Lhikan said, giving the hand symbol of Destina with his body radiating holy power. Indicating that the paladin spoke the truth. “I have found the power that the bishops wish to obtain.”
“Oh?” Berus replied, raising her brow, noting that the man showed no sign of corruption. “If that is the case, why haven’t you reported in?”
“Because what I found wasn’t an artifact, or a weapon, or a power…” Lhikan said, a smile blossoming on his face. “But, the Hero himself.”
Berus stood in silence.
“Impossible.”
“I swear it upon my oath as a Paladin of Destina.” Lhikan declared boldly, locking eyes with the Justicar. “And he has plans. A vision for the world. These monsters? These goblins you see before you, they are soldiers of his army. Loyal minions that are capable of growth and evolution under his guidance.”
“You expect me to believe that the ancient Hero of yore has returned and has sequestered himself in the annuals of this dungeon?”
“Not believe. Show. I wouldn’t have believed it myself, but Natalie… she did. She felt his calling out to her and I’ve… melded with him. Seen his memories. His past. And verified the authenticity of this myself.” Lhikan said with such fervor the Justicar didn’t react as the man brushed past her blade and placed his arm on her shoulder. “He is the key to saving our world.”
“Show me.” Berus demanded, sheathing her blade.
“Gladly.” Lhikan replied, a broad smile on his face as he signaled to the pale goblin beside him who barked an order to the rest of the goblins.