The Raven Knight gestured, and several of the red Etherite ores disintegrated, strengthening the surging power that surrounded him. “Second Weal… Darkness Drawing!” at his words the night around us shivered, and suddenly the darkness energy he had buffed the jorogumo and the spiders with was drawn out of them, converging on the Raven Knight, wreathing him in boiling shadows.

This can’t be good… clutching my spear I resolved to try and strike him down before he could make his next move, but even as I was moving the Raven Knight shook his masked face at me. “Second Woe… Jaws of the Questing Beast!” The already dark surroundings went as black as the deepest starless night as the remaining Etherites melted. I stumbled to a halt as in front of me reared a massive wall of inky darkness. Turning my head quickly I could see that these walls went around me in a full unbroken circle, towering five metres into the sky, studded with sharp, metre-long teeth along each sixty-degree angle, and topped with three-metre fangs at the top. It seemed a cross between a snake and a fictional sandworm…

Shit, if that closes in on me I’m done… as time seemed to slow down for me as I wracked my brain for a way out, the Raven Knight spoke again. “Be swallowed up and die to the wrath of the Unseelie’s favourite hunting beast. Despair, knowing that after your death that half-Fae trash and all your other motley allies will follow you soon…”

Think, he’s giving me time by bragging… can I jump out? No, it was too high, even with an aether or wind boost… cut my way out? No, the power radiating from the Jaws is far too strong…

“Now die. Devour him!” at his shout the walls of darkness surrounding me collapsed inwards, sharp fangs of darkness seeking my heart…

Without thinking I went for the only move I could make, one last desperate gamble on surviving. Channelling what power I had left I struck downwards with the combined force of wind and aether, shattering stone. Then the jaws slammed shut, darkness scattering like inky blood, forming a dome of midnight hue.

“Nooooooooo, Akio!” I could faintly hear the anguished wail from Shaeula, drifting in from what seemed like miles away, as I lay wracked with pain. Wait, pain and her voice means I’m still alive, right? Looking up I could see darkness above. From above. With barely any thought I’d reacted and made the only move that could save my life. The Jaws had formed a cylinder around me, so the only way of safety was down. I had blasted at the monument under my feet, shattering stone and dropping me painfully to the ground below, leaving me under the closing Jaws and safe for now. Though I am running dry on aether and wind, barely any left, and that is being pulled away by the enemy Territory…

“You monster, Raven Knight. I’ll kill-kill-kill-kill you!” Shaeula was roaring, her voice pained. Hearing her anguish I dragged myself to my feet, wincing as everything ached. I reached for my spear, only to find it was now a foot of shattered black wood, the top having been eaten by the Jaws. Damn, that’s been with me since pretty much I started… Still, I had no time to waste. Hearing the cruel laughter of the Raven Knight and the wails of Shaeula I smashed my way through the crumbling stone walls of the mausoleum and staggered out into the chaos.

Shaeula was throwing out attacks, her eyes wild. Beside her was only one badly injured Kamaitachi, the second having returned to death after only having been restored to life recently. She was taking attacks from spiders and scorpions, though her wyrm-scale mail was preventing fatal wounds. Damn, this is hard to watch…

“Shaeula, calm down! I’m all right. we need to keep a cool head, it’s time to retreat!” I didn’t want to run, it would mean our heavy sacrifices here would have been for nothing, but what else could we do?

Shaeula paused, frozen, as she turned towards me. “Akio!” she cried, suddenly overjoyed. “You are alive-alive!” for a moment she seemed to forget where she was, racing towards me, before several undead zombies shambled into her path.

“No, that cannot be. How can you have escaped the Jaws of the Questing Bea… ack…” the Raven Knight said incredulously, before exclaiming in agony. His beak mask shattered, blood splattering and evaporating into the darkness, and there was the sound of breaking bones. One arm was torn free, and his wings were stripped of feathers by an unseen force, leaving spurs of bare bone behind.

Your Class, Fae-Bonded, has increased from level 9 to level 10.

Your Fortune, Majesty, Charm and ?????? have increased.

Why? What is going on… Still, there was no time to worry about such matters. With the Raven Knight having taken huge damage from nowhere this was our chance. As I was about to call out to my allies Shaeula let out a great peal of laughter. “Not so brave are you now, Unseelie dog-dog? The fate backlash of failing to pay the Woe has rebounded upon you threefold. Die, like the worthless traitor you are-are!”

Fate backlash? Ignoring that for now I shouted to my allies. “Shaeula, Grulgor, kami, can we still fight on?”

“Who do you think you are asking, master?” Shaeula grinned, her mood restored despite the blood running down her body from her many injuries. “Now that this cowardly… crow…“ she spat, tauntingly. “…has suffered his just deserts for going against us, we shall surely prevail. I would like a crow-head mounted on the wall above my throne-throne.”

“Grul will eat and kill this little spider soon. Grul knows no defeat!” Grulgor roared. He was a ruin of seared and torn flesh, and it seemed a miracle he was alive, but there was a heap of corpses around him and he had managed to grab hold of the jorogumo and was trying to tear off some of her arms, even as she spat fire and venom at him. At our rear the White Snake kami also hissed assent, promising that it and its snakes could hold the flanks and rear for a while longer.

“In that case… we attack, one final push!” I shouted, racing back up the now ruined mausoleum, fists clenched. As I did so, I could see one of the Raven Knight’s yellow eyes peering at me through his shattered mask.

“Third Weal, Third Woe!” The Raven Knight croaked, causing me to stiffen. He can still fight? I shivered at the lethal power of the Jaws of the Questing Beast from before.

