Rar had reached the slime village.
Could it even be called that?
Rar had never left the lizardmen village before, as he had been training himself along with his friends his entire life to be a warrior worthy of making it to the top. He had no time for things like adventures and exploring, and so he was not even familiar with the places nearby. Even so, the fortress in front of him was anything but a village.
When he reached the slime village- or rather, when he reached the point where he could see it in the distance- his expectations were already crushed.
It looked terrifying.
No... terrifying was not the appropriate word.
It looked terrifyingly stylish.
Large stone walls many stories tall erected themselves around the massive hub, which was now so large that it covered the entire horizon from where Rar stood.
These stone walls were not just average stone walls however. They were made from mesh of gray-purple stones which were perfectly cut, and the walls were not formed from cubic blocks, but rather from a hexagonal prism shape base. Not only this... but on each hexagon there was an eye.
It was an open eye, and each of the hundreds of eyes which were assigned to one block per eye followed Rar as he approached the village... should he even call it a village!?! This was an entire hub.
The twisted towers that covered the walls were formed of these hexagonal bricks, however they were somewhat deformed in order that they may align in a spiral fashion. The towers had tall and thin roofing structures that were a dark shade of purple, and they formed crooked spiral tip which had four statues on each one. They were small statues made of a tar colored metallic substance, and they formed the figures of four beings. 2 demons, an elf, and a ghost facing in each of the cardinal directions. They were each dressed in odd clothing that Rar had never seen before, however it was likely similar to the clothing that humans of high status wore.
The walls were around 4 stories tall- which was absolutely towering for a village of monsters. How did they get the materials to make these walls so sturdy?
The gate looked extremely odd.. the bars formed a swirling pattern instead of the typical rectangular style. Not only this, but there was a moat filled with...
Was that poison!?!
A purple liquid flowed in the large moat, forming a foggy mist all around the fortress.
It flowed with an excessive viscosity, and one could hear the fizzing as the vegetation nearby was killed off slowly.
It was acid.
'Haven't these antiheroes ever considered the environmental effects of such a system!?!', Rar thought.
However- there were no worries there. Garett had formed a plastic lining material which was resistant to acidic corrosion to use so that the poisonous fluid would not penetrate the soil layers and contaminate nearby pipelines and the underground water tables.
'Then again... they ARE beings of terror who exist only to disrupt the nature of the world... the stories say that they will eventually become the new demon lords, and have to fight the human heroes in order to defend the monsters from annihilation. I suppose this is par for the course for a group of demon lords...'
The drawbridge was made of a dark grey metal and had spiral patterns and beams made of the purple material covering it, which connected to an overhanging roof-like structure. The chains which were attached seemed to be formed from links which were molded to form the face of a ghastly creatures head, and the hollow part of each link was the mouth.
It looked like a demonic lair. Fear was struck into Rar just looking at the castle, however he was also filled with a deep sense of awe towards the ones who were able to make this from scratch.
Rar began to wonder if he dared to enter, however before he could even contemplate- two bandage-like strings connected themselves to the top of each of the towers on the left and right of the gate, and they reeled in to reveal two spider-like people.
One was a male, and the other female. They both wore outfits that looked to be made of silver bandages, and they looked almost like long shirts or short dresses that had arms which were too long, and drooped over their hands. Not only this, but four of their arms poked through the shirts with no armholes to account for them- only the interstitial areas between the bandages.
The male held a silver bow, intricately carved with a metallic rod that seemed to be some sort of blowdart strapped to his side, and the female had four sharp metallic cones covering the tips of her arms- likely to be used as melee weapons. The male spit onto an arrow. It's tip was made of the same black metal that the gate and drawbridge were made of, and Coran's motion seemed to suggest that he was threatening Rar while glaring at him.
He raised the arrow cautiously and stared at Rar with his four cautious eyes.
"You are approaching the domain of the future demon lords, their excellencies, the antiheroes. I, Coran, have been granted the honor to serve as the captain of the punishment force within this great nation. State your name and purpose or be purged from this world. Every part of your body will be put to use by our great leaders if you choose the latter."
Rar was stunned and at a loss for words as this spider-person glared at him, but he could tell from his warrior instincts that this spider was strong. From his current position, Rar would not stand a chance if they were to fight, and he would also likely not be able to run away.
The captain of the punishment force? Was he some sort of higher up, who had a good relationship with the antiheroes? Even so, how was it possible for a spiderling to be this strong?
Rar quickly spoke to prevent the arrow from being loosed at him without hesitation.
"I am Rar, from the lizardmen village. I have come alone, out of curiosity! I wish to see why Arlo would come here and pledge his loyalty to the antiheroes!", Rar shouted.
