CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO: WHO LET THE DOGS OUT

After Gabriel recounted the events of his side of the ambush, including his order of using the ballista. Gabriel was actually quite worried about getting in trouble, because of his orders that led to [Maximus] using the ballista, but Sergeant Brutus waved it off. Heaving a sigh of relief, Gabriel continued his recounting. Gabriel did have a right to be worried though, each bolt for the ballista was made with the best of the materials and required a very special type of Mage class to store a spell in them. They were known as [Spell-Weavers], they were not only few in number but their services were very expensive. It would be over a year before a Player was lucky enough to find out the requirements to receive that class, the Player then sold the information to the Guilds. Once did, no Guild could do without at least a couple of their members being a [Spell Weaver].

Gabriel soon finished his story and stood at attention.

“Good... very good. I will remember this and make sure it is counted when it is time to hand out rewards.” Sergeant Brutus said.

“Thank you, sir.” Gabriel replied, no change happened on his face but on the inside, he was dancing.

“No need for thanks. Punishments and rewards need to both be given out when needed. Now I need to organize a scouting tea...” Sergeant Brutus explained before he was interrupted by the returning Draka.

“Captain! I checked the remaining Vineyard and there is no Demons hiding in ambush under the soil, or in the immediate vicinity.” Draka reported.

Sergeant Brutus gave Draka a look of surprise before looking over to Gabriel with a rueful smile.

“Nice one [Osiris]. Glad to see your thinking ahead. Alright. with this scout's words. I am contented.” Sergeant Brutus said before turning to the remaining soldiers and addressing everyone, “Alright! This isn’t a picnic, get your lazy asses up and back into formation. Double time! Move it!” Sergeant Brutus roared; his very voice shook the ground.

The surrounding soldiers all froze for a moment before breaking out in a clamor. The Squad Captains quickly gathered their men and put them back into the neat column that they once started as. Gabriel looked over the now assembled Imperium Army and could tell by the gaps in the arranged squads, that over fifty soldiers had died from the ambush. Gabriel also peered behind him and saw the members of the supply division had also finished looting the corpses of the demons. [Maximus] with his artillery squad was also a part of them, locking gazes, Gabriel gave [Maximus] a large thumbs up and received one in return.

“Alright. Move out!” Sergeant Brutus ordered from near the front.

The small army set off once again, majority of the soldiers gazed nervously between the vineyard's rows of grapevines. Finally clearing the rot filled vineyard, Gabriel could hear small sighs of relief from the surround soldiers. It was only a short fifteen-minute walk up the hill before the army reached the village. Sergeant Brutus called a halt and sent off small teams of scouts to search the village. They reported that, beside the only two story building down at the end of the rows of derelict buildings, every other place was abandoned. Sergeant Brutus peered at the half-lit state of the Inn of this town for a moment, before calling for a resume march into the village.

The soldiers making their way through the run-down village, were full of nervous energy and were hundred times more vigilant than they were previously. Their gazes drifted to every shadow and tried to peer into every house from a far. Which was luckily quite easy, due to their rundown state, majority had no doors or smashed in windows. The wind swept through the village, making the remaining broken shutters and swinging doors bang and shudder. It only added to the creepy feeling, of the stale village the troops were marching through.

“Captain. I don’t like this. This whole village has an eerie feeling and an odd smell.” Draka said, when he walked up to Gabriel.

“A smell? What do you mean, this whole land smells like death and decay.” Gabriel asked, giving him a puzzled look.

“I don’t know. Like a rotten egg kind of smell. Maybe I am just being jumpy after the ambush, but the smell does feel like it’s getting stronger though.” Draka replied, as he continued to sniff the air.

“Rotten eggs? Well, just keep your eyes peeled, these Witches are full of tricks, as they don’t really have any front fighter besides their demo... wait, Demons. Rotten eggs...” Gabriel trailed off and started muttering to himself.

To Draka ears, it appeared that Gabriel was going through a memorized list of different sorts of Demons.

“[Calter Demon]…. No, no. They smell like fish when summoned... [Gargled Demon]..no...the smell is closer to dog shit... dog... oh Fuck! HELL HOUNDS!” Gabriel finished his muttering with a roar directed to everyone.