“Third Weal… Dark Wings of Flight!” with those words the Raven Knight disappeared in a rush of inky shadows.

“Behind you, stupid troll-troll!” Shaeula called out suddenly, as the Raven Knight staggered out of the darkness by the battling troll and jorogumo. Grulgor turned and swung a fist at him, which the gravely wounded Raven Knight barely avoided, but this gave the jorogumo time to break free, shedding the limb Grulgor was gripping.

“Time to go…” The Raven Knight grated, as he suddenly seized the jorogumo and disappeared into the night again, leaving behind only some fading, half heard words. “Third Woe…”

Hmm, they fled again. I doubt they are going to let this go. We’ll have to make sure we are ready for whatever they’ll try in the future… I didn’t want to earn a recurring villain here…

With the jorogumo and the Raven Knight having fled, the remaining foes lost their co-ordination. We were still outnumbered, but we had the advantage in power. Shaeula raced up to me, cutting down foes in her way, and grabbed my hand in hers. “I am pleased to see you well-well. For a moment I thought… no, I should have had more faith in the master I chose.”

“Sorry for worrying you.” I apologised, giving her head a rub, rustling her hair. “But we can talk about this when we are done. I need a weapon, that bastard broke my spear…”

“In that case, there are plenty from my fallen kin-kin.” Shaeula fetched me a sharp-looking axe. “We shall finish this.”

********

After another hour of gruelling battle I wrenched my axe free from the head of a scorpion, watching as it dispersed into a cloud of ether. I had gained two more levels as we massacred the remaining enemy forces, and was now level eighteen. I had definitely gained, but the cost was cruel. Two trolls had died, who we could not replace until our Barracks was much upgraded, and Shaeula had but one Kamaitachi and two black-furred elites left, although she consoled me saying she would hasten to return the fallen as soon as she could.

The White Snake kami had also suffered, with four of his kin lost in the epic battle to stave off the ambushes. Still, it assured me that their sacrifices were worthwhile, so long as I delivered on my promises. Which I will do. The Shirohebizumi shrine will be restored under my stewardship.

But after sacrifice, came the rewards, and as the last foe fell…

You have gained control over this Territory by clearing it of all enemies. You have absorbed the ether from the Territory. You have gained control of the Fae-tree at the heart of this Territory. You have gained a Dark Rhyming Tree Rank 3 Special.

Dark Rhyming Tree- Rank 3 Special- Special Rank facilities cannot be levelled up by ether, they level as their requirements are met. Rhyming Trees draw in ether from the Astral in a manner similar to Ether Spires, though in addition they also generate elemental energies, in this case darkness. They also lead to a higher overall ether density in the surrounding area.

Your Class, Fae-Bonded, has increased from level 10 to level 11.

As the rewards scrolled through my vision, I slumped to the floor, spent. Finally. I know I’ve said this before, but never again. We were too overconfident, attacking another Territory is overwhelmingly more difficult than other fights. I nearly broke my sister and Eri-chan’s hearts by dying. Shaeula’s too, though if I had died, most likely Shaeula and the others would have followed me. No, now that we have secured this area, it is time to stop rushing ahead and consolidate.

Still, I couldn’t lie to myself. While I continued to strive, death was an ever-present spectre hanging over us. Still, would stopping now only doom us to death later anyway, as the world grew more dangerous and other candidates for Astral Emperor-hood started running amok?

My thoughts were interrupted by Shaeula, who sat down beside me, her body trembling with exhaustion. The kami was watching from a distance, and Grulgor was busy stomping around, bellowing incoherently.

“So, we won.” I said, deadpan.

Shaeula snorted a laugh. “So we did, so we did. Though I admit I thought we were all going to perish for a moment there-there.”

“You seemed particularly sad when you thought I’d died. What was it… Nooooooooo, Akio!” I mimicked, causing her to blush and hit me repeatedly with her small fists.

“Of course I was sad, Akio you fool-fool!” she sulked, but then froze as I pulled her into a hug. She stiffened for a moment before leaning into me.

“Don’t worry. I’ve learned from this. Now we have removed the nearby threats we’ll take our time and build a steady foundation before we take risks like this again. I don’t want to lose you… or Grulgor or the kami. When your kin return, this time they won’t die so easily!”

“I believe that is for the best.” Shaeula agreed. “Akio, what that filthy Unseelie said…” she trailed off, nervous.

I hugged her tighter and with one arm ruffled her hair again. “It’s all right, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, you are a princess to me, nothing has changed. Though I do have one question first, if I may?”

“No, I’ll talk about it. The time for it is now-now. What is your question?”

“Just why did the Raven Knight get injured so badly. One minute he was totally in control of us, and the next he was suddenly a wreck. You said something about fate backlash and woe rebound, I think I heard?”

She nodded. “Like the Three Oaths and Boons of the Seelie, the Three Weals and Three Woes of the Unseelie is a part of their very soul-soul. The Weal gives great blessing, but it must be paid by inflicting a great Woe upon someone else, as befits such vile, dark creatures. When you evaded the Woe of the Jaws of the Questing Beast, the Woe went unpaid, and the backlash is threefold-threefold.”

“Wow, that seems pretty risky. I wouldn’t use such skills at that cost.”

“All dark abilities come with risk, yet the power is devastating. Those Jaws would have killed a fresh Grulgor in one blow-blow. It could even have slain that wyrm, perhaps.”

“That does indeed sound powerful.” I agreed. To survive such a magnified backlash, the bastard must be proud of his toughness… I made to release her and stand, but Shaeula snaked her arms around me.

“Not yet. It is time to talk about… my father and my place in the Seelie Court-court…”