Vordia sent Adrani ahead towards Voldrak, leaving his guards behind as he scouted for the tallest tree in the forest, one that would give him a good vantage point. Once he found the perfect spot, he climbed up, positioning himself to see all he needed to. Although he couldn't make out the faces from such a distance, Voldrak's signature black attire helped him pinpoint his target as Adrani drew closer to him.
His blood boiled when he saw her drop to her knees before someone approached her, but he wasn't entirely surprised.
"The fool!" Vordia chuckled under his breath, watching the pitiful scene unfold. It was almost laughable that Adrani would betray him, considering the torment he had put her through—a carefully crafted suffering, meant to leave her with scars she could never erase. He shook his head, grinning at the thought of what was to come.
'I would've liked to parade her as my prize before the others,' he mused, a sneer curling his lips. 'But this will do.'
Vordia was confident. Weakening Voldrak enough to kill him and absorb his energy would be more than enough to prove he was the strongest. He whispered the incantation under his breath, words he knew by heart—Viaris Dumblitin Vamina Omphali. It was a ritual he had performed multiple times, its steps burned into his memory.
"Blood feeds blood," he murmured as he focused his internal energy into his eyes, hoping to improve his sight. Unfortunately, it only granted a marginally better view, but it was enough. He waited, eyes locked on the scene below, until he confirmed it was Voldrak standing before Adrani. His anticipation grew, a deep, manic laughter bubbling up from within him as Adrani knelt in submission, ready to betray him.
Without hesitation, Vordia activated the switch he had placed within her—a trap meant to make her energy run wild and explode, killing Voldrak along with her. The fool had no idea she was nothing more than a ticking bomb.
'I'm going to become the strongest, the ruler—no, the king!' He could already see himself merging the clans, bending them all under his control. He laughed quietly to himself, imagining his inevitable rise to power.
"This is too easy," he muttered, but his words died in his throat as something unexpected happened. His smug smile faltered, his body freezing in shock.
He leaned too heavily on the branch, causing it to snap, and he tumbled down, barely managing to catch himself by extending his nails into the trunk of the tree. His heart raced, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he slid down, realizing with growing horror that his plan had failed. He didn't know how, but he had failed.
For the first time, fear crossed his face. A fleeting, subtle emotion, but it was there.
'I need to meet Seraphi and Loibart!' he thought, scrambling through the forest toward his camp. His mind raced. He had to leave immediately if he wanted to stay unnoticed. But what was the best move? Should he go with his men? Or launch an attack now?
"No," he muttered, panic rising in his chest. "I can't risk my life like that." The safest route was to bring the remaining two clans into his plan. They would arrive quickly, and he would send a raven to summon them.
"I'll send two ravens!" he decided, pushing himself to move faster, his mind settling as he regained control of his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Voldrak stood before Adrani, watching her drop to her knees, her left arm nothing but a badly bandaged stump. She knelt in the dirt before him, a broken shell of the woman she had once been.
'She doesn't even realize what's happening,' Voldrak mused, sensing the dormant explosion inside her that Vordia had planted. He raised his hand, wrapping her in just enough dark energy to prevent Vordia from triggering his plan.
"Please," Adrani's voice was hoarse, tears streaking her face. "If you help me, I swear I'll kill Vordia for you!" Her desperation ran deep, her plea coming from the darkest corners of her soul.
Voldrak looked down at her, unimpressed. "I can kill Vordia myself," he said coldly. "You're nothing more than a pawn. You'll switch sides the moment it benefits you." He then proceeded to tell her how Vordia intended to blow her up, and that he was the only reason it hadn't already happened.
Adrani didn't seem surprised, which was exactly what Voldrak had expected. She must have felt something was off. But then, to his surprise, she lowered herself further, pressing her forehead into the dirt.
"Use me," she whispered, "to blow him up instead."
Voldrak paused, considering her offer. He could end her life right now with a single swipe of his blade, but something held him back—the system notification he had seen earlier.
Tier One—Requirements:
There's nothing like a quick blow job on the field where corpses are being slain.It can be a man, a woman, a tree??? The more perverse, the better the results!
Rewards:
Energy refilled 100%
Failure if chosen: Permanent loss of dark energy (30%)
Tier one was ridiculous, something he would never do, but using an enemy like Adrani could be a last resort. He still had Flonda's cleansing powder in case things went wrong, so he couldn't completely discard the option.
System Task:
Find the female clan leader: Take her as a slave and drain every bit of her essence in the middle of the clan.Reward:Dark energy increased by 100%Mind control ability (5%)
"You'll stay alive... for now," Voldrak finally said, stepping aside to order one of his family heads to send scouts into the forest. Vordia's failed plan should have pushed him to attack, but the fact that there was no movement on the other side meant Vordia was likely planning something far worse. Voldrak needed to know what it was.
As time crawled by and the sun broke through the clouds, Voldrak grew impatient. His scouts had returned with the report that Vordia's army was merely standing by, not making any moves. Curiosity tugged at him, and on a whim, Voldrak considered going out to investigate personally.
But before he could act, the air in front of him shimmered with heat. His eyes narrowed as two figures appeared, stepping out of thin air. A woman in blue robes, her long black hair trailing down to her waist, stood next to a slender man. Her shoulders were bare, and her robe dipped low, revealing more of her chest than was proper. Both of them hovered mid-air as if it were solid ground.
The woman smiled, speaking first. "You don't look like much," she said softly, amusement dancing at the corners of her lips as she floated closer. Voldrak's gaze darkened. Could he do what they were doing—stand in the air like that? No, he couldn't. The realization only made him angrier.
"You must be Loibart and Seraphi, the last two remaining clan leaders," Voldrak said, his tone hard.
"Last I checked, Vordia and Adrani are still alive," Loibart corrected, a sneer flashing across his face as his gaze landed on Adrani. She flinched, but didn't dare raise her head.
"Not for long," Voldrak shot back, tilting his head in challenge. Seraphi laughed, a light sound, though something about her laughter unsettled Voldrak deeply.
"I like you," she said, covering her mouth delicately with her slender fingers. "It's been centuries since we've had some real fun."
Voldrak's eyes narrowed further. Seraphi was more dangerous than she let on. He could feel it in the way Loibart remained silent, in how Adrani kept her head bowed in her presence. Something about Seraphi's power sent a shiver through him.
"I wanted to see you myself when Vordia mentioned his troubles. I thought I'd give you a little gift. Entertain me well, and I might let you serve me before you die," Seraphi said with a soft, ancient tone that made Voldrak's muscles tense. Just as he was about to retort, the air around him shifted violently.
A colossal force weighed down on him like a tidal wave, and in the sky above, he saw it—a massive boulder, larger than anything he had ever seen, plummeting from the heavens. It was as though the sky itself was crashing down on him and his entire army.
Dark energy surged from Voldrak's body as he tried to spread it over his men, but the speed of the falling boulder made his efforts futile. His heart raced as pain pounded in his skull, his body drenched in darkness as he shielded those closest to him.
The ground beneath him shook with a deafening crash, and for a brief, terrible moment, Voldrak heard everything... then nothing.