"WITH ME, SOLDIERS! TODAY WE TAKE BACK THIS LAND FROM THE DARK FORCES! WE WILL SAVE THE INNOCENTS AND BRING THEM THE LIGHT BACK! TO GLORY!!!" shouted Lord Serdrith, mounting his war horse.

"TO GLORY!!!" answered the five hundred soldiers following him.

Lord Jhon Serdrith, the first son of the Serdrith family, was an example of what a man with a noble heart could be, loved by the populace as well as the soldiers. Strong and tall, he was sporting his family's Coat-of-Arms on his chest, proud. His armour and weapons proved his noble ascendancy, and his father had given him his blessing to be the one setting the dark land free. Leaving behind his wife and daughter, the man couldn't stay behind when someone was pleading for help.

It had been a year , a year since a message begging for help had managed to be thrown over the wall. Jhon Serdrith had finally been able to convince the dozen Lords, leaders of the dozen lands neighbouring the dark land, to give him enough soldiers to form his own army. All had participated in secret from the King, all had given men, weapons and money, all expected a part of the reward once the land would be cleaned of the dark forces.

The army following Lord Serdrith was a Coat-of-Arms patchwork, the dozen Lords' men walking together. Swordsmen, bowmen, mages, all were ready and passed the massive doors leading to the dark land, the only entrance in the massive wall that had taken years of earth magic and handiwork to be built.

The doors closed behind them, as it was supposed to do so no dark being would be able to pass.

The army marched, unstoppable, all day long. Skeletons and zombies attacked, a couple here, a dozen there, too few to be a threat. The mages and bowmen took care of the undeads before they could reach them.

"It's too easy, it seems like the stories about this land were highly exaggerated." chuckled the army leader.

"Stay on your guard, my Lord. Even if it is hard to tell with those dark clouds in the sky, the sun is setting down. God knows what nightmarish monsters this land will send us in the night..." warned one of the Army Captain walking next to the Lord's horse.

"You are right. It's getting darker, let's keep our eyes open." agreed Serdrith.

The men continued to walk a bit before stopping for the night. Some fires were lightened, giving the men a feeble sense of security in the dark night, an oppressive shadow surrounding the uneasy soldiers.

All around the camp, torches had been placed at regular intervals, giving the scouts who were observing the shadow a good hundred metres far field of view, ready to alert their comrades if any creature should attack.

Discussing the next phase of the plan, Lord Serdrith and the high-ranked officer were suddenly interrupted by the shouting voice of one of the scouts, alerting everyone.

"Sir! Someone is coming!" alerted one of the scouts.

"Please..." called out the young girl's feeble voice from afar, running in their direction.

"A young girl, my Lord. Certainly a noble by the look of her dress." observed the scout.

"She could be the one who has sent this message, then. Although she seems a bit young..." said Lord Serdrith as he touched the carefully folded parchment attached at his side, the very message he had used to convince the lords and on which he had sworn to not come back empty-handed.

"My Lord! Dark beasts are after her!" exclaimed the scout.

All could see a dozen big dark wolves appearing from the shadows, running after the girl.

"Bowmen!" ordered the first-lieutenant with a hand gesture.

In a second, three dozen bowmen were ready to let death rain other the monsters.

"She's not going to make it!" exclaimed Lord Serdrith as he jumped on his horse and made dashed, doing his best to be as fast as possible.

"MY LORD!" called the lieutenant behind him, but the man didn't care, this girl could very well have been his own daughter, they looked like they were the same age. As a loving father, he could not stay calm and do nothing.

"HANG ON!" shouted the man as he took his spear.

The girl, not older than ten, was running as fast as her clothes were allowing her, but the black gothic dress and hat clearly weren't made for physical activities, and she was quickly getting caught on by the dark wolves.

"SAVE ME!" screamed the young girl, terrorised.

One of the beasts got close enough, opening his wide mouth to bit her head off...only to feel, for a single second, the spear head piercing its whole body by the mouth, dying right after.

"Take my hand!" ordered the middle-aged Lord as he extended his hand to the girl, leaving behind his weapon.

"Thank you!" said the girl as she gripped the man's hand, the Lord easily pulling her on his horse and sitting her before him as he turned back, running to his men.

"Bowmen! SHOOT!" ordered the lieutenant as soon as his Lord was out of the aiming zone.

The wolfs were quickly disposed of, each of them soon being pierced by arrows.

As they were going back to the Lord's men, he started to talk a bit with the girl.

"I am Jhon Serdrith, are you going to be fine, young Lady?" asked the man, worried about the young one.

"I will, thanks to you. I can't believe an army is here, did you come to save the people of this land?" enquired the girl as she looked up, her golden blond hair hiding her eyes from the man.

"That's why we are here. A message was sent over the wall..." explained the Lord as he showed the message at his belt.

"When I learned people were still alive and needed help on this land, I couldn't stay and do nothing, so here I am. You don't need to fear anymore, we will set things right." promised the man.

"You are so kind, Lord Serdrith...It's a shame you have to die." said the girl as she put her hair behind her ears, revealing two blood-red iris.

"What the!"

Jhon Serdrith barely had the time to be surprised that long fangs closed around his neck, tearing his flesh apart.

The man shouted and gargled at the same time as he fell, rolling on the ground.

"Let me be the first one to welcome you on my mistress's land!" greeted the blond gothic girl with an amused laugh as she simply stopped the horse, stepping down the war beast.

"Monster! Shoot!" ordered the Lieutenant, but no arrows flew.

Turning back, the man saw the three lines of bowmen falling down, their neck wide open and their blood spilling in some kind of macabre fountain. Standing right in the middle of them, her dress covered in red, a bride was standing there, eyes closed, enjoying the warm liquid on her.

"TO ARMS!!!" shouted the man as he took out his sword, his soldiers doing the same and quickly circling around the two women.

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!" shouted the lieutenant as he hit.

Is attack was blocked mid air, something invisible forbidding his blade to go down.

"Lieutenant...you can't be mad at us for simply enjoying a drink, can you?" innocently asked the bride.

"Nor could you be mad at them to grab a bite." added the gothic girl with an amused laugh once again, the Lord's blood still around her mouth.

Looking a bit around, the lieutenant felt his fighting spirit deserting him.

How they managed to arrive without the scouts noticing them, it was impossible to tell. Dark silhouettes, hiding in the shadow right outside of the ring of light produced by the torches, were silently standing there. The five hundred men were now surrounded by what looked like to be ten times their numbers. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls, all silently waiting for an order.

That order, it was a dead-looking noble with a long two-handed sword in hands who gave it. He walked into the light, lifted his gaunt arm and, opening the dry hole that was his mouth, he let out a roar simply impossible to produce for a single man. A cry from the graves, calling his undead brothers and pointing at the livings before him.

As one massive mass, the undeads attacked. A gust of wind, mixed with dark energy, extinguished the fires and the army of living men, surrounded and blinded, soon saw its ranks being torn apart.

Some resisted for a bit, but soon found themselves missing a limb or two, an attack too quick for them to notice cutting them apart. The two lines of soldiers directly surrounding the bride fell in a second, all dead, while the ones who tried to attack the gothic girl faced the weapon she was handling. It had silently flown down to her, coming from the black sky like a living deadly creature. Far too big for her, far too powerful to be handled by someone so small, it wasn't believable, yet it was before their eyes, destroying their ranks like it was nothing more than a child’s play to her.

...................................................................................................................................................

Jhon Serdrith coughed some blood out, barely conscious. Turning on his back, he looked at the dark sky, soon hidden by the three leading figures that had destroyed his army.

"See? I told you he wouldn't die with a single bite..." stated an amused bride, her dress ivory-white once again.

"Shit! This must be because of the horse, it doesn't count!" retorted the young-looking one, dropping her scared girl act completely to speak like an adult woman.

"You still there, Jhon?" asked the little blond one as she slapped his face, making him growl, but only a gurgle could be heard, blood bubbles coming from his open throat.

"Damn! He truly is still alive! Tell me, Lord, how would you say your rescue mission went?" asked the girl with a very amused look.

"If you ask me, I would say it went pretty well..." continued the girl as she showed the scene behind her.

There, in the feeble moonlight passing through a dark cloud for a short instant, the Lord could see almost all the soldiers were up, their limbs reattached, their eyes empty of any will and their skin dead-white. All the soldiers, missing some flesh parts here and there, had been turned undead.

"Let me tell you how grateful we are for you to have brought those new soldiers for us to use. Me and my friends have decided to reward you for that. How would you like to see your home back?" said the girl with a false kind smile.

...................................................................................................................................................

"What is this?" asked a soldier, observing the dark lands from the top of the wall.

The army had disappeared behind hills hours ago, and only now was something happening.

"I think...it's Lord Serdrith's horse!"

"Alone? Nothing or no one with the horse?" asked his comrades from behind the doors.

"No! Nothing more."

"Open the doors!" ordered the captain of the guards.

The soldiers did as told, letting the horse in. They immediately closed the door behind, not taking any risks.

"There is a bag attached to the horse's side." observed one of the soldiers.

...................................................................................................................................................

"NO!!!"

Lady Serdrith, Jhon's wife, heard the shout of her father-in-law, coming from the meeting hall, where the old man sat every day to hear his people’s grievances. Hearing him cry out loud like that was very surprising, the man was a good Lord looking after a peaceful land, and the troubles of his peoples had never been bad enough for him to raise his voice.

As she entered the meeting hall, she was stopped by two guards.

"Father-in-law? What's happening? What is the meaning of this?" asked the lady, worried.

"My dear, don't come, I beg of you!" pleaded the old man as he too stepped before her, hiding something behind himself.

"Father-in-law..." said the woman, the face of the man before her making her understand something was wrong. More than worries, something had broken his heart.

"What are you hiding? SHOW ME!!!" shouted the woman, fearing to understand.

The man fell on his knees, crying, as the lady managed to push away the soldiers, passing next to him.

"No..." said the woman as she fell on her knees too.

There, surrounded by the Lord's bodyguards, was a bag with 'Thank you for the presents' written with blood on it. Next to it, on the ground, was the severed head of Jhon Serdrith, his dead eyes moving around as his mouth was trying to bite anything coming in reach.

"NOOOO!!!" screamed the dead Lord's wife as she took the nearest guard's dagger to thrust it in her husband's head, then again, and again, and again. Her scream was mixed with her sobs, hysterically putting an end to the outrage inflicted on her loved one.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Go on! You'll see how easy it can be!" said Thomisa, having a hard time staying in place.

Octavia, Goliath, Thomisa and Cariaben were in some kind of courtyard inside the castle walls. A garden of black roses added a cold beauty to the black stones of the place.

The pink arachne and her sisters had taken Octavia there to help her get used to the place. She had just shown the white one how to really use her web.

"Look at me, once again!" said Thomisa as she dashed.

Running all around the courtyard, on the ground and the walls alike, the small arachne produced, in less than a minute, a beautiful web spider.

"And now..."

The little pink girl spat on her web, some reddish-pink saliva that set on fire as soon as it left her mouth. In an instant, the web created and infernal heat around the place.

"We, arachne, must take full advantage of our spider part. Coupled with magic, it is a powerful weapon we can use." excitedly stated Thomisa, still moving from four legs to her other four.

"And...you all can do that?" asked Octavia, looking at the other two.

"I am more receptive to earth and Cariaben tend to use water, but it's the same idea, yes." answered Goliath, pointing at the sleepy blue arachne as she explained.

"Elements and web are...easily combined...useful for us..." added Cariaben, her eyes closing as she was talking.

"So? What about you, sister? Which element do you think would suit you the most?" asked Goliath, leaving the blue one to rest.

Looking at her gauntlet for a second, Octavia clenched her fist as she thought of the one who had made it for her.

"Wind...I use the wind..." simply said Octavia.

"Really? That's so cool!" exclaimed Thomisa as she ran a bit around.

"With you, we have the four elements! Hey! Hey! Hey! We could be some kind of special group!" said the pink one, excitedly talking to her friends as well as herself.

"A special group? Aren't you already special enough by yourself?" asked a new voice coming from the courtyard opposite side.

There stood peoples who had just arrived by the nearest hall.

They were three.

One was a tall man, two metres high, dressed in clothes that could have belonged to a noble, but were so old and used, patched up in so many places, it was hard to say what the original dress must have looked like. The last remnant of his noble dress showed a coat-of-

arms on his chest, a sword with two eagle wings. His body was dead-white, his face emaciated. His hair were grey although he didn't look that old, and his eyes, almost totally white, stopped on Octavia for a second, his dry mouth cracking a bit as he pleasantly smiled at her, lifting his arm to slowly wave at her. As he did so, his upper arm simply fell down. The man looked down at it, not looking surprised but only slightly bothered.

" For fuck sake, Bibi, keep yourself together!" scolded the one who had talked before, on a tone really not suiting her look.

She didn't look like she was more than ten years old, she had golden blond hair and red eyes. Her skin was snow-white, she looked like a moving porcelain doll. She was wearing a beautiful classy gothic dress, with a small hat on her head, all in black satin and lace. In her hands, covered by long black silk gloves, she had a strange weapon, a mix between a double-edged battle axe and a parasol. The axe blades looked like bat wings and the parasol was made of black lace, like her dress. The weapon seemed too big and heavy for her small frame, but the seemingly young girl was handling it without any trouble.

"Sorry..." slowly said the tall man as he bowed to pick up his fallen upper arm, revealing the weapon on his back. It was a two-handed sword, long and large, black and grey, with a black metallic pommel representing bat wings and a skull.

The man put back his fallen limb, the upper arm simply reattaching to the rest without any trouble. Making it move around a bit, the one called Bibi smiled, satisfied.

"Freaking human puzzle..." cursed the gothic girl.

"What do you want, Vivi?" asked Thomisa, clearly not happy to see the black-dressed girl.

In a second, the gothic girl was right before Thomisa, her face a single centimetre apart from hers.

"It's Viviane...If your tiny brain is too feeble to remember it, maybe should I write it on that pinky flesh of yours using my dear baby..." threatened Viviane as she made her weapon turned between her fingers.

"Oh I'm sorry, I was so captivated by that flat chest of yours that I forgot your name..." taunted the pink arachne, a smile appearing on her face.

"Yours isn't better!" retorted the blond one as she pushed against the arachne's chest with her own.

"Maybe, but I'm still growing...remember me how old you are again?" asked Thomisa, feeling victorious as she saw the dead look the blond had.

"My dear Viviane...I may be flat now, but I'll still grow! One day, I may very well be as well-furnished as Goliath!" exclaimed Thomisa as she pointed at her tall friend who, looking down at her generous chest, put her hands on it, enjoying the full feeling they offered.

"Keep dreaming! We both know Goliath is out of your league!" exclaimed Viviane, her fist clenching around her weapon's handle.

"Less than she is of yours!" retorted the pink arachne.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!" exploded Viviane, preparing a heavy hit with her weapon.

"Viviane, my dear, you shouldn't let Thomisa play with your nerves like that..." calmly stated the third one.

Nearly as tall as Bibi, the third one who had arrived was a woman, a graceful lady with the same kind of eyes as Viviane. Her skin, that had certainly looked naturally tanned long ago, had now the same lifeless white colour as the other two. Her hair, ivory-white, had the exact same colour as her clothes: a wedding dress. Complete with the veil and rose bouquet, the magnificent dress had certainly needed several years to be complete, as the numerous details were impressing even the arachnes, naturally good at weaving. The roses of her bouquet were red, as red as her eyes. The only thing seeming out-of-place about her dress were the small black blades ending it, several dozen bat wing-shaped blades dragging on the ground, attached to her dress by a complex weaving work.

Stopping the young-looking one without moving from where she was, the bride was calmly waiting for the other red-eyed girl to answer.

"LET ME GO, ANNABELLE! I'M GOING TO DESTROY THIS FUCKING PIECE OF TRASH!!!" shouted Viviane, her weapon still blocked by something invisible.

"Don't you think this would displease Lady Noire to see you two fight?" calmly asked Annabelle.

The simple mention of the lady's name calmed Viviane, making her stop in a second.

"You're right...damn it! You're freaking right!" cursed the gothic girl, stepping back.

"Alright. Let's not forget we have reports to make..." said Annabelle as she started to walk away.

"What were you three going?" asked Goliath.

"Cleaning duties and recruitment." simply answered Viviane as she followed Annabelle.

Bibi came closer to Octavia, looking down at the arachne. Extending his hand, he presented the white arachne a black rose, offering it to her.

"Welcome..." slowly said Bibi as Octavia took the flower.

"BIBI! GET YOUR FALLING-APART ASS OVER HERE!" shouted Viviane, the tall man hurriedly following the other two.

...................................................................................................................................................

"I see you three are back. I suppose all went well?" asked Lady Noire, currently enjoying a glass of a red liquid.

Bibi, Viviane and Annabelle were before her. They told the Lady what exactly had happened.

"Five hundred soldiers added to my army, what good news this is." said Lady Noire, taking a sip from her glass.

"And you sent that Lord's head back?"

"Is there a problem, Lady Noire? Did you want us to do otherwise?" worriedly asked Annabelle.

"No, It's just a shame to have lost the horse. Humans are futile, but a horse can at least carry some weight." said the Lady with an amused laugh, quickly imitated by the two other vampires. Bibi stood there, his empty eyes looking straight before him. More than unwilling to laugh, it looked like that his body wouldn't support the force needed for it.

"Anyway. I don't need you, for now. You can all go back." said the Lady, going back to enjoying her glass of blood.

"Hmm, what a nice vintage...It's a shame there isn't any elf on this land anymore."

...................................................................................................................................................

"Can you believe that? Almost no information whatsoever since the land has been lost, apart from the fact there is a castle and three villages, what a bunch of....I prefer to say nothing!" said Maximilian.

The trio had gone to several places in a short time before going away from the capital. They were now quickly going to the east, heading straight for the dark land.

"Are you two alright?" asked the man as he looked at his two friends, the two nodding without opening their mouths, nor his eyes in Binvo's case.

"Sorry if the travelling way isn't to your liking, Binvo, but it is the quickest way right now!" apologised Maximilian.

"Binvo understand! But Binvo doesn't like heights!" answered the minotaur.

"I can somehow understand that!" added Lin-Lin.

"Sorry guys, really!" apologised the man once again.

His year of training had allowed the man to retrieve some of his memory, his imagination. He has had an idea to allow the three of them to travel together as fast as possible without using the teleportation crystal, none of them having a teleportation point to reach in that direction.

He simply had used an earth spell followed by a wind one, propelling a flat stone wide enough for the three of them to sit on in the air. It was fast, it was simple, and Maximilian had no trouble adjusting the speed, the power of the push depending on the magic used in it. He didn't even have to stay focused on it, as long as he poured some energy in it once in a while, giving him the time to work on something else.

"Do you know how long it will take?" asked Lin-Lin, using earth magic to attach herself to the stone. Pori had hidden inside her breastplate, the slime enjoying the wind on his face while making some 'pi-po-pu-ro' sounds.

"Two weeks, three at most. We are going fast, but Griffinia's kingdom his vast. I'll have to create one or two teleportation points once we'll be there."

"Maximilian...I don't think I'll be able to go on like this for three weeks without a stop at some point..." admitted Lin-Lin.

"Don't worry, I counted some pauses in my calculation. I want you two at your best once we will be there. Ills, you won't be that much of a help." joked Maximilian, receiving a friendly slap on his shoulder by Lin-Lin and a complaining growl from Binvo.

"Aren't Maximilian a bit tired? Those spells Maximilian cast at the castle earlier were impressive." Enquired Binvo.

"I'm okay, Binvo, I have all the time I need to regain the mana I spent on it."

They travelled for a bit, the scenery under them hidden by the clouds.

"Maximilian?"

"Yes?"

"Are you worried about Octavia?" asked Lin-Lin.

"She is strong. Don't worry, Lin-Lin, we will find her soon enough." assured Maximilian, although Lin-Lin understood perfectly he had willingly evaded her question.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Welcome back, Mistress." greeted a bearkin as he bowed.

Dressed in classic butler clothes, the bearkin was tall, large, and his black fur was impeccably combed.

"Hello, Maku." simply said Viviane as she entered her manor, situated on a high hill overlooking one of the land's three villages.

The inside was classical, dark, and well-kept. Black was the principal colour you could see all around, be it with the stones or decorations, it was a gothic dream Viviane was 'living' in.

"That Lord's blood didn't satisfy me at all, Maku. Go fetch me something." ordered the little vampire.

"Are you thirsty for something special?" asked the bearkin.

"Indeed...take this. Find the one who wrote this and bring her back." ordered Viviane as she gave the bearkin the very same letter Lord Jhon had with him before he was 'sent back'.

"At your orders, Mistress." simply said the bearkin before going out.

"Mistress..."

"Mistress..."

Here and there, maids bowed to Viviane as she passed before them, following her as she continued to walk. All were pretty women, their faces as beautiful as priceless puppets, and every one of them had a flat chest.

Sitting on a black throne, Viviane waited for a bit, looking bored after a few minutes.

"What takes him so long! MAKU! HURRY YOUR FURRY ASS UP!" cursed the foul-mouthed vampire.

......................................................................................................................

Long ago, the dark lands were peaceful. The fertile grounds were a blessing for the farmers, allowing them to cultivate a lot of different things with ease. The geographical situation was good for trades, sellers coming from the east as well as the west all stopped in one of the three villages, always bringing foreign goods the people were happy to buy. The animals were numerous, providing far enough meat for everyone to eat, the Lord was more than happy to let the commoners hunt. The blessing of the light by the priests was always more than enough to heal those in needs. Those were happy times.

But that was long ago.

Now, the dark lands were dead, both literally and metaphorically. The few animals bigger than rats had been turned, deformed by the dark magic corrupting the land, the same magic that made almost all the growing plants uneatable. The merchants were not coming anymore and the priests had been killed at the same time as the soldiers.

The peoples, happy before, were surviving, pitifully, as they could. On those lands without sunlight, despair was their everyday feeling.

Nonetheless, some were still hanging on something, a tiny bit of hope. Some placed it in the neighbouring lands that would someday send an army, others prayed to the Gods in secret, putting all their effort in each of their attempts.

And others, like Liliane, were acting. It wasn't much, but they did their best, they were trying. Liliane was young, barely sixteen, a teenage girl whose beauty was almost surprising in the dark lands. Daughter of a hunter, she had learned to write thanks to a friend of his, some old-time low noble who gladly helped her in exchange for freshly caught rats, the best quality meat still available on those lands.

The girl was intelligent and eager to learn. She had very easily understood how to write, doing her best every day. Helped by others, she had, a year ago, managed to escape the village for a day, a single day she used to go near the wall, near enough for an arrow to pass over it. Because her village was the one nearest the wall, the message had been sent and the hope survived.

One year later, the girl was still having hopes. Her dad's friend was dead, the few plants growing here and there not enough to help the sick man. Her dad had been a great teacher too, but only when it was about using a bow. In those desperate times, the girl's life was greyer than dark, a pretty good situation when you compared it to others.

.................................................................................................................................................

"Found you..."

Liliane was going back from the village market where she had exchanged some of her hunting prey with fur. There was a wolfkin family living in the village. Even if some humans had a bit of tension with them, everyone knew there was far enough pain on those lands without fighting against each other. The few people in the street all froze as they heard the bearkin's voice.

The massive beastkin was looking at the teenage girl, his face showing no emotion.

"Are you talking to me, butler?" asked Liliane, the polite tone of her voice hiding her distaste.

"Mistress is thirsty, follow me." simply said Maku.

The girl's eyes widened for a second as she heard that. Taking a step back, she had trouble speaking.

"M...me? Why me? Why now? It's not the time!" said the girl, peoples in the village looking at the scene from a safe distance.

For the last fifty years, the rules had changed. Their new vampire mistress had declared that, once a month, someone would be chosen to serve as 'the Mistress' drink.' Some were coming back, but those who did were so feeble they could easily die right after, having no strength to go on.

"Mistress is thirsty because of the exercises. A foolish soul has sent this over the wall...it has your smell on it." simply said Maku as he showed the message Liliane had sent a year ago.

To the unspoken question, the bearkin said.

"An army came, all are now undeads."

Liliane opened her mouth, but no sounds came out of it. In a single sentence, the bearkin had crushed her hopes as he had the piece of paper in his hand.

Maku stepped in Liliane's direction, extending his massive hand.

"No!"

The wolfkin man stood between the two, baring his fangs to the bearkin butler.

"The rules are to let your Mistress take someone once a month! Now is not the tim..!"

The wolfkin got interrupted by the massive hand against his head, sending him flying a few metres away.

"Don't oppose our Mistress's will, or else..."

The butler didn't need to end his sentence. All knew perfectly well what would have happened if they had tried to oppose her: death. It would have been long, it would have been painful, and it would have been unavoidable. All had been shown, fifty years ago. One of the villages had been used as an example, leaving behind only a place of death the third general of Lady Noire, Bibi, was now looking after.

"Don't oppose." simply warned the bearkin as he gripped the girl's wrist, making her drop the fur she was carrying.

"Liliane..." pitifully said the wolfkin man as he stood, the force of the hit making him dizzy.