The two spiderlings continued staring at Rar with suspicious eyes, however the drawbridge, which was previously at a 45 degree angle held up by the chains, was lowered after Coran used a hand signal to tell the people below that it was ok to open the gates.
"If you cause any trouble while within our village, we won't stop at simple torture. That would be too lenient. We will rip every organ from your body, followed by regeneration and repeating over and over in order to utilize them for the projects and experiments of his excellency. Her excellency has even found a way to make it so that removed organs will still function as if they were alive using her healing magic, and any pain transferred to them will also be transferred to you. Only if their excellencies decide to allow you to leave will you ever be able to escape."
A chill went down the spine of Rar on hearing these atrocious words.
He was no longer in a place where he could simply walk around without worry. He had to watch his every step, lest he incur the wrath of the antiheroes.
Upon opening, a path of stones was revealed...
They were white and translucent, and each of them had the face of a ghost. They wriggled and made light shrieking noises as goblins walked the city on them. It was a truly creepy phenomena.
Rar walked into the village, only to see something that he didn't wish to see.
The buildings in the village looked to be made of flesh... they were red and meaty, however they were all crafted with such care that one would think that the material was something simple and easy to work with like wood. Each of the bricks that made up the buildings was a chunk of meat, and the beams and frames looked to be made of enormous bones. There was no smell of meat however- but they even seemed to have the elasticity of meat as they were compressed by the loading on top of them.
Even without a smell, Rar almost found himself throwing up on the sight of the buildings.
There were buildings, large and small covering the landscape- and every single one of them were made of the same innard-like materials. There were even some bits that looked like brains or intestines.
A public restroom that looked like a sideways pair of lungs- on for the male and one for the female restroom- was on the way as Rar walked slowly through the village- receiving the stares of many of the goblins who he passed by.
The goblins all wore outfits made from the same material as the grey shiny bandages worn by those two spiderlings, and they each carried a weapon of their own- formed from either bones, fangs, or the dark metal that seemed to be an abundant material.
Rar had never met any goblins before, but he knew that they lived in gruesome places. Were they all used to something as gory as this?
Piping that looked like it was formed from arteries and veins also ran through the city, and they seemed to be pumping with life.
There even seemed to be some nerve-like wiring entangled with the arteries carrying a charge of light that pulsated from one place to another.
He passed a store which had a creepy sign on it that spelled 'The spinner'. The entire area was covered in cobwebs and threads, and Rar took care to stay out of them lest he get stuck in the thick fibers.
What was he seeing here? This entire city was grotesque yet breathtaking. It was like a well done haunted house.
However, he then came upon a building that was larger than any of the others.
All the nerves and circulatory pipelines seemed to connect at this enormous building, where in the center laid a cylindrical tower that was beating like a heart. This cylindrical tower was only the center of the overall building, and surrounding the inner heart chamber was what looked like an enormous rib-cage, which had a courtyard of dark green and curled up crooked grass in between the building and the cage structure. It looked like a graveyard almost, however there was a path that led through this courtyard made of a yellow hardened substance that looked like amber. Behind the rib-cage, enclosing off the back half of the framework of the rib-cage were a large pair of demonic wings which covered the area like an awning. On the second floor, above the cylindrical heart-like chamber was a giant brain, and there were a few windows in the brain which formed the shapes of gumdrops, however these windows were decorated with a much more sinister pattern, with thin and mocking eye structures inside the windows.
The eyes almost looked condescending on Rar.
What was this village exactly?
This was so far out from anything Rar had ever seen, that even if he had never been outside the village Rar knew that this was far from normal. Just who were these antiheroes? Rar never would have expected anything like this, even if he were to visit the haunted realm or the domain of the demon king.
He then looked over to the door that led to the entrance of the building, only to see... Arlo!
Arlo was standing on guard at the door of the building, along with a goblin who seemed to be young, however he had a determined look on his face. It was the resolve of a warrior.
They both wore armor made of the grey bandage like substance that he had seen all the other goblins and the spiderlings wearing.
Rar ran over to the building, however when he tried to enter the giant rib-cage, the gate- which was also made of rib-like bones- shut quickly before Rar could enter it.
"WHO DARES TO ENTER THE HOME OF THEIR EXCELLENCIES!?! THEY ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN IMPORTANT EVENT RIGHT NOW!!!", The goblin shouted, his face furious with anger.
The goblin and Arlo ran up to Rar, who had been stopped before even entering the courtyard, and they branded their weapons at him- a spear for the goblin and a giant club, made of that dark tar-like metal, spiked with fangs for Arlo.
"Oi. I know you from the village. What are you doing, coming here to the domain of the antiheroes? Do you have a deathwish?", Arlo asked, menacingly.