Chapter 41: Modred

As the enemy ships got closer I realised something that made me very worried. The three ships were not of equal size. There was one large ship with two smaller escorts, the problem was the escorts looked about as big as the ship I was on. If the ship I’m on is House Orien’s flag ship then Regus is horribly outclassed at sea. We need to seal that Rift at Alvuan before the ships start bombarding the coastal cities…

Also I have a feeling if the demons fully conquer Alvuan they will launch a naval invasion of the mainland. Regus has an awfully large coast line… if the demons were smart they would land attacks at random points all across the coast, it would force Regus to give up entire sections of their territory in order to set up a feasible defence line. Even then the demons could concentrate an attack on a single point to make a breakthrough. The advantage of the defender is that they can fortify themselves, the advantage of the attackers however, is that they can choose when and where they attack.

Well this just means we need to win this fight no matter what…

I draw my bayonet and fix it to the tip of [Simuna’s Regards]. I had this blade modified by the smiths back at the capital so it could be attached as a bayonet. As I looked at the approaching demons I saw that the flyers were holding formation over the demon fleet. Looks like this will be a coordinated assault.

“FIRE!” I heard the captain roar and the ballistas fired a volley at maximum range.

I watched the long bolts fly through the air and they all splashed down into the water. No hits, well I doubted those giant crossbows were that accurate anyway.

“Range, 20 short, enemy 19 knots closing head on.” I heard a man shout. I turned to see a sailor looking through a spyglass at the demon fleet. I noticed that the Spyglass had magic runes etched on the side of it. It seems like it's some kind of magic artefact.

I saw another sailor waving flags at the ship behind us, I’m guessing they were communicating with them. I suppose just shouting would be ineffective here…

“Correct range plus 5, bearing plus 9, fire on my mark.” the captain said as he continued to observe the demon fleet through his spyglass.

“FIRE!” the captain roared and the ballistas fired again. This time the bolts flew slightly to the right and the bolts started to curve towards the demon ships as the wind pushed the bolts back on course.

I must admit the range of these Ballistas look pretty good, the ships are about 500 meters away and it looks like the bolts could reach them even if they were rather inaccurate. I turned my gaze to ballistas and saw the metal bow arms of the ballista had glowing runes engraved on them. So it looks like these ballistas were enchanted…

This time the bolts landed closer to target, most of them still missed but I saw one hit. I couldn’t really tell but I think it didn’t do much damage…

“Confirmed, armoured hull. Ammunition change, hammer head bolts, range plus 10, bearing no change, fire on my mark.” the captain commanded.

I watched as the sailors loaded a different kind of bolt. The previous bolts had heads that looked like spear tips and the body was mostly made of wood. The hammerhead bolts looked to be designed like blunt mace. The tips were much better armoured and overall judging by how much the sailors were struggling with them, they were a lot heavier.

The captain paused and did not give any orders to fire he just observed as the ships closed. I’m guessing these bolts had less range due to their weight…

The enemy ships were getting closer… 400 metres… 300 metres… 250 metres…

“FIRE!” the captain roared.

This time the bolts fired out on a much higher arc and the bolts curved downwards, diving down onto the demon ships. This time about half of them landed, they did some good damage. I saw one of the ships list slightly to the side from the hits and it started turning slightly off course before correcting back on their head long course.

“Range minus 3, bearing minus 3, fire when ready! ” the captain said as the sailor rushed to reload the ballistas

“READY!” I heard one of the ballista crews shout. They were soon echoed by the other five on the deck of the ship.

“FIRE!” the captain roared.

Again this time the bolts flew out. This time almost all of them hit the ships and to my delight I saw one of the ship’s mast start to tilt and collapse.

“Critical hit, main mast disabled... enemy ship dead in the water.” I heard the sailor with the spyglass say. Sure enough the ship with the broken mast began to slow down and it began to use what little momentum it had to start to turn to face us with their side…

I have a bad feeling about that…

Then the sides of the disabled ship flashed and I saw a wave of green bolts fly right at us.

“RELOAD!” the captain shouted completely unfazed by the incoming attack.

The bolts ended up mostly missing, except for one which hit one of the ballistas. There was a large green explosion as burning splinters flew out in all directions.

[Lux Vitae] Charlotte shouted and her while shield appeared on the side of the destroyed ballista blocking most of the shrapnel from spreading out.

“Nice one.” I said, Charlotte's fast reaction definitely mitigated a lot of the damage of that hit. The most dangerous part of explosions is not the blast, it is the shrapnel that gets blown in all directions.

