Chapter 241 – The Evil Power of Katherine
Martha Riverclimb:
I had just eliminated a soldier when a deafening blast echoed from the fortress wall.
BOOM!
The sound reverberated, and what I saw left me speechless.
"It's down…" I murmured to myself.
The fortress gate had been obliterated by a light resembling a thunderbolt.
Young master… what have you done? You've put yourself in danger.
But we had to trust the plan, trust that it would work. Part of the problem was already solved; Nathan had caused a devastating breach in the wall. Lightning continued to erupt from that direction, accompanied by explosions. A spectacle of flashing lights illuminated the fortress interior as the mages on the walls were eliminated one by one. Overhead, a black cloud loomed, descending suddenly to engulf everything, turning the Wolves' fortress into a shrouded, ominous domain that concealed everything within. The army stationed inside was now trapped.
"Attention!" I shouted to the maids. "The young master has given us an opportunity! We no longer need to worry about the Shooter Mages or archers on the walls. Let's go all in!"
"Yes, ma'am!" they replied in unison as we advanced.
One of the maids sounded a horn, signaling my husband. In response, our soldiers emerged from the shadows of the forest.
The enemy army was heading our way.
"AHHHHHHH!" Their war cries echoed across the field. I saw men with shields, swords, axes, and spears. Some fired arrows. The enemy forces in the field were ready to collide with ours, while the soldiers and mages on the walls were supposed to bombard us with spells and arrows. But now, with the wall neutralized, that advantage was gone.
Nathan had trapped everyone inside a storm from the heavens, locking them within that ominous place. From a distance, I saw a soldier trying to escape, but as soon as parts of his body emerged from the black fog, a bolt of lightning struck him with brutal force, exploding him instantly. It was as if the darkness itself punished anyone who dared defy its unforgiving rules, making escape impossible.
"Charge!" my husband yelled, leading our soldiers forward.
There on the battlefield, we were about to face an army five times our size, but we were not mere farmers as they believed.
"For the Evenhart Duchy!" I cried, leading the maid-soldiers who followed me with their spears raised high.
"No survivors!" they shouted back.
Massive fireballs were hurled in our direction. Acting quickly, I planted the shaft of my spear into the ground and propelled myself into the air, generating a surge of water beneath my feet.
"Great Water Wave!" I shouted, as the giant wave swept away the enemies charging toward us. I saw barriers of wind rise to counter us, but we had already reached them.
Beside me, soldiers and maids fought with relentless fury. One soldier tried to attack me.
"You bitch!" he snarled, but I sidestepped and delivered a precise kick, using my spear for balance. He was thrown backward.
"One less!" I yelled as he clutched at the wound on his neck, blood gushing from his throat. Hidden in my boot was the blade I had triggered during the kick, now dripping with blood.
"A maid always carries knives for emergencies," I muttered before driving my spear into his face, silencing him forever.
Then, I turned to the next enemy.
Katherine Evenhart:
The battle was already in full swing, armies clashing, the sounds of magic and steel echoing across the battlefield. But my focus was locked on the Wolves' fortress, now shrouded in a black cloud, heavy with lightning roaring like wild beasts.
Nathan... my son... I thought, my heart heavy. He had been carrying an unbearable weight, the guilt over Chloe's condition consuming him. Seeing him like this, so engulfed in sorrow, was a torment even war couldn't erase.
A scream tore through the air, brutal and desperate:
"Ahhh, help!"
I turned to see an enemy soldier suspended in midair, his legs kicking the void as roots burst forth from his body, snaking into his mouth and nostrils. The plant snakes, one of my darkest creations, worked quickly, carrying special seeds that would soon germinate inside him.
"Silence, trash," I muttered coldly, watching with cruel satisfaction as his body convulsed. The man's scream became a muffled gurgle, and his stomach began to grotesquely swell. Then, CRACK! a sickening sound echoed as his skin split apart, and small, fleshy, grotesque creatures began to emerge, devouring him from within to grow.
"Come on, my babies," I whispered, observing the birth of my carnivorous plants. Nurtured with a macabre precision, these creatures transformed their hosts into something far more useful for my cause.
Around me, more men began to scream in agony, writhing as roots and tendrils ripped through their flesh. Their bodies were violently reshaped, deformed into living vessels for my creations. Parts of their heads exploded into grotesque cavities, from which new sprouts emerged, growing frantically and writhing in the air.
"Ahhhh!" another soldier collapsed to his knees as his eyes rolled back and his veins filled with pulsating vines. His limbs twisted and contorted, his insides consumed by the rapidly germinating seeds.
I strode across the battlefield with the calm of someone who had already decided the fate of everyone there. Cries of terror and pleas for mercy echoed around me, but they were like music to my ears. The ground became a grotesque carpet of carnivorous flowers and pulsating tendrils, each born from the bodies of those who dared to face me. The larger war felt distant, but in this hellish patch of earth, I was the undisputed queen.
Suddenly, five men charged at me. Four soldiers in gleaming armor and a mage in their midst, wielding a staff radiating cold magic.
"Who are you?" one of them shouted, pointing his sword with determination. The archers accompanying him drew their arrows, aiming directly at me. The mage began casting, transforming spheres of water into sharp, gleaming ice arrows.