Almost in response to his roar, the sound of loud, haunting howls could be heard coming from every direction.

“Awoooooooo!!” Loud howls were accompanied by the sound of heavy thumping, like a cavalry charge.

“Form up!! Form up! I want everyone in a squad formation now. Artillery in the middle, one facing each cardinal direction. [Osiris]! Bring your men to me now.” Sergeant Brutus ordered quickly, showing his experience and calm headedness.

While the rest of soldiers were quickly making shield walls, Gabriel ran to the front of the column with his squad, appearing at attention in front of Sergeant Brutus.

“[Osiris]. Do you see that Inn over there?” Sergeant Brutus asked, while pointing to the half lit two story building.

“Yes sir” Gabriel replied.

“I can feel a couple of sinister presences in there. I guarantee that is where the [Demonologists] are. They can’t be too far from their summons. It’s the only place that makes sense. However, with the fact that the place is lit up, they clearly don’t have any issues announcing their presence. Do you believe you have the strength to go in there and sweep it out?” Sergeant Brutus calmly asked, with hands behind his back as he surveyed the arranging soldiers.

The soldiers surrounding the area were all wide eyed and in a heightened state but if one looked to Gabriel and Sergeant Brutus. All they would see is two people without a flicker of emotion, standing straight and talking calmly as if they were on a stroll through Roma.

“Yes Sir. Leave the task to me and my men. We will return shortly.” Gabriel replied confidently with a salute.

“Come on lads. Someone at the Inn is inviting us over, it would be rude if we kept them waiting.” Gabriel remarked, as he waved to his squad.

The squad took off running, following Gabriel as they headed to the end of the village. Sergeant Brutus watched them off with a small smile before his face turned back to stone and he started barking orders at the soldiers not yet in position. The first [Hell Hound] could be seen coming around the back of one of the houses. It was almost entirely pitch black and would be hard to notice if it was dark. The only change of colour on the beast was when it opened its jaw, the insides of its mouth didn’t contain a small furnace of fire. Licks of flames escaped past the thick fangs protruding out of its mouth and every breath caused a puff of flames to escape. The creature looked similar to a pit bull but was three times the size. Reaching up to the waist of an adult human. Behind the first [Hell Hound] came another, then another. Soon what followed from all directions was a tide of howling and barking beasts from the underworld. Appearing like a dark wave of black and red, preparing to slam against a wave break that was the shield wall of the Imperium soldiers.

“Hold...Stand ready! Watch for the mutt’s [Leap], don’t let them get over your head!” Sergeant Brutus bellowed.

The wave of fire breathing hounds slammed into the shield wall with great momentum. Sending a couple of the unprepared soldiers falling on their backs.

One soldier was slammed back, the [Hell Hound] that leapt on his shield following with him. Its head peeking over the top of shield trying to bite at the soldier's face. Sending the soldier screaming in fear and trying with all his might to push the mass of muscle on top of him. Just when the teeth were mere inches from the soldier's face and the breath filled with flames were burning the whiskers off his chin. The dog couldn’t press down any further, almost like an invisible wall had appeared in front of the downed soldier's face. With a ‘Yelp!’ the hound was suddenly airborne and sent flying over the shield wall, to eventually land with a heavy bone breaking thud. The soldier looked up with terror filled eyes and saw Sergeant Brutus dusting his hands off. Before the Sergeant reached down and forcefully pulled the soldier back to his feet.

“Get back in line ya fool!! If you fall over again, you won’t have to worry about a [Hell Hound] biting your face off, because I will!” Sergeant Brutus berated, as he gave the soldier a swift kick in the ass to get him moving.

Sergeant Brutus swept his eyes over the innumerable waves of [Hell Hounds] and sighed to himself. A hint of worry flashed across his eyes when he looked in the direction of the inn, but was gone in an instant as he surveyed the endless waves of beasts approaching his position.

“God damn, I think we severely misinterpreted the strength of this Coven. I hope that boy can get rid of those summoners soon.” Sergeant Brutus mumbled to himself, as he looked back over to see Gabriel’s squad entering the front doors of the run-down inn.

