Yggdrasil Fallen, LitRPG Series

Book 1, Part 1: Obsidian

Chapter 31: Warlord

A series of sharp knocks rang hard against the ornate door leading into his office. Silderson stood staring out a wide bay of windows, a light sweat misting his brow. This meeting was one he hadn’t been looking forwards to, it had been a long time coming and it was finally time to handle the situation. The door to his office opened without his acquiescence, and in strode a tall well-muscled man with shortcut well styled black hair; his emerald-green eyes fixed upon Silderson’s who had turned to greet the uninvited individual bursting into his office.

“Kingsman, for what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to the compound here today?”

“Cut the shit Silderson you well know exactly why I am here. Give me the real update on everything that has transpired in the last month. Be sure to be thorough, I’d hate to think you’d have given me any reason to regret leaving you in charge during my… excursion.” The man’s words frosted the air as he strode to the bar, where he poured a tall glass of rich, aromatic yet spicy whiskey before sitting on the couch.

“I am to assume then, that you have reviewed the quarterly fiscal reports and wish to move on to the latest dungeon excursion?”

“Yes, am I to understand you have successfully found and released the Beastmaster?”

“That is correct, while we encountered more than a few issues, we did manage unleash her in her true form. She is based at a camp she established 10 miles northeast of the imprisoning dungeon where we found her.” Silderson had moved from behind his desk to the bar where he also poured himself a drink and joined his companion on the opposite couch.

“Wonderful news. Has she established a reasonably sized army of monsters yet?”

“Unfortunately, her amassed army is less than half of what we originally anticipated, we are currently searching for another rank 3 or 4 dungeon to “Fail” so she can strip-mine the aspect beasts to vastly expand her ranks.”

“What of the cabin, did that provide any results of worthy note?”

Silderson sipped at his iced beverage, the fragrant burnt vanilla and smoked cherry notes of the beverage wafting from the glass and permeating his olfactory senses. This was the part of the conversation he had been, quite frankly, dreading. Setting down his glass, he steeled his nerves and began speaking.

“That is an entirely different story to be told, if I were to be completely honest.” He fumbled over his words, trying to find the proper balance of respectful and forceful.

“You see, we did encounter a little bit of a problem.”

“Enough of your half-assed niceties and just spit out whatever it is you are choking on. I do not have the patience for your inane babbling banter today, especially with all I have to do.” “Kingsman” harshly cut in, causing Silderson to falter. He drained his glass, then setting it on the table he continued emboldened by the drink.

“As per our protocol, we hired a local isolated disconnect to clear the property of traps, and search for any hidden extra vaults or storage rooms. As to not risk any of our trained personnel should we find any extra potent traps, or anything that could jeopardize our main forces. Well, as it turns out the kid we hired… he…” Silderson took a hard deep swallow, his mouth dry; before finishing.

“He could handle and control aspected energies, a fact we did not discover until after he penetrated the sealing wall, changing it in a manner to which we could not enter after he was found battered and on the edge of death nearby.” Silderson went on to tell “Kingsman” the rest of the tale, as he had known it to happen with what they had figured out thus far. After he finished, his last words having been the discussion between him and the Architect about the results of the dive to free the Beastmaster. He had decided to leave out any of the significant details surrounding Andre, including his real name, having instead deciding to paint him as an overly lucky bumbling idiot who’d quickly gotten himself killed; which coincidentally matched all the reports and hard copy data they had.

“Kingsman” sat in continued stoney silence sipping at his drink, watching the ice swirl in it. He finished the amber beverage, standing to refresh his glass he began speaking.

“So, it would seem to me you made quite the blunder of what should have been a basic operation.” He turned back to Silderson his glass now full; leaning against the bar he took a deep mouth full, swishing it across his palate, before swallowing.

“Did you know, Aspected beasts that have managed to reach levels of power held by the big 4 can not only transcend worlds, but can adapt their speech to communicate with the residents of the worlds they’re invading? It allows a sort of subjugation before annihilation, give the species a little bit longer to live before they are slain, while they are used to… how did you put it… “Strip mine” the world. I’ve personally found other uses for this quaint little trick of theirs. Information. See Silderson, I didn’t come directly here when I emerged from the interdimensional rift.” Silderson’s eyes went wide at this revelation, his chest growing tight in the suffocating pressure that had begun to gather in the air. “Kingsman” set his glass down, the wicked glimmer in his violently green eyes almost seeming to glow in the lowered light of the office.