"Sir...it's alright. Please...bring the fur to my father." said the teenage girl as she did her best to smile, tears in her eyes.

All watched the bearkin taking the girl away, all looking down as she passed before them, in respect. They couldn't do anything and they knew it perfectly well. The wolfkin adjusted his clothes as he stood, quickly hiding his shaved skin.

Everyone knew that the fur the wolfkin family was selling was made with their own, carefully shaved. It was shameful for the pride wolf to shave his fur, but the need to eat and the cold threatening the youngest had forced him to do so. The people were not thrilled with the idea, but thankful nonetheless. The couple and their three children had to hide their naked bodies under clothes, but their sacrifice had saved numerous children from the cold already. It was the wolfkin man's fur that had been used to keep the young Liliane warm when she was nothing more than a baby, one more reason for the grown-up wolfkin to cry his weakness, hitting the nearest wall in desperation.

.........................................................................................................................................

As if he had waited for his mistress to call, Maku entered the throne room right after the small vampire had shouted, bringing Liliane with him.

"What did you bring me?" asked Viviane, looking at the scared teenage girl with a critical eye.

"A virgin, Mistress, as fresh as they can be. The message had her smell on it." said the bearkin as he slightly pushed the girl further, forcing her to come before the vampire.

Observing the teenage girl, Viviane kept silent for a bit.

"You're quite beautiful...undress." ordered the vampire, making the teenage girl looked at her in a scared surprise.

"Do you need someone to help you? Undress!" ordered the vampire once again.

The peasant girl knew perfectly well it was no use to resist. It had been like that since before she was born, the vampires were this land Masters and no one could confront them. Even the servants around could do nothing, not even look away, knowing what was coming next.

Crying silently, the pretty girl dropped her simple dress, revealing a well-formed body under it.

"I see my butler brought me something fat..." criticised Viviane.

Liliane wasn't fat at all. Her thin waist would have made any girl looking at her jealous. Viviane's words were aimed at the teenager's chest, honourably ample.

Standing from her throne, Viviane came before the scared teenage girl hiding her nudity behind her arms and hands.

"And you say you're still untouched?" asked the vampire, her head barely reaching the girl's chest.

The peasant nodded, too scared to talk.

"By the dark night! If you're already this fat now, what would it be after you gave birth to offspring..." said the vampire as she grabbed one of the girl's breast, her tiny hand clearly not enough to cover them.

"Holly shit! Look at the size of them! You really are a freaking bocow!" laughed the vampire.

The girl whined slightly as the vampire claws cut her flesh a bit.

"Silence, bocow!" ordered the vampire as she grabbed her flesh tighter.

The pain made the teenage girl lose strength in her legs. Falling on her knees, she was now at the same level as Viviane who caressed her face, having her innocent look back for a second.

"Tell me, bocow, you wouldn't want your mistress to remain thirsty, would you?"

The peasant girl looked horrified at the red eyes looking deep into hers, Viviane's smile having nothing innocent about it.

"That's what I thought!" exclaimed the vampire as she bit the ample breast, greedily sucking the blood out of it.

...................................................................................................................................................

"My love..." said an half-naked fair-faced man.

"My only one..." said another one.

"The only star shining in the sky..." said yet another one.

Around Annabelle were a dozen half-naked men, all handsome. One was carrying a silver plate with a glass of blood on it, another was playing with a dark harp. Two were using large fans to make some wind for their mistress. Some were simply waiting, kneeling at both sides of the throne, any orders the vampire could have for them.

Before the lady, the two most muscular men were fighting each other bare-hand, doing their best to amuse her.

One of the two finally had the upper hand, violently hitting his opponent's head against the floor several times until he wasn't moving anymore, blood starting to flow out of his broken skull.

"My cherished one..." panted the muscular man as he put a knee down before the throne.

All kept silent for a bit, awaiting their mistress's answer.

Like a conscious veil, the bride dress got longer, passing next to the kneeling man and covering the dead one. Blood started to colour the white dress, more and more, before retracting to the vampire, leaving behind a bag of bones and dry flesh. The red on the dress disappeared in a matter of seconds, Annabelle closing her eyes like she was savouring a delicious treat.

"You offered me a wonderful present." said the vampire as she stood, the men around her letting out an inaudible sigh of relief.

She came before the kneeling man and caressed his sweating chest.

"You satisfied my thirst. Now I want you to satisfy another one of my needs, come to see me in my bedroom..." ordered the vampire before she left the room.

The muscular man gulped loudly, knowing that the fight awaiting him was going to be far more difficult than the one he had just won.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Wow, you can already do it! You're so cool, Octavia!" exclaimed Thomisa, joyfully clapping her hands as she danced on her eight legs.

Octavia retracted her web, smiling a tiny bit as she scratched the back of her head.

"You're going to make her blush." said Goliath as she chuckled, Thomisa laughing all heartily.

"But I have to say...you sure are better at magic than what I thought..." observed Cariaben, currently lying in a web hammock.

"That's true! Hey, Octavia, where did you learn magic?" excitedly asked Thomisa.

Seeing the three arachnes looking right at her, Octavia played a bit with her two hands.

"I...well...I was taught...by a human."

The three gasped, Cariaben almost falling off her hammock.

"A human?"

"No way!"

"You were a slave?!"

The three talked at the same time, getting nearer.

"No, no, no. I have never been a slave!" defensively exclaimed Octavia.

"But...why would a human teach you, an arachne?" asked Thomisa.

"We've travelled together for a while."

"My poor sister..." said Goliath as she hugged Octavia tenderly.

"I'm so sorry for you, it must have been horrible." said the tall arachne, the other two agreeing with her.

"Actually..." said Octavia as she separated from Goliath.

"...He was...nice." admitted the white arachne, clearly surprising the other three.

The other Arachnes looked at each other before coming nearer.

"How is it? You said he was nice...what does it mean for a human to be nice?" asked Thomisa, curious.

It was Octavia's turn to be surprised.

"You have...never met a human before?"

"We have..." said Goliath as she unconsciously touched the bandage hiding the left side of her face, looking sad for a second.

"We are monsters to them, Octavia. No human has shown us anything other than hatred and hill-intend..." explained Cariaben, showing Octavia her back, where a slave mark was.

"All of us have learned to hate them, that's why we are curious about a 'nice' human." added Thomisa as she revealed her left shoulder for a second, showing serious signs of burns.

"So...could you tell us more?" finally asked Goliath as she sat, waiting for Octavia to tell her story, quickly imitated by the other two.

"Well...alright, I guess..." accepted Octavia.

The white arachne spent the day telling her story, explaining to her sisters how travelling with Maximilian, Lin-Lin and Binvo had been.

"Wai, wait, wait. You say 'he' is the one who allowed you to evolve?" asked Cariaben.

"Yes...what about you three?" asked Octavia.

"My mother was an arachne, I take after her." said Cariaben.

"They fed me different monster's blood, I simply have been lucky." said Thomisa.

"I...fought my way through..." simply said Goliath.

Seeing Octavia's curious look, she sighed before continuing her story.

"I was a clandestine arena monster. Victims after the victim, I got stronger and, one day, I managed to escape. I evolved after feeding on my captors' flesh." explained the brown arachne.

Octavia was going to say something but got interrupted by someone clearing her throat.

The four arachnes looked at Black widow, standing near the door.

"Octavia, Lady Noire wishes to speak with you. Follow me." asked the black arachne, although her way of speaking sounded more like an order, even if skilfully hidden.

"Go, we can always speak later." said Goliath, slightly pushing Octavia in the right direction.

Following Black Widow, Octavia arrived in a throne room that had the same size as the one at Griffinia's capital.

Looking at the white arachne from her throne made of entangled gigantic bat-looking black wings, Lady Noire was smiling while savouring another glass of blood like a fine wine.

"I brought her, Lady Noire." said Black Widow as she stepped on the side, bowing to her mistress.

"Thank you, Black Widow." said Lady Noire as she stood, going down the few steps before her throne without a sound.

"My dear Octavia, how has been your first night with your sisters?" enquired Lady Noire, showing an honest interest in the young arachne's well-being.

"It was wonderful, thank you for letting me stay." answered Octavia.

"Don't thank me, Octavia. After I heard your story from Black Widow, I couldn't do anything else than to welcome you in my castle. I hope the food is to your taste. I'm afraid my diet those last dozen years has left me a bit unfamiliar with conventional food..." chuckled Noire as she showed the glass of blood near her throne.

"The others told me but...you really are a vampire, then?" asked Octavia, still unsure.

Nodding gracefully, Noire let a charming smile pass on her face, letting her two pointy canines be seen for an instant. She quickly hid her mouth behind her snow-white hand when she saw Octavia had remarked them.

"I'm sorry! Do my vampire's traits bother you?" enquired the Lady.

Octavia hurriedly shook her head.

"No, no, no! You being a vampire doesn't bother me! I...your race isn't a problem to me. I've been...taught to not judge for what you are, but who you are." said Octavia, hesitating for a second.

"I'm happy to hear it. Who taught you this wonderful lesson? Was it another arachne?" asked Noire, curious.

"No, it was...Maximilian."

The man's name made a shadow appear on the vampire's face for less than a second.

"That man...isn't he the one who was deceiving you? I'm surprised to hear you speak so highly of him..."

Fidgeting a bit, Octavia looked at the ground.

"It's just that...even if he was deceiving me, I...he did teach me a lot. Without him, I would still be a simple spider hiding inside a bag. I know he deceived me but..."

Tears formed at the arachne's eyes. Lady Noire quickly came before her and hugged her tenderly.

"There, there, it's alright now. You know what? I have an idea, let's eat together. I don't eat like you do but I can pretend. Black Widow, you will join us, yes?"

"Of course, Lady Noire. It would be a pleasure. I'm going to tell the servants." said the black arachne before she left the room for a second.

"And while we eat, why don't you tell me more about this Maximilian? I'm sure you will feel better afterwards." said the vampire as she put the white hair of the arachne behind her ears, smiling at the young girl.

...................................................................................................................................................

Black Widow walked fast in the dark hall, the sound of her eight legs echoing in the quiet stony place.

Suddenly, the black arachne stopped, opening her eyes wide. Leaning against the wall with one hand, the other on her belly. She screamed silently, doing her best to make as little sound as possible. The pain made her clenched her fist, deeply clawing the wall.

It lasted for a minute or two then, as quickly as it had come, the pain stopped. Black widow, sweating a bit, took a deep breath or two before straightening herself.

She took a step or two before looking behind her. Her eyes narrowed as she remarked the dark-red blood on the ground leading to her.

"Not again..." desperately said the arachne as she hurriedly went away, hardly walking straight, disappearing behind a door for a while.

...................................................................................................................................................

Almost four weeks passed.

...................................................................................................................................................

"SIR! SOMETHING IS COMING RIGHT AT US!" shouted one of the soldiers guarding the door.

"Dark forces? BOWMEN ON THE WALL!" ordered the captain, his men already getting in position.

"No Sir! It's coming from the other direction! Look! There!" warned the soldier as he pointed up.

The captain heard it before he saw it. A whistling sound sounding like a dropping bomb. Looking up, all the soldiers could see a form in the sky getting bigger and bigger as it got nearer.

"IT'S FALLING ON US! TAKE COVER!" ordered the captain in a shout.

The soldiers hid, the one on the wall jumping on the side to evade the massive projectile that crashed right behind the wall, in the dark land.

"AHAHAHAH! We've made it!" exclaimed Maximilian, stretching as he did so.

"Finally, Goddess it was long..." sighed Lin-Lin as she checked her armour, making sure everything was where it needed to be. Pori was a bit groggy, his wide eyes swirling around.

As for Binvo...he was currently throwing up on the side, the rough landing had been the final touch for him.

"You'll be alright, Binvo?" enquired Maximilian.

Sweeping his mouth with a tissue offered by his friend, the minotaur nodded.

"Binvo...will never fly again..." promised Binvo, making Maximilian laugh a bit.

"HEY, YOU! STATE YOUR NAMES AND INTENTIONS!" shouted the captain from the wall, his men at his sides, all aiming at the trio.

Looking at them, Maximilian amicably waved.

"Howdy, neighbours! I am Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus, the new owner of this land, those two are my friends: Lin-Lin and Binvo. We came to take this land back from the dark forces that have infested it. Go warn your Lord that the doors will soon be able to be reopened." joyfully declared Maximilian before turning his back to the soldiers, going further inside the dark land.

"What do we do, Sir? Should we shoot?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Our orders are to forbid monsters from leaving the dark land, not people from going inside it...Don't look at me like that! I'm as lost as you are!" scolded the man before sending a messenger to his Lord.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Do you remember? I want you two to keep your true strength hidden for now. We don't know what we're going to face here, it's better for us to keep a trump card or two in our sleeves."

The two nodded. Since they had left the magic academy, Lin-Lin and Binvo had followed Maximilian's order and were hiding their real power, one of the things they had learned to do while they were training behind the magic doors.

They went further on the land, not bothered by any monster or guard. They walked for a bit, the feeble light above the black clouds quickly starting to disappear, signifying the night was coming.

"Alright then, it's almost night time...now, where should we go?"

"Can't you feel Octavia's energy?" asked Lin-Lin.

"That's the problem, I feel it at different points." answered Maximilian, closing his eyes to focus a bit.

"That and...I also feel the same person's energy as before. Of course, there are illusions hiding where she really is, that's not a bad idea..."

"I'm glad you like it!" said a woman voice from above.

Looking up, the trio could see...a mouth. Two massive lips wearing emerald-green lipstick, flying with the help of two black bat wings.

"What the hell is that thing?" asked Maximilian.

" A mouth..." said Binvo.

"...With wings." added Lin-Lin.

Maximilian looked at the two for a second, arcing an eyebrow. Seeing the two shrug, he decided to let it slide and addressed the lips.

"Who am I talking to?"

"Lady Noire, Mistress ruling this land and every soul living on it. And you, you are Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus, followed by Lin-Lin the panda-girl and Binvo, a minotaur. Quite an interesting trio, but I have to say I didn't expect you to come. Why are you here?" asked the lips, moving around like a mouth lost in the air.

"Strange, I could have sworn there was a pretty face attached to those lips..." said Maximilian, crossing his arms.

Forming a sensual smile, the flying mouth laughed.

"Aren't we a charmer? But I'm afraid it won't save you, Octavia has been set free from you and I will do everything in my power to protect her."

"I hear a lot of talking but no weight behind it. There are two ways to do this. First one, you tell me where she is, I come to retrieve her and I will think about letting you go unharmed. The second possibility, you don't, then I will have to destroy every bit of what you built before finding her, and after that, I'll do to you what you did to 'my' land. What do you say, Lady?"

Once again, the lips laughed, but this time it was clearly to mock the man.

"Let's say I am more inclined to choose the third possibility. My immortality can, sometimes, have a boring side to it. You three are going to entertain me..."

Before the trio appeared three flying eyeballs, all looking one of them without a sound.

"On this land are three villages. I want each one of you to choose one of those villages and find one of the three key that will open the door to my castle."

"But of course. And do you want us to sing while we do so? I'm going to bust your door open in more ways than one if you try to play with me, Lady." warned Maximilian, getting impatient.

"And I think you won't." answered the flying mouth in a singing tone.

"Because if any of you should try to come to the castle before doing like I have told, the people of the said villages could very well be the next meal of my army."

"And what makes you think I would give a single thought about them?" asked Maximilian.

"I don't know. Let's just say a little white spider as told me a lot about you, Maximilian."

"Octavia did?" asked Maximilian.

"Indeed. She seemed to be sure you couldn't let several hundred innocents die only to reach her faster. Was she wrong? Wait until I tell her that, she's going to be so sad..." playfully said the green lips.

Maximilian kept silent for a second, closing his eyes to think.

"Alright...we will play your game. But if you hurt her in any way..." started to threatened Maximilian.

"Don't exchange our roles here, Maximilian. I wasn't the one she ran away from, you are. Each one of you will follow one of the eyes to a village." said Noire.

"What assures me you won't ambush us as soon as we will be alone?" asked Maximilian.

"What forbids me from doing it right now?" echoed the voice as the ground started to shake, hundreds of undead starting to rise from the earth all around the trio.

"Damn! I didn't feel them at all, good trap." Exclaimed Maximilian.

"Don't be surprised, I am a powerful necromancer after all. But, apart from the fact Octavia told me you three were another level than normal soldiers and it would take a lot of undeads to get rid of you, killing you here wouldn't be entertaining." said Noire as the undeads went back underground.

"I have to admit you managed to surprise me for a second. Not passing by the doors was a good idea, but don't expect any reinforcement. The only journey crystal still intact on this land is in my castle, and my army is placed all around the wall. I will enjoy you three getting destroyed, alone... have fun!" concluded the lips before disappearing.

Maximilian sighed.

"Alright you two, we stick to the plan. Take care and let's meet back before the castle gates. But please, be careful, okay?" said Maximilian as he discreetly patted the Havenbag.

Maximilian's friends nodded at him as they did the same with one of the small bags they had at their belt before they separated, each one following a flying eye.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Binvo must pass..." said the minotaur.

Pointing at him was the arrow of a middle-aged man, a hunter threatening Maximilian's friend with his weapon.

"NO! You fiend have taken my daughter! She won't wake up! I don't care what happens to me anymore! You're going to die!"

Seeing the minotaur following the flying eye must have been what had misled the old hunter, or so thought Binvo as he took a look at the silently flying thing.

"Binvo is no enemy. Binvo is here to help." simply said the minotaur, doing his best to not look too threatening. This wasn't easy, he was nearly a metre taller than the man.

"LIES!" shouted the hunter as he let go of his arrow, the minotaur evading the projectile at the last moment.

The commotion had alerted peoples around. They all came out of their house, the parents hurriedly hiding their children inside when they understood what was going on.

As the old hunter was taking another arrow, he got stopped by a massive hand on his shoulder.

Turning around, the man opened his eyes wide as he saw Maku, the black bearkin severely looking down at him.

"You are interfering with Mistress's amusement, old man. I've been ordered to punish anyone doing that..." said the butler as his hand clenched around the old man's shoulder.

The hunter screamed in pain as his shoulder broke, the old skeleton not resisting more than a second against the bearkin's power.

Liliane's father fell on his knees, dropping his bow as his hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Blame yourself, old man..." said the bearkin as he lifted his massive clawed hand, readying another attack.

"If Binvo may..."

The butler barely had the time to look at the minotaur that a massive fist came in his direction, colliding hard with his jaw.

Maku flew off the ground, Binvo's punch projecting him a good dozen metres away. He landed against the village well, breaking it.

"Peoples are under Maximilian's protection now. If bearkin wants to hurt then, bearkin must kill Binvo first." stated the minotaur as he stood before the old hunter, facing the butler.

Brushing the small rubble off his butler dress as he stood, the bearkin kept a stoic face as he took a look at the manor on the hill, seemingly waiting for something.

"HAHAHAHAHA! HE THREW A GOOD ONE!" echoed the voice of Viviane, directly coming from a silhouette standing behind one of the numerous windows of the dark manor.

"What should I do with him, Mistress?" asked the butler.

"HAVE YOU SENSED HIS POWER? HE'S JUST TRASH...KILL IT FOR ME, MAKU." ordered the loud voice of the vampire as the silhouette disappeared from behind the window, feeling no need to pay any attention to the minotaur.

"At your orders, Mistress." simply answered the butler as he made his two massive hand joints crack, tilting his head on the side to do the same with his neck.

"Binvo have no will to hurt bearkin. Binvo only needs the key to save a friend. The land now belongs to Maximilian, bearkin can go and..."

Binvo's sentence was interrupted by Maku's dash, forcing the minotaur to protect himself from taking the hit.

Even with his two arms protecting his chest, the force of the impact created a small wave of energy, pushing him back a good metre.

"Mistress' orders are absolute. I am Maku the bearkin, butler at her service, for eternity, and happy to be." stated Maku as he got in fighting position, his black claws ready to tear the minotaur's flesh apart.

Binvo took out his war hammer.

"If Maku is sure, Binvo will try to be quick." stated the minotaur.

A smirk deformed the bearkin's face for a second before he retrieved his usual stoic air.

"Poor soul lost in a land too dark for him. Armed or not won't make any difference. Our levels of power are far too different."

"Binvo knows..." answered the minotaur.

Surprising his opponent as well as everyone looking, Binvo threw his hammer in the air, the heavy weapon swirling around. By reflexes, the bearkin looked up, expecting the attack to come from the weapon.

It was only too late that Maku felt the presence of the minotaur right before him.

"Mana punch!"

Binvo's massive fist violently collided right under the bearkin's chest, a wave of energy passing through the butler.

"W...wha..."

Desperately gasping for air, the butler fell on his knees, his hand on his chest. Without any exterior signs of damage, he lost consciousness just as Binvo caught his falling hammer without looking up.

A long silence fell on the village, everyone looking, mouth wide-open, at the unconscious bearkin.

"Will hunter be okay?" asked Binvo as he crouched before Liliane's father. Not waiting for an answer, the minotaur put one of his massive hand on the man's shoulder.

"Heal."

Binvo's gauntlet on the man's broken shoulder started to shine white. After a few seconds, the spell was over and Binvo stood back up.

"You...you healed me?" asked the old man, patting his own shoulder to be sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Binvo told hunter, Binvo is here to help." said the minotaur.

Seeing him going away, the old man kneeled down, prostrating.

"I BEG OF YOU! Please! My daughter needs healing too! She's been bitten by the vampire, the dark magic of this land is weakening her. She's going to die!" hurriedly explained the old hunter.

Binvo stayed silent for a second, thinking.

"Binvo's magic is still too weak to heal vampire darkness...here."

Taking one of the small phials from the pouch at his belt, the minotaur gave it to the old man.

"Potion is made by Maximilian, powerful. Give drops to your daughter, share the rest with peoples who need it the most.

Liliane's father looked at the vial for a second, not believing his eyes.

"A health potion? Thank you! Thank you, really!" said the man as he started to run to his house.

"MAKU! WHY ARE YOU NOT BACK YET?!" echoed Viviane's voice.

"Mistress calls..."

In a second, the bearkin was before the running old man, his hand ready to hit.

"No one will leave..." threatened Maku, his eyes rolled back and massive body completely blocking the hunter's way.

A loud noise echoed in the village. All saw Binvo's hammer hitting the butler's head, breaking the bearkin's skull.

"Maku not hurting villagers, Binvo warned..." simply said the minotaur as he pulled his hammer out of the bloody mess that used to be the butler's head, letting Viviane's minion fall down.

"You...it's the second time you save me, I won't forget it, I promise!" thanked the old man before going to his house.

"MAKU! HURRY YOUR FURRY ASS UP YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING BEAR!!!"

"MiShTreEsH..."

A deformed voice came from the destroyed face of the bearkin as he stood up once again, a black symbol shining at his heart level.

"MaKu...OBEYYYYYY!" shouted the undead bearkin as he dashed in Binvo's direction, ready to hit as his dark blood was spilling around.

Surprised by the attack, Binvo evaded Maku at the last moment, getting nothing but a slight bleeding bruise on his cheek. The minotaur faced the bearkin, the vampire's servant already dashing again.

"Mana...." said Binvo, focusing on his hammer.

The minotaur's weapon's head started to shine white as he lifted it up, waiting for the right moment.

"HAMMER!" shouted Binvo right before the bearkin's hit collided, his weapon hitting hard right between Maku's shoulder.

This time, the magic energy crushed the bearkin at his chest level, creating a visible circled of compressed flesh right in the middle of his body. The attack also had the effect of partially destroying the black symbol and, this time for good, the butler fell on the ground.

People started to gather around the dead butler.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Viviane is going to kill us all!"

"We are all going to die!"

The villagers were starting to panic. Without a word, Binvo turned away to go in the manor direction.

"Hey, you! What do you intend to do? There is a vampire and her guards in there!" warned the wolfkin man.

"Binvo have a mission, Binvo must get a key."

"Alone? You're going to be killed!" exclaimed the wolfkin, amazed and angered by the minotaur.

"Binvo won't be alone, not for long..."

Using his hammer, the minotaur quickly drew a line on the ground.

"Do not follow. Do not cross the line." simply said Binvo as he put a knee on the ground, bowing a bit to mutter some words, doing some kind of prayer, before standing back and quickly going for the manor, followed by the flying eye.

...................................................................................................................................................

The flying eye had started to accelerate soon after Lin-Lin had been separated from her friends. The panda lady hadn't had any trouble following it and, after two or three hours of running fast, she was finally able to see the place she was supposed to get a key from.

Apart from the manor carefully taken care of, with black roses all around it, the village in itself was in a pitiful state, at least as much as the ones living in it.

As she arrived at the village, the people on her way hurriedly stepped aside. The women and girls were looking down, their face hidden by large hoods. As for the men, apart from the young boys and old gramps, the few there were plain, in the best case. None was monstrous in any way, but none was really good-looking either.

As one of the women was hurrying children off Lin-Lin's way, she lost one of her shoes, stumbled and fell down, as she did, her hood fell off her head.

"Will you be al..."

