I looked around the battlefield and my eyes widened, "Ooh boy, do I have a good idea." With a kick, I disappeared from the incredible speed I now possessed and a second later I reappeared in between the two armies. I reached out my hand and grinned at the horde. I cast a spell from the Pillar of Deluge called Tides of Blood. Emerging from a small puddle no larger than a beach ball in diameter, a rush of blood sped towards the Gnolls before it finally reached its apex. It was a fifty feet across and ten feet high tsunami of crimson blood. It crashed into the corrupted monsters, crushing bodies and killing dozens and crippling even more. I nodded to the captain before rushing the spot where I saw the matriarch.

The sounds of conflict was ringing out as weapons clashed and metal met flesh. Screeches and yowls contested against the shouts and curses of the Dwarves. Three decrepit and distorted Gnolls were casting nasty looking spells at the Dwarves as Eliara and Asha engaged them. A shard of ice and a glowing crossbow bolt impacted against a black forcefield. With their battle joined, I turned my focus to the Matriarch.

I reformed my armor, sensing how much stronger it was. In a blur that mortals wouldn't be able to see, I was suddenly a couple of yards in front of the Matriarch. She glared at me, part of her bare muscled skull was scorched, but otherwise she was unharmed. She spoke in a surprisingly feminine voice, though the voice came from the void in her chest while her canid mouth remained shut. Actually, now that I was this close, I could see that her mouth and eyes were sewn shut by twitching wormlike tendons that wove in and out like stitching. "Ah, Mistress's Shepherd has arrived. We were waiting for you. Though I had not expected such a... warm welcome."

"Oh goody, it talks. I hate it when they talk," I muttered, "Alright, I'll bite, the hell are you talking about? How am I a shepherd?"

"Not a shepherd, the Shepherd. After all, is it not you who allowed this world to form? Without you, our Lady would still languish in her dull kingdom. I am grateful to you Shepherd, as well. For, had it not been for you opening the gates and acting as a beacon to the Lady, then I would not have found enlightenment. I would still be a growling mongrel ruling over beasts that tore apart scraps. Now I am wise. Now my eyes are open to the strength my Goddess provides."

I grimaced, a sinking feeling in my gut, "Explain monster. What do you mean beacon?" I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

The horror in front of me chuckled but didn't answer, "Vacuolentia has the answers for all who seek them, Shepherd. All one must do is accept her into your heart." She spread out her arms as if beckoning to a church audience.

"Yeah, fuck that." I burst into a mist and along with me rushing towards the giant Gnoll, I pulled a enough blood from the dead Gnolls to fill a small pool. I slithered between her twisted legs and before the wave made impact, they formed into a wall of spikes. Unfortunately, the Gnoll flicked her wrist and a wall of black flames halted the blow. I hadn't expected that to do any real damage since it was only reinforced with Greater Blood Control. Instead, the wall splattered across her and I cast Chains that Bind. This spell caused powerful chains to wrap around the matriarch and she fell to her knees from the deceptive weight of the chains.

I reformed with a scythe in my hand and swung at her legs. Before the blade made contact with her leg, I yelped as something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me off my feet. I landed on my back and was dragged back in front of the Matriarch. A braided rope of black muscle protruded from the inky abyss of her abdomen. The eye was narrowed in amusement. "Oh how cute the Shephard is, no wonder our Lady is smitten by you!"

"Oh, that is fucking gross." I grumbled and ran through different ideas. I grinned and burst into mist, like a cell in mitosis, I split in two and reformed with a copy of myself standing beside me. He was made of glistening black and red similar to my armor. I made a Basic Blood Clone. We glanced at each other and fist bumped. It was an odd sensation, but it was like my mind was split in two. The computing power of my six Pillar backed brain allowed me to multitask in two bodies. I went high while I went low. Wait, that's confusing. Thing One went high and Thing Two went low.

Focusing on the original, the Matriarch chuckled throatily reached into her chest pulling out a huge spear made of human bone, the blade was some sort of obsidian-like material that protruded from a screaming skull. To my horror, there were a pair of eyeballs present in the skull's sockets. Despite the lack of flesh around the eyes, I could tell they were begging for death, an end to the pain the victim was suffering.

