Chapter 157
Deathbound Husk
Sounds of battle were everywhere. Steel ringing against steel. The screams of desperation and anger filling the hallways. Blood: Green and red mixed together in a flurry of madness, as if a painter going crazy with his brush.
The Dark Elves fought with all they had, but their lack of capabilities to use Skills were detriments in their fight. The Demons, who were not limited by this, were in advantageous position. However, this time the Dark Elves were not fighting for fear of their demonic masters. They were fighting for a future. And this fact made the Dark Elves became able to fight better than ever before.
With Arryn in the lead, the Dark Elves managed to push through until they reach a chamber with a high ceiling. Six pillars of marble supported stumps of broken statues that looked like they were broken recently. More than ten Demons of varying sizes poured in from different passages connected to the room.
A handful of Dark Elves guarding the place, who were not informed of what was happening, reacted slowly as the Demons came upon them with their claws and fangs.
“Those are the intruders aiming for the Ur-Nagud!! Kill them along with these traitors!!”
Leyn, leading five Dark Elves he brought with him, rushed forward and ganged up on the murderers of their brethren.
A Demon hiding in the shadows let loose an arrow, aiming at them from above a pillar. But Connie grabbed it with her fingers and sent it back, where it pierced through the Demon’s eye, killing him instantly.
Martell’s sword floated above his head. He launched them towards the Demons, taking down many of them. The iron swords sang as it cut through the air.
“Is that all?” Akula smacked a Demon’s head with her Sukheri, before stabbing his torso with it. “This is easier than I suspected.”
“If Nick was here, he would’ve said that you spoke too soon, Zalkhin Altanghazar.”
And just as he finished saying it, black smokes slithered past their feet and entered the corpses. Their lifeless limbs suddenly began moving again. The Demons whose necks had been severed; the Dark Elf whose bodies were gouged by sharp fangs, rose from the floor, surrounding them from all sides.
“By Hurgul’s beard,” Akula chuckled nervously. “This isn’t good!”
Connie put her hands together to form a Daoist Sword hand sign when Martell said to her. “Mistress, let me take care of this.”
“Oh?” Connie raised an eyebrow and withdrew her hand, shaking her sleeves with a curious expression. “What are you planning?”
“I will perform the second of the Art of Golden Lotus of Prajnaparamita,” he said confidently before ordering the others to retreat to his position.
He raised both his hands and began strumming on Wild Geese. The melody caused all the Undead around them to slow down. But this also caused everyone around him to feel suffocated.
“Waiting in Vain, Memory in Dust,” Connie recognized the first few notes. A melancholic piece that in spite of its name, was vigorous and bombastic. As if conveying the anger and the sadness of its creator, Autumn Rain Cicada, when he lost a mortal friend to the river of time.
With preparations done, Mantrell controlled the six of his swords to fly above them like a halo with their tips point outward. He then formed a Vajra Mudra with his hands and chanted three lines of Dharmic Scriptures.
As he did, the swords spun and glowed bright. Moments later, images of swords made out of light burst forth from the swords and rained down on the Undead. Buddha’s light was the light of good, a direct opposite of the Necromancy Skill used on the corpses.
The swords of lights pierced through the bodies and instantly purified them with the grace of Buddha.
The others who were not familiar with Techniques stood agape, not able to comprehend how someone with the Job of a Bard could defeat so many Undead.
“Buddha Questioning the World,” Connie spoke the name of the Sword Formation with a sigh. “How many of the Arts have you learned?”
“Three,” Martell wiped his forehead with his sleeves. Though it was powerful, the Technique took a lot out of him. “I’m still in the process of learning the fourth.”
“You goddamn genius! People like you make my efforts look like a clown trying to juggle with no hands!”
“Hehe,” Martell chuckled proudly at Connie’s cursing, but his expression quickly turned dire. “Mistress - if I may - what I did might have rendered the corpses here unable to be raised anymore. However, the battle will cause more dead bodies. To stop that, we must strike at the core.”
“I agree. In that case,” Connie clapped her hands together. “Everyone, new plan! I and Martell will take care of Bet-Zebek. As for you Illumca, I want you to go and take your revenge.”
“But Connie!” Illumca interjected. “My revenge is important, but Bet-Zebek is an Ur-Nagud! He’s just one level under a Maluk Sedi! At the very least he should be as strong as an Unrestrained Candidate!”
Arryn quickly wrote on her slab to support Illumca’s words. Illumca is correct. He is an Ur-Nagud. He is strong. Much stronger than an Ur-Kulak like Jala and Hanad. We also still have Hanad and Merida to worry about.
“I don’t need my revenge if it’s going to risk your life! You also saw what he can do even without him being here! He can raise the dead and turn them into his soldiers!! Fighting against him by yourself is impossible!” She half-screamed the words trying to dissuade Connie.
“I know. And that’s why we should separate. First, to stop him from using Necromancy. And the second is to make sure that I can fight without worrying about enemies coming at me from behind,” Connie tried to put things into perspective for them. “You know me. I always have some things up my sleeve. I won’t die.”
