I am surrounded. There has to be around six thousand soldiers, all at least Rank 3 Knights. I feel the comforting warmth of the golden flames surround me, as I begin to float above the ground, above the thousands of soldiers, above the person I couldn't save. Many have died today, and many more will soon follow.
Today, all would know my wrath.
Today, I am death.
Today, I am their end.
—
I am General Senex Ignem, leader of the 8th Division of the Acetaria Army. I was tasked by King Undra to protect a vital caravan and to help bring it to Gulshen's Grove, where our main forces reside. I am at the head of the group, leading three wagons through the Shuman Canyon. Two of the wagons have a stockpile of supplies that could feed an army, and the third has a large construction made of metal, I don't know what it is, and frankly, I don't care. All I know is that it is heavy enough to make two fully-grown Rapax strain with effort. With that thought in mind, I look at the duo of Rapax, they don't appear to be tired, but that wasn't a reliable conclusion. I stare into the creatures' blueish-purple eyes, and they show me all I need. The Rapax are very big and sturdy animals, they were made that way, and as a defense mechanism, they developed a way to make their body appear and act completely fine to discourage or outrun predators, to do this, they use their core to make the mind take the strain that the body should have endured.
A glance at the sky shows me that I have about an hour left to get my charges out of the ravine before nightfall. With my men on foot and the Rapax pulling the cargo, we could make it out if we don't encounter any surprises.
"Sir," a muffled voice came from behind.
The voice startles me, was I so deep in thought that I didn't even notice an armored soldier approach? Shaking my concerns off, I glance back to see who the voice came from, and what I see surprises me. An armored soldier was walking beside me at what had to be shoulder height, far too short for one of my men. My surprise deepens when I look into their eyes; they were a deep green with a hint of…pink? I try to regain my composure, why was I getting so flustered?
"Name and rank of Class," I say, trying to sound as professional as possible.
"Lieutenant Hydrus Fructus, Rank 3," the small soldier said, staring ahead, never looking at me.
"I see… and what did you need?" I ask, trying to keep the stoic and calm general persona, 'They're the same rank as me! How are they not a general?!'
"The Rapax are tired, and I came to ask for us to stop for the night," Hydrus said matter of factly as if this was the obvious decision.
"We need to reach the end of the canyon, then we will rest," I say as I look straight ahead, annoyed at the impudence. 'No, that wasn't fair, it wasn't impudence, they just didn't understand.'
"Yes sir," Hydrus replied blankly, falling behind me as we marched.
Hydrus wasn't pleased, I could tell, but we need to make progress. The breaks we've taken have added up and we are almost out of time. I have two days to get the caravan to Harmartia Province and passed them off to General Turban.
'Can she make up for the lost time?' I wonder, as me and the caravan continued our march.
-Senguis Ferrum-
I watch the caravan from above, there appears to be around sixty soldiers in total guarding three wagons with two Rapax per wagon. Over half of them were Rank 2 Fighters with the rest being rank 1. Compared to my one hundred rank 1s and thirty-five rank 2s, this might be moderately difficult. The only ones that might pose a threat to me are the two at the head.
'Two high-rank 2s in one place? The cargo must be important for two powerful worms to be guarding it,' I conclude as I motion for my men to block off the ravine.
"This is going to be fun," I say as a broad smile creeps up under my helmet-covered face.
-Senex Ignem-
"Sir!" I hear a voice from far behind me, "there's smoke, eleven-o-clock!"
I immediately look toward the sky, and yep there was the smoke, plain to see. I've been out of it today, I guess that's what you get without any restful sleep. Refocusing, I look back at the smoke, from the size of it alone, it came from a large fire. And the fire, based on the distance of the smoke, is around 200 meters away. I was going to yell back, but for a split second, a murderous intent washes over me, a quick glance at Hydrus show me they had felt the same thing. Thinking fast, I think of the best option I can for the moment.
"Tell them to stop and prepare the camp," I whisper to Hydrus, hoping they catch my meaning.
There is confusion and then realization in their eyes, and with a quick nod and salute, they're off, falling behind me and talking to the wagon drivers. I steady my breathing and pretend to just be tired. The smoke could wait, there is currently a more pressing issue. We are being followed and they aren't friendly, and if our ambushers are highly trained, we are royally screwed. Trying to stay in character, I walk as calmly as I can to the wagons and began to unload things as casually as possible, making it look like I was straining to lift a single crate. Hopefully, they don't attack anytime soon, I'd rather not fight in this position. Sixty men against an unknown number of enemies are not something I'd like to gamble on.