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I snarled at the bitch and swung down. As she parried my blade, I willed the scythe to snap at the point of contact. I flew past her guard and plunged the handle which I had reformed into a sword into her shoulder. Unfortunately, her thick muscles stopped the short blade from reaching anything vital. As she screeched in pain, I kicked off of her and blood-stepped a few feet away. The distraction allowed my clone to slice off her left foot. She used the spear as a walking stick to brace herself.

The beach ball sized eye glared at me inside her chest. "You'll pay for that Shepherd. Even if my Lady has plans for you, if I kill you here, then you were not worthy of Her attention. Besides, my Lady didn't forbid me from keeping you close to death, begging me to end the pain," she snarled. I used the time she spent threatening me to cast another of my new spells, Eye for Eye. A thin red connection formed between us. It wasn't physical but it wasn't an illusion either.

She slammed her spear into the ground, black, bony tendrils tore through the ground towards my clone. Before it could react, it was entangled and squeezed by the thick tentacles. It was ripped apart and I pulled the blood back towards me. A deep pain hit me from the feedback of the shattered technique. "Oh, it won't be me begging for release, hag," I grinned. I willed my trap to trigger. The blade I left in her shoulder liquified and slithered into her wound.

She snarled and shouted, "What are you doing?" Thick black veins spread like poison from the wound.

"How's Blood Decay taste, bitch?" In my intense focus to reach her heart with my attack, I didn't react in time as she threw her spear at me. I grit my teeth as the large spear pierced my gut and pinned me to the ground standing.

The Matriarch's sewn mouth ticked upward in a victorious smile as she approached me though that quickly went away as she doubled over clutching her own stomach. The spell Eye for Eye creates a bond between my target and they share my wounds. My arms fell to my side and I went slightly slack, huffing heavily. Despite her rough appearance and her suffering under the necrotic affects of Blood Decay she said, "Oh, what rewards I will receive when I present you to the Empty Sun. She will rain down praise and power unto me." She grabbed my arm, ready to rip it off. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind me repaying you back for my foot, Shepherd."

My head snapped up and I said, "Gotcha." With a flex of will, her giant eye widened in horror as I cast Blood Burst. Normally, it would affect the wound of my victim, but instead, I targeted the foreign blood I sent inside her body via my blade. The rapid expansion of the vaporized blood caused an explosion that tore off her left arm all the way to her sagging breasts. An inhuman screech tore at my ears and sanity. The other Gnolls contorted and lashed out wildly hitting friend along with foe.

My helmet split open, revealing a maw of sharp fangs. I extended my reach with tendrils of blood that latched on her and pulled me towards her, the spear ripping through my body. With a wet shlorp, I wrenched myself free and swung myself on the gravely wounded Gnoll's back. I bit hard on her meaty neck and ripped and tore until I reached her carotid artery. I began to drink deeply, and much more rapidly than I was capable before.

She began to reach up with her remaining arm to tear me off of her neck, but I summoned my clone in it's Pestilence form, the second spell from my Malady Pillar. It was much less human than before, the armor was jagged and its arms ended in serrated blades. It sliced her arm at the elbow, sending the appendage flying. This version of the clone had the choice to inflict a weaker version of either Blood Decay, Hemorrhage, or Blood Fever. In this case I chose Hemorrhage. She fell to her knees, her cries weakening. I kicked off and flipped over, landing in front of her. I grinned, black blood dripping from my mouth, "I'll send your regards to your Goddess when I rip out her throat. I reached into the odd void space in her chest alongside my clone. With both of us gripping the giant eyeball, our clawed gauntlet tearing into it, we tore it out. With a nauseating squelch, the organ dropped to the ground and the Matriarch went limp, the corrupted life leaving her. She fell backwards and the remaining Gnolls went insane. They tore themselves apart as if part of their minds were freed and they rejected their current forms.

Only the shamans didn't commit brutal suicide though that was likely due to Asha tossing the disembodied head of the final Shaman behind her. I sighed in relief seeing the girls were alright. The Captain's squad took some casualties, but not too many. With a great inhale, all of the blood in the area flowed towards me, disappearing into whatever ephemeral reserves my body stored them in. I could tell the capacity was greatly increased. I won't know until I filled it up and this amount only got me halfway. Unfortunately, it seems corrupted lifeforms didn't have as much of the delicious void mana as an actual Void Brood.

I approached the Captain and my friends, "So, ready to head back? I could use a nap."