“Connie, I – “
Before she managed to say anything more, Connie put her arm around her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. One that was as fleeting as snow in spring and as warm as summer.
“Go,” she said with love. “Go and take revenge on the woman who caused your suffering. And after that, you return to me, you understand?”
Illumca pressed her cheek onto Connie’s palm and closed her eye, trying to burn the feeling into her memories. So that she would not forget who is waiting for her beyond her revenge.
“Akula, can I trust you to take care of her?” she said to the Centaur who had sworn her service to her.
Akula laughed confidently. “Of course, leave it to me!” She said before putting her hand on Illumca’s shoulder. “You don’t need to carry that burden alone, Illumca. I’m going to handle that Ur-Kulak while you take care of business.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Thank you,” Illumca took a step back and separated herself from Connie. “I will return to you, I promise. So, you too, must return to me.”
“Are we playing with words now?” Connie chuckled as she turned her back to her. “Alright, Arryn. Point me to the right way.”
Illumca watched until Connie and Martell vanished into the path. Screams of pain could be heard echoing from the path, which calmed Illumca’s heart.
“Now then, let’s meet my evil half-mother.”
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Illumca proceeded through the path heading towards Hanad’s Research Chamber. The Dark Elves under Leyn’s command had secured the area. They looked at her with hopeful eyes as she went past.
Yet Illumca did not notice their gazes because all that was in her mind at that moment was her inevitable meeting with her enemy.
When they reached the entrance to the chamber, Illumca said to the Dark Elves. “Akula and I will be entering the chamber by ourselves. All of you, guard the door so that nothing gets in or out.”
Shouldn’t we come with you?
“Honestly, you all will just be holding us back,” Illumca said bluntly.
“Be at ease, I am with her,” Akula said as she took point.
Akula opened the heavy stone door leading to the Research Chamber and saw the full horror of what the Demons were up to. Dozens of human bodies had been taken apart and hung around the rooms; many of them had been grafted onto monsters. A lot of which seemed to have rotted. Though the two of them were no stranger to such a gory scene, they could not help but feel the urge to vomit.
The worst thing was the smell. The place smelled thickly of blood and spoiled meat, which stick to the roof of your palate.
“Strange,” Illumca said while she took out her daggers. “Where are they?”
Then they noticed another room at the end of the chamber.
When they took a step into that room, something rolled across the floor and stopped in front of Akula’s foot.
She took a step back in surprise. When she saw that it was just a head she let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, they heard a voice, somewhere between a man and woman, saying. “An audience to witness the birth of my newest masterwork?” Hanad laughed.
Then they saw it, towering above them was an abominable monster that almost made them want to hurl.
The creature was vaguely feminine: naked breasts hung pendulous on her chest. Her skin slick from transparent liquid of unknown origin. Her arms had signs of grafting, scars that had not yet healed. They were connected to a pair of scythe-like chitinous weapons. Her legs were turned around and she was forced to walk using the new appendages sprouting from the side of her abdomens. A grotesque, gaping maw with teeth opened from the middle of her stomach onto her genital. A single, large red tongue lapped the blood off her victim. A Demon with the body of an insect.
The scaly Demon did not care even as his assistant was eaten right in front of him as he continued.
“Behold! A fusion between A Dark Elf and a Second-Generation Gelded Flayer!! No longer shall the Gelded Flayers last a mere night and a day.” Hanad shouted in jubilation over the birth of the blasphemous monster. “This child of mine shall live as long as its host draws breath. And I shall name her Deathbound Husk!!”
When Illumca laid eyes on her, she was taken aback. But that reaction was only momentary, as a smile quickly crept onto her lips when she saw a familiar face on the monster’s head. “We finally meet face to face, Merida. And how fitting, that now you are as ugly as your heart.”
“Me – Me…Me…ri…da,” The monster spoke the words with great difficulty as bits and pieces of memories swam into the surface.
I – it. Her…I am…Merida…
“Go, kill those intruders!!”
However, the monster did not budge an inch.
The creature was looking at her reflection on the pool of water spilling from a nearby urn that had been knocked over by her birth, and saw her reflection staring back at her. The creature wept; driven nearly insane by the cruel truth.
“Ooooh! OOOOOHH!!”
“What? What is happening?!” Hanad was confused by his subject’s strange actions.
“Ownngghh!!”
The Deatbound Husk who used to be Merida swiped her arms madly, cutting everything around her. The unguarded Hanad took the brunt of her attack and was thrown aside. A huge gash bleeding green could be seen across his chest.
“Gagh!!”
Merida tried to scratch her head in fury, but with her arms now connected to sharp scythes, they scratched and wounded her instead.
“Damn you. Damn you!! Damn you all!!! Incompetent, useless maggots!!” Memories of her failures came into her mind. And still she blamed others for her faults, refusing to accept her own mistakes.