“She and I had a very interesting conversation regarding a certain Ascended with a very nasty Machete, and a certain style of fighting. While she didn’t have a name, she did mention he escaped through a dimensional rift he created, just after afflicting her with a nasty wound that severed her arm and inflicted her with the Necrotizing Blood Plague. She claims someone sprayed her down with a specific elixir that purged her of the affliction, allowing her to fully regenerate. Now, Silderson. Would you perchance happen to know anything about this? A rather significant event involving a creature you have purportedly been carefully monitoring?” His questions came so hard and fast Silderson’s head spun leaving him nauseated, cold and quite terrified. The room seemed to contract and expand, amorphically twisting and contorting, Silderson couldn’t take the pressure any longer and began vomiting into a nearby trashcan. “Kingsmans”’s presence had always been a subconsciously intimidating one, but this evening he had reached new levels of terrifying. When he could finally speak again, he spat out:

“Wait, Andre’s still alive?!” Silderson’s words caught in his throat, in his dazed haze he had spoken exactly what was on his mind: a specific threat he had thought he had expunged, apparently still existed in some form somewhere.

“Andre you say, is this the sacrificial lamb you hired to clear out the cabin of traps?”

Silderson nodded, his face and head hovering over the garbage can.

“This is the same individual who penetrated a Ritual Chamber, successfully locking you out, cleared it and played you all for fools?”

Silderson nodded his head again, feeling the bile rising in the back of his throat.

“And this “Andre” as you call him, is the same person the Beastmaster referred to as an Ascended?! The VERY SAME you claimed was a bumbling idiot who got himself quickly killed, just so happened to be the one who damn near slew one of our invaluable S-Class Alpha Aspect beasts?” Greenman’s voice had gone from an angry grating to a roaring raging yell.

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“That is correct” Silderson muttered into the garbage can, he had just vomited into again.

“So, we have a rogue Ascended spawned in this realm who is somehow able to CREATE dimensional rifts, while damn near being able to slay the one of the big 4 at some early stage of conversion and you didn’t think this was important information to share with me?!”

Silderson felt his stomach seize, white hot fire pouring over his skin. He screamed in agony as the unseen flames blistered his flesh, filling the air with a stomach-churning scent of burnt hair and singed flesh. He was sent spinning into a nearby wall as “Kingsman”, in a flash, appeared at his side and kicked him hard in the abdomen. Silderson fell to the ground, spewing blood speckled mucus on the carpet in a sickening coughing fit.

“Is there anything else you have decided to leave out in an attempt to obfuscate the realities of the circumstantial occurrences in my absence?”

Silderson lay on the ground, gasping for air as the blood oozed from the corner of his mouth and both nostrils. His eyes unable to focus on anything in the room but “Kingsman” who had appeared above him; gurgled out:

“We believe, through significant research that Andre is the son you abandoned all those years ago, we didn’t know he was an ascended… that information is new to us but….” Silderson’s words were cut off as a sharp kick snapped his neck, spinning it 180 degrees.

“Fucking Brummagems, they really are too flimsy for any real fun.” Greenman muttered to himself, as he grabbed Silderson’s slack form, hoisting it into a chair in one motion, his glazed over eyes staring off into nothingness. “Kingsman” strode over the phone sitting on the desk, having picked up his glass of whiskey and taking a deep drink from it; he picked up the phone and dialed an extension:

“We need a replacement and cleanup to office suite 3, make it a rush. I accidentally broke another one.”

“…….”

“Yes, gather the rest of the board, we have much to discuss… AFTER this mess gets cleaned up.”

“……..”

“One hour, see to it everyone is there.”

***********************************************

Andre stepped through the portal he’d cut from the Gjiildaen’s realm into a vast acrid swamp. A thick mist heavy with death and decay hung in the air as he struggled to move through the squelching muck.

“A real winner we have here… I wonder if it’s another dead world?” He thought to himself as he wrestled towards a stretch of what looked like solid land. The opalescent cloak hung tightly from his shoulders; the hood pulled tightly over his head. The humid mucky swamp he’d landed in was shockingly cold, the frosty waters seeping deep into his boots, the rank fog penetrating his very bones. He continued to struggle along until his boots finally met solid ground. Andre pulled himself out of the sucking sinking mud that clung to every inch of him it touched in thick goopy layers. He lay on the solid ground, his heart racing as he worked to normalize his breathing, the short journey had been quite the struggle.

“Dunno what that shitty muck is but let’s do our best to avoid….” A loud, fierce roar rang out through the swamp, shaking the few leaves that hung in the even fewer trees overhead. The mist itself seemed to swirl around him from the sheer force of it. Andre sat bolt upright:

“What the actual hell was that?!”

*ALERT: Realm analysis complete: This was a sealed realm whose collapse was triggered by invasion of the “Warlord” Alpha Prime Aspect Beast. You have entered a zone of extreme danger, you must seek refuge. Run and hide, do whatever you can to avoid the aggressor in this realm until your timer resets or your life will be foreit…*

There was more to the box information box, but ALIAS’ voice was cut short, and it was closed as a guttural voice pierced the fog, shaking Andre to the very core.

“I feel you Ascended! Show yourself to me, let us have our glorious battle!” The words hit him like a blast wave, emanating from a point directly in front of where he lay. Andre stood, drawing Shildras from its holster, and his machete from the sword belt loop. With just a thought, he felt Volt energy surge down his right arm, into the machete, and a combination of Radiance and Aqua energy flow into Shildras.

