Sael tried to summon his armor, his spear, even one of Gregory's smut novels but each time he got the same message. A cold chill ran up his spine at the thought of all his abilities being stripped from him. He raised his hand making a globe of crimson fire winked into existence bringing both needed light and a wave of relief. Dark shadowy chains dropped free of his other hand before retreating back in. Raising his leg he activated Stone Breaker but his kick down wasn't any stronger than normal. "Well at least my stats seem unchanged… but what is going on." Thinking back he remembered the odd voice he'd heard after the Demon Lord's final attack. "Does that person have something to do with this?"
"Welcome to my Shadow Hold." From the darkness a lisp bearing voice greeted him . "Your Arrived powers will not help you here." Stepping into the small ring of light his globe of fire generated was a humanoid figure, vaguely female but definitely not human. It's body was composed of thick black chitin like an insect. Though it walked on two human-like legs and had two human-like arms there were four others that seemed to project from its back. Eight multifaceted eyes glimmered reflecting the firelight while it spoke from a mouth hidden by a huge set of mandibles. Other than it's vague shape it was more monster than human for sure.
All around the darkness sets of eight eyes appeared reflecting the firelight. "You killed my lord!"
'Shit! The last demon general was a spider monster.' Realizing who he was dealing with his heart started to pound. 'Ara's mother said she was who was most likely to inherit the previous Demon Lord's powers. Fuck me, I'm out of mana, unarmed, unarmored, and can't use most of my abilities. How the hell am I supposed to fight a Demon Lord?'
The new demon lord's mandibles clacked open and closed rapidly in fury. "Now. Show me. Why it is you!" The darkness was filled with a cacophony of sound as hundreds of legs rushing forward. the swarm had launched it's attack.
**********
Nee stood looking out the window of one of the towers hoping to catch sight of the one she most wanted to see. She held the tips of her fingers pressed to her chest over her heart while her throat tightened. She didn't know what the cause of the feeling was but she knew what it meant. Her king was in trouble. "When you make it back to me. I'll never let you out of my sight again… Please come back."
*********
Silver was a blur as she raced through the crags of the Broken Lands, her nose dry from so much sniffing as she desperately wanted to catch even the smallest trace of her Papa's scent. Erupting out of the ground was an armored worm-like creature eager to catch the careless prey that entered it's domain. Only to be torn apart in an savage animalistic manner before it's killer raced off. "Papa!" Silver howled out to reverberate across the rocky land before whimpering and whining at the strange almost painful sensation in her chest.
**********
Ara flew in almost a straight line straight towards Little Well. She watched the ground beneath her as much as possible but was focused on speed. "Maybe he went back to Little Well and forgot to tell us. If he did I'm gonna make him regret it." She gritted her teeth and sped up. "No… I don't care if he forgot just let him be safe." The tightness in her chest reminds her too much of the time she was forced to watch him collapse fighting the Demon Lord.
**********
Beth didn't know what the odd sensation was but she couldn't focus thanks to it. She was pacing around her workshop restless and oddly on the verge of tears. "What is wrong with me? It's not that time of the month. Why do I feel so… anxious?" When there was a knock on her workshop door she rushed over expecting Sael for some reason even though he never knocked. "Sael!" Her relieved expression morphed into a scowl. "Who are you?"
**********
Sael caught another lunging spider by its legs and slammed them down to crush a different one that was chewing on his leg. He was exhausted after hours of constant pitched battle but finally the number of spiders was thinning out. He was practically naked with just a few tattered remains of his clothing still clinging to his sweaty frame. He'd been practically bathed in acidic poison allowing him to max out his resistance, but it did nothing for his clothing. His globe of crimson flame flickered out again as he ran out of mana to sustain it. The expected rush of more spiders came, without his combat awareness he wasn't as skilled but he found his senses were still sharp enough to allow him to fight back.
Shel watched the battle unimpeded by the darkness her mandibles clacking noisily from time to time as she studied the man who'd killed her lord. "Why?" She lisped out as he murdered more of her minions even as they tore into him.
**********
Dinn looked up as Sele entered his office and grinned. "Sele! Long time no see. Let's go get a drink together!"
"Stop using me as an excuse to drink. We see each other almost every day." She sat down in her normal chair fidgeting something Dinn didn't miss.
"So what's going on?" He sat down the stamp he'd been using to approve forms he barely read.
"I am not sure. There is something in the air. The world's energy is… trembling. I don't know why… I've never felt anything like it." Her eyes seemed to glaze over as if she was looking far away. "Has the Duke made any moves?" She suddenly asked.
"Nope. Far as my informants have shown he's been by his son's side the entire time. The boy still hasn't recovered. No magic can mend a broken spirit." Dinn didn't sound all that worried about the Duke's son's condition. "You think it has something to do with that boy, Sael?"
Sele's eyes focused once again on the material world. "There is no reason it should but… Something tells me he's in the middle of it."
"Think he is off fighting another Demon Lord? Or taking a crown from someone else?" Dinn chuckled but his eyes looked serious.
"I don't know… It's like the calm before a storm. Or that sensation you get when a large group of animals are fleeing a fire. I… It's hard to explain but if I had to put it to words it most feels like… The world itself is afraid." Sele winced at her own words thinking them crazy.