"Help me!" a desperate cry from one of the men ensnared by my roots broke the silence.
They didn't wait. The arrows flew, and shards of ice cut through the air, all aimed at me. But before they could hit, one of the soldiers I had transformed threw himself in front, taking the blows meant for his creator.
"What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" one of the knights shouted, bewildered.
The transformed soldier growled, rising with effort as tentacles burst from his deformed armor, pulsating with a life of their own. He turned to the archers, his body contorting in obedience to my will.
"Attack them!" I commanded.
Like grotesque marionettes, the other soldiers, still groaning in pain, rose and charged at the men they once called allies.
"We're your allies!" one of them screamed, desperate. "What are you doing?"
The mage continued casting his spell, a freezing mist beginning to envelop the field. I raised my hand, and thick roots erupted from the ground like hungry serpents. They surged forward, shoving the mage back and breaking his concentration. One of the shield-bearing soldiers stepped forward, swinging his sword at the roots, but I had already turned the terrain into my weapon.
A dull thud shattered the chaos. From a distance, I saw a knight on horseback emerge, swinging a massive mace. He charged toward the mage and, with a brutal strike, crushed the man's head in a single blow. The mage collapsed to the ground, and the horse reared, trampling the body into a pulp of flesh and ice.
The knight turned to face me, his grotesque head hosting a carnivorous plant that sprouted from a gaping hole in his skull.
"Kill them!" I commanded, and more transformed soldiers appeared, riding horses.
The battlefield descended into utter collapse. The enemy soldiers tried to flee, but my grotesque army surrounded them. Archers fired frantically, but their arrows were useless against the infested bodies. Those who attempted to run were dragged down by soldiers with tentacles and plants sprouting from their flesh.
"Stop! Whose side are you on? Traitors!" one soldier yelled, trying desperately to resist.
One of my transformed soldiers approached him, holding a writhing plant-snake in his hands. The creature was forced into the man's mouth, and he began to scream in sheer terror. The snake squirmed as it slithered down his throat, seeking his stomach.
One by one, the soldiers were captured. The plant-snakes invaded their bodies through their mouths and nostrils. Their agonized screams blended with the grotesque sound of flesh tearing from within.
CRACK! SPLAT! The sickening sounds of stomachs bursting echoed across the battlefield. Grotesque plants emerged, their bloodied sprouts turning the soldiers' bodies into deformed cocoons.
Screams, the crunch of bones breaking, and the wet explosions of flesh formed the macabre symphony accompanying the birth of my creations. The battlefield no longer belonged to them. It was my domain, and I was just getting started.
"You dared to harm my son!" I hissed, my voice dripping with venom. "Remember this as these creatures devour every organ inside you to grow stronger."
I left them behind, letting the sprouts continue to emerge, converting more bodies into soldiers under my control. The carnage was absolute, and my vengeance had only begun.
Margaery Evenhart:
I was drained after conjuring so much fog. The snow spell was designed to cover vast areas, typically used by Builder Mages, but it had its advantages in warfare. By creating this snowy mist, I deprived our enemies of visibility while my maids exploited the chaos to eliminate key soldiers. My plan was to maintain the fog throughout the battle, limiting the enemy's vision and making the magical attacks from the walls far less accurate. They could launch their spells or arrows, but never with certainty of hitting their targets.
Additionally, I had layered an icy barrier above the mist to neutralize much of the destructive power of any fire magic aimed at us from above.
However, my nephew had already handled much of the problem when his storm engulfed the fortress, neutralizing the mages stationed on the walls.
"Nathan…" I murmured, a mix of worry and exhaustion weighing on me. "When you make it out of this alive, we are going to have a serious talk."
I turned my attention back to the battle. "Let's move!" I commanded the maids guarding me in the forest.
By now, Katie was surely creating her plant soldiers. Her spell was so horrifying that it would likely be deemed a crime against humanity if the kingdom's authorities ever discovered it.
"No one told them to harm our children," I muttered as I stepped toward the battlefield.
Such is the power of a banished spell.
Unfortunately, those plants have a short lifespan outside the soil and will wither within a few hours, consuming the bodies they inhabit and manipulating them like puppets. A devastating, yet temporary weapon.
As I emerged from the forest, the chaos of the battle unfolded before me, men in a frenzied struggle for survival. In the distance, I saw Lionel wielding his massive sword with precision, single-handedly taking on a squad of soldiers. He was focused, each swing of his blade felling multiple foes.
"I want to have some fun too," I muttered, feeling a surge of excitement.
I pulled a familiar chain from my storage bracelet. With a swift motion, I encased the chain in a sheath of ice, transforming it into a deadly aquatic whip. Water flowed along the length of the chain, perfectly controlled by me, ready to ensnare and annihilate any enemy foolish enough to come near.
When the whip struck a foe, the hellish enchantment within it would activate, unleashing unbearable pain as the water crushed them. The chain shimmered under the gray light of the battlefield, eager to do its work.
"Let's see how much you can endure..." I whispered, stepping into the fray.
The whip cracked through the air, the first screams of agony piercing the chaos. I had returned to the battlefield as the Witch of Torture.