“Range no change, bearing plus 5, focus fire on crippled ship. Fire when ready.” the captain shouted.

This time all the bolts flew at the ship that was firing at us, the heavy bolts mostly struck home this time. Then from the middle of the ship shot out a jet of green flame, I watched as the demonic ship went up like roman candle. I think one of the bolts probably hit some kind of ammunition store. Then there was a green flash, followed by an ear splitting blast. When my eyes refocused I saw the ship had exploded. Bits of flaming green wood rained down around the wreckage of the ship.

I guess it was much easier to hit a static target than a moving one, what’s more with its side facing us it was also a larger target. Then again if those ships all blow up like that, we can’t let these ships get close to us…

“Range minus 3, bearing minus 12, fire when ready. Do not let that ship get close!” the captain commanded.

As I surveyed the state of the ship I saw fire control teams trying to put out the green flames consuming the ballista. Some of the medics were dragging the injured below decks. The deck seemed to have taken some slight damage, I was honestly quite surprised at how durable this ship was. I didn’t think wood would be this resilient against explosions.

“This wood is pretty tough.” I say.

“This ship is made of Alven Oak. It’s a very resilient type of magical wood.” Ella said.

“I would have thought that you would be bothered by a ship made of your trees.” I replied.

“Alven Oak cannot be forcibly harvested, it is given by the treant protectors. I suspect this ship was constructed before the war with Regus.” Ella said.

“I see…” I said, well this ship is looking very good for being a hundred years old.

When I turned my gaze back to the demon ships I saw the flyers have now all broken off from the main fleet. The last wave was about a third of the flyers now the rest of them bearing down on us.

“Get ready.” I say as I raise my rifle and take aim.

Then another wave of bolts fired out towards the other light ship. Out of the corner of my eye I saw some of the bolts hit but it doesn’t look like they hit anything critical. I was getting worried, the demon ships could now fire on us but yet they were still charging. Did they plan to take us out with them with some kind of kamikaze attack?

“PROTECT THE BALLISTAS!” I heard the Captain shout. Yeah we definitely needed to try to sink those ships before they got too close…

I took aim and fired at the demons. Again those who could fired wave after wave of attacks at the incoming demons. By the time the demons reached us we had taken out barely a quarter of the demons. Then they descended on us, I slashed at a demon that swooped down on me. I swung my rifle with the bayonet at it’s tip using it as more spear than gun. Firing whatever shots I could in the chaos of the melee.

This was an unfavourable fight, I couldn’t use any of my grenades for fear of damaging the ship. I also had to conserve my stamina, I couldn’t just start using the [Scarlet Harvest] these demons were just sent to tire us out. I still had to deal with the ships if they tried to board us.

I estimated they would be right on top of us, in about fifteen minutes. In a pitched battle like this that was barely any time at all.

“FIRE!” I heard the captain shout again. The ballistas fired again, the Grey Eagles have formed a protective ring around the Ballistas. All the while the Bronze Bulls brawled with the demons on deck. Their battle cries echoing out across the deck.

I skewered another demon before opening the throat of another one. I shot one out of the air and bashed one onto the deck. I stepped down onto the one on the ground and drove my bayonet through it’s throat. I turned and saw Ivan had activated [Beryl Ambassador] giving him enough armor to ignore defence completely. The demons with their impish faces, bat-like wings and claws could do nothing against his armor of crystals. He savagely swung his warpick, catching the demons with every swing. The lucky ones died instantly, the less lucky ones were knocked onto deck, bones broken and organs ruptured. They screeched and twitched as life faded from their bodies. Jacob was getting creative with his [Concussive Wave] as he fired it up into the air. The wave that applies [Concussed V] could knock the demons out of the sky, leaving them dazed on the deck. Easy prey for anyone who crosses their path.

Ella was proving to be a capable combatant, it seems her aim was just as accurate at close quarters as she was at a distance. Not only that she was very agile and surprisingly strong, using kicks and dodges to fend off demons that got too close. Each of her kicks were always followed by a few more, her fighting style making her able to deliver strike after strike. It was almost like a dance similar in style to Momo’s casting style. She would kick one away and fire her bow at point blank range. Her shots were powerful enough to down a demon in a single hit.

Amethine was also getting a little creative, she used her new skill [Thorned Shackles] to tie up groups of enemies. Interestingly she wasn’t firing the [Lightning Spear] in her hand, she was instead using it as a type of melee weapon. She would bind demons and thrust at them with [Lightning Spear] in her hand. It was honestly a good tactic, considering there are so many demons and she doesn’t really have the speed nor strength to engage demons in direct melee.