As Gabriel and his squad entered the Inn, they were met with the foul stench of blood and a sight that stole their breath.

“I guess we know where all the villagers are now.” Rolo mumbled, breaking the heart wrenching silence that had swept the squad.

Long rattling chains hanged down from the roof of the Inn. They made ‘chink chink’ noises every few moments, which seemed to be the appropriate background music to the horror show that was on display in front of them. The chains ended in a large serrated hook, upon those hooks were the villagers. Their bodies were nothing but skin and bones, looking to have been drained of all blood. Bugs of all kind crawled all over them, either eating the little pieces of material that were the remainder of clothes or the cold flesh of the deceased. Large slices could be found on all of the corpses, going from their belly button to the start of their throat. One could see inside their chest cavities and it appeared to be hollowed out. A couple of the squad members avoided their eyes from the sight and dry wretched.

“Why... Why did they do this Captain?” One of the squad members asked Gabriel in a horrified and shaky voice.

“It’s for their rituals, most Wiccan Witches you should know are nothing like the ones we are facing here. The ones here have been corrupted down to their core; they have mixed their Wiccan practices with the demonic arts of the Underworld to create something deeply disturbing. The Wiccan usually use animal bones and organs for their rituals but show complete respect to the animals they sacrifice. These twisted bitches we are facing follow the Demon practice, where the Demons want the soul or life force of intelligent creatures in its entirety and the more painful the death, the stronger the ritual. These Witches have combined the two. It is the reason that they can harness enough power for so many summons. However, I believe once we look inside the manor, we will see similar scenes and I believe it will not be just for summoning Demons.” Gabriel explained, the soft and calm cadence of his voice seemed to settle the slightly shaking soldiers.

“Captain. I hear the soft whispering above us, it sounds like chanting.” Grendel said unexpectedly.

Grendel appeared to be the only one besides Gabriel who hadn’t lost their situational awareness from the scene before their eyes. With her large tower shield in front, she began to roughly push though the hanging bodies, making her way to the stairs. The sights didn’t appear to have effected Grendel much at all. Gabriel followed behind her a moment after, khopesh equipped and held low to his side, he used his free hand to push the bodies aside like a curtain. The soldiers all looked at each other before gulping and with pale faces, began to make their way through the macabre forest of hanging bodies. Trying their best not to directly touch them to much but failing as there was not much of a gap between them. Once everyone arrived at the set of stairs leading to the second floor, Gabriel ordered two sour faced soldiers to go back to the entrance and keep guard, as well as leaving two at the bottom of the stairs so no one sneaks up behind him. With the remaining eighteen, Gabriel made his way up the stairs and entered a corridor with four hard wood doors on either side, with one more intricately carved door at the very end.

“Alright, we will split up into four groups, we need to finish this quickly and all of us clogging up one room will only incur more danger. Rolo, you take four and take the left two doors, Grendel you take four and go the first on the right, it should be the wash room. Richard, you take another four and take the second on the right, whoever finishes first heads to Rolo’s side and helps with his second room. We need to finish this quick but don’t be so hasty you forget about protecting yourself. Got it?” Gabriel issued out commands in a whisper.

Everyone nodded in acknowledgment and gathered their men in front of their respective doors. Gabriel took five soldiers including Draka and heading to the last door at the end of the corridor. The loudest of the chanting whispers could be heard coming from this door, hence why Gabriel chose it. He could also almost sense an air of danger seeping out of the door and didn’t want his troops who could not revive like him to perish. Gabriel checked the door knob first and appeared unlocked, he then looked back at the other squads at their respective doors and received nods from all the leaders. Turning back to his half rotten door, Gabriel took a deep breath before he opened it with a bang and rushed in.

“Here’s Johnny! Hahah... Oh shit.” Gabriel yelled with a chuckle when he entered the room, before it was cut off abruptly by the sight of the figure standing in the middle of the room, its feet on top of a summoning hexagram.