If they've been watching us, which I have to assume they have, to feel such a potent murderous intent, they would've expected us to continue through to the end of the canyon. Where they obviously had the majority of their men stationed, and where they expected us to end up. Due to our stopping, however, we have bought some precious time to prepare. Think Senex, think! What would they do next? Would they come at us swords-a-swinging? No, they would come at us when the majority are asleep. I have to make sure my men are prepared for this inevitable battle. Being a general sucks!
"Why does a life-threatening thing pop every time I have something that I need to do?" I wonder aloud, watching the stars starting to appear as twilight began, "This reminds me of a book I read once, 'The Chronicles of Stultus the Foolhardy' I think it was called. I hope I get the chance to read it again."
-Senguis Ferrum-
"Oh?" I say, mildly amused at what I see.
The caravan has stopped, are they tired? No, they wouldn't stop here, they would keep going until they reach the end of the canyon. Unless the leader was an idiot, someone felt my intent and they confirmed my suspicions of at least one Rank 3 Fighter in their midst.
"Well played," I say to myself, watching the worms set up their camp, "since a creature can't gauge the strength of anything that is of similar power as them they've forced me to assume that there is at least one rank 3, but there could be more, which is an issue."
Half of my forces are at the end of the ravine, which leaves me with fifty rank 1s and seventeen rank 2s. A change of plans is of order.
"We wait till nightfall, where my strength is at its greatest," I say to the rank 2 worm next to me, "then we will strike."
"Yes, my liege." the worm replied, scurrying off to relay my orders to the rest of its kind.
I could go and retrieve my soldiers from the end of the canyon, but where's the fun in that? Overwhelming them with numbers isn't fun at all, destroying their hope, on the other hand, is the one thing I relish.
"How many would satiate my hunger?" I wonder out loud as I watch the scuttling insects below, "Twenty? No, thirty would be plenty," I conclude as I stand up from my crouched position at the edge of the canyon.
It didn't matter how many I would kill, all that matters is that this caravan is destroyed, whether it be by me or some random natural event, I don't care. But I would prefer if I were the one to kill them all. I mean why wouldn't I? It's in everyone's nature to kill the insects underneath their boot, and I lust for that nature to take hold of me every day. Sadly I don't get that privilege, and besides, all I care about is fulfilling my mission and getting rewarded for my services, it doesn't matter how many worms die as long as I got my bloodshed.
-Bob Fractum-
"Any sign of the enemy?" General Senex asked me as we stood at the perimeter of the camp.
"No sir, just dust, shadows, and a whole lot of tension," I reply, glancing at the other soldiers that are stationed every 10 meters.
The general stood still, watching the precipice of the canyon, waiting for any unnatural movement. He was stroking his pointy beard, which is probably a nervous tick, and he also rested his right hand on his mace, prepared for battle. The general isn't the tallest in the caravan, at a solid 181cm, while I stood at 183 cm, and when he is in front of me, I can barely see what he is looking at, but when I see it, my eyes widen. There's a figure, cloaked in the shadow of twilight, crouched over a mound of, something, I can't make it out.
"Where's your buddy, Corporal?" the general asked me, his tone completely serious.
"He went to the bathroom, sir," I reply, afraid of where this was headed.
"How long has it been since he left?" the general asked, drawing his mace and positioning himself in between me and the figure.
"Far too long, sir," I reply, drawing my trusty whip and dagger.
"I see," the general said solemnly, "go and rouse the camp and prepare for battle."
"Yes sir," I say, saluting before running into the camp.
"I'm sorry…" the general said as I ran, as a noticeable shift in the air consumes the area behind me.
-Senguis Ferrum-
"Aw, my plaything died," I say with mock sadness, "I guess I'll have to make more."
The feeling came while I was climbing down the canyon wall, toward the pest-infested camp. The vampire spawn I had made from a wandering bug successfully killed another of its kind, but that's all it had managed to do. It was poetic in a way, a companion that you have traveled with for weeks and that you trusted with your life, takes yours with such voracity and malice.
'I hate poetry, it's far too complicated and filled with so many underlying meanings,' I think, glancing back at my escorts.
I have fifteen of my rank 2 insects behind me as well as twenty-five rank 1s, while the remaining worms went to attack the other side of the camp. "Don't put all of your Spiriti in one bucket" as my old master would have said. A shudder went through me, as the mere thought of that woman gave a visceral reaction to my undead body.
