Chapter 107 – Blood

[Maximillian]

Maximillian was practically crawling into his throne that sat inside the high temple. That devil of a woman had pushed him hard throughout the city. She seemed to revel in raining down fire and causing explosions wherever she shot an arrow. It had given Maximillian a headache almost instantly. His healers had been on standby within the temple, awaiting ‘rescue’ by the U.F.E.

It had been simple getting to them. Maximillian had advised them to stand down, and not leave the temple whatever may happen until he returned. The Crowen did have healers of their own, but had come to rely heavily on his cabal. When at first they didn’t heed the call of invaders in the city, they sent soldiers, only to find a temple on lockdown. Things for them grew hectic after that, with a small force of soldiers coming to root them out. The problem with attacking a group of healers though, is it’s a wholly pointless endeavor. They just sat there, healing themselves.

He arrived alongside that devil woman, Hannah, and she threw herself at the Crowen like a hungry wolf who stumbled across a flock of sheep. He had thought her an archer, yet she seemed perfectly fine to fight on the front lines, her bows raining down destruction from the sky as she tumbled and rolled through the enemies, blasting them through their skulls.

It took them mere minutes to clear through the Crowen and rescue the healers. From there, she insisted on taking them to the front lines to assist with the battle.

“Hurry the hell up.” Hannah barked at Max, eyes blazing as she stared him down.

“No. My mission was to simply assist in retrieving the healers. I’m done. I’m tired and need a drink.” Maximillian protested.

The woman looked like she might rip his head off.

“Don’t go forgetting your oaths now.” Maximillian smiled. Her eyes turned furious as she stopped just before him.

“I’ll be taking the healers, then.”

“Do whatever you want, so long as you quit bothering me.” Maximillian smirked.

With that, she was gone, alongside the U.F.E. and all the healers, and Maximillian finally had a chance to have a drink away from the annoying sounds of war.

He pulled a bottle of wine from his void sack and let out a pleased sigh as the sweet nectar hit his lips.

“Enjoying your drink?” Came a gravelly voice.

Maximillian practically choked on his wine.

“What in god’s name are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be killing a king?”

“Already done,” Rodeo shrugged. “Shouldn’t you be with your precious healers?”

“Already rescued. That woman has taken them away and is headed towards the gates as we speak.” He said with a vague gesture towards the direction Hannah went.

“So we’re alone then?” Rodeo said, a wolf like smile on his face.

Maximillian quickly cast [Mind Ward] on himself, sitting upright slightly as Rodeo took several steps closer to him.

“No need for that. I’m here on business.”

“There's plenty need to protect myself,” Maximillian said, pulling out a wand from his void sack, “or do you forget I know the sort of business you do?”

“Now, now,” Rodeo chuckled, proffering up his hands, “I’m simply here to retrieve something. That’s it.”

“There’s nothing here of value left to retrieve.” Maximillian said flatly. It was also completely true. He had this placed stripped of everything worthwhile the second he took over.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ll be needing to ransack one of the graves here. Surely you wouldn’t have done something as treacherous as graverobbing?” Rodeo said, a mischievous look in his eye.

“No.” Maximillian lied, his ears perking up in curiosity as he looked at Rodeo, “but I take it you would do something so treacherous.”

“You know me well,” Rodeo laughed, “I have it on good authority that something has been buried with the Saintess. I find myself in need of it.”

“What is it?”

“Her blood.” Rodeo said matter of fact.

Maximillian began to sweat almost immediately. He thought back to the [Blood of the Divine Saintess] he had looted from the grave and summarily drank. It made his healing spells a bit stronger and even upgraded his class to rare. His new class was called the [Blood Saint]. What the hell did Rodeo want with that elixir?

“What the hell do you want with her blood?” Maximillian asked aloud this time.

“Can’t kill the demon inside the dungeon without it.” Rodeo shrugged.

Maximillian nodded at this, covering his mouth to hide the small smile. Rodeo needed the blood of the Saintess. He had drank the elixir containing her blood, and now he was a saint. He was already a little suspicious that Rodeo might try to screw him out of his spot in the dungeon. The two hadn’t sworn any sort of oaths to each other. They both knew them to be traps that only fools would swear.