Lin-Lin, by reflex, had stopped to help the fallen woman. What the panda lady saw was a disfigured one. What should have been a very beautiful feminine face was cut, bruised, burned, peeled even. Tears of shame in her eyes, the young lady hurriedly put back her hood on.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare..." apologised Lin-Lin as she saw the young lady's tears.

"No, it's me who should apologise..." said the girl as she took the shoe Lin-Lin was giving her.

"Macy! Come, quick!" ordered an old lady.

Quickly standing up, the one named Macy went away as she continued to mumble some apologies for having made Lin-Lin stop on her way.

As she looked around, the panda lady could see a glimpse of the other women's face, all had received the same treatment. She felt sick as she saw even the younger girls, children no more than ten years old, had also been disfigured.

"What happened here?..." asked Lin-Lin, disbelief filling her voice.

"This is the rule of our village..." said the old lady, whose right eye had been taken out and left cheek had been pierced and burned. The young lady whom Lin-Lin had talked to was standing next to her.

"...No woman, young or old, can be beautiful, apart from Lady Annabelle. No man, if beautiful enough, can not serve her. She is our Mistress and we are allowed to live only so we can breed more beautiful men to serve her in the future."

"What a good introduction to our beautiful village!" exclaimed an upbeat voice.

Coming from the manor at the top of the hill, a dozen men in black leather armour were quickly arriving.

The villagers went out of their way, looking down. Some of them, young disfigured teenaged girls, shamefully hid their faces from the good-looking men.

The one who had spoken seemed to be the leader, a black cape was covering the black leather armour he was wearing.

"Let me be the first one to welcome you, Lady Lin-Lin. I am Alonzo, captain of the 'Fair-faced'." declared the man.

"The 'Fair-faced'? That's a strange name for soldiers..." said Lin-Lin.

"It's only fitting for the most beautiful soldiers there are. Look at us, then look at them, then back at us, don't you think the difference is evident? They are thankful to be able to even look at us." explained the man, the pompous and satisfied smile on his face not leaving him even a single second.

Lin-Lin, almost hypnotised by so much condescension, shook her head and started to walk again, smiling kindly at the old woman as she did so.

"Thank you for the explanation, Madam."

Completely ignoring the fair-faced soldiers, Lin-Lin passed next to them as she went on, making all the villagers gasp as one.

"Hey! The beast..." called Alonzo, losing all trace of false kindness.

Lin-Lin didn't stop, not giving him the pleasure of being acknowledged.

Clearly not appreciating the cold treatment, Alonzo took out his sword.

"You would dare to ignore the soldiers of the most beaut..."

The man was interrupted by Lin-Lin making a single gesture with her hand. A flat stone arrived right in his face, crushing his nose as it did so.

"Here, a bit of modesty as a present." simply said Lin-Lin as she went on.

Whining with a hand on his face, the man looked at the blood in his hand, coming from his broken nose.

"Blood!? YOU DARE TO WASTE THE NECTAR OF MY LADY!? FAIR-FACED! K..."

Once again, the man was interrupted, this time by Lin-Lin stomping on the ground. Earth spikes, all around him, came from the ground. One of the spikes arrived right under the man's chin, pushing against his throat.

"You were saying?" calmly asked Lin-Lin, not turning around.

"Y...you will pay for this! The Mistress of this village is..."

"...No more the Mistress of anything. Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus is now the rightful owner of this land, and I've come with him to set things right." calmly stated Lin-Lin.

"Poruri!" added the slime who had climbed on her shoulder.

Seeing their captain disposed of in an instant had clearly shocked the other soldiers. They were hesitating, not really knowing how to act.

"You, the fair-faced!" called Lin-Lin as she finally turned around, getting their attention.

"You are from this village, aren't you? Those people are your family, yet you would act as if they were nothing to you? Why?"

"It's not like we had a choice in the matter, young Lady." answered one of the soldiers.

"If we try to defy Mistress, she could easily kill us all. Her magic, her power, we simply would be annihilated." explained the man.

"And so you let her do as she like? You let her torture the women, the young girls ?"

"She didn't do it..." said the old lady.

"What do you mean?" asked Lin-Lin, afraid to understand.

"She stated that the 'ritual of degradation' had to be performed by the...mothers...to the daughters." admitted the old lady, tears silently running down her face as the young lady next to her took her in her arms, sobbing too.

Lin-Lin kept silent for a bit, horrified by the truth.

"She...she is a monster! Forcing you to do that, how can she?!"

Among the knowing nodded and the disfigured mothers holding their children, Alonzo let a strangled laughed out.

"A monster? Look at yourself before you talk, beast. Lady Annabelle is the most beautiful creature we mortals had the chance to look at. Being touched by her graceful hand is a bliss only offered to the best. If bruising a bitch or two is what is needed to be allowed to stand at her side, I would be happy to do it myself!"

Lin-Lin narrowed her eyes. Pointing at Alonzo, she made the earth spike grow a tiny bit more, slightly piercing his skin.

"I don't think killing you now would make anyone cry...but..."

The panda lady didn't kill the man. She let him there, blocked by the stone, forbidding any movement.

"...I prefer to let the people decide what to do with you. Fair-faced, step aside and don't try to confront me! I've been asked to find a key, I'll go in this manor and take care of this Annabelle, save my friend, then this land will be free!" declared Lin-Lin, full of conviction.

The fair-faced soldiers looked at each other for a second.

"You...you would be willing to fight a vampire? All alone?"

"If I have to, then yes."

"You must be careful! Mistress Annabelle's magic is powerful. She can kill you without touching you." warned the man, his comrades nodding.

"Let me take care of that, don't come after me." said Lin-Lin as she hit the floor with her foot, picturing a long line.

"To be frank, I can sense her power even from here...This will be a fierce battle." stated Lin-Lin as she put a knee on the ground, bowing a bit like Binvo had done at the other village to do some kind of prayer, quickly going for the manor afterwards, followed by the flying eye.

...................................................................................................................................................

"The scenery is...interesting..." observed Maximilian.

The third village, situated on the other side of the dark land, was finally before him. The flying eye had led him there, passing near the castle where Lady Noire was and, most certainly, Octavia too. For a second, Maximilian had wanted to go straight for it, but the several layers of dark magic protecting the vampire lair assured him he wouldn't have been able to go in unnoticed, risking Octavia's life wasn't part of his plans.

*Play her game, Maximilian. Play her game...* thought Maximilian at the time.

Silence. No sound could be heard in the third village. The houses were almost completely destroyed, even the manor was nothing more than open-air ruins.

As he walked in the main street leading to the manor, following the flying eye, Maximilian silently scanned the zone, making sure no traps had been prepared for him.

Surprisingly enough, nothing of the sort. Dark energy was there, like everywhere on the dark lands, but most of the energy in the village was coming from the manor.

Acting quickly, Maximilian used his ring of the free talkers, preparing the next step of his plan. As he did so, he quickly put a knee on the ground to pray for a second or two, like his friends had done in the other villages.

Without any trouble, he entered the broken doors, quickly reaching some old ballroom with the ceiling gone, crumbled years ago.

Everywhere around him, dark flowers were there. Beautiful, perfectly taken care of, coming from a dark dust covering every centimetre of the floor. Right in the centre of the room was standing Bibi, fully equipped with an armour so old and rusty it was certainly enchanted to be able to move around correctly.

The undead noble turned around to face Maximilian, waiting for the man to say something, apparently.

"Seeing how you are the only one here, I suppose this is from you I must get the key?" asked Maximilian.

The undead nodded, showing the said key around his neck before he hid it under his armour.

"And I suppose asking kindly won't do the trick?"

The undead slowly shook his head from right to left.

"Noire...ordered me...to kill you..." explained Bibi as he took out his long sword.

"I'm not surprised, but I'm afraid I'll have to defend myself." said Maximilian.

"Don't...you'll cause pain..." said Bibi as he dashed in Maximilian's direction, his undead body surprisingly quick.

Without even touching him, Maximilian pointed at the armoured undead and cast fire arrows. The magic projectiles pierced Bibi all over his body, stopping his attack in a second before the undead fell down.

"Easily done. Now the key and I'm g...what the?"

The holes in Bibi's body closed and the undead stood back up.

As he did so, the undead looked on the side as one of the flowers turned grey before it turned to dust.

"Pain..." simply said the undead with a sorry face.

The undead took a fighting stance once again, pointing up with his long sword.

"Can see, not hear..." simply said the undead before charging Maximilian again.

Once again, the man put the undead down using magic, this time wind that cut his head off.

Once again, Bibi stood up, putting his head back on, and a flower shattered. The undead took the same position, pointing his sword up for a second.

"Can see, not hear...look." added the undead as quickly as his dry mouth was allowing him before he attacked once again.

"Are you immune to magic? I'll try with my blade then..." stated Maximilian as he took out his sword, easily parrying the undead's attack.

Pushing Bibi back, Maximilian slashed at him, easily destroying the rusty armour protecting this chest. By doing so, Maximilian revealed the coat-of-arms, the sword with two eagle wings.

A coat-of-arms Maximilian recognised immediately.

"Is that...?"

...................................................................................................................................................

"Lord Nilmerus, If I may have a bit of your time before you go?"

As the trio was going away from the capital, Maximilian was called by the old General.

The old man had been more than eager to help, more so after Maximilian had explained his plan to the King and him, present with the Chancellor and Lady Maria at the time.

"General Bitelberg? What is the matter?" asked Maximilian, facing the old man with whom he appreciated talking but have no time to do so at the moment.

"There is something I have hidden from you the other day. I explained to you I had been sent by the old King to retake the dark land..."

"It was a lie?"

"No, but let's say I had a more...personal reason to go than my obligations alone..."

"General, I have a long road ahead of me, if you could..." politely asked Maximilian, gesturing to the old man to go on.

"My son, Bilian Bitelberg."

"What about him?"

"He was in love with a Lord's daughter, before the said Lord's land became the dark lands. He was there when they attacked, visiting his dear. I lead the troops with the hope to find him, but couldn't. I... you will have my support with your plan, Lord Nilmerus, I can promise you this. But, please, if you find my son...help him." begged the man, quickly whipping away the single tear of shame in his old eyes.

"General...it's been fifty years...how can you be sure he isn't...how do you know he is alive?" asked Maximilian, respecting the man's love for his son.

"He is a Bitelberg, Lord Nilmerus! We Bitelberg never give up! I may have been too weak to save the dark lands, but I know, I feel it in my guts, in my very soul, my son is somewhere behind those walls, waiting for something, someone, an opportunity to set things right! He is an example of righteousness, tell him who you are, with whom you fight, and you will find an ally in him, I swear it on my Coat-of-Arms!" Proudly stated the old general as he hit his armoured chest, where a sword with two eagle wings was represented.

Maximilian closed his eyes for a second, then nodded and extended his hand.

"I'll do my best."

Shaking Maximilian's hand, the old General nodded before turning his back to him, hurrying his men away to set things in motion.

...................................................................................................................................................

"I know who you are, Bilian Bitelberg..." stated Maximilian.

For a second, the undead froze in place, his dead eyes looking alive for a tiny instant. Maximilian could see, in that tiny instant, all the pain, the sadness the undead had suffered through.

Once again, the undead took back the same position, pointing up with his sword.

"Can see, not hear...eye." said the undead before attacking again.

Maximilian took a quick look above, where the sword was pointing, to see the flying eye not missing a second of the fight.

"COME TO ME, UNDEAD FIEND!!!" shouted Maximilian as he made two massive fireballs appear in his hands.

Sadly looking at him, Bibi dashed once again. But, this time, Maximilian didn't attack the undead, at least not directly. He acted like his spell was parried and threw the fireballs up, destroying the flying eye 'by mistake'.

"Careful...still attack..." warned the undead as he tried to behead Maximilian who evaded the hit.

"You can't stop, is that it?"

"Bibi...must obey, please..." begged the undead as he launched a series of attacks, all aiming at one of Maximilian's limb.

"Okay." simply answered Maximilian.

Stomping on the ground, Maximilian blocked Bibi between several stone spikes, forbidding any movements.

"Thank you..." calmly said the undead even as his body did its best to break the stone.

"I have little time, I must take the key and go help Octavia." explained Maximilian as he took the said key, easily breaking the chain around the undead's neck.

"Octavia...white arachne..." stated Bibi, acting like an old computer searching for information in his memory.

His friend's name in the undead's mouth interested Maximilian.

"It's her...You may be the son of the old General, if you have hurt her in any way..."

"No...Bibi not enemy...I am...not an enemy." Said Bibi before he closed his eyes, clearly having all the pain in the world to find the strength to talk normally.

"I...want...to die. I can't...die. I...must obey, or...they die..." tried to explain the undead noble, but with little success.

"Who, Bilian? Who will die if you don't obey?" asked Maximilian, fearing for Octavia's life.

The dead eyes looked straight at him, making Maximilian understand he would be crying if only he had any fluid to spare.

"Love..."

As if to answer the call from the undead, a gust of wind passed in the room. The dark dust covering the floor got blown away, and Maximilian stepped back a bit as he finally saw what was under it.

Crystal, the floor was made of a see-through crystal, but what got Maximilian's attention was something else. All the dark roses, their roots going through the crystal, entangled together right in the centre of the room, forming a literal coffin of dark roots.

"What is this?" asked Maximilian as he observed the strange yet beautiful-looking scene under his feet.

"Prison...for love. If I disobey...a flower dies. Each time my body must come back...a flower dies. If...all the flowers die...they die..." explained the undead.

"Who is in there?" asked Maximilian.

"Love...and hope..."

...................................................................................................................................................

Fifty years ago.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Come and catch me!" laughed out loud the pretty-looking noble lady as she ran away, barefoot, one the flower-covered hill.

Chasing after the young lady was Bilian, a tall and strong young man in his early twenties.

"I'm going to get you, Mel!" shouted Bilian, having at least as much fun as the Lady he was running after.

Finally catching her, the fell down together, Mel ending above Bilian, chuckling.

"Congratulations, you caught me. What does my valorous knight want as a reward?" asked Mel.

Putting the long brown hair of the beautiful lady behind her ears, the man smiled as he sat.

"I might have an idea..." answered the noble as he kissed his lover.

Answering Bilian's kiss, the lady passed her fingers through the man's hair, like she had done so many times before. Imitating Mel, the noble thumb passed on her ears, slightly brushing against the point they had, making her breath in.

"Hey, stop that! You know they are sensitive." exclaimed the lady with a laugh.

"I know, and you know I like to tease you." answered the man with a laugh, receiving a playful hit in the chest from his lover.

Laying down once again, Bilian took the time to admire the one his heart had chosen. The slightly pointy ears Mel had was a heritage from one of her ancestors, an elf who, centuries ago, had chosen to take a human wife and, generations later, had left behind those little presents to her, that and a natural beauty many were envious of.

"I've done my homework." proudly announced Bilian.

"Is that so?" asked Mel, interested.

"You asked me to discover what your name meant, and that would be what you would give me as a present."

"And? What have you discovered?" asked Mel, crossing her arms to imitate one of the severe teachers her father insisted on making her study from.

"Love. Mel, your name means love in elf's language." stated Bilian as he sat once again.

Putting her arms around his neck, the lady smiled lovingly at him.

"And that is what I will offer you, my dear Bilian...Well, that and...maybe...something else..."

Mel's hesitation worried Bilian.

"Is something wrong? Mel, you know you can tell me everything."

"Well...you know that my father has given us his blessing to marry in six months..."

"Yes? Please, don't tell me you have second thoughts about it!" enquired Bilian, fearing the worst.

"No, no, no. Not at all! It's just that...we might have to do it sooner or I may not be able to fit in my wedding dress anymore..." said Mel as she took one of Bilian's hand to put it on her still flat belly.

It took a few seconds to the man to understand, looking at his lover's eyes, then at her belly, then at her eyes again.

"What? You mean you...? You and I are going to...?" Bilian wasn't able to finish his sentences, a stupid grin progressively picturing itself on his face.

Barely able to control the tears of joy in her eyes, Mel simply nodded.

"You're going to be a father!"

Laughing out loud, the man hugged his wife to be, kissing her all over the face as he did so.

"Father! I'm going to be a father!" exclaimed the noble as he fell down once again, his hand facing the sky as if he could easily reach it.

The two lover's moment of joy got interrupted when the alert horns echoed in the plain, alerting everyone the castle was under attack.

"An attack?" asked Bilian as he stood up, helping Mel to do so too.

"Bilian, my parents! We must hurry!" exclaimed Mel as she ran in the castle direction, quickly followed by Bilian who picked up his sword, his trusty weapon that never left his side.

...................................................................................................................................................

"I'll never surrender to you, vampire!" spat Mel's father.

"Too bad." simply answered Lady Noire as she broke the man's neck with the single hand that was lifting him off the ground.

"FATHER!!!" screamed Mel, arriving in the throne room right as her father dropped his sword, dead.

The throne room was filled with undeads. Skeletons with blade dirtied with the dead's blood, as well as 'fresh' troops made with villagers and some of the soldiers killed earlier. Others were still on the ground, not turned undead yet.

"Is it yours? You can take it back..." simply said Lady Noire as she threw the lord's corpse down, the man's body landing next to his wife's.

"Father, Mother..." said Mel, eyes wide open as she fell on her knees...only to grasp a nearby spear.

"You...YOU!!!" screamed the lady as she ran in Lady Noire direction while the said vampire was calmly sitting on the throne.

Mel got quickly blocked by the undead, the rotten being threatening her life with their weapons, teeth and claws.

"LET HER GOOOOOO!" shouted Bilian as her literally destroyed the undeads with a powerful blow, setting Mel free.

"Oh? And what do we have here? A valorous knight in shiny armour there to save his Princess? This is precious..." taunted Noire, an amused smiled on her face.

With a simple finger snap, the vampire Mistress made every undead in the room turn to the couple, ready to kill.

"Mel! Flee! I'll take care of them!" ordered Bilian.

"No! I'm with you!"

"In any case, it is not as if she could go anywhere. My forces have already taken control of this land. I am Lady Noire, Mistress vampire, your Mistress. And now, die for my amusement, mortals." simply stated Noire with an amused hand gesture, signalling her forces to attack.

"AS IF I WOULD LET YOU!!!" shouted Bilian, a magical energy shining around him as he took his sword with two hands.

"BLADE WAAAAAAVE!!!" shouted the General's son.

Like he had been tough by his father himself, he liberated a wave of energy, cutting like a razor, destroying the foes before him. Bilian wasn't a mage, he knew nothing about magic, but he had learned to control is inner energy to be able to fight well, to be able to protect the ones needed to be.

The undeads fell, but others approached. Bilian didn't waste a single second, parrying some attacks while attacking at the same time, his large featured and long arms allowing him to put a lot of force in his blows.

Behind him, Mel managed to take care of the two or three undeads coming her way, the long hours of combat learning with her teachers proving to be useful.

In the end, the undeads in the room were taken care of. Bilian breathed hard, he was injured, bleeding in several places, but continued to face Lady Noire nonetheless. The vampire Lady clapped her hands, amused.

"My, my, what energy, what vigour! You would make a fine servant. What do you think, you two?" asked Noire as she talked to Annabelle and Viviane who had just entered the room.

"He is quite good-looking, I may have some uses for him..." said Annabelle as she observed the noble.

"The woman is of no use for us, isn't she? Let's get rid of her..." simply said Viviane as she extended a hand in Mel's direction.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!!!" shouted Bilian as he dashed in the young-looking vampire's direction, sword ready to hit. Focussing all the energy he could, the man sent an energy wave to Viviane who, surprised by the magic attack, was forced to use her own weapon to protect herself, the force of the hit pushing her several metres back.

Standing before Mel, Bilian was breathing hard, empty of any energy his body was willing to give away.

"YOU DARE TO ATTACK ME?! I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART!!!" roared Viviane as her axe-umbrella hit the floor, breaking it.

"Viviane, you are too loud." simply said Noire, instantly calming the blond vampire.

"S...sorry, Mistress. But he dared to..."

"Too loud, Viviane." simply repeated Noire.

Viviane's mouth closed for good, not daring to say anything else under the look of the black-haired vampire sitting on the throne.

"What is your name? For being able to push back one of my vampires, you deserve to be known."

"Bilian of the House Bitelberg." simply answered Bilian, his eyes going from one vampire to another, his blade ready to hit anyone who would come in reach.

"Bitelberg, Bitelberg...why does that name sounds familiar?" thought Noire out loud.

"It is the name of the high general of Grifinia, Mistress." explained Annabelle with a polite bow.

"Indeed! So? What could the son of the high General of Grifinia be doing on the farthest land of the kingdom?" questioned Noire, an amused smile on her face.

Her eyes stopped on Mel who, by reflexes, protect her still flat belly, where her and Bilian's baby was still growing. The smile on Noire's face got wider.

"Oh? A baby, isn't that right? You and the ex-lord's daughter are expecting...Annabelle, kill her."

"With pleasure, Mistress." simply answered Annabelle.

In an instant, Mel was lifted off the ground by an invisible force, an invisible around her neck stopping her from breathing.

"NO!!!" shouted Bilian as he dashed in Annabelle's direction, ready to hit.

But, appearing before him in a second, Viviane slashed at him with her axe, cutting off his arm before kicking him away, sending him before the throne.

The man screamed, of pain, of rage, of anger against himself for being too weak.

"NO! NOT HER, I BEG OF YOU!!!"

As if the blood flowing from his severed limb was nothing, Bilian stood and spoke to a very amused Lady Noire.

"I'LL DO ANYTHING! Anything..." implored the young man, his eyes showing his resolve as he swore.

With a single hand gesture, Noire stopped Annabelle who put Mel down but didn't let her go nonetheless.

"Anything? You would do anything?" asked Noire.

"Anything. You can do what you want to me, with me, but spare them. I beg of you, spare my wife and child." beg Bilian.

"Strange, I didn't know you could beg while standing up..." remarked Viviane, at least as amused by the scene as Noire was.

Not waiting for Noire to ask him to, Bilian fell on his knees.

"I beg of you, Lady Noire..."

The room got silent for a moment, the only noise being from Mel desperately trying to speak, to beg her loved one to not do that, to flee, although she knew deep inside he wouldn't have listened.

"Alright!" accepted Noire as she made a hand gesture.

From thin air appeared a dark dust, flying around her hand for a second before it took the shape of something strange. It looked like a mix between a long clawed hand and a cage, as big as a fist. The dark artefact silently flew to Bilian, waiting to be grasped.

"Take this, plunged it into your chest. Offer your heart to me and they will live." promised Noire.

Looking back, Bilian's eyes met Mel's, full of tears. The young lady was shaking her head from right to left, begging him to not do that.

Then, Bilian did something that surprised the three vampires. Surrounded by death, back to the wall, with no way to escape, the man smiled at his loved one.

"If you are okay with it...I think we should name the baby Estel..." said the man.

"Hope...what an unfitting name for this situation..." observed Noire with an amused laugh.

"I told you I did my homework..." said Bilian, ignoring Noire and smiling at Mel.

Unable to speak, Mel slowly nodded, agreeing with the one she would never be able to call husband, but with whom she would have been ready to live a thousand years.

"I love you, I love you both." simply said Bilian before he plunged the artefact in his chest, his cry of agony echoing in the room as the dark hand closed around his heart.

"Come to me..." ordered Noire, the dark crystal on the top of the cage shining for a second before it flew back to her, taking with it the still beating heart of Bilian.

In a second, the blood stopped flowing from his wound.

"You dropped this, Bibi." mocked Viviane as she kicked the severed arm in Bilian's direction.

Without a word, the man took the limb and put it back in place, the arm magically reattaching itself.

"Annabelle, find a fitting place for our guests to stay..." ordered Noire.

As Mel's eyes burned with fury, still immobilised, Noire laughed.

"What's the matter? I promised you would live, not that you would leave."

And, as Mel and her baby were taken away, all that could be heard in the room, as well as all other the land, was the sinister yet sensual laugh of Noire, whose dark power was already starting to turn the once peaceful land in what was going to become the dark lands.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Love and hope...Mel a Estel in elf language. So they are the ones in this strange coffin..." said Maximilian as he observed the crystal floor.

He had listened to Bilian's story, painfully told by the undead.

"Noire has my heart...I can't disobey...Annabelle made the flowers...I must take care of them....Viviane...created the crystal floor...it can't be broken."

"I think I can do it..." observed Maximilian as he gave the floor two light hits from the point of his shoe.

"Don't!...If you break it...the flower will kill her...to break the spell...you must kill the ones who created them..." explained Bilian, talking as quickly as he could.

Maximilian scratched the back of his head, sighing.

"Okay, listen. Your story is heartbreaking, honestly, but I'm here to save Octavia before anything else. I'm sure my friends will be able to deal with the two other villages, this should take care of this. I'm going to the castle, I have your key, this will allow me to enter."

"You...are not going to kill me?" asked the undead, surprised.

"Why should I? In the end, you're nothing more than another prisoner of Lady Noire. Stay here, for now, I'll see what I can do about your heart.

"Wait! Your friends...I don't think they...will be able to win..." hurriedly explained Bibi.

"And I think they will. What Lady Noire doesn't seem to understand is that I am not the only one she should be worried about."

"...Nilmerus..." called Bilian as the man was going away.