'I still have some weakness in me after all,' I think to myself as I lick up some wayward spittle, 'after this slaughter, though, I won't have to worry about such small things anymore.'
While I daydreamed about the battle to come, a small tremor shook the earth beneath me. My thoughts snap back to focus as I crouch down to prevent myself from stumbling. I can hear some shouting at the enemy camp, thankfully, my soldiers have gotten used to the unnatural earthquakes that have been happening for the last few months. Watching the lights move around frantically, I realize the opportunity.
"Now's your chance, attack swiftly, leave none alive!" I roar, as I watch the soldiers run past me, waving their weapons in the air.
Only twelve of the most experienced of my worms stay behind, watching the charging soldiers with grim expressions. I smirk at the sight. Their willingness to kill was going to be their downfall, and I would savor every drop of blood they spilled.
-Senex Ignem-
"We've got incoming!" I hear a perimeter guard yell on the other side of the camp.
"Defend from the enemy!" I yell as I begin to run through the camp.
While I was running, however, a larger tremor than the first shook the earth and I stumble, falling face-first into the dirt. Letting out a small groan, I get up and do a careful jog instead, ready to stop at any point. While I jog I see around thirteen sets of armor impaled by their own weapons.
'Forty-five left,' the somber thought breaches my mind, 'sixty, down to forty-five.'
When I made it to the front line, around thirty of my rank 2s built a shield wall, and it appeared that the earthquake have left the enemy in bad shape as well. There were around six bodies with one or two swords impaling them from behind. It appears that when the ground shook, the enemy was running, and they fell as I did moments ago, unlike me, however, they all had weapons in hand and those weapons were facing forward. The men in front were the most affected by the earthquake, there were five holding shields and one-handed spears, and they were covered in heavy plate mail. Their armor protected them from accidental backstabbing, but some did fall awkwardly on their spears snapping a majority of them.
'A shame,' the thought came while staring at the armored figures. They were prying their weapons out of the bodies, 'to get killed by your comrades in an event you couldn't control.'
"Advance," I say dryly, motioning to the shield wall, "end this sorry excuse of an ambush."
I watch pensively, seeing how the battle would go. Honestly, 'battle' isn't what I would call what I saw, 'slaughterhouse' or 'massacre' would be better terms. The quote-unquote ambushers barely knew how to fight, they were like children playing knights in their front yard while their stay-at-home mother and veteran father watched and ate some grilled Olor breasts!
"Sir," a familiar muffled voice spoke from behind me.
"Hello, Hydrus, what do you need?" I ask in a "completely unsurprised" voice, 'They're wearing a full set of metal armor, that and sneaking shouldn't correlate, but for Hydrus? They do.'
"It appears that this group was just a distraction for a stronger force to attack from behind," Hydrus said watching the last remaining enemy soldiers die.
"Alright, do you think they'll need help?" I ask Hydrus, already motioning for half of the shield wall to move to another side of the camp.
"It wouldn't be necessary, but it would help better the defense of our flank,' the little soldier said while watching the fifteen men jog off into the camp.
As we watch them jog away I feel a very faint intent from where the wannabe soldiers came from. I peer into the darkness and was only met with shadow. As much as I have trained my eyesight, I can't even begin to guess what was producing the intent. I glance around the canyon and notice that the deep shadow was…moving? Now that I noticed it, the movement was obvious, as it slowly began to swallow the bodies that litter the ground.
"Shields with me!" I yell franticly, hoping to the fallen gods that I am just overreacting.
The men don't hesitate and form in front of me, blocking the shadow off. Uncaring, the shadow continues to move until all the bodies are lost from sight. Then, as if an arrow had been released, it rapidly pulls back, dragging the bodies with it. I clench my fists, as I stare at what the shadows reveal as they fade away. I see a large knight draining a body's blood into their visor. The body doesn't drain evenly and covers the knight's helmet in crimson, as the knight throws the body down and grabs another. The knight continues to do this as if they don't even see us until all the dead are desecrated. Even then they don't acknowledge us, patting a tired-looking soldier on the head like a puppy. The silence is so loud as we watch this knight pat this fully-grown man on the head like a pet.
"Good boy, you served your purpose well," a female voice said from the blood-covered knight, "but you will be useless in the battle to come."
And just like that the soldier's head came flying toward us, lands, and rolls to a stop as it bumps into one of the shields. I was shaken. The words the knight spoke didn't sound like any creature I had personally met up with. It can't be a dwarf, it was far too tall, it can't be an elf, its limbs were way too big and bulky, and it couldn't be human, their pure uncaring, and quick execution were things a human couldn't pull off. I stare at the knight, looking deep into their visor, and the answer dawns on me. I begin to shake with fury, as I draw upon my mace and flail.