Amethine, Momo and Charlotte were standing together covering each other. Jacob and Ivan were trying their best to be as big a target as possible. This for some reason was working. The demons seemed to be prioritising Ivan and Jacob… and well myself as well.

To be fair I was racking up as many kills as they were. It looks like the demons target those of a higher threat first. They don’t seem to be that intelligent, I’m guessing they can only receive basic commands from whatever is controlling them. My best guess is that the only command they received was to attack the ships. There were too many of them to all swarm down on the ship, so some of them were hovering above trying to swoop down and catch someone off guard.

As I cut down another demon before shooting another in the face. I silently thanked the fact that I now had the option to fight in my preferred melee style. I know how to fight with daggers but I am much better at fighting with a rifle and bayonet. That was afterall the style I used the most back in Sapporo.

I took a quick glance at the open sea and saw the demon ships were getting a little too close now… then I spotted the ship’s sails were held in place by ropes and I had an idea…

“Ella cover me.” I say as I begin fighting my way to the edge of the ship.

I sensed Ella move to watch my back as we fought our way to the edge of the ship. Once I reached the railing I knelt down and placed my rifle on the railing. I took aim at the top of the main sail. I calmed my breathing, held my breath and fired. My shot flew out and hit the rope, that was probably the best shot I ever landed. That was a 100 metre shot at a tiny moving target.

The sail shifted slightly at where the rope was cut, it looks like there were four more ropes holding the sail in place. I may not be able to drop the whole sail but from what I can tell the sails were only held in the right position by a few ropes. If I took those out I have a feeling the sail will start to drift erratically slowing the ship.

I fired again this time the sail started to tilt off slightly.

“Do you have an idea?” I heard Jacob shout from behind me. I turned to see my party were now positioned behind me screening me from the demons.

“Yeah, cover me.” I replied as I went back to aiming at the ropes.

Then I fired again, this time the sail veered dangerously to the side and I saw to my delight the ship started to turn erratically. The ship tried to correct the change but it was now struggling to stay on course and that meant its speed was now decreased.

I shot again this time the sails spun completely to the side pulling the ship to the side. The ship then turned as if giving up the prospect of closing the distance. I saw the larger ship turn as well and they faced us with their sides. At this distance I saw the demons onboard start to aim green cannons at us…

“Oh shit…” I muttered as the sides of the demonic ship flashed.

“DOWN!” I shouted at my party and I tackled Ella to the ground as I saw the rest of my party drop down immediately. At this point whenever I shouted “down” my party knew to hit the deck immediately.

I heard the roar of green fireballs as they roared overhead, then I felt the ship shudder as some of the fireballs struck home. I scrambled to my feet and saw another Ballista was now a burning wreck and I could see green flames licking the sides of the ship.

I did another examination of the ship and saw the flying demons were starting to get cleared out. Although it looks like they did manage to take out one of the Ballista crews. Another group of sailors were rushing to man them but now the ship was down to only half its firepower...

The enemy ships were about a hundred meters away and if I recall the mages don’t have the range to hit a target that far. Their maximum range only extended to about eighty meters. Well technically the [Spear] spells could hit targets up to about 120 metres away. But their accuracy was abysmal at that distance and I don’t think the [Spears] could do much against the hull of a ship. You would need something like a barrage of [Bolt] spells or something to damage the ship.

Then from the other ship flew a barrage of [Spear] spells the spells as I expected were horribly inaccurate. Most of the [Spears] either splashed down into the sea or flew over the ship with only about less than half even hitting the ship. Those that hit also only struck the sides of the ship and though some did kill a few demons on board it was far from an effective attack.

I could see the demons were preparing another barrage, this isn’t good…

“At last you are here…” Ella said with a sigh of relief.

“What?” I said as I turned to face her.

“Onaga Katsuro, may I humbly introduce my old friend… Modred.” Ella said with a smile.

The moment she said that I heard the sound of water splashing I snapped my head back towards the open sea and I gazed slack jawed at the sight of a serpent with a head larger than the ship I’m standing on. The demon ships fired a barrage but the serpent had moved between us and their ships, their attacks struck the serpents' hide and as far as I can tell it did next to no damage.