"On the north side...under the bridge...a secret passage will lead you...directly to the castle...she won't see you coming."

"Thank you, Lord Bilian." answered Maximilian with a polite bow as he walked away.

Bilian stayed alone, waiting in silence like he had been doing for the last fifty years.

Suddenly, a wave of magic, followed by a crackling sound, disturbed him. After that, nothing happened for a dozen minutes. Then, breaking the silence of the room once again, an old voice, trembling with a lot of different emotions, said something the undead thought he wouldn't be able to hear ever again.

"Son?"

Looking before him, the undead's eyes took a tiny bit of life back for a second.

"Father?"

...................................................................................................................................................

"Mish...treeesh..."

All the villagers took several steps back as they heard the supposed-to-be-dead bearkin talk again.

More than talking, the sounds coming out of his broken mouth were associations of grunts and gurgles, all surprisingly making a tiny bit of sense.

The butler stood up, his body looking a lot like a broken puppet. Without a look for the villagers, he slowly turned around to go after Binvo.

"Mushht go...kiiiill..." continued to say the black bearkin.

Passing over the line Binvo had traced on the ground, Maku's foot hit something. Looking down, the bearkin saw a small bag on the floor, right where the minotaur had prayed for a second.

The smell coming from it indicated it belonged to the one who had injured him so much. Suddenly, as if reacting to an echo from afar, it started to tremble and shine. The energy around the bag made the butler curious, he picked it up.

"Whaat is..."

As Maku opened the bag to look inside, some small stones flew out of it at bullet speed, destroying his head on their way.

As the beheaded corpse of Maku fell down once again, the little stones landed on the ground, forming a circle. The villagers, looking from afar, didn't know how to react.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Did you see? It destroyed the butler's head!"

The villager's talk got interrupted by a wave of energy, followed by cracking noises as the stones on the ground started to shine, revealing runes on them. From the ground itself came a semicircle, a dozen metres diametral. Once the semicircle was out, all the small rune stones flew off the ground to reunite on top of it, forming some kind of sphere that started to shine white. A veil of light appeared inside the semicircle, completing it at the exact same time others were elsewhere.

...................................................................................................................................................

"YOU DID WHAAAAT!!!?"

The maids ran away in terror as Viviane hit the floor several times with her foot, acting like a young girl throwing a tantrum. Well, the big difference was that the young girl wouldn't be able to break the stone under her foot like Viviane was doing.

"Binvo is here to take the key. Binvo doesn't wish to hit small children but..."

"YOU DARE TO COME BEFORE ME AFTER YOU BEAT UP MY DEAR LITTLE MAKU?! I'M GOING TO DESTROY YOU, YOU FUCKING BOBULL!!!" cursed the vampire as she dashed in Binvo's direction...

...only to receive a heavy hit from the minotaur's hammer right in the face, sending her flying right back to her throne, destroying it on the way.

"...But vampire doesn't smell like child. Vampire smells like old lady...small old lady?" asked Binvo, the last few words being a sincere interrogation to himself.

With a roar, the small vampire jumped out of the rumbles, her weapon in hands.

"YOU FUCKING BOBULL!!!"

The axe and hammer collided, creating an energy explosion that sent Binvo a dozen metres back.

"Where do you think you're going, bobull?" asked Viviane as she appeared right behind him.

Binvo barely had the time to turn around that he received a powerful kick right under the chest, sending him flying high, hitting the ceiling, before falling hard on the floor, breaking it as he landed.

"Who do you think you are? Silly creature!"

Viviane kicked Binvo once again, the minotaur flying a few metres away. Walking childishly to him, Viviane continued to talk.

"You, whose mind barely understand what walking on two legs means, how DARE you come before me?!"

Easily lifting the massive body of the minotaur up, Viviane laughed without any joy.

"You are going to suffer, bobull...and all that for nothing! As I speak, my dear Maku must already be almost totally regenerated. As long as I will be here, as long as my power will govern this village, he cannot die!"

Throwing Binvo hard on the floor, Viviane turned her head around, making her skeleton crack a bit.

"And now, bobull, you're going to suffer...a lot."

...................................................................................................................................................

"Mistress, stay behind us!"

"Don't dirty your beautiful hands with this fool creature's blood."

"We will take care of that for you."

Between Lin-Lin and Annabelle, still nonchalantly sitting on her throne, were a good dozen men. Some were armed, others not, all were ready to fight and would be glad to.

The fair-faced soldiers had two kinds of men among them. Some were there because they had to, to simply live and to protect their family, others were there willingly, happy to serve the one they considered to be the most beautiful creature walking on earth.

The first kind of soldiers, Lin-Lin had managed to convince them to flee, at least temporarily, so she could fight without worries. The second kind had tried to stop her without success and their strongest representatives were now before her, only waiting for an occasion to hit.

"I don't like how she looks at me...fair-faced, I will honour the one who will bring me her head."

To her words, the men roared, a bestial desire mixed with a feral hatred for the one daring to displease their Mistress.

"Pori!" exclaimed Lin-Lin.

To his name, the slime jumped.

"PORI PORI PORI!" chanted the blue ball as it started to shine. In a second, Lin-Lin's weapon was in her hand and she dashed, passing between the dozen men like a gust of wind in a field of wheat.

All the men stopped moving, their eyes rolled back and they all fell, unconscious even before they touched the floor.

"Mortals...they truly are good-for-nothings...then again..."

Like it had done before, the bride dress started to move by itself, dashing in Lin-Lin's direction as it expanded.

"Stone wall." cast the panda-lady, protecting herself.

To her surprise, she felt no impact but, as she looked around, she saw the fallen men were now dead, emptied of their vital fluid and the bride dress, tainted red, was going back to its original form.

"...They do make good food rations...you made a mess of my men, I felt the magic wave from the village, I must admit you are more powerful than you look. Fast, also, seeing how quickly you arrived after I felt it." chuckled Annabelle, amused.

"You disgust me, vampire! You treat those people like they are nothing more than animals, living only to satisfy your hunger."

Very ladylike, Annabelle slowly applause.

"What a good description! Indeed they are. Animals, there to give me warm blood to drink and, dare I say, calm the fire between my legs once in a while?" said Annabelle with an amused laugh.

Interrupted by a rock flying in her direction, Annabelle looked at the projectile getting destroyed before her.

"So it's true, you really can attack without moving..." observed Lin-Lin.

"Pori!" added the slime on her shoulder.

"Yuck, what is this thing on your shoulder?" asked Annabelle as she remarked Lin-Lin's companion.

" A friend of mine." simply answered Lin-Lin.

"I don't like it." simply said Annabelle.

All Lin-Lin felt was some kind of slight wind, then came a painful 'Pori!', cried by the slime as it fell down the panda lady's shoulder, cut in two.

"PORI!" shouted Lin-Lin, but all she could see was two tiny blue puddle on the ground, nothing remained of the slime's face.

"You monster! What did he do to you!?" spat Lin-Lin, taking her spear in two hands.

"It displeased me, isn't that enough?" innocently asked Annabelle with a chuckle.

"YOU UNDEAD BITCH!" shouted Lin-Lin as she hit the ground several times with her spear handle.

Letting her aura loose, the panda-lady made her presence oppressive, unmissable.

"So young, so foolishly young..." observed Annabelle, not moving from her throne, waiting for Lin-Lin to attack.

With each hit on the ground, Lin-Lin made a dozen stones flew off it, placing themselves before the panda lady. Once done, she pointed her spear at the vampire, all the stones following her movement.

"Earth blade."

All the stones changed, taking the shape of small blades of different sizes.

"So you have a trick or two up your sleeve I see, how amusing..." observed Annabelle, still in her seat.

"Let's see how funny you find this!" exclaimed Lin-Lin as she let the earth blade go, sending them all as one on their target.

"Pitiful..." said the vampire.

Once again, as the magic projectiles arrived at her, some kind of wind could be felt around the room and, slashed by something invisible, the numerous earth blades got destroyed, falling down, cut into several pieces.

"You aren't very bright, beastkin. My power forbids anything or anyone to touch me if I don't allow it. Consider this an honour to even gaze upon my beauty and accept your f..."

"Earth stalagmite." interrupted Lin-Lin with a slight smile.

Annabelle opened her eyes wide as something trembled under her throne. In a second, the vampire disappeared, but at the same instant, a massive and pointy stalagmite destroyed her throne.

Reappearing next to it, Annabelle looked at the destroyed furniture for a second, surprised.

"How does it feel to move a bit, vampire?" asked Lin-Lin as she appeared right behind her, ready to hit.

The spear head approached fast, aiming for the vampire's heart from behind. But, at the last moment, it got blocked. Lin-Lin clenched her teeth as she felt a tremendous force forbidding her attack to hit. Turning around, Annabelle still had a satisfied smile on her face.

"I don't know, how does it feel to fly, beastkin?" chuckled the bride.

Lifted off the ground, Lin-Lin got sent back with force, breaking some furniture on the way.

"Ohohohohohohoh! How amusing! A bear trying to fly..."

"Not as amusing as a vampire trying to show off with a second-grade magic trick..." retorted Lin-Lin, instantly stopping the vampire laugh.

"You would dare to disrespect me? Me, the incarnation of eternal beauty?"

"More like eternal pretentiousness. Look at you with your bouquet of flowers, not even armed to face your opponent." spat Lin-Lin as she stood up.

Once again, Annabelle laughed.

"Do you know why I don't use any weapon, beastkin?"

"Enlighten me..."

The time it took Lin-Lin to blink, Annabelle was right before her, smiling disdainfully.

"Because I don't need one to dispose of insects like you!"

Lin-Lin’s sense of preservation screamed in her mind and heart. The panda lady jumped back, hurriedly creating a stone wall between her and the vampire. The very second after, the wall got cut, falling down in several pieces. As she got pushed back, Lin-Lin smiled.

*Invisible magic? What a joke! If I'm right, then I c...*

Moving around and pursued by Annabelle, Lin-Lin finds herself with the throne in her back, facing the entrance of the room.

*Finally!*

Stopping her retreat, Lin-Lin focused her energy before her, making Annabelle hesitated for a second.

"You have more power than I thought, but it won't change a th.."

"MANA DRILL!" shouted the panda lady as she dashed forward.

Jumping off the ground, Lin-Lin started to whirl around, her spear pointing at Annabelle. In an instant, she was less than a metre away from the vampire, and in less than a second, she got stopped.

"I knew it! This wasn't any mental power!" exclaimed Lin-Lin.

All around her, blocking her weapon as well as her body, long ivory-white hair were acting like cables, immobilising Lin-Lin.

"Congratulations, you have discovered my little secret...ready to die?" asked Annabelle, her long hair, now visible, tightening around Lin-Lin's body.

...................................................................................................................................................

Several weeks before, while Maximilian and his friends were travelling, Octavia, after another meal taken with Lady Noir, was exploring her castle. She wasn't considered a prisoner, the only rule was to not go outside alone, to be sure she wouldn't lose her way.

After several days with her sisters and Lady Noire, Octavia had learned more about them and was happy to be able to.

The three arachne she spent the most time with were truly nice, making her feel more than welcome. Goliath had been the one to show Octavia around, while Thomisa and Cariaben preferred to do something else. The pink arachne found the activity too boring, and Cariaben found it too tiring.

After a day or two, Octavia had decided to explore a bit alone, not willing to take too much of Goliath's time.

Turning at a corner, the white arachne stopped when she heard someone crying.

Lamentations, sadness personified, a lot of words could have described what she was hearing. Walking on the stone floor where dried blood was, Octavia stopped before an ajar door. Slowly pushing it open, the white arachne entered the small room.

The inside was dark, the few green torches not giving a lot of light to see with. Nonetheless, Octavia recognised, even from behind, who was the one there. Black widow, her shoulders low and head down, was crying over something in her hands.

From the four arachne she now lived with, Black Widow was the one she had the hardest time with. The black arachne was polite, very ladylike, but always distant, talking with them the least needed. Octavia had yet to see any real expression on her face since they had arrived. Apart from Lady Noire with whom she seemed to be more than happy to be in the same room with, the black arachne always looked like she preferred to be alone. She hadn't shown up at the dinners Octavia had shared with Noire, although the vampire didn't seem to know why. But, more than everything, Octavia saw Black Widow as a silent strength, more powerful than her or her three new sisters.

That was also for those reasons that seeing her in her current state was worrying Octavia.

"Black Widow?"

The eye of the black arachne opened wide for a second as she looked over her shoulder, before narrowing them right after, furious.

"What are you doing here! GET OUT!!" shouted Black widow as she turned around, quickly hiding what was in her hands, but too late for it to not be seen by Octavia who gasped, putting a hand before her mouth.

"Black Widow...is th..."

The white arachne couldn't finish her sentence that a spike made of dark energy flew right next to her head, piercing the door behind her.

"GET OUUUUUT!!!" screamed the black arachne in fury.

Evading the next attack, Octavia dashed out of the room, running away as fast as she could.

Right at the corner, she ran into someone.

"My my, aren't we in a hurry." stated an amused Lady Noire, not even destabilised by the shock.

"Lady Noire! I'm sorry! It's just that..."

Another furious shout interrupted Octavia as Black Widow approached, apparently running after her.

"Stay behind me." ordered Noire with a kind smile.

Nodding, Octavia obeyed right before Black Widow arrived at the corner, stopping dead on her track as she saw Lady Noire before her.

"My Lady!!" exclaimed the black arachne.

"I was taking a little walk in my castle when I heard what I thought was a fight...would you mind explaining to me what's this all about?" asked Noire, her smile not leaving her face.

The question seemed to be more painful to answer for the black widow than if she had received a direct hit from the vampire.

"I...Nasfara, I..." hesitated Black Widow, looking down.

The absence of answer worried the vampire who, tenderly, put a hand on the black arachne's cheek.

"Black Widow...I can smell blood on you, your blood. What happened?"

Looking at Noire for a second, Black Widow's eyes started to fill with tears once again. With trembling hands, she took out what she had tried to hide from Octavia.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." cried Black Widow as Noire gasped.

"Octavia...please, could you leave us alone for a bit?" asked the vampire to the young arachne, although it was clear she could not refuse.

"Of...of course." hurriedly answered Octavia before going away.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" cried Black Widow out loud as Noire hugged her tightly.

"It's not your fault. It's your not fault, my love." tried to comfort the vampire who would have, if her undead body had allowed her, cried too at the sight of the miscarried baby her lover had lost.

...................................................................................................................................................

An hour later, one of the numerous undead servants called the four arachne in the throne room where Nasfara was, looking at the dark night sky from one of the too few windows.

"I'm sorry to call you all at this late hour." apologised Noire, her face showing no real emotion at the moment.

Looking around, the four arachnes saw no sign of their black sister.

"Where is Black Widow? Is she going to be okay?" asked Octavia.

Looking at the young arachne, Noire let a feeble smile pass on her face.

"She is resting for now. I made her drink something to be sure she would be able to sleep for a while. It will be...good...for her to have some rest."

"Octavia told us what happened. She...miscarried again?" asked Goliath, the tall arachne's eyes showing how sorry she was for her.

Simply nodding, Noire looked outside once again, not saying anything for a while.

"I...I really thought this time would be the right one...It hurts so much but...this lifeless body of mine won't even let me share a tear with the one I love." stated Noire as she crossed her arms, her long black nails slightly cutting her white skin as she clenched her fist in anger.

"Is it...not the first time?" asked Octavia, doing her best to not hurt Lady Noire with her question.

The vampire sighed as she showed three fingers. Then, after a minute of silence, she started to explain.

"Black Widow is more than my right-hand woman, she...is my lover. She and I share a bond I'm sure numerous are jealous of. We...want to have a child, a little one we can call our own. But, more than us being two women, me being an undead makes it impossible. It is Black Widow who found a way. In an old magic book about ancient magic, a ritual is mentioned. By using my magic energy, my essence, I can fuse a bit of myself with a bit of her. That should have, in theory, allowed her to carry our baby..."

Stopping for a second, Noire put a hand on her forehead, like it was far too heavy right now.

"Goliath, could you..." asked Noire, tired.

"Of course, Lady Noire." answered Goliath, continuing in the vampire's place.

"You remember when we asked you what kind of element you were more affiliated with? Black Widow's element is darkness. As for Lady Noire...well, as a vampire, it goes without saying. The problem is that the ritual required different kinds of elements to work. The others and I, we have already tried to help, but without any positive result, I'm afraid."

"You mean...you three have already..." asked Octavia to the three other arachnes who nodded.

"The idea is simple enough. While Lady Noire and Black Widow focus on assembling their essences, one of us has to add her own energy to ease the process, strengthening the baby-to-be. It's like they had to put two pieces of stone together and we had to provide something to hold them as one." continued Goliath.

"But, as you have surely understood right now, it seems like our energy wasn't enough. Poor Black Widow..." added Cariaben.

Octavia didn't say a word for a bit, thinking.

"I know I'm new but...is it okay for me to propose something?" finally asked the youngest arachne.

"What is on your mind?" asked Noire, finally lifting her head from her hand.

"If one of us isn't enough, why not all of us?" simply proposed Octavia.

"We already thought about it, but the different elemental energies would be too much for Black Widow to handle inside of her, it could kill her." said Goliath.

Thinking hard, something occurred to Octavia.

"And...what if we countered our energies?"

Everyone looked at her, silent, for a second or two.

"What do you mean exactly?" asked Nasfara, intrigued.

"When Max...when I was taught magic, I learned that everything resided in balance. Too much energy means I die, not enough and the spell won't work. I also learned that every element has his opposite. With me, we have the four basic elements, we could use our energies to balance everything. I would counter Goliath's elemental energy while she counters mine and, at the same time, Thomisa and Cariaben would do the same thing. If we managed to do it while focusing our elemental energies where it must go, we should obtain..."

"Void energy..." finished Lady Noire, realising what the white arachne was talking about.

"It's too hard to obtain it with simply two mages, but with you four...It could work!" exclaimed the vampire as a wide hopeful smile pictured itself on her face.

Taking Octavia in her arms, the vampire lady easily lifted her off the floor, hugging her.

"Thank you! If this works, your plan could finally make my dream come true! Thank you so much, Octavia!"

Letting the white arachne go, the vampire went away, explaining she had to prepare everything to be sure they would have everything needed.

"It's a good idea you had right now." said Goliath as she patted the white arachne's head.

The simple loving gesture made images come back to Octavia, cherished moments of her past when it was someone else who was patting her head.

Hurriedly moving from under the hand, she smiled at her sisters.

"If we want it to work, we have to be very precise. Let's run some tests, okay?"

The three other arachnes nodded before they all went away, deciding the inside court would be the perfect place to train for what needed to be done.

...................................................................................................................................................

While Maximilian was on his way to the dark lands, a week after he had left the capital, the magic academy of Griffinia was shaken by commotions.

"THAT'S IT! I BANISH YOU FROM THIS ACADEMY!" shouted Ruvress.

The principal court, situated before the Academy, was where the scene was taking place.

A week had passed since the students who had chosen to follow Maximilian's teaching had come back. Among them, numerous were those who were far from being the academy's idols. Little Cloud, for example, with his young age and small frame had been bullied a lot before. If the non-humans were 'welcomed' at the academy, a lot among them were looked down upon. In the end, the sons and daughters of nobles were free to do as they wanted, some more openly than others.

But, after a year of intensive training, the students had gained, more than a new equipment, a lot of self-confidence. A self-confidence that allowed them to face their bullies.

It didn't take long. As soon as Maximilian and his friends were gone, the Director had ordered the thirty students to follow him with Professors Ruvress and Latiple, who had just retrieved her staff, as well as three other teachers.

Finding a classroom vast enough to welcome everyone inside, the adults had taken a good hour to question the students who answered them with honesty. Once done, the students were led by the three teachers to a momentary common room where they had to stay for the day while the teachers would decide what to do next.

Once alone, the Director, Ruvress and Latiple started to talk.

"So? What do you think?" asked the old man.

"Improbable, if not simply impossible. A magic spell allowing a time distortion, creating a secluded space where a year would be worth a single day here? It would be hard to believe if all the teachers of this Academy were to try together for an entire year, and that man would have done it in less than an hour?" stated Latiple.

"And, more than that, the way those students explained how they trained, I can't believe it. I say this is nothing more than an elaborated lie they all worked on." added Ruvress.

"That would be the most probable case, a way for those unknown children to make a name for themselves...clever, but nothing more than a lie in the end." chuckled Latiple.

"But...our scanner expert told me..."

"That some of them had a higher level than some of the teachers. Director, how could this be possible?" laughed Latiple.

"Yesterday, half of them had no name to be remembered. I don't know how that man did it, but he managed to perturb our dear colleague, that's all." added Ruvress.

The Director thought for a bit.

"But, their equipment..."

"That's a very good thing to point out, Director. What this man visibly has is wealth. The equipment they have is good, far too good for them, actually." said Ruvress.

"Ruvress is right. I'll have to look a bit more into it, but if I had to trust my first impression, the new robes and staffs they have received are something only nobles could pay for. Especially those four, what was their name again?"

"William, Joe, Ilin and Guelan." said the Director.

"Yes, those four have equipment even a royal battle mage would dream of. And speaking of those four, since when does this Academy welcome monsters? I wasn't dreaming, right? It was a lamia among them, a lamia wearing the same kind of equipment as the other students..." said Latiple, nearly spitting her last sentence out.

"It is true, one of those monsters was there. But, if we do things right, it could be useful for us...let me expose you my plan..." said Ruvress.

.

.

.

It was the very next day that things started. The students were told to go back to their usual classes for the time being, while the good dispositions were taken. Among the thirty students, some were from different classes, and so got separated from their friends.

Guelan didn't really know where she had to go. Being assigned to no class, she was searching for the Director's office when something started to bother her. One of the numerous things she had learned while fighting monsters was to sense danger, and danger she sensed. Passing by one of the numerous corridors, she suddenly had the feeling she was observed, followed even.

Quickly turning around, she saw nothing, but deep inside, she knew someone was there. Quickly passing a corner, she used a water spell to hide behind an illusion. A few seconds after, one of the teachers appeared in the corridor, passing next to the hiding lamia, magic staff in hand, clearly searching for her.

"Where did that monster go?..." mumbled the man as he quickly went in what he thought was her direction.

Frowning, Guelan went in another direction.

When the evening came, the thirty students were asked, once again, to pass the night in the specially made common room.

"Someone was following you?" asked William when Guelan had explained to him what had happened to her earlier.

"Yes. I know it sounds strange, but I think it was a teacher."

"It's not strange, not in the least." said Ilin, getting everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" asked William.

"What I mean is that I, too, have been followed today. The difference was that it was by a student, a last year I think."

"Now that you tell me this, I think I've been observed too." said another student of the group.

"Me too!"

"What does it mean? Why are they following us like that?" asked Sphixine, scratching her cat ear.

"The easy answer would be that they are curious, but I suspect they have an ulterior motive..." said Joe as he was writing some words in his journal.

"What's on your mind, Joe?" asked Little Cloud.

"Fear, jealousy, suspicion, there are a lot of things I can think about, to be frank. I was afraid it would happen, changing like we did was bound to have dire consequences. I think we should stay in groups for the time being, if only to dissuade them from doing something stupid." explained Joe, receiving agreeing nods from his friends.

"Good idea, Joe. Everyone, be sure to always be at least in duo, we don't know what to expect from them for now, so let's be careful." said William.

"What about me? I'm not in the same classes as any of you, how am I to stay in a duo?" asked Little Cloud, worried.

"I'll be your partner for now. My water magic allows me to hide and, since I haven't been assigned to any class yet, I'm free." said Guelan.

"K'seriouk'sly? They haven't given you any clak'ss to go to? That'k's hark'sh." said Cekgo.

"The teacher who was following me called me a monster, so...I don't really think they're in any hurry to do so." answered Guelan, receiving a friendly slap on the shoulder from her lizardkin friend.

"Anyway, let's rest for now, we will see how things go from here on." said Ilin as she went to her bed.

"Guelan...thank you for your help." thanked Little Cloud as he slightly bowed to her.

"Hey, it's alright. We're all companions of training, after all, it's normal to help each other." answered the lamia with a smile.

"When you say this, I think like everything is going to end well." said Sphixine with a chuckle.

.

.

.

A week, it had gone on for a week. The thirty students who had followed Maximilian had been treated like pariahs, even if not openly. Almost ignored by the teachers in the classroom, even when they knew perfectly well how to resolve the problems, sometimes even more efficiently than the said teacher. Some saw their friends avoiding them, when they weren't simply told to go away. Out of the classroom, they were spied by older students and/or teachers. And, after a few days, things had started to get worse.

Some of the students, children of nobles, though that it would be a fun game to see how quickly they could make one of the thirties, like they had started to call them, make a mistake. The game was simple, they and some of their followers were targeting some of the thirties once they were walking in duo, doing their best to make them attack first, to have a good reason to use daddy and mommy's power to make their life a living hell.

In the evening, the thirties were locked inside the common room to be sure none of them would come out to cause some problems. That was something they were kinda glad of, they could use that time to speak and train between themselves.