“Ahhhh, there you are little one, it would seem that you have been unfortunate enough to face me in an incomplete form! You may yet provide at least a little bit of entertainment, before I tear a hole in the weakened fabric of this sealed where you entered to make my glorious re-emergence.”

Andre edged forwards, quiet as he could be, his heart thrashing against his ribcage; towards the voice ripping through the humid fog.

“ALIAS, what exactly does this thing mean! And since when could aspect beasts talk!?”

“It would seem we have royally fucked up. This is the one of the big 4 Alpha Prime Aspect Beasts… Warlord. He is an expert in multi-armed combat, augmented by his terrifying size, which despite he is blindingly fast. We need to make ourselves scarce, you do not stand a chance against this one yet.” Andre’s senses surged as ALIAS spoke, rolling to the left as a massive sword crashed into the ground right where he stood.

“Bit fucking late for that one. If I get lucky, maybe I can blind it and make a run for it.” Andre replied as his feet met solid ground again and he began sprinting forwards. He leapt and upon landing on the gigantic arm holding the oversized sword he attempted to drive his weapon down into the rocky flesh, which much to his dismay bounced off in a flash of sparks. In the dim light he couldn’t make out much detail of the beast, so he sprinted forwards dragging his sparking scimitar along the flesh as the beast began to laugh. Pointing Shildras towards the sound of laughter he stopped and fired several shots of both infused aspects. The weapon flashed, and as the rounds made contact, they illuminated the monstrous face: thick writhing black spines covered every inch of its blocky, dim eyed surface. Like a grotesque beard of spiney wasps, they seemed to crawl all over its surface. The creature roared not in pain but in jubilee.

“Oooooohh, you could be a fun one, little toy. The bite of your weapon excites my carapace!” A raucous laughter followed the words as Andre lost footing and fell to the ground, where he landed hard, but rolled into a crouch where he fired off several more rounds in the general direction of the ringing voice. Once again, his senses flared, and he launched himself as hard as he could into a high flipping leap right as another massive sword swung horizontally through where he had been, clearing the fog. Andre landed in a kneeling position, feeling a stiff breeze blowing through the area clearing the rest of the fog. He froze, his eyes locking onto his opponent standing at the edge of where the mist had cleared. It stood at least 20 feet tall, with three massive, thick arms protruding from either side of its torso, each holding equally massive weapons, ranging from swords to maces to axes. Upon making eye contact, the beast roared with laughter:

“Little ascended, I pray you provide me a little chance to break the rust from my joints and weapons before I rescue myself from this dead realm where I will rejoice in the blood of all I meet. My work here is done, and it is time for me to move to the next. LET US BATTLE as this world wanes!”

With startling speed, it rushed forwards, bringing a mace down where he stood, but he’d already vanished from the spot, having again launched himself high into the air. But he was too slow, another mace came swinging through, slamming into him; its spikes thankfully missing impaling him. Andre was sent skidding and skipping across the damp soil until he slammed onto a tree. Forcing himself to his feet, he channeled Volt and Aqua into Shildras and began sprinting back towards the six armed monster. He launched himself off the ground in a spinning leap, firing off 2 aqua rounds, and 3 volt. The bullets made contact, to no apparent effect. Andre had aimed his jump to land on one of the beasts arms, where this time his machete successfully dug into its flesh. He began sprinting up the arm, the machete tearing a deep gash along his path.

The beast roared, flailing its arm sending Andre spinning in an acrobatic leap to the ground.

“Little ascended, do you really think your feeble little infections would help you stand a chance against the great Warlord?! I am immune to most afflictions and now I’m done playing with you!”

Dread filled Andre to the core, as he turned to face the massive monster he had been sparring against. All six weapons were readied for a barrage of strikes. With blinding speed, it launched itself at him, chaotic disparate swings coming almost too fast for him to dodge. The fight was over almost as quickly as it had begun; Andre had missed dodging the horizontal swing of the massive axe as it cleaved his torso in half, as the secondary swing of the massive sword came down severing him from his left shoulder clear through the remainder of his body.

“Puny little Ascended, I shall add a notch to my belt to honor your pathetic life as you successfully managed to break my skin and wound me. Now. To make my grand re-entrance and claim yet another world!” The Warlord roared with laughter as Andre’s vision began to fade.

“ALERT: You have sustained fatal damage! Ability: “Sturdy” Has prevented immediate death and loss of consciousness.”

“ALERT: “Blissful Rain” and “Blissful Storm” have failed to activate due to insubstantial concentrations of stored aspect energy and ambient aspected energy.”

“ALERT: Death is imminent”

Andre was numb to the panicked alerts from ALIAS as he lay bleeding, staring at his scattered body pieces strewn across the ground around him. As his vision finally faded to black, the last thing he saw was a final text box:

“ALERT: You have died.”