Then in a swift movement the serpent dived back down into the waves, the displaced water caused waves that rocked the entire ship. Then all was silent for a moment, but I knew this wasn’t the end…

From below the lighter ship the jaws of the serpent emerged and the serpent carried the ship in it’s jaws high up into the air. The jaws snapped shut and the ship exploded with the same green fire that consumed the first ship. The serpent was completely unfazed by the explosion, it roared a thundering cry that left my ears ringing. It eyed the remaining flag ship of the demon for a moment before opening it’s maw and dived right onto the demon’s ship. The ship just shattered as the jaws of the serpent closed around that doomed vessel. There was another green ball of fire as the ship was consumed by the explosion.

However from the cloud of fire a green bolt emerged, this one was large and it flew high up into the air and arced down towards our ship.

Oh no… please don’t let that explode…

The fireball landed but surprisingly it didn’t consume us in demon fire. Instead the ball of fire swirled in a sphere before just evaporating. From behind the flames emerged a lone figure, it was a tall humanoid about two meters tall. It wore a long coat and a sailors hat, in its hand it held a sabre that was alight with green flames.

Dark Hero…

I heard it say it in a dead rasping voice.

“What did it say?” Jacob asked as my party faced the figure. I could see the Grey Eagles and the Bronze Bulls slowly surrounding the figure. Jerome and Bovarian both had weapons drawn and stood in front of their men ready to pounce on the demon.

“Dark Hero.” I replied with a scowl as I took aim at the demon’s head.

At last we meet…

At last I can be FREE…

The demon finished with a roar and he lunged towards me.

[Chains of Conviction] [Thorned Shackles] I heard Charlotte and Amethine shout and the two sets of chains sprang out of the ground grabbing the demon and tying it down into the deck. The demon struggled against the chains but he couldn’t break free. The more he struggled the more Amethine’s black thorns bit into his flesh and black ichor leaked from the cuts.

Looks like this one is pretty weak…

“Weak little shit aren't you?” Bovarian said as he raised his sword but his arm was caught by Jerome. Bovarian to look at Jerome who turned his head in my direction.

I myself was already walking towards the demon, it looks like this one is no threat. At least not with it surrounded like this…

“Sorry boss, got a little excited.” Bovarian said with a laugh as he put his sword back down.

“Don’t worry about it.” I replied calmly as I arrived in front of the demon.

The demon looked to be a male human but with black tar like skin. His skin was cracked and I could see a green glow emanating from the cracks. His eyes glowed with the same green glow that all the demons shared and with each breath green mist blew out from his mouth. He also had a black matted beard and honestly he just looked like a demonic version of those pirates you see in the movies.

“Who are you?” I ask as I see if I can extract information. I never thought I would ever get the chance to interrogate a demon, I sure as hell was not going to waste this opportunity.

“Do not bother Dark Hero…” I heard a thundering and deep female voice say. I turn to see the serpent Modred’s head staring at me.

“He is but a puppet to the Queen of the outworld. A pitiful creature that thought to bargain with the Dark God for some paltry reward in his fleeting existence. That right there is the Dark God’s price…” Modred said as she nodded at the demon.

Foul serpent if you did not interfere...

I WOULD BE FREE!

The demon roared, black spittle flying from his mouth. I could hear the desperation and despair in his voice.

“Pathetic mewling creature, you think yourself worthy to prowl my waters without my consent? You overstep, demon…” Modred said with a snarl that caused the floor boards below me to tremble.

“You are not even worthy to guard the Rifts, you are a disposable pawn in the Queen’s machinations. Have you forgotten the way of the Dark? Nothing is constant, all is changing, harvest the worthy, discard the chaff… and you foul creature... are the chaff…” Modred replied, her voice dripping with contempt.

NO NO NO NO

I WAS PROMISED

10 000 YEARS I SERVED

THE DARK GOD PROMISED ME THE CHANCE TO BE FREE

The demon roared as he thrashed against the chains, his black blood dripping onto the floorboards as Amethine’s thorns cut deeper and deeper into his black flesh.

“Hahaha. FOOL, he promised you the chance, he never said anything about giving you the means to succeed. The Dark God always collects his due eventually.” Modred replied with a bestial laugh that shook the entire ship.

No it can’t be…

It can’t be…

IT CAN’T BE!

The demon roared, in denial. I let out a sigh and I calmly took the bayonet out of the rifle and sheathed it at my waist. I transformed [Simuna’s Regards] into [Van Hel’s Danse Macabre] and pressed the button on the side of my helmet, dropping my mask. I turned my head to look over my shoulder at the rest of my party.

“Amethine lose the thorns please.” I say calmly. Amethine’s eyes widened slightly in surprise and confusion.