"They targeted you too? Those bastards are really going at it..." said William as two other thirties explained to him how they had to use defence spell to shield themselves from edible projectiles thrown at them, almost attacking in return by reflex. The three of them were throwing rapid but weak spells at each other to train their speed.

"And if we had, you can be sure some of the nobles private troops would take action...damn it's irritating! How long is this going to go on?!" said the student.

"It has already been too long, if you ask me..." stated Ilin, currently using her staff to make three fire circles turn around her, passing inside each other as they did so.

"True. I don't think things are going to get better anytime soon." added Sphixine, doing a mocking close-combat fight against Cekgo using her staff.

"The good question is how long are we going to let it go on...I don't know about you, but I did not suffer a year of intensive training so some jackass could have fun getting on my nerves." said Ilin, doing her best to maintain her focus on the three different fiery projectiles moving around her.

"What do you want us to do? It's not as if we could kill them all." remarked Joe, using earth magic to make fist-sized rocks constantly change form.

"Maybe not kill them...but at least kick their asses once." answered Ilin.

"That wouldn't change a thing." calmly said Joe.

"That would feel good." retorted Ilin.

"Anyway, fighting for this won't get us anywhere. What we need is a way to get out of this situation. If someone has an idea, and I mean a constructive idea, Ilin, I'm all ears." stated Guelan.

"I...may have found something..." said Little Cloud, making everyone look at him.

Taking a wanted poster out of his bag, he unfolded it and started to read it for everyone in the room to hear.

" To those concerned,

The dark lands, for too long taken away from the light, will soon be reconquered!

Lord Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus, rightful owner of the said lands, bestowed to him by the King, is calling for you.

You, whom darkness doesn't scare, who are willing to prove yourself, who are ready to fight undeads, this is a call to arms.

To anyone willing to risk his or her life for it, present yourself to the upper-level gate where soldiers will be waiting all week long to welcome the braves."

Once finished, Little Cloud put the wanted poster down and waited for the other's reaction.

"Where did you find this?" asked William, curious.

"A teacher was throwing it away, I might have used a wind spell to make it flow away...then back to me." admitted Little Cloud.

"Good job, Little Cloud. What do you think, guys?"

"Asking people to join for a battle without any promise of reward...why do I feel like this is exactly how Maximilian wanted it?" asked Sphixine, chuckling a bit.

"Knowing him, this must be so there won't be good-for-nothing dead weight presenting themselves only for the reward." said Ilin.

"That, indeed, sounds like something he would do...I'm going." stated Guelan.

Everyone's eyes turned to her.

"Really, like that?" asked Little Cloud.

"Yes. I wanted to come here to learn magic. For a year, that's what I've been doing...with Maximilian. Since he's gone, the 'teachers' here haven't once paid any attention to me other than for treating me like a monster. I have nothing to do here, I never had, but I only realise it now. I should have gone with him a week ago, I'm not going to make the same mistake again." explained the lamia, making her friends nodded their agreement with her statement.

"Shek's right! Thik's Academy k'statek's that everyone ik's welcome here, but only to treat uk's like nothing afterwardk's! I'm going too!" said Cekgo.

"You know what? This would be a good source of inspiration for my writings. Count me in." said Joe.

"Maximilian has never treated me differently for being non-human. If he needs me, I'll be glad to help." said Sphixine, quickly joined by other non-humans of the group.

"This Academy clearly has given up on us, I don't see any reason for me to stay either. And if I can use my magic to destroy undeads and gain even more power while doing so, It would be stupid to refuse." stated Ilin as she made the fiery circles disappear.

One by one, the thirties agreed: the Academy would not be their future. They agreed to all meet before the front gates to go away together the next day after breakfast. They all thought they should at least eat before going away.

.

.

.

The next day, Little Cloud had gone to his old common bedroom to take with him the few personal belongings he had.

"What are you doing here?"

As he was packing his stuff, Little Cloud was surprised by one of his roommates, one he used to call friend, but that was before him and the other room members clearly told him they didn't want to risk upsetting one of the nobles by disturbing their game.

"Just passing by to take what's mine. I won't bother you for long..." answered Little Cloud without turning around.

Quickly putting the pieces together, Little Cloud's roommate easily understood what the young mage meant.

"You're leaving? Why?"

Having all his things in a bag, Little Cloud closed it and turned around, passing next to the boy.

"Why do you bother? It's not as if we were friends or anything, you guys clearly made me understand that."

"Hey!"

Little Cloud stopped for a second when the boy called for him.

"...take care." simply said the boy, his face showing for a second how sorry he was to have betrayed Little Cloud.

"I will."

Walking quickly in the corridors, Little Cloud was doing his best to not stand out too much. He knew Guelan was there, somewhere near, but he preferred to not cause any tr...

"Hey, look who's there! If it isn't Weak-Weaky himself." said a very unpleasant voice.

In a second, a dozen students were surrounding Little Cloud, all taller and older than him. Leading them was the very same teenage Noble boy Maximilian had rejected the day he had come to teach.

"Hello guys..." said Little Cloud, used to be bullied by the very same group.

The noble was right before Little Cloud, so full of himself it was sickening.

"Tell me, Weak-Weaky, that's a lot of garbage you transport, are you going somewhere?"

"I don't really have the time right now, if you'll excuse me..." hurriedly said Little Cloud as he tried to pass next to the noble, only to be pushed against the wall by one of the bullies, some tall guy clearly too happy to hurt those smaller than him.

"Weak-Weaky, Weak-Weaky...please don't tell me that little day out of the academy has made you forget the rules around here...I'm doing you a favour to even speak to you, remember?" said the noble, falsely friendly putting an arm around Little Cloud's shoulder.

"And you, as a good Weak-Weaky you are, know that this favour I make you deserve a reward...let me see that staff of yours, Weak-Weaky..." said the bully as he put his hand on Little Cloud's staff.

An invisible gust of wind, just strong enough, pushed the bully back.

"Don't touch it!" exclaimed Little Cloud.

"I worked hard to obtain it! You can't take it...you won't have anything from me!" stated Little Cloud with a newfound self-confidence.

Watching his hand for a second, wondering what had happened, the noble didn't understand at first.

"Yeah, yeah, keep talking. I gave you an order, Weak-Weaky. If you still are too dumb to obey, we can set this right..." said the noble as he snapped his fingers.

The tall one who had pushed him and another one, nearly as tall as him, tried to grab Little Cloud to immobilise him.

"Don't touch me!" ordered the young mage.

Using his training efficiently, he turned on himself, making the two fall with a wind spell. As they tried to stand, Little Cloud hit them right in the face with his staff, knocking them out one after the other. Right after, he pointed at the noble who took a step back, quickly imitated by his followers.

"Hey there, Weak-Weaky, what do you think you're doing? You wouldn't dare to forget who I am, would you?"

"Wind..." cast Little Cloud, his staff starting to shine.

All around the group, the students took several steps back, some running away to go get some help.

The noble wasn't too sure of himself anymore.

"If you hurt me, my family will destroy y..."

"Blade!" exclaimed Little Cloud.

Several times, the young mage cast the same spell, a weak blade of wind that torn apart a piece of the noble's costly clothes.

After a minute or two, the noble was in his underwear, clearly not at ease.

"HOW D..." started to shout the almost naked boy, but only to realise Little Cloud's staff was right on his chest, at his heart level, the magic energy emanating from it clearly not there to look pretty.

"I am not a Weak-Weaky anymore. Now, out of my way!" ordered Little Cloud as he pushed the noble out of his way, making him fall down.

Around him, the young mage was certain some of the students had cheered for him, applauding his action. But, with other members of noble families, they didn't dare to make too much noise about it.

Not wasting any time, Little Cloud readjusted his bag on his shoulders and started to walk again.

"How dares he?! This fucking no-one! You! Your wand, now!" ordered the noble as he saw his costly catalyst had been cut in two by the spell. Not warning Little Cloud, the noble pointed at him and started to cast a spell. A fire spike appeared before the noble and quickly started to grow, ready to pierce the young wind mage's body.

"Fire....SPIKE!" cat the noble as the magic projectile flew in Little Cloud's direction...only to be stopped by a water wall coming from nowhere.

"Despicable..." came a voice from behind the noble.

He heard and saw the students stepping back once again as he turned around, facing a very angry-looking lamia.

In one swift movement, she closed a hand around his neck and lifted him off the ground, slamming his back against the nearest wall, making him drop the wand in his hand.

"Guelan!" exclaimed Little Cloud.

"Go get the others." ordered Guelan, sending away the young mage.

With her snake attributes naturally giving her more strength than a human, Guelan had no trouble lifting up the teenage noble, he wasn't that big to begin with.

"LET HIM GO YOU MONSTER!!!" shouted a girl as she pointed her wand at Guelan, only to drop it with a scream of pain when the lamia cut her arm deep with the blade covering the tip of her tail.

"Monster? Who is a monster here? You see him do what he wants and do nothing? You let him and his friend hurt others and you do nothing? I may not be human, but I certainly am not the monstrous one here..." stated Guelan.

"MANA SPEAR!" shouted an adult voice.

Guelan dropped the noble and evaded the spell just in time, the magic projectile destroying the wall behind her.

Ruvress and Latiple, followed by five other teachers, were led by the students who had run to get some help. Ruvress was the one who had launched the attack, still pointing his short staff at Guelan.

Latiple went to see how the noble was doing, completely ignoring the other girl bleeding on her way.

"Young Lord Nimeral! How are you feeling? Are you injured anywhere? Shall I bring a priest?" enquired the lady, to Guelan's astonishment.

"Are...aren't you at least going to ask how the girl is doing? She is obviously bleeding! I made sure to not do any permanent damage but..."

"SILENCE, MONSTER!" ordered Ruvress before casting another mana spear that Guelan evaded.

"How dare you hurt one of our precious students?! I knew something was fishy with this Nilmerus. He let a monster loose before running away! Now, drop your staff, get this armour off and we may be magnanimous." ordered the teacher, already readying another spell.

To his words, the five teachers with him prepared their magic attack too, ready to attack.

"My staff and my...you greedy bastard! So it was for this? You treat us like that, you let the nobles treat us like that, only so you could have a reason to take our weapons and robes away from us?!" asked Guelan, who was so disturbed by the truth she had a bit of a hard-time believing it.

"It is too good for you anyway..." simply answered Ruvress, clearly admitting she was totally right.

"Now, if you have at least half the intelligence of a human, do as you're told. Be a good monster and obey..."

Guelan clenched her hands around her magic weapon. Blue's last words echoed in her head for a second and she looked right at the teachers who were starting to slowly surround her.

"This equipment was given to me by a better teacher than you will ever be, don't expect me to let go of it as long as I'll have a sparkle of life in my heart!" declared the lamia as she made the staff turn around her, ready to fight.

"Thank you for giving me a reason..." said Ruvress as he launched another magic attack, quickly imitated by the other teachers.

Using her snake physiology, Guelan evaded the attacks, slithering on the ground at a quick pace.

"Water arrow!" cast the lamia.

The magic projectile flew in Ruvress direction, only to be blocked by two of the teachers protecting him with a magic shield. The force of the impact seemed to surprise them for a second.

"This monster has some power..." observed one of the teachers.

"We can't let it go away!" added the other.

"Earth wall!"

"Mana chain!"

"Ice arrow!"

"Fire spear!"

All around her, the spells started to fly. Guelan was quick, the training year had done wonders, but against six adult mages, she was overwhelmed.

She barely had time to cast before she had to dash on the side, it was impossible for her to get the upper hand.

It went one for a good dozen minutes, then, one of the mana chains finally caught her, turning around her like it would have for a savage beast. She tried to cast a spell to defend herself but a gag made of stone covered her mouth, forbidding her to do so.

"NOW!" ordered Ruvress as he and the other teachers launched a combined attack on her. Guelan, immobilised, opened her eyes wide as she saw the incoming magic projectiles.

"Water wall!"

"Stone wall!"

"Fire wall!"

"Wind wall!"

Four voices cast at the same time, creating a four-layer elemental wall around Guelan. The teachers' spells broke the walls, but were stopped nonetheless.

All eyes turned to see who had dared to block the teachers, only to see the thirties, led by Little Cloud who had come back with reinforcements.

"If you attack one of us..." said William as he pointed at the teachers with his staff.

"YOU ATTACK ALL OF US!" exclaimed all the thirties, shouting their will to protect their lamia friend.

*Guys...* thought Guelan with a smile.

"We dek'stroyed a freaking crystal golem together! Don't think we will be afraid of thok'se guyk's!" stated Cekgo as he used magic to tear the gag and chains apart.

The thirties all had their staff shining, ready to launch their attacks while Guelan quickly went to join them.

The five teachers following Ruvress and Latiple were clearly hesitating, while the other two had their face deformed by anger.

"TREASON! BETRAYAL! YOU WOULD STAND NEXT TO A MONSTER TO FACE YOUR VENERABLE TEACHERS?! YOU UNTHANKFUL BRATS!" shouted Latiple, not really knowing whom to aim her weapon at.

"We don't stand next to a monster, Professor Latiple..." stated Ilin.

"We stand next to a friend." added Little Cloud.

Quickly joining with her companions, Guelan nodded at them, thankful, before facing the teachers too.

"Enough with this nonsense already! Even with all of you attacking together, you really think you can take us on? We are full-fledged mages! We know more about magic than you ever will! Don't force us to destroy you all, because we will, and no one will even care about it!" threatened Ruvress.

"My mother would care..." answered Ilin.

"My family would..." said William.

"My uncle..."

"Gramps..."

"Siter..."

One after all, the thirties let their voices be heard, stating how well they knew that someone would miss them.

"And...I think Maximilian would be sad. What do you think he would say?" asked Guelan.

" 'I haven't spend an entire year training your sorry ass so you could get yourself kill by the first bastard coming your way'...or something like that." answered Joe, doing a good-enough imitation of the man.

"ENOUGH! I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS! KNOW YOUR PLACE!!!" shouted Ruvress as he launched the spell he had been casting since the thirties had started to talk. The man never had any intention to end all this pacifically.

A massive snake of mana, covered in blades, dashed in the thirties' direction.

"As one! SHIELD!" shouted William, echoed in his spell by the others.

Attacked by a basic mana spell, they had no need to infuse any element in their protection, focusing on the shield in itself. Ruvress's spell hit the shield hard before disappearing, stopped then pushed back by the combined efforts of Maximilian's students.

"What the hell!?" cursed Ruvress, panting hard after the efforts he had put in his spell.

"You will have to do better than that if you want to teach us anything, Professor." taunted William.

"THAT'S IT! I BANISH YOU FROM THIS ACADEMY!" shouted Ruvress.

Some students gasped at that, some had a pleased smile on their face. Others, older students, were simply doing their best to hide the fact that they were freaking out after seeing the thirties taking the teacher's attack without any problem, knowing perfectly well how dead they would have been in their places.

"I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU ALL ARE PARIAHS! YOU WILL FIND NO HELP IN THE CAPITAL, NOR IN ANY VILLAGE OF THIS COUNTRY! YOU WILL BE TREATED AS TRAITORS! TRAITORS I SAY!!! YOU AND ALL YOUR FAMILIES WILL..." shouted Lapitle, accusingly pointing at them.

The lady barely had the time to raise her magic shield before a fire arrow hit it. All looked at Ilin, who had just cast the spell.

"Attacking us is one thing, threatening our families...I guess we should make sure you won't be able to hurt them..."

Lapitle chuckled, disdainful.

"I'd like to see you try, gnome."

A volley of fire arrows flew in her direction. The entire fire path group had also cast the same spell. The lady's shield had barely held on, shattering thanks to the last projectile.

"Half-gnome, thanks to her loving mother." said one of her friends, standing next to her.

Her face red with anger, Latiple seemed to be ready to blow up.

"YOU...FILTHY RUNT...MANA BALL!!!" shouted the woman, launching a massive trembling ball of mana.

"Protect!" ordered Ilin as she raised a shield up, seconded by the others.

The ball collided and, in a very loud detonation, exploded, shattering the shield as it did so. As the dust disappeared, the thirties saw one of their comrades fall. He had stepped before Ilin to protect her with his larger body when he had seen the shield shattered. He was injured, his head bleeding hard from under his hair.

"Are you alright! Talk to me!" ordered Ilin as she crouched next to him.

Opening an eye, the young man smiled at her.

"You're...okay?...Good..." simply said Ilin's friend before closing his eyes, unconscious.

"Why did you protect me!? You idiot!" scolded Ilin, clearly worried for the young man.

She was interrupted by a content laugh.

"One down, twenty-nine to go. Parasites are truly a pain today..." chuckled Latiple.

Ruvress shared her laugh, but the five other teachers seemed to be far more worried about the said twenty-nine parasites, all looking in their direction with an almost palpable will to kill.

"William, Joe, Guelan, are you with me on this?" asked Ilin between clenched teeth, having all the pain in the world to stay a tiny bit calm.

"Let's give them hell." simply agreed William, his staff starting to shine again.

As one, the thirties dashed, clearly surprising the teachers and students in front of them.

Scared, the students ran away, not curious enough to stay here and risk any lost spell.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, MONGRELS!" shouted Ruvress as he started to launch spells, one after the other, imitated by the other teachers.

Like they had learned to do, the thirties attacked by groups of three at least, the exception being for the four leaders who were able to fight alone. The spells rained on them, two thirties were casting a shield to protect, the third one attacked. It went on for two minutes, the time it took them to reach the teachers. Once in close combat, they had won. Like Maximilian had taught them, the biggest weakness of most mages was their almost absence of fighting capacities at close range. Using their training efficiently, they immobilised the teachers, one after the other, Ruvress and Latiple being the last ones in the end.

Ilin and Joe were attacking Latiple while William and Guelan were focussing on Ruvress.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME! DON'T YOU DARE TO...AAAAAAAAARG!!!"

Latiple didn't have the time to finish her sentence. Ilin, who had perfected her fiery form a bit, had learned to turn just one hand to its burning form. With it, she had grasped Latiple's wrist, breaking and burning it at the same time.

Pushed down by Joe's earth magic, the lady quickly found herself blocked, her arms and legs covered in stone.

"You are a bit better than I thought, but you're still only a monst...!!!"

Ruvress thought he finally had Guelan when he managed to launch a mana spear right in her back, but he was clearly surprised to see the magic projectile pass through her disappearing body. From above him came William, pushing the teacher back with a constant switch between physical and magical attacks. Ruvress finally stopped moving when he felt the long claws of the lamia on his neck, as well as the blade on the tip of her tail right on his throat.

"Drop it." simply ordered the lamia.

Looking around him for a second, Ruvress had to realise the truth: he had lost. Latiple and the five other teachers were down, their magic weapons were taken away and at least one of the thirties was ready to hit any of them if they dared to move. Letting go of his staff, he fell on his knees, still threatened by Guelan.

"What are you going to do, m...."

Ruvress stopped talking as he felt the blade pushed against his throat.

"Call me monster one more time, just one more time..." threatened the lamia.

"ENOUGH!"

All eyes turned to look at who had shouted.

The Director himself, standing above the unconscious student who had protected Ilin, armed with his archmage staff, was there, severely observing the scene before his eyes.

"Director! Those ruffians dared to attack us! They even hurt a noble!" accused Latiple.

Hitting the ground with his staff, the old man created an impressive magic wave.

"I'm well aware of what has been happening here, Professor Latiple, and I would appreciate if you could keep silent for once. The same goes for you, Revruss." quickly added the Director as the said professor was going to talk.

Before he continued to talk, the archmage pointed his staff at the fallen thirties.

"No! Don't hurt him!" ordered Ilin, dashing in his direction.

Without a look for her, the old man raised a hand, instantly blocking the semi-gnome with a massive stone hand. The archmage's staff started to shine white for a minute, before the young man on the ground started to cough before he opened his eyes and sat up, a bit lost as he looked around.

"You healed him? But you're not a priest..." observed Joe.

"I am an archmage, young man. When you live as long as I do, you tend to learn a thing or two." explained the old man as he released Ilin.

"I would appreciate if you could release my teachers. You have won, there is no need for bloodshed, don't you think?" calmly stated the Director.

"Say that to them, they were the one who attacked first." said Guelan, the others confirming.

"I know that and, as much as it pains me to admit, I have a far too great role in the matters." said the director.

"Y...you were the one who ordered them to..." asked William.

"No, but my hesitation left them with the liberty to do so. If I had played my role as a Director more efficiently, this wouldn't have happened. For everything that has been inflicted to you all this last week, I apologise..." stated the man as, surprising everyone, he bowed to them.

The old man's reaction made the thirties looked at each other a bit.

"What do we do now? Are you going to attack us too?" asked William, speaking to the Director as he came next to Ilin, quickly joined by Joe and Guelan.

" I'm afraid this kind of frivolity would be a bit much for my old bones. No, I'm here to tell you the doors are open for you, you can all go."

The man's words surprised the thirties, to say the least.

"Like that?" asked Joe.

"Indeed. From what I see things here, it won't do any good to you nor us to let things make even more noises than it has already done. This little skirmish has never happened, this was nothing but a show prepared by the teachers and you before you had to leave, to show the other students how powerful you can become by following our tutoring. You all are good actors, at least as good as my teachers...am I right?"

The Director's last question was heavy of senses. He was literally giving them all a choice. They could choose to let the truth go out, bring shame to the Academy because a bunch of students had been able to beat their teachers without a problem, but in return, they were sure to have several noble families put their head on a wanted poster. On the other hand, they could simply act as if nothing had happened, go away and be quiet about everything, they would be left alone and the Academy would avoid any bad publicity.

The thirties stayed quiet for a minute or two.

"What tells us you won't betray us as soon as we will be gone?" asked Ilin, dubious.

"The easiest answer would be because I don't really want to upset your teacher..." simply said the Director with a half-hearted smile.

"...Let's go, guys." simply said William after a while.

"You're sure?" asked Little Cloud, showing the teachers with a head sign.

"They're not worth it." answered Ilin as she, too, started to walk away.

One by one, the thirties started to walk, leaving behind the Academy ground.

Once they were gone, Ruvress stood, out of himself.

"YOU LET THEM GO?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

The teacher shut up instantly as he felt the Archmage's aura around him, the old man wasn't pleased, at all.

"Should I remind you who you're talking to, Professor Ruvress?"

"I...I'm sorry, Director. It's just that, they..."

"They defended themselves against uncalled attacks. We all failed them, seeing them go to become better is the best thing that could happen at this point. Now set your peers free and started to clean up that mess. I have to prepare a speech convincing enough so this incident doesn't get any worse."

.

.

.

"And who might you be, youngsters?" asked the captain sitting at the desk near the upper-level door.

The least you could say is that the group of thirty students, all dressed and armed, wasn't discreet. They were all standing before the group of soldiers who, as their duty ordered them to, were ready to act if any of them should have the idea to do something stupid.

"Captain, there's a lamia other there." pointed one of the soldiers.

Interrupting him, Guelan came before the desk and put down the wanted poster.

"It says here you would welcome any brave one ready to fight. That's what we are, the others as well as me."

Looking at the young lamia for a second, the Captain sounded dubious.

"And you would be ready to fight for humans?"

Looking over her shoulder for a second, she nodded.

"For some of them, yes."

"Is that so...I've been told there certainly would be different races coming...you! Go get Ladies Alariel and Arca. I'm sure they will be glad to have some reinforcement." finally ordered the Captain, making a smile appear on the thirties face.

...................................................................................................................................................

"ALRIGHT MEN! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY TO GO BECAUSE IT'S A ONE WAY TRIP WE'RE MAKING!" shouted the General.

The thirties had been warmly welcomed by Alariel and Arca. They had been explained how things were going to take place, Maximilian's plan and when it was going to happen.

"So that's what those three things are, teleporters..." observed Joe.

Before Griffinia castle, situated at the centre of the courtyard were three portals, looking exactly like the ones who had appeared on the dark lands. The only difference was the three pictures on them. One had a bull head pictured on it, one had a panda head and the third one...a dragon head.

"Let me guess, Maximilian is the dragon?" asked Ilin, to which Alariel nodded.

"Don't ask me why, that was his idea." answered the elf guardian, chuckling.

The students were given a place to sleep, three warm meals a day, and all the time remaining to prepare and train. Alariel had shown them how to correctly use the stocking rune Maximilian had put on their staff, making sure all of them would be as charged in mana as possible when the battle would finally begin.

With them were Griffinia soldiers, led by the old general himself, and golden paladins, led by Lady Maria.

All the soldiers there were old enough. It had been decided that only veterans would be accepted for the mission, making sure no parent would leave with his child, even if willingly. An idea totally approved by the veterans who had already bidden their farewell to their families, leaving behind the next generation of their names.

The plan was simple, they had to form three groups who would go to the dark lands by those three portals. Once there, they had to protect the portal for as long as it would take the spell to charge.

"What will this spell do?" had asked William.

"I don't know, Maximilian only told me it will be an instant victory for us once it will be cast. If that man says so, I would be inclined to believe him..." answered Alariel.