"A vampire," I say, the words coated in malice, as I walk in front of the shield wall.
"Sir, what are you doing?" Hydrus spoke to my right as if I were insane.
"That knight is a vampire. If we don't take every measure to kill it, it will overpower us and take the wagons," I say while looking over my shoulder at the nine Rank 2 Fighters forming a shield wall.
'We lost some,' the thought comes and goes as I continue.
"And you guys, forget the formation, claim an enemy and kill them, any accounts of mercy or pity will not be tolerated! Understood?"
"Yes sir!" they said in unison falling beside me.
I stare at the vampire, looking at those blood-red eyes, judging the thing that might be the last thing I see. I glance at Hydrus, they wielded a simple longsword, and they were strapping it to their right hand. I assume it's because of the earthquakes, but I might be wrong. I couldn't think about it anymore, I was too on edge. Steeling my nerves I begin to walk to the knight and Hydrus follows behind, then the fifteen shield-bearers follow. This would be the one battle that could determine who won this war, The Kingdom of Undra or the Obitus Empire.
"Charg-" my battle cry was cut off by a violent shaking of the earth.
The earthquake split the ground, leaving a massive fissure between the camp and us. The fissure is deep, very deep, you could just tell by how vast and empty it felt. A name for this feeling tried to form but was promptly forgotten.
"The earth isn't our friend, so we have to adapt and overcome," I mutter, quoting an ancient tome from around 46 N.M. as I again begin to walk forward, followed by my men.
The knight and their group also begin to walk, this walking turned into jogging and then grew into a full run. The distance began to shrink rapidly, and when the two groups were about to collide, I drew upon the energy of my core.
[Innate Ability: Limited Enhancement]
I feel a warm feeling leave my chest and drift down into my legs. The warmth fused with them and I felt their strength grow. In the middle of my stride, right before the collision, I push with all my might and lunge. Flail and mace in hand I swing down using the momentum I had built. With an unnatural swiftness and strength, the knight blocks, the ground cracking under their feet.
'Oh come on,' I think as the knight latches onto my forearm, which had the flail, and tried to fling me into the air.
Right before I was flung, however, I fiercely flick my wrist, and the chain of the flail wraps around the knight's arm. Using the knight as an anchor, I yank on the flail and violently halt my momentum. The knight, scoffing at me, grips the chain and pulls it from my grasp. As they pull the flail, it pulls me just enough to kick at their face with my enhanced legs. With a tilt of their head, they effortlessly dodge and wrap their arm around my extended leg.
"Quite the pickle you've gotten yourself into, worm," the knight said, their voice dripping with amusement.
"I hope this isn't all you hav-" the vampire's mocking was cut off by a loud clang as a sword was blocked by the vampire's flail-wrapped arm.
The knight's grip loosens at the quick movement and I manage to pull my leg out of the hold. I stumble a few steps and turn to face the enemy. Regaining my footing I feel the dwindling warmth rushes to my head as I assess the situation. The warmth floods my mind as everything slows to a crawl, making every thought three times as efficient. It appears that Hydrus had tried to attack the vampire knight from behind and had failed. They were now engaged in combat, and Hydrus wasn't fairing too well and was being pushed back toward the direction of the fissure.
I look around at the other skirmishes that played around me. The enemy is pushing my men to the limit, and some have fallen because of it. I have eight soldiers left, while the knight still had eleven. Something needed to change or their numbers were going to overwhelm us. With my dwindling warmth, I have around six more seconds of enhancement before I was completely out. To preserve what I still had, I guide the warmth to my core, and everything returns to normal speed. I break into a run at the first enemy I can see and catch them by surprise. With a powerful strike to the head, they are removed from combat, permanently.
"One down, ten to go," I say as I run toward another enemy soldier, "don't die on my Hydrus, just hold on."
-Senguis Ferrum-
'This one is tricky,' I observe as the worm and I exchanged blows.
This soldier is faster than the first, a lot faster. Every time I think I had landed a hit they had dodged at the last second, and struck out at my openings. I am barely able to dodge any of the attacks they make, if I was a human or elf this onslaught would have killed me, but I wasn't elf or human. I swing at the pest, and they dodge, but as they went in for a strike I grab their blade and shatter it. The worm was surely surprised, and I don't relent, the backhand I deliver launches the small human six meters. I smirk as they flew, watching them fall painfully to the ground.