“Ohhh…” Jacob said, realising what I’m about to do.

“You want some space?” Jacob asked.

“Would be good.” I replied.

“Alright Amethine cut the spell, everyone give him some space.” Jacob said as he began pulling the rest of my party back. Jerome and Bovarian gave each other a look before taking two steps back themselves. They weren’t the only ones, the entire encirclement all took a step back.

With that I walked right up to the raging frothing demon…

“SHUT UP!” I roared as I bashed him across the face with my pistol. I saw black teeth fly out and clatter onto the deck.

I snarled as I drove my boot into his gut and then I bashed him across the face again.

[Death is a Mercy] I growl as I shoot arcs of purple lightning at the demon, the demon screams as the lightning courses across the demon's body. His screams of agony echoed out across the open sea. Idly I noticed the entire encirclement took another step back in fear.

I ended the spell and I bashed him across the face once more. The demon’s black blood splattered onto my mask staining my vision. I reach down, grab the demon by the hair and I shove my face into his.

“You see this face, your life is over…” I growled and I could see the beginning of fear start to creep into his glowing eyes.

[Death is a Mercy] I hiss again and the demon shrieks again as the torment continues.

Then I stop and pistol whip him again. I grab him again by the hair and lock eyes with the demon’s wide terrified eyes.

“You are going to tell me everything you know about the demons. Or I am going to make your ten thousand years of hell feel like a vacation.” I growl as I shove his head back and give him another round of that torturous purple lightning.

This time I drove my boot into his gut. I am hitting him every time I end the lightning because it snaps him back to reality, the art of torture is dance on the edge of the victim’s sanity. Push too far and you get an incoherent gibbering mess, push too little and the victim resists. But if you can toe that line you can make someone tell you almost anything. At least that has been the case so far… I have a lot of experience with this, I was after all the resident interrogator for my platoon. Everyone cracks, eventually...

“Only when you tell me everything then I will release you to the beyond, only then will you have my permission to die…” I say as I shock him again to make sure he gets my point.

Then I hear Styx’s voice resound in my head, his voice began with a round of demented laughter…

YES

YES

YES

Ṃ̵̚Á̵̺̬K̵̲̘̬̒̋Ẽ̸̺ ̴̧̳̞̘̉͠H̵̦̩͙͒͐Į̷͇͈̈́M̷̜̒͑͒̑ ̸̩̳̫͉̫̺̊͐́F̸̛͎̬̪̩̫̃͜Ë̴̟͙͂A̵͈̞̥͔͎͠R̵̘̝̀̆

.̶̖̆.̷̮͛͊.̴̢̈́.̴̳̪̽͆.̸̮͋̈́Y̸̞͎͋Ö̶̮͖Ų̶̆ ̶̤͝A̴͖̓͠R̸̤̋̓Ë̴̬́ ̷̦͐W̸̦̺̊͑H̴̹͇̎͋Â̶̬͍T̵͙͓͆̾ ̴̞̥͊̽N̷̖̽I̵̯̓͜G̵̗͝H̴̬͊̄T̷͎̊͌M̶̰̗͊͊A̵̻͗R̷̯̻͒͝E̸͛͜S̵͉̾ ̸̖̫͑͌W̴̛̘̼͋I̵̱̾L̸͇͠L̴̩̥̈́̚ ̴͉́̒L̶͓̆̍Ḙ̵̈Ä̵̘R̵͙͍͂̎Ņ̵̼͒̒ ̶͎̍̚T̷̖͔̕Ơ̷̙͝ ̶̡̗̄F̴̝̠̉E̸̞̪̎Ä̷̤̉R̸͙̯̈.̷̠̍.̶͍͈̅̀.̵͖̍.̸̹̪̃.̵͉͐͜

HAHAHAHAHA

Styx roared in my head as his laughter echoed out in my mind. His voice betraying the fact he was in absolute rapture as he watched me torture this demon. His voice started to… glitch out at some parts… it sounded like he was talking from the end of a bad radio…

Well whatever, I can’t let up now, this demon was going to sing like canary soon...

“TALK! TALK AND I WILL LET YOU DIE!” I roared as I grabbed the demon again.