The thirties would be dispatched between the first two groups. The third one was most-exclusively composed of golden paladins. Those men and women were used to fight next to each other and, to be able to do their best, it was decided they would compose the third group, led by Lady Maria. The general, admitting his old age would be a handicap in battle, left the role of commander to Arca. He made sure none of his men would even dare to question the semi- orc's orders, explaining to them how his old feet were still capable of kicking their ass if they did otherwise.

In the end, the three group were composed like this:

Group Bull: Half of Maximilian's students with, among them: William, Guelan and Sphixine, a hundred swordsmen, fifty crossbowmen, five royal mages and Alariel as the group leader.

Group Panda: The other half of Maximilian's students with, among them: Joe, Ilin, Cekgo and Little Cloud, the same number of soldiers and royal mages with Arca to lead the group. The semi-orc was more than ready, she had taken good care of Maximilian's presents, her armour and blade were shiny and ready for action.

Group Dragon: The twenty Golden Paladins led by Holy Maria plus ten royal mages ready to assist from behind the large shields.

Each of the three groups had been reinforced by ten priests and nuns, ready to help the injured ones with the holy light of Carendar.

In addition to each man and woman's equipment, the different groups would have with them a cart filled with health and mana potions, rations, spare ammunition for the crossbows as well as some blades and shields, just in case. The three carts were generously offered by some of the noble families Maximilian had taken the time to see before leaving. He still had quite a lot coat-of-arms to give back, but three of them, carefully chosen, had allowed him to get some rich families' support.

Several weeks later, the alert was given, the portals were starting to activate. The three groups were prepared and ready, all had been ordered to always have their equipment next to them, even as they were sleeping.

In less than an hour, the three groups were ready to go, waiting for the portals to open. The friends and companions placed in different groups nodded at each other, silently promising to come back safe.

The general, surprising everyone, had chosen to follow the third group. When Maria asked him why he had this sudden change of heart, he had answered that Maximilian had contacted him with his ring, telling him he had found his son, but in very bad shape. The old man didn't care about his life being in danger, all he wanted was to see his son again. He had put back on his armour, as good as the first day he had put it on, maintained in good shape by his two bodyguards constantly following him around.

The Royal couple himself appeared to give the last speech before they had to go.

"Fifty years ago, lands had been taken away from my father's kingdom, sealed in darkness. Today, with yours and Lord Nilmerus' help, it will be taken back!" said the King, speaking loud and with the authority suited to his rank.

The soldiers saluted, the paladins hit their shield and the mages slightly hit the floor with their staff. The thirties, not really knowing how to act while facing the King and Queen, did a polite bow.

After the King, it was the Queen's turn to talk.

"Lord Nilmerus has been clear, once you will have gone through those portals, they will close behind you. The spell maintaining them open will only be active for a little while and we can't risk any undead invasion. If any of you wishes to leave, he may do so, but he will have to do it now."

To the Queen's proposition, no man nor woman left. All had set their mind, all were ready.

Seeing this, the Queen let a grateful smile appear on her face.

"I feel honoured to face such courage. I know, deep in my heart, that victory will be ours. Not because of the blades, not because of magic, but because all of you have been brave enough to fight for the light."

Those words echoed like a signal. Maria, Holy in title as well as in her way of using magic, came next to the royal couple, praying Carendar and, as an aura of light passing above the nearly five hundred fighters indicated, blessed them all.

"May the holy light of Carendar protect us all while we will fight the darkness of those lands."

The portals started to shine a bit, a wave of energy came from them and, like a watery fog, some kind of veil appeared inside them, forming a direct way to the dark lands.

"ALRIGHT MEN! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY TO GO BECAUSE IT'S A ONE WAY TRIP WE'RE MAKING!" shouted the General.

And the troops started to march at a quick pace, knowing perfectly well they had to pass the veil before the next quarter of an hour, the exact time Maximilian had told they would have.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Black Widow?..."

The night after the miscarriage, Octavia wanted to see the black arachne. Authorised by Lady Noire, she went to her bedroom. Knocking, she waited for some answer before going in.

"Come in..." answered the black arachne on a tone quite unfitting to her usual self: hesitant.

Black Widow was sitting on some kind of large bed made of spider web, a small cloth between her hands.

"Did you know that arachne's children are easily cold when they are born? I had made this for her..." explained the arachne, some tears falling on the small cloth.

Octavia wasn't sure of what to say, she came a bit closer, but stayed silent.

"You are a first-generation arachne, so you may not know that but...we have two ways we can reproduce."

"I didn't know that...could you tell me more?" asked Octavia, seeing that speaking was doing Black Widow some good.

"Once you will be strong enough, adult, you will have the capacity to change your appearance. Like I appeared to you the first time, you will be able to take a humanoid form, only this won't be an illusion, but a full transformation. In this form, you could obtain the seed from any humanoid male, be it a human, orc, elf, the list goes on."

"You mean we can lie with another species?"

"It's not that we can, we have to. Arachnes are a female only race. The closest thing to our spider physiology and with what we could keep our spider form are the giant spiders, but...I think you can easily guess why it wouldn't be a good idea to try to reproduce with one of these." explained Black Widow.

Remembering her early days, how her brothers and sisters were clearly nothing more than bestial monsters, Octavia nodded.

"If that's so...have you ever...you know...lay with someone?" asked the young arachne.

Black Widow shook her head.

"No male has ever touched me, I never had any will to lay with one, and none of them has been strong enough to force me, although some have tried. I never had any desire for offspring before, simple as that."

"What change your mind?" enquired Octavia.

"I fell in love." answered Black Widow, smiling, although feebly, for the first time since the young arachne had come in the room.

The black arachne played a bit with a silver pendant around her neck representing a spider web with two bat wings.

"Nasfara has been...the first one to ever smile at me, to accept me for what I am. I was like you, Octavia. I, too, am a first generation arachne. It's Nasfara's blood that allowed me to become like this. She trained me, embraced me, she loved me and...I soon started to love her in return. I know what people say, vampires don't have any life in them, no beating heart, but I swear I can feel hers when we touch each other." told Black Widow, still playing with her pendant.

A bit surprised by Octavia's silence, the black arachne looked at her, only to see the white arachne smiling at her.

"I want to help you, sister. I've wanted to help you since we first met." said Octavia.

"Since we first met? I have some trouble understanding you." admitted the older arachne.

"You don't need to. Rest, for now, let your sisters take care of everything." said Octavia as she quickly walked to the door.

"Octavia..." called Black Widow, making the young one stopped at the door.

"Thank you...for being here." said the black arachne with a feeble smile.

"No, thank you for bringing me." thanked Octavia in return as she closed the door behind her.

...................................................................................................................................................

"He was right, this passage truly led me right to the castle." observed Maximilian as he stepped on the dark stones.

He had run fast, as fast as possible inside the secret passage, using some mana balls to light the way up ahead. It had taken him two good hours, but he had finally reached his destination.

As he arrived, he had trouble locating Octavia, her energy lost among the omnipresent dark one filling the castle.

*That's going to be difficult. Where the hell am I supposed to g... what the?!*

At his belt, he felt something. A ball of light escaped from the Havenbag, dashing in the corridors at a tremendous speed.

*Is this?...Let's follow it!* decided Maximilian as he ran after the ball of light.

On his way, he came across several undeads and liches, powerful monsters ready to destroy anyone stupid enough to try and invade the cast...

Maximilian didn't even stop, literally destroying the dozen undeads on his way like they were nothing, gone before the liches skull touched the ground, the bit of flesh still on it making a, understandably, very surprised expression.

*No time to waste with small fries...* simply thought Maximilian as he brushed some bone dust off his coat.

He passed by several rooms and corridors, meeting guards here and there, not even stopping, and finally arrived before the throne room doors. Some kind of dark energy was blocking them from behind, but Maximilian was more than able to pass, loudly breaking the two doors. He finally stopped for a second as he discovered the scene before his eyes.

...................................................................................................................................................

While Octavia and her sisters were getting ready, doing some test before the ritual to be sure everything would go well, like they had been doing for the last days, Lady Noire, after she had spoken with Maximilian has he had arrived on her land, was with Black Widow, who had recovered very well once she was aware of what the others were willing to do for her. In another room, situated after a long corridor behind the throne room, they were facing a large mirror in which a well-known dark figure was reflecting.

"Would you mind repeating what you just said, Nasfara?" asked the man, the icy calm in his voice more terrifying than a beast roar.

"You heard perfectly well, Necros, I'm leaving. Your machinations are of no use to me anymore, I will soon obtain what I desire the most." calmly stated the vampire, holding Black widow by her side.

"Is that so? You want me to believe two incarnations of darkness like you have found a way to give life?"

The dark silhouette laughed, the sound similar to old bones rubbed against each other.

Black Widow was clearly uncomfortable, but managed nonetheless, putting a hand on her lover's.

"Indeed we have. Thanks to a ritual found in your own library, actually. With some help, we will soon have a child of our own." explained Noire.

"A ritual from my library?..." asked the old man, thinking for a minute or two. Then, he laughed once again.

"Oh...I see which one it is...Very well, Nasfara. I'll let you go, for now. But once you'll come back to me, because you will, my child, I expect to see you on your pretty knees, begging." concluded the man, still laughing as his reflection disappeared from the mirror.

Once the two were alone, Noire fell on her knees, having lost all strength.

"Are you alright, Nasfara?" enquired Black Widow, supporting her lover as much as she could.

"I'm fine, Black Widow, I'm fine. I suppose it went a bit too well for my expectations. I always feel empty after dealing with him, he is terrifying, even for me...thank you, I don't think I would have been able to go through this without you." thanked the vampire as she stood, smiling at the arachne.

"You know I'll do anything for you." answered Black Widow as she kissed her lover.

"Let's go then, your sisters should soon be ready and we still have to complete the magic circle."

"You know we could wait. This man, Maximilian, is on your land right now, don't you think we should...." proposed Black Widow, but Nasfare shook her head.

"No. Tonight is a red moon, if we have to do this, tonight is the perfect moment. My powers will be at their best, and the next red moon won't be before long. If you have been strong enough to carry on, I have to take every chance I have to help you the best I can. Plus, none of them will be strong enough to defeat one of my generals. Let's do it, together..." concluded the vampire as she extended her hand.

Black Widow nodded and took her hand, following her lover out of the room.

As the door closed, the mirror got pitch black, a tar-looking substance oozing from it.

...................................................................................................................................................

While Lin-Lin, Binvo and Maximilian were busy fighting, the five arachnes and the vampire stood in the throne room. Nasfara had forbidden any undead to come in to prevent any unwanted interruption.

For the ritual to work correctly, Black Widow had to take her human form. Undressing, the beautiful woman stood at the centre of the magic circle composed of symbols written in ancient language Nasfara had to write directly from the book as she didn't understand them all. Nasfara accompanied her, kissed her and left the circle.

"Let's repeat one last time." stated the vampire.

"I will have to unite my essence to Black Widow's inside her, while we do that, you four will help our two essences to stabilise by sending your energy in her too. You will have to keep your energies at the same level for it to work. Please, I beg of you four to be extremely careful, a single mistake could fail everything." begged the vampire.

"You can count on us, Lady Noire." said Goliath.

"You too, Black Widow. You two focus on your child, we will handle the rest." said Octavia, the black arachne smiling gratefully at her in response.

They all nodded to each other one last time to be sure they were all ready, then it began. Noire took out a silver dagger and started to chant.

"By the power of my blood, strong above others..." she cut deep in her hand, dropping some blood on the magic circle that started to shine red.

"I, Nasfara Noire, am willingly offering my essence for this life to come." said the vampire before slowly walking inside the magic circle, coming near Black Widow, giving her the dagger.

"By the flesh that is mine, able to carry life..." chanted Black Widow as she used the bloodied dagger like a pen, writing magic symbol on her own abdomen.

"I, Black Widow, am willingly offering my essence for this life to come." continued to chant the human-looking arachne, the symbol starting to shine in the same way the magic circle was.

This was the signal Octavia and the others, carefully positioned around the magic circle, were waiting for. As one, they raised their hands in their sister's direction, starting to pour their energies into her.

White, green, red and blue energies started to flow from them to her, circling around the black arachne's abdomen. While they did that, the other two were going on with the ritual, not stopping for a second.

"May the ancients ones witness my will, may they give life to this new being..." chanted Nasfara as she placed her bleeding hand right in the middle of the magic symbols Black Widow had pictured on herself.

"May they grant us our dearest wish, a little one of our own we will call..."

And, smiling lovingly at each other, they concluded their incantation by naming with a single voice the one they wished for so dearly.

"...Bilasira."

The four arachne's energy turned faster and faster around the two lovers, slowly entering Black Widow's belly.

It went on for nearly an hour. Nasfara and Black Widow inside the magic circle, surrounded by the four other's magic slowly entering her belly that was slowly getting rounder. Overjoyed, Black Widow looked at her lover with teary eyes.

"I can feel her! She's growing!"

The ritual had the particularity of creating life thanks to two being's essences, but also to accelerate the gestation greatly.

Octavia was starting to get worried about her sisters. The constant flow of magic, although controlled, was tiring them a lot. She had no real trouble thanks to the gauntlet offered to her by Maximilian that allowed her to stock magic energy in them, but the three others didn't have that kind of luxury.

Finally, the magic circle started to shine even more, signifying to the four arachnes they could stop. It was a good thing because the other three were almost empty. The second they stopped, the three of them fall down, panting hard. Octavia was tired too but was still managing.

The symbol forming the circle left the floor. The bloody letters flew around for a bit and, following the energy flow, entered Black Widow's belly.

"We made it..." said Nasfara as she caressed her lover's cheek, Black Widow doing the same thing to her.

But, as the bloody symbols started to enter her, Black Widow opened her eyes wide.

"Black Widow?! What's the matter?" enquired Noire, understanding immediately something was wrong.

Black Widow's only response was a scream of pain, of tremendous pain.

Falling on her knees, clenching her round belly, everyone could see something moving inside of her.

"Already? Is it supposed to go this fast?" asked Octavia.

"I don't know! Help me out, we must take the baby out or they both will be in danger!" hurried Nasfara, helping Black Widow lie down.

"You should leave it in there, or you will lose both the baby and the mother..." stated an ice-cold voice.

All eyes turned to look at who had just talked.

Arriving from the room with the mirror, a tall figure draped in a foggy-looking black veil approached. A hand, with a flesh so whitish you could see the bone through it, was handling a long staff made of human bones, with a skull on its top, small green flames burning in the eyes socket.

He hadn't done anything, simply talk a bit, yet those simple words were enough to crush everyone's will to live. He was walking slowly, each step emitting an aura of dark energy that made the already feeble light in the room almost vanish.

"Necros?! What are you doing here? How did you come here? The journey crystal is..." asked Nasfara, only to be interrupted by the old man.

"I have several ways to travel without journey crystal, Nasfara. I see the ritual is going well..." observed Necros as he stopped near the suffering arachne.

"How can you say that? Can't you tell she's in pain?" said the vampire.

"Yes, she's in pain...that's usually how dying feels." simply said the man in the same tone as he would have described the colour of the sky.

The man's words made Nasfara open her eyes wide. Standing up in a jump, she gripped the veil at the man's neck level.

"WHAT DID YOU DO? EXPLAIN!" ordered the vampire.

"Me? My dear Nasfara, I did nothing. You did..." said the man with a cold laugh, dark energy starting to cover the hand of Nasfara who quickly let go of him.

"You, an undead, tried to accomplish a ritual of life transfer...how did you think things would go?"

"But...the ritual was for giving life..." said Lady Noire, not understanding.

Once again, the man laughed, is cold laugh giving the ones present a severe headache.

"A ritual to give life? In my library? How can you be so old and yet so stupid?"

In the blink of an eye, the man's hand was around the vampire's neck, lifting her off the ground.

"What you did was a sacrifice...two being giving half their life away to create a new one. But, my dear Nasfara, you have no life in you, so where do you think the ritual will look for the other half of life missing?"

Forcing her to look at the agonising arachne on the ground, the man chuckled.

"Your precious weaver is going to give you exactly what you wanted. You will have your child, in it will be a bit of you, thanks to your blood, but this new heart will need hers to beat." explained the man before starting to laugh again, Nasfara's look of despair clearly amusing him.

"You knew this would happen! Why didn't you say anything?!" asked the vampire.

"Why would have? This little experiment of yours offers me some possibilities I would be an idiot to pass on. And, if I recall correctly, didn't you say you wouldn't work with me anymore?" said the man, whispering the last sentence before throwing Nasfara away, making her hit the wall hard.

"So? How is this new kind of half-breed coming? If you may, I would prefer for you to hurry up and die so I can take this creature with me. I think she will be the perfect subject for several tests in the near future." stated the man.

Black Widow, although in great pain, found in herself the strength to move, retreating from the scaring dark figure.

Still sitting, unable to stand on her own, the black arachne was doing her best to keep a tiny bit of distance from him.

"No! I won't let you have her! She's our baby!" exclaimed the pregnant arachne, pain and fear written on her face.

"Do not act as if you had a choice..." said the man as he extended a hand in her direction, only to have it covered by spider web.

"Fire spit!" cast Thomisa, setting the web on the man on fire.

"Oh? So you still have some strength left? Impressive." complimented the man, not bothered in the least by his burning hand.

"And how impressive is this?!" exclaimed Goliath, coming from the man's side, her massive legs up, covered with a layer of stone.

The tall arachne hit hard, the ground under the shadowy figure breaking loudly. But, as powerful as her hit was, it wasn't enough to even make the man get on his knees. The dark veil, which had silently flown above him, had easily blocked the massive leg, like an unbreakable wall as thin as paper.

"Not very, if I have to be honest." simply said the man.

In an instant, the veil changed form. It turned around the man's magic staff, taking the shape of a scythe blade. Goliath had no time to retreat, a swift movement from the man took two of her legs, making her bleed profusely.

"Out of my way, spider, you're not worthy of my interest." calmly said the man as the shadow veil, taking yet another form, became a hammer head that hit Goliath hard, sending her flying.

"And now, let's see this baby..." stated Necros, the veil quickly smothering the fire on his hand.

He took a step or two, but quickly had to stop, his feet sticking to something.

"Web swamp." panted Cariaben, the spell clearly taking a lot from her.

"Another one? You are some persistent beast, spider." stated the man as the veil started to cover the ground around him, making the sticky web-and-water material vanish.

As he was talking, he got covered by web once again.

"Fire spit!" cast Thomisa once again, this time setting the whole body of the man on fire.

"Now!" shouted Cariaben.

Quickly running around the man, Octavia started to place her web. Training with her sisters had done wonder with her new technique, and she was more than willing to use it now. The last touch had been taught to her by Black Widow herself.

"Web cut!" cast the arachne as she pulled hard on the dozen thread in her hands, making them shine for a second.

The thread touched the man's body right as the flames were taken care of, cutting through him like it would have in butter.

The silhouette disappeared, reduced to several pieces of shadow veil falling down like calcined leaves on the ground.

"Did we get him?" asked Thomisa, looking around.

"A good teamwork...but futile nonetheless..." said the man as he reappeared from the shadow right behind Cariaben.

The blue arachne barely had the time to turn around that the veil got around her arms, lifting her off the ground.

"LET HER GO!!!" shouted Thomisa as she dashed in their direction.

"Alright, but let me keep a souvenir..." chuckled the old man as Cariaben started to scream in agony, the veil tightening around her arms. In less time than it took Thomisa to cover the distance, the man threw Cariaben violently at her pink sister. The small arachne tried to catch her, but the violence of the projection took her with the blue one, sending the two three good metres away, hitting the ground hard.

"Aouch...Cariaben, are you al...Cariaben!"

Whining, the blue arachne was on the ground, crying out in pain, not because of her arms, but because she didn't have arms anymore.

As if the blood had waited for the injury to be noticed to start to flow, it started to come out at a quick pace.

Thomisa, acting quickly, did all she could think of at the moment. Covering her sister's shoulders with her web, she quickly set it on fire, cauterising the injuries. Cariaben screamed even louder and fell unconscious.

"I'm sorry sister! I'm so sorry!" apologised Thomisa, hating herself for inflicting the blue arachne so much pain.

"Why so bothered? Hasn't she eight legs left to work with? She can consider herself lucky..." simply said the man before turning to Black Widow once again.

"You...YOU!!!" shouted Thomisa, looking at the man with pure hatred.

"I'm going to kill you!!!" exclaimed the small arachne as she started to run around him as fast as she could.

She started to send her web at him, again and again, doing her best to immobilise the shadowy figure.

"Futile...you fire won't hurt me." simply said the man.

"What about this!!!" exclaimed Thomisa as she attacks him with fiery blades made of solidified web. The blades hit, set the web on fire, but did not pass the veil.

"Futile..." said the man once again, his veil forming several spikes that pierced the small body, stopping the arachne in a second before letting her fall on the ground, gargling painfully.

"And now...again? You are starting to bother me..." sighed the man as he saw Octavia, standing between him and Black Widow.

"If you want to hurt her, you will have to kill me first!" said the young arachne.

"If that's all it takes..." answered the man as he pointed at her with his staff.

The veil formed a massive spike that flew in her direction. But, at the last moment, Nasfara herself appeared before Octavia and blocked the hit, her long black claws tearing the veil apart.

"Get away! Take Black Widow with you!" ordered Nasfara without looking away from her opponent.

"You think you will be able to stop me, Nasfara? " chuckled Necros.

The veil tried to get around the lady vampire, aiming for Octavia who was helping Black Widow up. Once again, Nasfara appeared before the veil and blocked it with her long nails.

"I am your opponent!" exclaimed the vampire, her aura making her long hair rising a bit.

"Is that so? Let's see how long you can hold up!" said the man, amused.

He hit the floor, sending dark flames that blocked the exit of the throne room.

"I'm afraid this way is blocked, ladies."

"The other door. Behind the throne, go hide there, NOW!" ordered Nasfara.

As the two left the room as quickly as possible, Necros didn't attack them anymore.

"You do realise this is a dead-end, right?"

"Indeed. But all I wanted was for them to be out of the room..."

The vampire lady did some wide gesture in the three other arachnes' direction, pushing their bodies away, in a corner.

"Such a kind gesture for agonising spiders..."

"They are strong...they will live." answered Nasfara, visibly trying to convince herself at the same time as Necros.

"I don't really care. You still have a chance, Nasfara. You may still be of use to me, kneel before me and beg for my forgiveness. Go fetch me the newborn and I will forget your little tantrum." stated the man, his aura starting to expand into the throne room.

To answer him, Nasfare let her own aura lose, the powerful vampire Mistress facing the necromancer with all her power. Two dark bat wings extended from her back, giving the lady even more presence.

"I am Nasfara Noire, Vampire Mistress, and Black Widow's lover for eternity. Don't expect me to kneel before a human, even one with a bit more power than others."

"So you would give up your eternity, and for what? Four nice pairs of legs? Or maybe is it the eyes?"

"I could tell you the reason, but your rotten heart wouldn't be able to comprehend it, Necros." said Nasfara as she got in fighting position, ready to kill.

"You are right, I have since long ago leave behind those trivialities. Die for me, undead." finally said Necros, launching his attacks.

His veil took once again the shape of a scythe as he dashed, his old body being surprisingly fast. The veil blade collided with the vampire long nails, emitting some kind of dark sparks. The two fighters exchanged hit after hit, each one of them powerful enough to make the room vibrate.

"I almost forgot how obstinate you undeads can be!" chuckled the old man, apparently not disturbed in the least by the strength of the hit he was giving and receiving.

"And I almost forgot how pompous you can be!" answered Nasfara as she turned on herself, hitting the man even harder.

She managed to send him down, but got cut in the process. The long injury on her arm quickly healed, her vampire power really helping in this kind of situation.

Still, Necros stood back, unaffected by the powerful hit he had just received.

"I must say, you truly can hit. And this aura, it really is impressive."

Nasfara, all her vampire aura showing, had managed to match Necros's.

"What did you think? Drinking blood all those years has been a good way to gain more power. Only this time, I have something worthy of using it."

"Please, you are going to make me puke if you keep talking about your futile love." cut the man as he came back before her, his scythe taking back its staff form.

"So...as amusing as it is, I have other things I must attend to. What do you say we stop this little game and really get starting?" nonchalantly proposed Necros.

To Nasfara's horror, the old man's aura started to expand, quickly covering all the throne room, engulfing the vampire's own aura as if it was nothing.

"Impossible..." mumbled Lady Noire, looking around, not believing her eyes.

"Now that I think about it, you've never had the chance to see my real power, Nasfara. Take this as a farewell gift, a glimpse of what true power is." said the man, his voice echoing all around the vampire, even as he was standing in front of her.

"Shadow ambush." echoed Necros's voice.

Nasfara barely had time to realise what was going on that several shadowy figures appeared around the room. One came out of the floor right behind her, hitting hard enough for her to be sent flying. As she was gonna hit the wall, another figure appeared and hit hard again, sending her the other way.

Like a tennis ball, the vampire was hit again and again, going from one side of the room to the other, unable to do anything against the more powerful man.

"And you want to know what's the best part of all this? This baby you wanted so hard has taken so much strength from you that it is thanks to him that you are so powerless now! How does it feel, Nasfara? How does it feel to die?" laughed the man, injuring the vampire lady more and more.

Mid-air, Nasfara opened her wings wide, stopping her flight.