She shrieked. Globs of fluids spattered from her mouth.
“You!!” Merida shouted, her voice cracked and hurt her as it came from unfamiliar throat; one not fit for speaking. She turned towards the Dark Elf that was the source of her misfortune. “ILLUMCAA!!”
“Yes, Illumca Fir Liban. The child that you poisoned and left to die,” the silver-eyed Dark Elf said, pulling down her scarf so that her hated enemy could see her transcendent face better. “I’m glad that I can see you at your lowest moment, you whorish swine,” she said curse words she learned from Nick with a happy smile.
“You sow!” She screamed, half crying and half furious. “You half-blooded filth! You are just like your mother! As stubborn as rust on a dagger!!”
For a Dark Elf who prized beauty and bloodline above all else, to be mixed with something as impure as a monster and had her beauty taken away was pure torture. And seeing the supposedly ugly rotting flesh that used to be her most hateful thing, now standing before her with a beautiful face that was the downfall of empires was even more so.
She swiped her sharp scythe at Illumca’s torso, but the moment before it connected, Illumca declared her skill, Shadow Step, and melted into the shadow. The weapon dug into stone three inch deep.
Illumca appeared beside Merida and sunk her dagger into the monster's leg. But the flesh was too dense and it only managed to scratch it.
Merida angrily swung her limbs around trying to hit her, but Illumca’s speed was too fast for her and she missed every time as she was not used to her monstrous body.
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Hanad, who had recovered from his grogginess after being surprise attacked, took out a staff made out of an ancient stalagmite with the carving of skulls stacked on top of each other from his Item Ring.
“An independent thought? I thought I’ve erased it when I grafted the body together,” he mumbled. “But as soon as I recovered the subject, I can rectify this unforeseen mistake.”
He tried to stand up, but a heavy piece of metal smashed his stomach and punted Hanad across the room
“You’re still alive from that?” Akula exclaimed with joy. “Let’s not disturb their family reunion, Demon!! Your enemy is me!!” she held her Sukheri with both hands and took up a stance, knowing full well that an Ur-Kulak was not one to be trifled with. “Let’s see if I can add your head to my collections!!”
“A Centaur?” Hanad coughed greed blood and casted a Major Healing Spell upon himself. “I did not expect to see one of the Old Races to be here. But that’s fine. I need a new subject for my experiment!!”
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“Filthy half-blood!” Merida screamed. “If you did not exist, the seat of Chief would’ve become my daughter’s!!”
“Is that all you think about?” Illumca imbued her weapon with fire and slashed through her leg. Red blood spurted through wound it left.
“Aaargh!!”
Illumca watched her, hands squeezing her daggers until her knuckle was white. Merida was erratic, and thus dangerous. “The Dark Elves are a dying breed. Divided into Clans, refusing to become one. Why should we be satisfied with staying in our forest?! If we unite with other Clans, we could have achieved much more!!”
The attack grew more and more precise and wounds started to appear on Illumca. Illumca grimaced. Merida is getting used to her new body.
“But I will not have our blood mixed with those of inferior species. That fool of a father of yours don’t understand that. The Races are not long for this world. Soon, the Demons will take over Grea and in that new world, my daughter will become the chief of all Dark Elves!! And the Clan will be filled only by the pure of blood!”
“You…for that stupid plan you betrayed your clan, causing the death of my father and made my mother go missing?!” Illumca’s anger reached its peak and she laughed with all the spite she could muster. “Even I cannot fathom the utter stupidity of your plan. It has so many holes in it, Connie would have had a field day ripping it apart!!”
Illumca jumped into the air and swooped down with the first move of the Phantom Monarch Butterfly Art: Butterfly Taking Flight. Merida could not read the unusual movement of the Technique and had to sacrifice one of her legs to stop her from hitting her vitals. However, by sacrificing that leg, she could land a hit using her sharp scythe.
As the deadly scythe swung down, the silver-haired girl had no intent of being taken advantage of. She flowed from that Butterfly Taking Flight to Butterfly Seeking Flower, causing illusions of fiery butterflies to obscure her visions. She deflected the weapon and jumped forward, stabbing Merida on her right breast. The part of her that was still soft flesh.
“AAARGH!! What is this?! What is this accursed magic?”
Illumca pulled her dagger and jumped back while launching Fireball Spells at Merida’s unguarded chest.
The traitorous woman cried out in pain as she fell onto her knees.
“Yaaargh! Curse you! Curse you, filthy half-blood!!” An arm resembling that of a Gelded Flayer sprouted from her back and she instinctively used it to grab hold of a barrel and threw it at Illumca.
Illumca somersaulted back to evade the attack and landed lightly on her feet.
“The feeling’s mutual, False-Tongue,” Illumca took out the Dragonskin-bound tome given by the Archmage Edward Grother from her Item Ring. She had waited all this time to cause the greatest suffering onto Merida.
One of the lost Elvish Fire Elemental Spell.
Nur-Ar-Rahu.