Now, though, he had leverage. Rodeo needed him in order to beat the dungeon.

“Well, you can rest assured Rodeo, I have everything you need.” Maximillian said behind a placating smile.

“Do you now? Already been robbing graves, have we?” Rodeo smirked.

“I have recovered the Divine Saintess’s blood that you seek.”

“Hand it over then.”

“I’m afraid I can’t. It came in the form of an elixir which proved to amplify my abilities. Upon drinking it, I even received a class upgrade, declaring me a saint. So, if it’s the blood of a saint you need, then look no further than me.”

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Rodeo stood there for a long second, staring at Maximillian with a look of disbelief.

“Is everything ok?” Maximillian ventured, the silence growing awkward.

“Sorry bout that,” Rodeo chuckled, wiping the wide-eyed look off his face in a second, “I just didn’t peg you for the type to go sacrificing yourself for the good of humanity.”

“Pardon?”

“What? You do know we have to sacrifice you now, don’t you?”

“Nonsense,” Maximillian replied, “you merely said you needed the blood of the Saintess. How do you propose to sacrifice someone who is already dead? It makes no sense. Quit playing games.”

“I see your logic,” Rodeo nodded, and Maximillian let go of a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding.

“Let me tell you a story,” Rodeo started, taking a seat on the lip of the stage and leaning against a nearby column.

“I’d rather not. I’m tired-“

“A demonic threat once plagued this kingdom,” Rodeo interrupted. “The demon king Xinnolath was ravaging the countryside with his demonic army. Seven brave souls banded together and vowed to stop them. Balador the Warrior, Fendora the Healer, Eldabub the Mage, Diego the Rogue, Winthrop the Bard, Gurthok the Berserker, and…?”

“Elenora the Saintess,” Maximillian offered with a glance up at the stain glass windows that represented each one of the seven heroes.

“Exactly,” rodeo clapped, “now these heroes fought against Xinnolath and his army, killing so many demons that Xinnolath himself was forced to join in on the fight. It was then they learned that Xinnolath was immortal. Half a dozen times the heroes must have defeated the demon king, only for him to respawn with a fresh new army of demonic servants. So, what do you do when you can’t kill your target?”

“I don’t know, surrender? Run away?”

“You trap him.” Rodeo snapped, his eyes going hard. “The heroes lured Xinnolath to the kingdom, where they trapped him in a prison designed to keep immortal beings. Great expense went into making such a prison. They had to cut themselves off from the rest of the world, using the ancient portal devices and diverting the power to the prison instead. There Xinnolath has remained, rotting away.”

“They just left him in there? I thought you said you knew how to kill Xinnolath?”

“Well, that’s where it gets complicated,” Rodeo shrugged. “Tell me, have you ever taken a peek under the bird masks that the Crowen soldiers are wearing?”

“What, no? Who cares?”

“In fact, have you ever seen them outside of the barracks, or outside of battle at all?”

“No, enough with these questions. State your point.” Maximillian demanded.

“They never took off their masks. It bugged me. Like an itch I couldn’t scratch. They don’t even leave behind their masks when they die. Sure, they leave armor and weapons, but when the corpses disappear, the masks come with it. So, I asked around, interrogating every person I could find. Just who are these soldiers and where are they coming from? No one could answer. No one would answer. So, I killed them and ripped off the masks myself. Do you know what I found?”

“What?”

“Xogon barbarians and Lilux citizens,” Rodeo shrugged. “It was odd at first. The Lilux I could maybe understand. They had sworn fealty to the Crowen from day one. The Xogon on the other hand, not so much. They seemed readily opposed to the empire. I couldn’t imagine a scenario in which they would willingly work for the Crowen.”

“I don’t understand,” Maximillian frowned.

“Neither did I. Which is why I went straight to the source.”

“The king? That tight lipped fool didn’t share anything with anyone.”

“You’re right about that,” Rodeo chuckled, “but I went to an older… more informed source.”

“Who?”

“Xinnolath.” Rodeo said matter of fact.