"LET ME SHOW YOU!" shouted the injured lady.

Focusing her energy, Nasfara's nails started to shine, her aura producing some kind of black light around her hands.

"RED MOON! GRANT ME YOUR POWER!!!" called the vampire.

"Fool! This kind of power is too much to handle, even for you!" exclaimed Necros as he saw the pale-red light of the night sphere entering the room for an instant, making Nasfara's aura bigger.

*I must kill him...but even if I manage to do it...Black Widow, I love you.* Thought the vampire as she dashed in Necros's direction, draped in her wings as she started to whirl.

"Immortal..." cast the vampire lady, giving everything she had.

"DARK BREAKING!"

"DARK VEIL!" cast the man as the vampire arrived on him.

Nasfara collided against the veil, the two energies fighting each other for an instant that seemed to last an eternity. Then, in an explosion so loud it made all the windows blow up, a flash of dark light pushed back Nasfara who fell, hitting the ground numerous times as her body, injured beyond regeneration power, ended its course at the room centre.

Lying on her back, Nasfara was unable to move.

"Satisfied?" taunted the man as he stood above her.

"Your body is broken, your spiders are dying. As I speak, my shadow is already covering the sky of your land, my magic is going to raise your army as mine, I will destroy the bit of peace you managed to build and then, after all here will be destroyed, your army will join mine to bring death to this kingdom. They are not that numerous, but they will make a good first line for my legions." explained Necros.

But Nasfara wasn't listening. She was looking on the side, at the door behind which her lover and daughter were.

"Don't worry, she will soon join you. Hell is vast though, it may take some time." chuckled Necros as he raised his staff, the lack veil forming a long pale under it.

Nasfara didn't answer him, as if she wasn't hearing him at all. Her last word, her last breath, she used it for something else.

"Forgive me..." simply said the vampire as the pale pierced her heart.

"I forgive you." answered Necros, convinced she couldn't be speaking to anyone but his great self.

As the last sparkle of consciousness was leaving her, Nasfara's apologies, addressed to her loved one, was concluded by a single clear tear. Then, as if time was finally catching on her, her body turned to dust in a single minute, a slight wind coming from a broken window taking the dusty remnants of Nasfara Noire away.

...................................................................................................................................................

"NOOOOOO!!!" exclaimed Black Widow in a painful scream.

She had felt it, she knew it. The one, the only one she had truly loved, Nasfara was gone.

Octavia had taken her to the mirror room, separated from the throne room by a ten metres long hall. Once the dark arachne was lying, the young one had started to weave without stopping. For one wall to the other, she had done her best to block the way. All along the hall, layer and layer of white silk was acting as a barricade, the only thing she was able to do in that situation.

"Black Widow, what's wrong?" asked Octavia as she heard her scream.

Her face showing a mixed feeling of pain, sadness and hate, the black arachne was crying as she explained what she had felt.

"She's gone...Nasfara is dead!" cried the arachne.

"She is dead...and now, he is coming..." said the pregnant lady right as someone tried to open the door, blocked by the first layer of web.

The door resisted...for exactly ten seconds, before the dark scythe blade passed through it, starting to cut it in pieces.

"Octavia...I'm sorry..." apologised the sweating arachne, her belly now showing that a nearly full-grown baby was in it, still growing.

"You did your best to help me, to help us and...you shouldn't even be here....I manipulated you, I'm sorry." admitted Black Widow.

"I know." simply said Octavia.

As the door fell, Black Widow found the strength to open her eyes wide.

"You...you knew? But...how? Since when?"

"Since the first time you charmed me with your music. I felt something was weird, I thought and act unusually. I've seen and fought people whose spirit had been played with, I put the pieces together easily enough." said the young arachne.

"But...if you knew, then why?" asked Black Widow.

"Because of your eyes." simply answered Octavia with a little smile.

"When you appeared to me, I saw it in your eyes. I saw your pain, I saw how you were hiding it. But...more than everything else, I saw love. I saw how behind this cold appearance of yours, you were still capable of loving."

"I'm a good actor. Even if that was true, you wouldn't be able to t..."

Black Widow was cut by Octavia who held her tight against her chest. For a second, the dark arachne could hear Octavia's heart, beating at the same rhythm as hers.

"Two hearts beating at the same pace cannot lie to each other, sister."

"You...you use my heart as a lie detector?" asked Black Widow, impressed.

"Like I've done since I've been born. That is how I managed to survive my brothers and sisters as a spider, that's how I knew when you were lying or not. And also..."

Raising her hand, Octavia closed her eyes for a second. Nothing happened at first, then, coming from elsewhere in the castle, a single ball of light flew to her. It came to her hand and, shining bright, transformed into Whistling Death, her trustworthy bow given to her by Maximilian.

"...That's how I met someone who, I know for sure, will never betray me."

"Is that your bow? How can it be here?" asked Black Widow.

"When you asked me to come, I knew I had to leave behind something that would help Maximilian to find me. He made this so I would always be able to summon it, no matter where I would be. I knew he would find this place, I knew my bow would come to me, I just had to wait for him to be close enough so it would show him the way. I didn't summon it earlier because, frankly, I was too scared of that man to do anything. But, if I managed to have it this quick, it means Maximilian isn't far."

"What would it change? Necros managed to kill Nasfara, what can a simple man hope to do when a Mistress vampire couldn't do anything?" asked Black Widow, desperation in her voice as she laid her head done, too tired to even sit anymore.

Facing the hall, where the door had just fallen, Octavia started to focus her energy on the bow.

"There is something you must know about Maximilian, Black Widow. He is the kind of man that will shatter the way you look at the world. After all, he shattered mine..." concluded Octavia as a wind arrow started to appear on her bow.

"I've had enough with you eight-leg pests. Give me the baby or you are going to suffer a thousand deaths." threatened Necros on his nonchalant cold tone.

Octavia didn't shoot directly, she continued to focus, again and again, making the arrow grow before it condensed to form a whitish projectile. She let Necros approach as she continued to do the same thing, making the arrow grow with more energy before condensing it.

*Focus...feel the wind...keep balance...more energy...keep control...more energy....focus...*

Her eyes closed, Octavia waited. She waited for this instant, this single instant that would allow her to do the best she could do at the moment.

Necros tore apart the different layers of web, quickly advancing in the hall.

"You know, this is only delaying the inevitable. Why don't you just accept your fate? You would at least save my time..." said Necros as he finally tore the last layer apart.

"That's exactly what I'm doing..." admitted Octavia, standing right before the very surprised mage, not expecting her to be right there.

"I'm winning some time!" exclaimed the arachne as she let go of her magic projectile.

"WIND TORNADARROW!" shouted the young arachne as the projectile hit Necros right in the chest, stopped at the last moment by his dark veil.

"Nice try, but not good en...what the?!"

Necros was surprised to see the arrow was still there. Far from disappearing, she started to expand, adding more power to its push. The old man didn't have time to act that the arrow, like a missile, pushed him back. He arrived in the throne room where the magic projectile, as if it had waiting for Octavia's order, exploded.

All around Necros, a strong tornado appeared, making him turn around uncontrollably.

"It won't kill me, brat!" cursed the old man, protecting himself with his veil, the inside of the tornado filled with tiny wind blades getting all his attention.

"It's not the idea..." panted Octavia whose energy had been drained by this unique powerful spell.

It went on for ten good minutes, then finally, the tornado disappeared, leaving behind a visibly bothered Necros, his veil quickly retrieving its normal uncut shape.

"Congratulations, you managed to win ten minutes, was it worth it?" taunted the old man.

"Yes...because now...we've won." panted Octavia, smiling as she looked at someone behind Necros who, just then, remarked the dark barrier blocking the door had been destroyed, as well as the doors.

Turning around, the old man was surprised to see Maximilian, the man quickly looking around to analyse the scene.

"The illusionist? It's a long way from Corpsenburg, are you lost?"

Not answering the old man immediately, Maximilian quickly walked into the throne room. As he arrived near Necros, the dark veil tried to catch him, but Maximilian seemed to disappear, only to reappear after Necros, quickly going to see Octavia.

"You're going to be okay?" enquired Maximilian, not paying attention to the very surprised old man looking at him.

"I will...Maximilian, I..."

"I know, Octavia, I know. He did this?" simply asked the man as he looked at Necros.

"He did...Maximilian...give him hell!" begged Octavia as her friend and Master stood up.

"With pleasure." said Maximilian, leaving behind several health potions for the others.

"You truly are a good illusionist, you managed to have me twice already. But you don't really expect me to be pushed back by mere Ill....!!!"

Necros couldn't finish his sentence, his mouth momentarily blocked by Maximilian's fist as his punch collided, sending the old man flying, hitting the ceiling, then the wall at the other side of the throne room.

"How real does this one feel, you son of a bitch?" simply asked Maximilian, clenching his fist and making his joints crack.

...................................................................................................................................................

"What the hell is this supposed to be?" asked William, looking at the beheaded corpse of Maku on the ground.

"I don't know but it's still moving. Guys, could you block it, just to be sure?" asked Sphixine.

Two of the earth students of the group created several layers of stone around the bearkin arms and legs, forbidding any movements.

While they were doing that, Alariel had quickly ordered the soldiers around, preparing their defences for the fights to come. One of the sergeants came to her, quickly explaining the elf what he had learned from the villagers. Once done with the preparations, the princess's guardian joined Sphixine, William and Guelan, the three students currently observing the manor where they could feel Binvo's energy coming from, his and another one, more powerful, and far darker.

"Binvo is in there...should we go and help him?" proposed William.

"I was going to propose the same thing. You three, come with me, we must take care of the vampire ruling this part of the land. Once she will be taken care of, it should dissipate the dark energy flowing around." said Alariel as she passed next to them.

The three students nodded at her and followed, leaving behind the soldiers hurriedly preparing the barricades while the priests were giving first aids to those needing it. The villagers, surprised at first, were finally, some for the first time in their life, feeling something new: hope.

But, even if none of them was willing to admit it, all had seen the sky getting darker by the minute. It had been fifty years since the last real sunny day, but this was a new kind of dark, as if a storm was getting closer. And every mage who was there, being the royal mages or Maximilian's students, all could feel the dark energy filling this upcoming nightmare.

"Sergeant! Over there! On the hill!" exclaimed one of the soldiers.

On one of the farthest hills around the village, undeads had started to rise. Seeing that, the sergeant nodded, breathing in to give himself some confidence.

"EVERYBODY HURRY! RAISE THOSE BARRICADES! RANGE FIGHTERS, BE READY TO SHOOT ANY OF THOSE MONSTERS COMING IN RANGE!" shouted the man, perfectly leading his men.

"Sergeant, I think we can help." said Maximilian's students, those of the earth path.

Helped by two of the royal mages used to earth magic, the students created walls, wide enough to completely block the village entrance, big enough for the soldier to stand on them, and tall enough to be out of the undeads reach.

"Will it hold up?" enquired the sergeant, carefully hitting the stone wall.

"As long as possible. Against normal undeads anyway, but we can't guaranty what will happen if something bigger attack." explained the royal mage.

"It will have to do. ALRIGHT MEN! ON THE WALLS, BE READY TO ATTACK!" ordered the sergeant, taking a crossbow too.

"You probably know that, but try to aim at groups to do more damages." said one of the royal mages as they got in position on the wall.

Nodding to answer him, the students, next to the soldiers, got ready to fight.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Is that all you got, bobull? I'm disappointed!" said Viviane as she kicked Binvo once again.

As he hit the wall, the minotaur quickly got up, his nose bleeding a bit.

"Vampire strong...shame it is for bad things." said Maximilian's friend as he got back in fighting position.

Healing his injury, Binvo quickly took a sip from one of his mana potions. As he took it, he felt another flask at the bottom of his bag, easily recognisable from the others because of its metallic material. As he felt the cold material, the minotaur had a quick flashback about a conversation he had with Maximilian when the man had come to test him after his training year.

*Not the time, must wait...* thought Binvo, remembering Maximilian's cautions.

Making her massive axe turn around, Viviane laughed.

"That's precious! A monster talking to me about what's wrong or right! Alright, I'm bored...DIE!" shouted the small vampire as she dashed in his direction, preparing a powerful attack with her two hands on her weapon's handle.

"SAY GOODBYE! DARK SLASH!" shouted Viviane, her weapon hitting Binvo hard.

"Mana wall!"

Right at the last moment, a magic shield appeared right between the two fighters, blocking the vampire's attack. Viviane jumped back by reflex, looking at the one who had dared to block her.

"What, some brats? How the hell did you come h..."

Viviane stopped talking, her eyes focusing on the last one to enter the room. As she saw Lady Alariel, more particularly her well-endowed chest, she was like muted for a second or two.

"What's the matter with her?" asked William to Guelan and Sphixine who took a look at Alariel, then at Viviane, before answering as one.

"Jealousy."

Their answer seemed to wake the vampire up, just in time to evade Binvo's hit, the minotaur's hammer breaking the stone floor.

"Careful! Vampire small but strong!" warned Maximilian's friend.

"WHO'S SMALL YOU BEAST!?" shouted Viviane, clearly taking the minotaur's words for an insult they weren't.

"A very strong jealousy..." added the two teenage girls.

Shouting her rage, Viviane jumped in the mages' direction, ready to kill. Her eyes, getting redder by the minute, weren't leaving Alariel.

"She's after you, watch out!" warned William as the four of them raised another magic wall.

"FREAKING MAGOTS!" shouted the vampire, starting to hit the magic wall with so much force it made the mages behind it take a few steps back.

"She really is strong." observed William, focussing more energy in the protection.

"Don't underestimate her, she is a vampire after all." calmly stated Alariel as she raised her magic staff.

"Mana arrows!" cast the elf.

Blue magic projectiles flew from her staff, turned around the shield, and aimed for the vampire's back, forcing her to turn around to block them.

"Pathetic! You'll have to do better than that if you want t...shit!" cursed Viviane as she turned back to face Sphixine and William, uniting their power to cast a massive wind hammer that hit directly.

Sent flying by the wind attack, Viviane shouted her rage once again and, starting to whirl in the air, she let two bat wings appeared on her back.

"You wanna play? OKAY! LET'S FUCKING PLAY!!!"

...................................................................................................................................................

"I wonder how your blood will taste? Viviane has a bearkin of her own, but he is not to my liking. You, on the other hand, could have interesting taste..." sated Annabelle as she made her long hair tighten around Lin-Lin.

The panda-girl armour was resisting, but all the non-protected parts of her body were in great danger. After all, her enemy's weapons were as thin as a hair, literally.

*All I need is a distraction...*

"NOW!" shouted the panda-lady.

"Now wh...." started to ask Annabelle, only to let a piercing shriek out.

Pori, as good as new, had silently got around the vampire, climbed on the nearby wall, and jumped right on her neck, sliding down her back under her dress.

"WHAT IS THIS!!!" shrieked the vampire once again, her attention completely gone from Lin-Lin who, for a second, felt the hair losing a tiny bit of strength. Not wasting her chance, she whirled on herself, using her claws to cut the hair around her and jumped back.

Falling down the vampire dress, Pori quickly hopped back to Lin-Lin, nudging against her chin before he went to hide inside her chest plate.

"I thought this thing was dead!" said Annabelle as she saw what had 'attacked' her.

"Pori is a slime, good luck trying to kill him with physical attacks." taunted the panda-girl, a mocking 'pori-pori' coming from inside her armour.

"You...you tricked me! You let me think he was dead so it would sneak on me!" said the vampire, accusingly pointing at Lin-Lin.

"Surprise..." simply answered Maximilian's friend, getting back in fighting position.

The vampire quickly retrieved her ladylike manners, adjusting the bouquet of black roses in her hands.

"Anyway, it doesn't change a thing. It is repulsive, but not a threat, I'll deal with it later. You managed to cut some of my hair, I have to punish you for that...how about ten years of torture to begin with?" said the vampire as her hair dashed in Lin-Lin's direction.

"And how about a FIRE WALL!?" cast Ilin.

The vampire's hair, not stopped quickly enough, were burned by the sudden appearance of a magic fire wall before the panda-lady.

Annabelle cursed in a shout, her snow-white hair heads disappearing in the flames.

At the entrance of the throne room were Ilin, Joe, Cekgo and Litle Cloud led by Arca.

"You look like you're having fun, mind if we join?" asked Arca as she arrived next to Lin-Lin.

"I'm glad to see you. She attacks with her hair, they cut like blades." quickly explained Lin-Lin, not leaving Annabelle from her sight.

"That's...unusual. Mages!" ordered the semi-orc, giving the signal to Maximilian's students.

As one, they attacked. Joe created several spikes of stones to occupy the vampire, Litle cloud sent her multiple wind blades, Cekgo managed to create sticky water bubbles he threw at her, impeding her movement. And, finally, Ilin focused her magic to create a big fire ring around Annabelle, quickly closing it on her, taking with it all the other's magic attack.

It lasted less than two minutes, it was coordinated, and clearly unexpected by the vampire who screamed as she disappeared behind a layer of smoke and fog.

"Good work, guys! Right in her face!" congratulated Arca.

"Yaaaaaaaaa...hahahahahaha."

As the fog and smoke dissipated, all could hear the vampire scream turning to a laugh. Untouched, not injured, Annabelle was there, her immaculate bride’s dress as good as new.

"Ho poor fool you are! Did you really think this would kill me? I've lived longer than every each of you put together, don't underestimate a vampire power!"

Rising her arms in their direction, Annabelle's hair shined for a second before dashing, aiming at everyone in the room.

"Watch out!" warned Lin-Lin as she started to turn her spear around, doing her best to cut the incoming hair.

Little Cloud got injured, one of the long white hair cutting his left leg deep. As if conscious, another hair used the opportunity to attack the young destabilised mage too, injuring his right arm.

Cekgo came to his rescue, using a water blade to cut the hair around him. He got injured too, but his scaled skin offered him a natural shield that helped him out quite well.

Joe managed to completely evade the attack, disappearing under the ground.

Arca was doing her best to cut the air too, using her new armour to block them when she wasn't fast enough, she got some slight cut here and there on her face, but nothing too serious.

As for Ilin...

"Fire wave!"

The semi-gnome burned the hair once again, forbidding them from approaching. Seeing this, the vampire made some gesture with her hand, making the hair turn around the little teenager, trying to attack her from several sides at the same time.

"You'll have to do better than that!" exclaimed Ilin as she created a circular shield of fire all around her, pushing the hair back.

"You poor mortal, do you think this is all I can d...!!"

Interrupting her, a sudden explosion of magic right under her sent her into the air.

"Earth stalactites!" cast Joe, coming from under the ground right where Annabelle was a second ago.

On the ceiling appeared a dozen pointy stone stalactites. The surprised vampire hit the ceiling hard before falling down once again, Joe quickly retreating to his friends.

"Did you get her?" asked Litle Cloud, healed by the health potion he just drank.

"I sincerely doubt it..." said Arca, looking at the vampire standing back.

"What a horrible way to attack a l...what's this?" said Annabelle, interrupting herself as she saw some blood on her white dress.

Injured by one of the stalactites, she had some blood dripping from her forehead.

"My...my blood? You...DARED...to make MY BLOOD flow?!" said Annabelle, her voice completely losing her natural composure from time to time.

Each time her voice was rising, the dark aura around her was sending a wave of energy that forced everyone to take a step back.

"You DARED to hurt ME?! ME? I am the incarnation of BEAUTY!" continued Annabelle, her white dress literally trembling as it started to completely turn blood red.

Facing her, the fighters were doing their best to maintain their position, Annabelle's aura, like an entity on her own, was pushing against them with the strength of a massive beast.

"This is a sacrilege....SACRILEEEEEEEEEGE!!!"

Annabelle shout turned to a shrilling scream as her robe exploded, along with a dark energy so strong Arca and Lin-Lin had to use their weapon thrust in the ground to not budge. The mages combined their magic to raise a shield but, even with that, they could feel the force hitting against it.

It went on for a minute or two, then all went quiet.

"That was quite a shout...oh shit..." said Arca as she saw the vampire.

Under her bride’s dress, Annabelle had a full armour made of brambles. Of a shiny black colour, the long metallic-looking plant was covering every centimetre of her body apart from her head. The flower bouquet in her hand had turned into a whip made of the same kind of bramble as her armour.

But, more than that, what was worrying Arca and the others the most was Annabelle's hair. If they were long before, they now had a ridicule volume, covering half the throne-room walls and still expanding, bloody red, and waving slowly like underwater.

"How did her hair grew so fast?" asked Ilin.

"They did not, they were already there...composing her dress." answered Lin-Lin, taking her weapon out of the floor.

"You mean her bride’s dress was made of..."

"Yes...a real living fabric." said the panda-girl as she got back in fighting position.

"You." said Annabelle, her red eyes shining like flaming stones as she pointed at Joe.

"For your impudence, you will be the first one to die..." simply said the vampire, her voice, although calm, echoing in the room.

By reflexes, Joe prepared one of his spells, ready to hit.

"Don't resent me if I don't." said the young man.

Before him and the other mages appeared a thick magic wall, raised by his friends.

"We're here to help." said Litle Cloud.

Joe was going to thank him, but got interrupted by a spear made of red hair piercing his abdomen, lifting him off the ground before it threw him on the nearest wall.

"JOE!!" shouted Litle Cloud as he saw the young man fall down, his blood flowing out.

"Litle Cloud, get down!" ordered Ilin as she pushed the young one on the side, saving him from another spear of hair.

Like hairy red tentacles, Annabelle's hair had easily broken through the magic shield to injure Joe, several dozen of the same things starting to form around the vampire, pointed in their direction like snakes looking at their preys.

"You are all going to die here." simply declare Annabelle on a calm tone far more threatening than any shout.

...................................................................................................................................................

"BOWMEN! TAKE CARE OF THE NEAREST ONES! MAGES! FOCUS ON FARTHER GROUPS! I WANT PROJECTILES OTHER HERE! SWORDSMEN! BE READY TO PUSH THEM BACK!"

The sergeant was ordering the troops around. At the two villages, Maximilian's students have had the same idea of forming a stone wall good enough for the troops to attack from, and they were using this advantage as much as they could.

At Viviane's town, the villagers, quickly understanding whom they had to vouch for, were doing everything they can to help. Liliane's father, leading the twenty remaining hunters of the village, was now standing on the wall with the rest of the soldiers, using his trusty bow to take down the dark beasts threatening the place his daughter was resting at.

*The minotaur gave her a chance, I'm not going to waste it!* sworn the old man as he let go of another arrow that pierced a dark wolf's head.

Most of the villagers were too weak or afraid to fight, but they helped the best they could by bringing the munitions to the wall, carrying injured soldiers from the front line to the priests who were busy healing anyone needing their services.

And needed they were, because the undeads coming were not only corpses of peasants, but remnants of armies, dead bowmen and knights, using their weapons with the same deadly efficiency as they did as living beings.

The sergeant took an arrow in the shoulder, cursing as the dark projectile pierce his chainmail.

"You're okay, Sir?" enquired one of the soldiers.

Breaking the arrow, the man beheaded one of the undead climbing the walls.

"Of course! We have a simple mission, protect this portal as long as needed. I'm not going to bite the dust for a single arrow!" answered the man as he literally kicked one of the undeads' head off, making it fall back down the ladders they had started to put against the wall.

What they lacked in logistic, the undeads made in gruesomeness. The very ladders they were using to climb on the walls were made of corpses and skeletons parts attached together by entrails, as ugly and smelly as efficient.

At Annabelle's village, the fair-faced who had chosen to flee from the vampire's service were now actively helping the soldiers, seconded by the men and women strong enough to fight. The other villagers, like those at Viviane's village, were carrying what and who needed to be. Macy and other women were helping the priests the best they could, washing the wounds of the injured soldiers while they had to wait for one of the light magic users to be available.

The disfigured young woman was surprised to see one of the fair-faced, the second in command after Alonzo, being carried inside one of the hurriedly put together first aid tent, a deep cut on his side.

"Put him on the bed, I'll do what I can." said the disfigured woman, doing her best to hide her face.

The soldier did his best to not hissed as the two villagers dropped him on the bed with little care, memories of some the fair-faced abuses still fresh in their memory.

Carefully peeling off the destroyed parts of the leather armour, Macy quickly used boiled clean water to wash the injury.

"Thank you." said the man, clenching his teeth as the hot water touched his bleeding flesh.

"I'm just washing it a bit, I don't know how to heal an injury this serious." admitted Macy, doing her best to focus her eyes on her work and not on the muscular body of the man she was helping.

"It's not that serious. Stitch me up so I'll be able to go back to the wall.

Hearing him, the young woman, by reflex, put a hand on his chest, worried.

"You mustn't! Not before we're sure your wound won't get worse."

Realising where her hand was, she quickly retracted it, not daring to look at the man in the eyes.

"I...thank you. I'm happy to have you to take care of me, Macy." said the man.

Hearing her name made her finally looked up at him in surprise.

"You know my name? How can this be? We have never talked before."

It was the man's turn to look a bit unsure of himself.

"It's...well, I just..."

"Oh please, spare me the drama scene..." said someone else, surprising the two.