"Bah you mages and your talk of the world like it's alive." Dinn leaned back trying to act relaxed.
"If you had the skill to view the world as a whole like a proper mage you'd understand." Standing up Sele excused herself. "I just wanted to see if you've heard anything." Once she left Dinn called in his assistant.
"Double check on the Duke and his activities, make sure he isn't up to anything." Once his assistant bowed and left Dinn steepled his fingers thinking. 'Damn, we should have sent someone to keep an eye on that Sael after all. This annoying sensation like an itch I can't scratch must be what Sele is talking about. I don't know about this living world bull shit but something is definitely wrong…"
**********
Sael caught a spider and ripped it apart heedless of the ichor and gore it sprayed across him. "That's… the last one. Come on out and face me yourself. Or send me back where I came from, I need a shower!"
Shel stepped out of the darkness into the flickering light of his tiny globe of fire, barely a spark. Sael readied himself expecting any number of attacks. From poison to webs to even just a flurry of attacks from there multiple arms. Instead she just asked in that lispy voice "Why?"
"Why what? You attacked me ya dumb bug bitch. Now come here." He motioned for her to come hesitant to attack someone who's abilities he didn't know. 'I'm not just a meathead! Besides with my abilities limited I should be cautious.'
"You are just a disgusting human. You killed him. So, why you?" She rushed forward, lashing out with her six arms. Sael back pedaled abled to block them easier than he expected.
'Is she weaker than I thought?' With a scream of fury she lashed out with all six arms, even blocking he was thrown back to slam into an unseen wall. 'Nope… plenty strong.'
Again she rushed over flailing away. Her attacks were fast but lacked any technique or oddly enough even any killing intent. It was like a child throwing a temper tantrum and flailing away at a wall. Shrugging off her blows he struck her in the chest with a palm strike sending her skidding back. 'What is up with this thing?'
It made an odd choking sound that made Sael tense up expecting a poison spit attack but the sound continued without any attack. 'Is… is it crying?'
Slowly the sound died down and the creature stood back up. It's shoulders squared as if it found the resolve it had been missing. "You killed the one I loved. So, now you get to know my pain. Your little lovers are all dead. My pets tore them apart hours ago." It let out a hissing laugh. "How does it feel huma…."
Her words were cut off by the hand closing around her throat like a vice. Her body slammed against the wall hundreds of feet away from where she'd been. Her eight eyes stared into the human's terrifying face. His eyes glowed with frightful rage as a crown of twisting energy manifested. Beneath his grip the hard chitin around her neck cracked. "YOU ARE LYING!"
If her inhuman mouth could have smiled she would have. "They all screamed out your name while they died. Begging for you to save them." Her head bounced off the wall as he pulled her forward then slammed her back.
"LIAR!" He repeated the move several more times as the spider woman hung limply in his grip not even fighting back.
The chitin of her body was cracked and seeped ichor. Blood dripped from her mouth as the wall crumbled under the force of the blows. "Why? Why?"
"It… should.. have… been… me." Her words confused him enough to make him pause. In that moment he realized he still felt the bond with the girls, it felt muted but was still there. 'She's lying about them being dead… Wait, she said the one she loved…' He looked again at the monster in front of him and realized they weren't just a mindless beast. 'She isn't fighting back… does she want to die?'
"Kill me, that is how it should be. I've lost." Her pleading voice confirmed his suspicion.
"No." He still held her pinned to the wall not stupid enough to let such a dangerous monster free, yet.
Her eyes widened, all eight of them, before she lisped out. "Why not? I am your enemy. I murdered those you love. I deserve to die!"
"Because you are lying. And… because you are suffering because of me. I'm not sorry about killing the last demon lord. They attacked me. But it feels… wrong to kill you now."
"You… are sparing… one defeated?" Her voice quivered as she spoke.
"Yes." He tightened his grip on her neck making the chitin crack a bit more. "But if you ever attack me again or any of those I care about. I'll not hesitate to end you. Use this second chance. Go grieve and… I don't know find something other than attacking people to do."
Sael let her go while glancing around the darkness wondering if she would let him out or if there was an exit. Slumping down against the wall chitin cracked further before falling free from her body. As it fell from her face it revealed two normal looking eyes while the others shrank down to small colored dots. In a matter of moments Shel the Spider Queen was reduced to little more than a human woman as her powers left her. Around them the ground shook violently as the Shadow Hold began to collapse.
**********
Ara was exhausted after having flown at top speed the entire way back to Little Well. Still, she didn't slow down as she dived down to land at Beth's workshop. "Beth! Is Sael here?" She was just reaching for the doorknob when a scream stopped her.
"Ara! RUN GET SAEL!" Ara leapt back into the air barely avoiding the two men that rushed out of the shop.
"Damn it I told you we should have gagged her!"
"But then I can't enjoy her screams." Both men were armed as they looked up at the fairy seeming unworried as a muffled cry came from inside the shop.
"Yes little fairy runoff and find your master. Tell him to hurry back or we can't guarantee the safety of his other whore." One of them waved a bloody dagger in her direction. Ara started to dive down, to help her friend. But she saw the shadowy figure of more men in the doorway. Gritting her teeth so hard it felt as if her jaw was cracking she turned and flew away.
'Where are you Sael! We need you.'