Maximillian squinted at Rodeo for a long second. He wasn’t sure if the man was telling him a joke or not. He never understood the savage’s humor.

“You just said Xinnolath was locked away in a dungeon?”

“He is,” Rodeo agreed.

“Then how?”

“When I first started working for the capital, do you know what kind of jobs and bounties they had me doing?”

“What?”

“They had me hunting down warlocks and anyone who could communicate with demons – it was other adventurers almost exclusively. I thought nothing of it at first. It wasn’t until I stumbled across a little book called Making Your First Contract with a Demon: A Warlocks Guide to Success that I started to think about just why they wanted me to hunt down anyone with a warlock class. You see, warlocks can commune with the demonic forces and make deals and pacts with them. That’s a big problem for a kingdom keeping an all powerful immortal demon locked away in prison. From there it was a hop, skip and a jump to casting a spell that would allow even the likes of me to talk to Xinnolath.” Rodeo Grinned.

“His presence is still very strong, and very much alive. His powers may be locked away, but his mind runs free throughout the city. The Crowen have him locked away and are draining his essence, which they used to morph kidnapped slaves from either the Xogon or Lilux territories into some sort of brainwashed enslaved soldier. From there, they used their newfound armies to more or less conquer the rest of the continent. They had plans to build up an army and raid the remaining continents, but… Well, I guess you could say we showed up ruined everything.”

“So that’s why they kept him alive?”

“Yes and no,” Rodeo said. “Like I said, it’s complicated. The Saintess Elenora prayed to the gods every day for an answer on how to kill Xinnolath. As it turns out, the only way to defeat true evil is with a truly great sacrifice. The Saintess was to sacrifice herself, which would turn her blood into a weapon capable of killing Xinnolath. Seeing as she was the king’s daughter, he refused to let this happen. Instead, she was confined to the temple, the seven heroes disbanded, and all knowledge of how to kill Xinnolath was destroyed. The king at the time didn’t much mind because he was getting a demonic army of his own now. He wanted Xinnolath alive so he could keep harvesting his essence.”

“So, you need the blood of the Saintess to kill him? And you heard all this from an ancient demon you're supposedly in communication with? Tell me Rodeo, has the stress of the Tower finally gotten to you? Have you gone truly mad?”

“Technically, I need your blood. Seeing as you drank the elixir and are now a saint.” Rodeo corrected.

“And how much do you need?” Maximillian asked, taking a nervous step back.

“All of it.” Rodeo grinned.

Max turned to run, only to find himself standing inside an office. His office. The fiftieth floor, overlooking central park.

“What the…”

“Nice office.” Rodeo said, stepping up beside him and glancing out the window.

“How!?” Maximillian demanded, stumbling back away from Rodeo, “How are you in my mind? I didn’t detect anything from you. I even cast [Mind Ward] on myself.”

That caused Rodeo to start laughing. His deep gravelly chuckle echoed through the room, making Maximillian weak at the knees.

“Let me tell you Max,” Rodeo said, wiping away a tear from his eye, “When else do you cast that little [Mind Ward] spell on yourself?”

“Only when you're around…” he said, slowly trailing off. Maximillian quickly pulled up his status page and combed through his abilities.

There was no mind ward spell listed there.

“How…” He gasped, looking back and forth from Rodeo to his stat page. “I don’t understand…”

“It was a neat little trick when I figured out that one,” Rodeo chuckled. “Made me laugh every time. I show up and you cast your little mind ward spell, then you just dropped your defenses entirely, thinking you were safe. I’ve been swimming around in your brain since the moment we met.”

“Please,” Maximillian begged, pulling out a knife and cutting his palm, “how much blood do you need? I’ll give you as much as I can. Even more if you let me heal up a bit in between.”

“That’s the thing,” Rodeo said, taking another menacing step towards Maximillian. “The sacrificial magic doesn’t really take place until, well, after you’re dead. Now the Saintess was dead, and that little elixir was all we needed to kill Xinnolath, but then you had to go and drink it…” He finished trailed off with a smile, slowly pulling out a long and jagged blade.

“So Max, we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?”