.̵̛̗͛̍͗͆̈̕.̸̨͍̦̪̟͎͇̄͆̏́̒̔́.̸̻́̇͐̓͂W̵͔̏̀̽̚͠H̶̺͍͛͋̕̚͝͝Ẏ̶̡͕̑̀ ̷̟̜̟̙̺̤̈À̶̧̭̯̟̖̼̈́́͊̈͋ͅR̶̜̦̱̰̳̥̣̐̾̿̿͝E̶̹̜͍͓̼̫̞̔̄̾̈̋͂͠ ̴̛̺͕͛͑̀͘Y̵̗͛Ọ̴̢̳̣̹̚U̸̻̰̗͔̓̋̋̎͝ ̴̛͍̳̙̰A̴̭͖̭͔̥̜̘͋̾̑͆͒̿L̶̡̢̦̺̖̗̘̊̅̍̇̎L̶̝̑̀̿̿͝͠ ̴̡̮͈̼̆̌͠͝͝H̴̞̣́͒̑͛͂Ę̵͕̔̅̿̑̓͝͝R̵̨̧͖̻͕̫̀̂E̸̹̠̞̘̜̘̼̅?̴͖̓͊̀͌͛̄̕.̶̛̹̱̠̤͇̜̎̈̿̈͜.̶̛̦̲͖͖́̾̍̈́̄̿͜.̴̮̲̬̬̗̘́͐

I roar and I see the demon’s eyes widen in fear. As I said this I realised my voice sounded weird there… I can’t really pin down what exactly was different but regardless that change seems to have given me just the push I needed…

Then I heard Styx’s voice sound in my head again...

Ah ah ah

He can’t tell you that…

He’s not allowed to…

At those words I saw the smiling red face of Styx appear before my eyes. I paused as I looked at his ever smirking face.

“What do you want?” I say coldly as I look at him.

Just making sure you don’t go off script…

Then I heard a cry of pain from the demon. I raised my hand and tried to swat Styx out of the way. He easily dodged and I saw the demon was shuddering. His green glow now blood red just like the glow of Styx’s eyes and mouth.

“No… you said…” the demon gasped out as his red eyes locked on not to me but to Styx’s smiling face.

You had your chance

Now you pay the final price

Remember the Dark God claims all...

Eventually…

Styx said with a final demented laugh as the red glow within the demon grew brighter and brighter. Then suddenly… it went out… and the demon crumbled to dust…

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” I shouted as Styx darted to the side and I whirled as I pointed my gun at his smiling face.

Like I said

Making sure you don’t go off script…

Styx said as he moved forward until the barrel was pointed right at the spot between his eyes. All I could feel was the raw anger in my gut and the sheer frustration of knowing that no matter what I do, what I choose, I’m dancing to the Dark God’s strings. Styx is a piece of a Dark God and that bastard is playing games with me…

His smile widened then he vanished in a puff of black smoke. With Styx gone he revealed Modred who was staring at me intently. She didn’t seem afraid of my gun at all, whether that was because she didn’t really know what guns were or if she knew I couldn’t damage her I don’t know.

I heard Styx again this time in my head.

Temper temper…

Styx said with a chuckle as his voice faded from my mind. I lowered my gun, my hand shaking with anger. It was then that I noticed my arms were wreathed in a black shadow like flames. The shadows were licking off my body like I was a flame. The surprise at the flames caused the flames to start to ebb, I turned around and I saw my party's eyes widen.

“Dude…” Jacob said as he raised his shield and showed me my reflection.

To say what I saw shocked me would be an understatement. The mask had changed, the fanged mouth seemed to have morphed to encase my mouth. When I opened my mouth the mouth moved as if it was part of my body, the metal folding and the pieces moving as if the mask had become part of my face. Not only that my eyes were not just glowing anymore, they were now blood red dancing flames burning from my eyes.

In panic I pressed the button on the side of my helmet and the mask folded away. Then I saw that the whites of my eyes had turned black and my irises now glowed red. My eyes looked just like Ella’s eyes with black veins radiating from my eye sockets. I blinked a few times trying to make sure my eyes were really like this. As I blinked I saw the black veins start to fade and my eyes returned to their normal white and black.

“What the hell…” I mutter as I look at my reflection, starting to feel really spooked.

“The Dark God spins many strings Light Hero. His strings bind the Dark Heroes more than any other.” Modred said from the side as we all turned to look at her.

“What does he want from me?” I ask as I look at Modred.

“He always wants the same thing, Dark Hero… although what it is I am not permitted to say. For I am bound just as you are.” Modred said as her eyes glowed red for a moment before fading back to its normal yellow serpent like irises.

With that Modred, sighed as she turned away from the ship. Then she spoke again…

The Gods are cruel Dark Hero

Weak or Strong

All are pawns

All are tested

Few pass...

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Divina Octo, Libera Nos…