A true mountain of a man stood before Gabriel and his party. The very air that surrounded the creature reeked of blood and sulphur. The creature was covered head to toe in black armour, that held a great many numbers of spikes. The pauldrons alone had four large spikes a foot in height. The armour reminded Gabriel of the armour the guards of Braxen in his previous life use to wear. The creature was a [Death Knight]. A very powerful creature to summon, holding incredible melee based skills, with the ability to siphon the life out living beings, even its very touch held necrotic powers. The eight-foot towering figure, stood with a domineering presence that even Northmen Chiefs would be hard pressed to emulate. A large two handed rusted Greatsword was held within its grasp, point down, the helmet covered its face and only a pair of growing green eyes could be seen in the T shaped gap. Two groups of Witches sat cross legged around the figure. The rooms floor was covered in strange symbols drawn in blood and entrails. It was a large room, originally built to satisfy the opulent needs of visiting nobles or wealthy merchants, however the once gilded decorations were now molded and caked with decay, all furniture had also been stripped out, living the space barren.

“Boys, take care of the Witches. Draka you’re in charge. I will take care of the Tin Can here.” Gabriel ordered quickly, as the troops behind him moved to his sides.

The [Death Knight] still had not moved, but the Witches who were previously sitting closest to the [Death Knight], stood up and equipped themselves with knives and small axes. Gabriel also took the chance from the Mexican standoff, to equip his shield. The power of his throwing axes would be of no help against a fully armored opponent such as the [Death Knight]. In the uneasy silence, Draka was the first to move as he shot out a throwing knife that was strapped behind his belt. Both sides took this to be the silent signal and charged.

Gabriel charged towards the still stationary [Death Knight] and unleashed a [Heavy Chop] at the slight gap near the elbow between the wrist guard and torso armour. With speed, that didn’t seem possible for a creature that size and under the weight all that heavy armour, the [Death Knight] swung its great sword in a perfect intercept to block Gabriel's descending khopesh. Gabriel deliberately brought his weapon down short of the target at the last moment, using the momentum from the [Heavy chop] assisted slash, to swing underneath the greatsword and around to the back of the [Death Knight]. Using the tip of the shield almost like a hammer, Gabriel slammed it into the back of the armoured legs, causing the [Death Knight] to stumble. A couple of gasps from the surrounding Witches entered Gabriel’s head in response to his display at attacking one of the few weak points of the armoured [Death Knight].

‘I don’t think there is anyone more accustomed to fighting these bastards then me. I fought the necromancer type summons for so many years, it would be strange if I didn’t know the weak points.’ Gabriel thought to himself. Before he could use a follow up attack though, a green halo encompassed the kneeling [Death Knight] that took even Gabriel by surprise. With almost blinding speed, the [Death Knight] righted himself from his stumble and swung around with a mighty swing, like a baseballer swinging away for a home run, its greatsword slammed into Gabriel’s hastily raised shield. The force felt to Gabriel like he was hit by a truck, his whole arm feeling numb. The impact flung Gabriel’s body like a rag doll through the moldy wall and into the air, before he could gather his bearings, Gabriel found himself smashing back first onto the soft earth outside.

“Fuck...It’s like he activated [Berserk] but even stronger.” Gabriel muttered, as he sucked in the breath that escaped his lungs when he landed on the ground.

A loud boom was heard that caught Gabriel’s direct attention, as he saw the [Death Knight] had jumped from the opening his body had made in the second floor of the Inn wall. As the [Death Knight] was larger than Gabriel he had to smash more of the wall when jumping out, leaving a much greater hole in the Inn wall and sending wood chips flying out. Quickly rising to his feet, Gabriel used [Inspect] on the [Death Knight], that in his arrogance and familiarity, didn’t bother to do at the start.

[Death Knight {Blessed by the Horned God} – LVL 20 – Mini Boss]

HP – 15,000/15,000

RP – 3000/3000

Additional information: Death Knights are primarily summoned by the Necrotic powers of Necromancers, using the bones and artifacts of dead Warriors. They can be further strengthened by defeating enemies the same level or higher than them. Death Knights can also be born from the deep resentment carried into death by a betrayed Warrior of sufficient strength and then blessed/cursed by a corrupted divinity.

“That Horny psycho actually gave an undead a blessing, his more far gone then I thought. Alright, bring it on you rusty fuck!” Gabriel taunted, with both arms spread wide.