'That must've broken some bones,' I muse as I dash over and grab the small soldier by the neck.
The human's helmet had been hit off, I wonder how that could've happened, and its right arm seemed to be limp. I lift the human by the neck to get a better look at its features. While the human's face was covered in blood, I can still make out some of its softer and rounder contours. Its hair was an evenly cut brown and it had strange green-pink eyes. This little soldier is a female, how surprising. I guess I should've guessed based on its size and strength alone. I bring its face close to mine and lick the fresh blood from a cut on its face.
"I'll enjoy you, a lot," I say to the worm, watching as it struggles in my grasp.
"Hydrus!" I hear a male voice yell to my left.
Turning my head, I see a creature completely covered in blood. It was running at me with such ferocity that at a glance I would've thought it was another vampire; but no, it was that rank 3 worm I almost killed. Dropping the female, I turn to face this pest. Too late do I realize that the bloody soldier had thrown something in the air. I quickly look up to see a spear hurtling toward my face. When I caught the spear with one hand, I see that the worm has come in close to swing a mace at my ribs. I move my arm to block the blow, knowing full well that it could handle any attack that this pest would throw out. To my surprise, the blow never came, instead, dust was launched into my eyes and blocked my vision. I try to use my battle sense to find the little bug, but to no prevail.
The soldier has guts, I had to give it that. To face a vampire without any hesitation was either extremely admirable or supremely idiotic. I search around as I rub the dust out of my eyes, looking for any incoming strikes. It was only then did I realize that the female was gone. Damn this undead body, making my senses dull just because I haven't eaten anything substantial in a few days.
"I was careless," I say aloud as I furiously search the battlefield, looking for any sign of those pests.
-Senex Ignem-
I'm tired, so so tired. I can't feel my legs, even when blood is draining from the many sword wounds I've gained in the last ten minutes. Carrying Hydrus around the edge of the fissure isn't helping either. They, no, she is so heavy, maybe it was the blood loss or it was the tiredness setting in, but it's getting harder every second to take the next few steps. I had managed to save all of my remaining men from the onslaught of enemies, but they were in bad shape, and we couldn't rely on them right now. I just need to find the smallest part of the fissure so I can jump across.
"Sir…" I heard Hydrus whisper out.
"What is it Hydrus, what do you need?" I asked her looking for a place to jump across.
"Sir, the fissure is too wide to jump, I checked when it first formed," she said to me as I slowed to a stop.
"Are you certain?" I asked, my hope dwindling.
"Yes, sir," she replied solemnly.
I dropped to my knees, dropped my mace, and layed Hydrus on the only place there wasn't blood. There was no hope of escaping from that monster; soon enough we would both get killed. I would die unable to save my kingdom and its people.
I failed King Undra.
I failed Corporal Fractum.
I failed Hydrus.
Kneeling there I se the shadow of an armored figure loom over me. I close my eyes and wait for death. To my surprise, however, I am violently shoved. I quickly open my eyes and see that Hydrus had gotten up and pushed me away from the figure, straight into the gaping crack in the earth. I begin to fall, and I hope for this fissure to be deceptively shallow or painlessly deep. Before the fissure swallowed me whole, however, I see Hydrus pick up my mace and get into a battle stance, as if she is going to actually fight that thing. She is either completely insane, or she wanted a die with honor. I couldn't blame her though, who would want to die lying down.
Oh right, me.
I continue to fall, the shadows of the crevice consuming whole. The falling lasted for what felt like hours. My body was completely limp, and my mind was numb. The only thing that kept me company, during my fall, was the warmth in my chest. Letting the last of the warmth strengthen me, I flip around in the air so that my back was to the sky. I would face death head-on. I have never had so little in my core before, I feel empty. The word for this feeling was on the tip of my tongue.
Then, it came to me.
"Vacuus," I spoke, the word visibly altering reality around me, however, it appeared that I wouldn't remember this word, this name; I would forget, as all things do.
I awaken.
I was no longer falling, I am, instead, laying at what I assume to be the bottom of the fissure. I look around confused. How in the world was I here? Did I black out? I had to have blacked out, there was no other explanation for me being here, and not remembering the entire fall.
"Greetings Senex Ignem, son of Vetus Ignem, you are trespassing on grounds that your kind has been forbidden from," a voice came from above me.
I strain my head up, and I can't believe what I see.
A golden flame, with the presence of a god.