Alonzo, taking a glance around to be sure they were alone, was standing at the tent entrance.

"Alonzo? What are you doing here? You were blocked by the spell." said the second in command as he tried to sit, only to clench his teeth as he put a hand on his injury.

"It seems like the bearkin is having a hard time against Lady Annabelle, her spell as lost all strength and I was able to free myself. You stitch him up, we have work to do." ordered Alonzo, not even looking at Macy as he did so.

"What do you mean?"

"We are the lady's soldier. Let's attack those fuckers from behind, a surprise attack. They will be easily disposed of if we kill the mages first." said the man with a feral grin, the hand on his sword eager to take it out.

"What! Are you mad? Those people are here to help us!" exclaimed Macy.

"Who told you you could speak, ugly?!" said Alonzo as he slapped Macy hard, making her fall down.

"Macy!" exclaimed the injured man right before he felt Alonzo's blade on his neck.

"Tell me, Simon...are you with me or against me?" threatened the fair-faced Captain.

Simon looked at him silently for a second, he was going to open his mouth when...

"Hey, beautiful!" sarcastically called Macy.

Alonzo turned his head to look at the young woman, only to receive the boiling water right in the face. The disfigured lady, an empty bucket in hands, immediately dropped it right after, as if realising what she had done.

"MY EYES! MY EYES!" screamed the man as he dropped his sword, putting his hands on his burned face.

He realised too late how defenceless he was, right as he felt his own blade piercing his chest, Simon handling it.

"I'm with her." simply answered the man as Alonzo fall down, quickly bleeding to death.

Simon fell down, his back against the bed and a hand on his bleeding injury. Macy quickly called for help before coming back next to him, doing her best to stop the blood.

"You saved me." said Macy, thankful.

"No, you did. If you hadn't distracted him with the hot water...thank you."

"Don't speak! Save your strength, a priest is coming." said Macy as she helped him back on the bed.

"...Your eyes..." said Simon, making Macy look curiously at him.

"Ten years ago...when I first saw your eyes...it is when I realised Annabelle wasn't the most beautiful lady of this land..." said Simon as he weakly smiled at her.

Macy, not really knowing how to react to the man's confession, was simply looking at him, silent. By reflexes, her hand went on one of the numerous injuries on her face, making her look away.

"Please, don't be cruel...we both know how ugly I am."

Simon's hand covered Macy's as he made her look at him.

"You are injured, just like me. Does this bleeding wound on my side makes me less attractive to you?"

"Not at all!" answered the young woman, far too quickly for it to sound uninterested and the red on her cheeks showed she realised it.

It made Simon chuckle for a second, only to hiss in pain right after.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry for being a coward. I should have told you how I felt years ago, but...I was scared."

"Of Annabelle?" asked Macy, refusing to give the vampire monster the title of 'Lady'.

Simon shook his head from left to right.

"I was afraid you would reject me. I may be one of the vampire's trophy, but inside, I'm...completely clueless when it comes to that kind of thing."

The two kept silent for a bit.

"Macy?" finally asked Simon.

"Yes?"

"We...it could very well be the last day we will be able to live. I don't want to waste this chance to do what's right." declared the man, gathering the courage he had lacked for ten years.

"That's what I want too." answered Macy, smiling at him.

"So...if I wanted to kiss you, would it be acceptable?" asked the man.

"More than acceptable, it would be wanted." answered the young woman as she bowed to be sure the man wouldn't try to sit once again and make his injury worse.

"I don't care if this is our last day, I'm glad to claim it: I love you, Macy. I've been in love with you for ten years and will be for the rest of my life." declared Simon.

"Let's pray we will live a bit longer then. I love you, Simon. Since the first day I've seen you, my heart has cried, fearing I would never be able to say it. I love you, and I will until the end." answered Macy as the two shared a loving kiss, forgetting for an instant the battle outside of the tent.

...................................................................................................................................................

"SHIELDS UP! BE AN UNBREAKABLE GOLD WALL! PALADINS, REMEMBER YOUR VOWS!" shouted the golden paladins' captain.

The literal wall of golden armour was blocking the only road leading to the portal after which was the ruins where Lady Maria and the old General, followed by her personal escort of two high paladins, had gone directly after their arrival. Directly behind them were the mages and priests, ready to second those brave knights of Carendar they were happy to fight with.

Planting their large shields in the stone ground and raising their long spear, the paladins answered their captain as one.

"WE ARE THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS, CHAMPIONS OF CARENDAR! WE FIGHT FOR THE LIGHT, WE LIVE FOR THE LIGHT, WE DIE FOR THE LIGHT! AND WITH US, WE TAKE THOSE THREATENING THE LIGHT! MAY OUR SOUL SHINE AS BRIGHT AS OUR ARMOUR, MAY OUR BLADE PIERCE THE DARKNESS, MAY CARENDAR GUIDE US ALL!"

The paladins vows, shouted at the undeads before them, was a cry of war as well as a testament, each of them ready to give their life away for their sacred mission.

Meanwhile, in the ruins.

"What do you mean, there is nothing you can do?! Aren't you Holy Maria? Aren't you the highest ranked follower of Carendar? Use your sacred magic, my Lady, I beg of you!" said the general as he fell on his knees, crying in Maria's dress.

"I beg of you..." repeated the man, unable to even get angry.

"Father..." slowly called the undead son, his sorry eyes looking at the desperate man.

"Son...we will find a way, don't worry about it, we will find a way." tried to reassure the old man as he put a consoling hand on his son's shoulder, the undead still trapped by Maximilian's spell.

Slowly, the undead shook his head from side to side.

"It's alright...father. My life...was given...for something more precious...love and hope...he will save them...I'm sure...please...take care of them...she should have been...my wife...and she carries our child..."

As he explained with difficulty, the undead's eyes stopped on Maria who was silently standing there with a look of extreme compassion and sorrow, sharing the pain of the old general for his son she knew they wouldn't be able to help.

"You...Maria...Holy Lady...could you...do something for me?"

"If it is in my power, I'll be honoured to." answered the Lady, the gentle tone of her voice being a blessing in the coldness of that place.

"We...were supposed to get married....but we could not...in Carendar's name...could you...?" asked the undead, his question not needed to be finished for Maria understand.

The old general took a begging look at Maria who slightly hit the ground with her staff, making the flame on it shine a bit brighter. Seeing this, the two high paladins planted their spear in the ground, taking off their helmet in respect.

"I, Maria of the Golden Flame, ranked Holy by the white Gods, see your love and bless it in the name of the light. May your family and descendants know wealth, richness and love for this life and the one after. I bestow on your union the holy light of Carendar, for you have done for your wife and child the ultimate sacrifice. Bilian, may your soul be united with the soul of Mel by the love you share, may she take the name Bitelberg as her own, and may the child she is carrying be known as yours, a descendant of the Bitelberg. Is there a soul willing to acknowledge this union under the light of the sacred flame?" asked Maria, like the tradition wanted her to.

"I do." said the general, not taking his eyes off his son as he placed his hand in the flame without any pain.

"As a husband, as a father and as a follower of the holy light, I acknowledge and accept this union, may those two souls forever share the love they share today." solemnly said the old man, receiving a grateful look from his son as he did so.

As the old general took out his hand from the flame, it shined even brighter for a second, then turned back to normal.

"It has been heard, judged and accepted by the white Gods. This union is official, Bilian and Mel, you two are now husband and wife under the Bitelberg's name." declared Maria, the two high paladins slightly hitting their shields to salute the union.

"Thank you..." said Bilian.

"My lady, we have to go." said one of the high paladins.

"Indeed we have to. General, you should stay here, with your son. My paladins and I will ensure none of those undeads will approach the portal nor those ruins...I suggest you enjoy the little time you've been offered." sadly added Maria as she slightly bowed to the undead noble before she went out of the ruins, followed by the paladins with their helmet back on.

...................................................................................................................................................

At Viviane's village, things weren't looking good.

"FALL BACK, GET BEHIND THE SECOND WALL!" ordered the sergeant.

The crossbowmen and hunters had shot all they had, the mages were at their last mana potion, Maximilian's students had used almost all the mana they had managed to accumulate in their staff. The last resort the fighters had found was to create another wall behind the first one. When it was clear the undeads had finally taken over the first wall, the soldiers still alive fall back behind the next one the earth mage hurriedly closed behind them.

"Ready guys! As one!" shouted one of the earth mage. They all focused on the first wall and, as one, cast their spell.

Thousands of small spikes made of stone appeared on the wall and, like a gigantic bomb, the wall exploded, annihilating the undeads on and above it. The undead army was far from being vanquished, but that would at least give them a bit of time to breathe, just a tiny bit. Using the precious time they had won, Maximilian's students started to meditate like they had learned to, focussing all the mana they could in their staff. Impressed by the young ones' self-control, the royal mages imitated them, assembling all the energy they could for the next assault, probably the last one they would be able to sustain.

"And this black sky isn't getting any clearer, what kind of curse magic is at work here?" asked the sergeant as he took a sip from his waterskin.

Behind them, the crystal above the portal was still charging, preparing a spell none of the mages present knew about.

"I wonder how the others are doing, we didn't hear of them since they went in..." said one of the soldiers to another as they share a piece of dry meat, eating a bit to retrieve some strength while they could.

As if to answer him, a dark wave of energy came from the manor, a feral dark energy so heavy even the non-mage were able to feel it.

"What kind of monster is in there?" asked the sergeant.

"A vampire." simply answered Liliane's father.

...................................................................................................................................................

Binvo was down on one knee, panting hard. The four mages who had come to help him weren't in a much better state. They had used the mana and health potions they had, a good portion of their stocked mana, but their enemy was unstoppable.

At first, they had thought it was going well. Uniting the mages magic attacks with Binvo's hammer assaults, they even managed to lend a hit or two, injuring Viviane. But, not weakening her in the least, injuring her had the effect of making her even angrier.

"Larvae! I'm going to show you the difference between us!" had shouted the vampire right before she had dashed in Binvo's direction.

It had been the moment the minotaur was waiting for. The vampire, sure of her victory, was wide open. Focusing his energy in his hammer, Binvo waited for the very last moment, then, in a shout, took a rising swing, hitting the vampire from underneath. Viviane got hurt, she had to. Her shin moved to the side with the force of the hit and she flew back.

"Is it over?" had asked Guelan, only to hear the small vampire roar of fury.

Coming from her, flows of blood exploded in every directions, her roar never stopping.

Then, after a minute, the blood stopped mid-air, and every single drop came back to her, assembling around her, solidifying, crystallising.

"Her power...it's getting even more ..." observed William, not even able to finish his sentence.

Viviane stood up, enveloped by some kind of red blood crystal armour with a...unique look.

"Fear me, maggots! For here is my true power!" declared Viviane, already healed, to her dumbfounded enemies.

"Is...is she for real?" asked William, not really believing what he was seeing.

"It seems to me that it is really more than jealousy..." said the elf.

The small vampire's armour was, for like of better words, giving Viviane's body some more adult forms. Sensual hips, voluptuous chest, long legs and arms, she could have passed for a beautiful lady wearing a dark-red armour...if it wasn't for the still childish-looking face sporting a very proud smile.

"Speechless I see, how understandable. But, even if you beg, know that you are all going to die!" exclaimed the vampire as she dashed, handling her massive weapon with even deadlier efficiency.

Binvo tried to parry, only to be literally sent flying by the tremendous force. The minotaur hit the wall hard, breaking and passing through it, ending under a pile of debris.

"ATTACK!" ordered William, pointing his staff at the vampire.

The spell flew, but Viviane evaded them all, quickly getting close to the mages.

"Little mages, little mages, how red is your magic blood?" was singing the vampire with an amused grin on her face, her red eyes shining with a maleficent amusement.

William was the first one to get caught, the massive axe cutting deep into his shoulder.

"I don't know where you found your magic armour, but it just saved your life!" said Viviane as she kicked William hard, sending him flying.

Maximilian's other students quickly joined their friend, at least as badly injured as him.

Viviane appeared right before Alariel, grasping her throat and lifting her off the ground, making her drop her magic staff.

"An elf bocow...I'm going to enjoy emptying those piles of fat from every drop of blood they contain." said the vampire with a feral grin, slowly choking the elf.

Mumbling something, Alariel's words came out as nothing more than gargles.

"What's this, bocow? A last word you wish to share with us all?" said the vampire as she gave the elf the little air she needed to speak.

"Drink all you want...it won't make you feel any better...your chest will stay as flat as your heart, vampire." said Alariel, her eyes betraying an infinite disdain for the monster in front of her.

Viviane's smile turned to an angry smirk as she grasped Alariel's throat tighter once again, making the beautiful lady open her mouth in a silent scream, searching for a tiny bit of air.

"Normally I prefer my meal alive as I drink, but I think I will have to make an exception with you!"

Just as Alariel's neck was going to give away, William appeared before Viviane, crouching between the two ladies with his staff pointing right at the vampire's face.

"Wind spikes!" cast the mage, sending two wind projectiles right in the vampire eyes, blinding her.

With a scream of pain, Viviane let go of the elf, taking a few steps back as she made some powerful and wide movements with her weapon, forbidding anyone to come near her.

"FUCKER! SON OF A BITCH! SHIT EATER! I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU!!! I WILL MURDER YOU AAAAAALL!"

With her final cry, she hit the ground hard, creating a circular wave of crystallised blood, coming from her armour, that exploded in thousands of small fragments.

Hiding as well as they could behind debris, Maximilian's students and the elf were surprised to see the small bloody projectiles piercing the stones like it was nothing, injuring them on the way. They quickly raised their magic shield, but the pain inflicted by the small red fragments was simply breath-taking, forcing them to their knees.

While this was happening, Binvo, semi-conscious under the large pile of rocks on him, was trying to find any strength left to stand up again.

*Binvo must fight...but vampire too strong...stronger than Binvo. But Binvo promised, Maximilian counts on Binvo...*

Lost in his thoughts, the minotaur's hand ventured in his bag, touching the last potion still in it.

*You mustn't use this unless in very last resort, am I clear?* echoed in the minotaur's head, exactly what Maximilian had told him as he had given him the metallic flask.

"Binvo has no choice...if vampire wins, innocents will die..." said the minotaur to himself as he took the flask and drank it all.

"Binvo must become feral!" stated the minotaur, his voice already getting deeper.

...................................................................................................................................................

On his back, panting hard, Binvo took a minute or two to catch his breath. Maximilian, thinking hard, was silent with his arms crossed.

"You clearly are stronger than before, your magic is better too, but you still have one major problem..." explained the man.

When he had come to get him after his year of training, Maximilian had tested the minotaur, facing him in an all-out fight. Maximilian had kept his strength low enough for Binvo to being able to show what he could do, and the result was unquestionable in the man's eyes.

"..."You are too gentle."

The man helped the minotaur up, explaining in more details what he meant.

"In everyday life, this would be a good thing, but in a fight, your desire of not hurting could cost you victory." stated the man.

"But...Binvo doesn't wish to be the best,only to be able to defend..." answered the minotaur.

"Maybe, but what about the one facing you? Do you think they will stop once you're down? What if you die? What if the ones you were trying to protect die?" scolded Maximilian, making the minotaur look down.

Seeing his friend getting sad, the man sighed.

"Listen...I don't want you to think I'm not seeing the effort you've put in your training, you clearly have. But, as long as you hold back like you do, you won't be able to be as strong as you could really be..."

After that, Maximilian stayed silent for a second or two. Then, having an idea, he took a metallic flask out of the Havenbag.

"Binvo, listen to me. This is a feral potion, orcs of the south tribes use them when they go to war. I would prefer it if you didn't need it, but I want you to keep it with you, just in case."

"What does the potion do?" asked the minotaur as he took the metallic flask.

"Simply put: you will turn berserk for a time. It is simple to use, focus on your enemy and drink. You will lose any will of gentleness you could have for ten minutes, you will be feral, Binvo."

The man put a hand on the minotaur's shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes.

"It would be best for you to learn to fight without restriction on your own, but this will be a temporary way to get out of a desperate situation. But, Binvo, this will have serious secondary effects. You will give everything you have in those ten minutes, magically and physically. Once the time is out, you will fall. You mustn't use this unless in very last resort, am I clear?" warned Maximilian, his eyes not leaving Binvo's.

"Binvo...understand...feral potion is last resort... okay." said the minotaur as he looked at the flask in his massive hands, already fearing he would have to use it someday.

"You really are a kind one." said the man with a friendly smile as he patted the minotaur's shoulder.

...................................................................................................................................................

Viviane blinked several times, her bloody eyes finally healed and her armour back to normal after the missing pieces used for her attack had formed back. Facing the place where the mages were, she smiled ferociously as she saw the pitiful state they were in.

"Be assured that the slight pain you feel right now is nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you... especially to you, elf. You are going to curse your long lifespan more time than I can count. As for you, the little shit who thought it would be a good idea to blind me..."

As she was speaking, the gauntlet of crystallised blood not handling her axe started to change, the fingers turning to claws, long and ready to cut through anything and anyone. Pointing at William with one of her newly made claws, the vampire chuckled for a second.

"I will enjoy peeling every centimetre of your skin off!"

She violently raised her clawed hand, tearing the magic shield apart like it was nothing.

"But I think I'm going to start by killing the lamia, just for fun!"

The vampire hit, or at least tried. She wanted to slay those pitiful beings in front of her, but something was blocking her hand.

"What the hell?!" cursed the vampire as she looked behind her, only to frown.

"You again, bobull? Wait for your turn!" said Viviane as she kicked the minotaur, not even noticing the blood-injected eyes looking down at her.

The vampire foot collided, but Binvo didn't budge, as if not feeling it at all.

The vampire noticed it, of course, but was far too busy feeling her bloody gauntlet getting crushed by the massive fist.

Pulling her shattered gauntlet away, she tried to hit with her axe, only to have it caught by the handle, Binvo lifting her off the ground and grasping her by the throat.

"What the..." started the vampire, but she got interrupted by the feral roar Binvo let out, his beastly voice making the walls shake.

For the first time since the battle had begun, Viviane got speechless for a second. She tried to find something to say, but her thoughts were interrupted by the massive fist of the minotaur colliding with her face, once, twice, three times.

She finally managed to get away, leaving behind a good part of her armour transformed in the same tiny bloody pieces. But, thanks to Maximilian's armour as well as the newfound strength of the beast, the tiny cutting projectiles barely hurt him at all.

"You fu..." tried to insult Viviane, only to discover her shin was so broken, even her vampire regeneration had trouble healing it quickly enough.

The child-looking monster bruised away the blood coming from her nose, her armour reforming itself once again. She took her axe in two hands, her face deformed by anger. In a roar at least as feral as Binvo's, she dashed, readying a killing blow.

Answering her roar with his own, Binvo raised his hammer in one hand, picking up a large piece of the ceiling in the other to simply use it as another weapon, to hit the hardest way possible.

Looking at the battle before their eyes, the mages had some troubles deciding who looked more like a beast.

"What happened to Binvo? He is...different." asked William, doing his best to stop the bleeding from his shoulder.

"If I had to describe it, I would say he has gone berserk." observed Alariel, seeing in the minotaur's actions some similarities to Arca's.

"SO YOU GOT A BIT STRONGER! GOOD FOR YOU, BOBULL, BUT IT WON'T CHANGE A THING!" roared Viviane, doing her best to destabilise her opponent.

But it was a waste of her time. Binvo's mind was set on one thing, and one thing only, destroying the enemy facing him.

The stone in the minotaur's hand was quickly destroyed by the force of his hits. With one hand, he was using his war hammer with so much force the ground under the vampire was breaking a bit more with each hit. With his free hand, he was hitting, grasping, crushing, destroying all that was in his way.

And, for the first time in the fight, Viviane was losing ground, and she realised it very well. Her face showing a mixed feeling of hatred and worries, she didn't stop her series of attack for a single instant, knowing perfectly well she couldn't allow the beast in front of her to grasp her again.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME?! KNOW YOUR PLACE!!!" roared the vampire as she let a dark energy loose, creating a wave of dark energy mixed with tiny bloody red pieces of her armour, all aiming at Binvo's face.

The minotaur didn't get stopped by the wave for even a single second. He raised his arm to block the projectiles, being pierced by some of them, then, not stopping his assault, used his free hand to hit the vampire with so much force everyone in the room was able to hear her rib cage break, making her open her eyes wide and spit blood. She got projected away, hitting the wall behind her hard before falling down. The wall crumbled, revealing the scene of the village under attack outside.

The room got silent for a second, the echoes of the fights outside being the only sounds hearable.

"You...you think this is over?!" panted Viviane as she stood up, panting hard and clearly suffering as her rib cage was slowly fixing itself.

"I am a vampire! I...I control the dark energy of this land, you think a stupid beast like you will be able to confront me and w..."

She got interrupted by Binvo's fist right in the face.

The minotaur wasn't willing to hear her out, it wasn't his objective. The red armour started to crumble as his hammer collided, then, dropping it, he grasped the vampire by the neck, hitting her again and again right in the chest to finally destroy the vampire protection.

Viviane, unable to move under the assault, dropped her axe, her head leaning backwards.

"Stop it! Stop...it!" tried to order the vampire, but she had no force, no air to scream or roar anymore, he had her.

*No, I can't end like this, not now, not under this...dark sky...*

The vampire eyes opened wide as she noticed the different sky, far darker than it used to be, filled with dark energy.

*I must...take it...come to me, dark energy!* silently ordered the vampire, her hands turned to the sky, focussing her last bits of energy on her desperate action.

A black thunder fell, hitting the vampire right where she was and projecting Binvo at the other side of the room. Viviane was floating, nonmoving.

"Oh no..." said Alariel as she saw black clouds coming from the sky to envelop Viviane, quickly understanding what was happening.

"QUICK! ATTACK HER! CAST ALL YOU CAN!" ordered the elf as she raised her magic staff.

The mages in the room launched their attack. Magic projectiles flew at the vampire, but got blocked by a massive bloody red bat wing looming from inside the clouds.

"What's happening?" asked William as the clouds started to dissipate, swallowed and breathed in by Viviane.

"Something bad...she is a vampire, and she just received a massive amount of dark energy in one go. I don't know who or what created those clouds, but it was more than enough..." observed the elf.

"Enough for wh...what?" asked Sphixine as she interrupted herself when she saw Viviane slowly revealing herself from the dark clouds.

"She evolved." simply answered the elf in desperation.

Before them was a teenage-looking girl with long golden hair mixed with black strands, a dark gothic robe perfectly suiting her older physic, and two massive bloody red bat wings on her back.

Slowly breathing in the last bit of clouds around her, she savoured it like the tastiest of the delicacies, then opened her shiny red eyes, looking at her prey.

"Delightful...now, where were we? Oh yes..." said Viviane as she picked her axe up with a single hand gesture, a gust of dark wind lifting it off the ground for her.

Standing again, Binvo roared once again before he dashed in her direction.

"...Your extermination." simply concluded Viviane as she hit the minotaur, slashing with her massive weapon.

If the minotaur survived that, it was only thanks to his friend's good armour. The protection broke, but took the majority of the damages. Nonetheless, Binvo flew back in one of the still standing walls, a large bleeding cut along his torso.

"Congratulations, beast, you managed to keep me entertain for ten minutes, you can consider yourself superior to many." said Viviane with a pompous laughed.

Binvo's eyes took back their normal state, and the minotaur lost all energy. His body hurting so much he barely managed to stay conscious.

Showing the scenery outside, Viviane laughed out loud.

"Look! Look at your friends being torn to shred by the dark army! Enjoy this magnificent spectacle, for this will be the last thing you will see!"

...................................................................................................................................................

Fighting the fury of hairy red tentacles that was Annabelle, Maximilian's friends were far from having the upper hand. Quite the opposite actually. Ilin and Little Cloud were doing their best to keep the vampire's limbs at bay while Cekgo was forcing some health potion down Joe's throat, using a small shield of water to stop the bleeding.

"Is he alive?" asked Ilin, keeping her eyes on her targets, burning any coming close enough.

"Barely, but he drank the potion, the injury is closing back." observed the lizardkin.

"Thos things are a pain!" exclaimed Little Cloud as he cast several wind blades.

Something was different with the vampire's hair, they were more resistant, to physical but also magical attacks.

"I know! Before I was able to easily burn them, now they can pass through my fire like it's nothing." said the semi-gnome as she cast another fire spell, finally destroying one of the many tentacles.

"It's the blood! All the blood she's been drinking is in her hair, she must be using it to reinforce them!" said Lin-Lin who had heard them.

The panda-lady was facing Annabelle herself. Being the fastest of the group, she had managed to evade the tentacles attack, and was now doing her best to hit her target.

"Futile, beastkin, all you are is a meal waiting to be consumed." said an amused vampire as she launched several attacks with her whip.

Lin-Lin managed to parry and evade the attacks, the stone on her sides getting torn to shred by the vampire weapon.

"Don't let her weapon touch you!" ordered Arca as she cut another tentacle, her heavy sword doing a good job.

But, like a lone adventurer lost in a deep jungle with a small machete, the number of hairy tentacles around her was too important for the semi-orc to go help Lin-Lin.

"How many of those damned things are there?! I cut and cut, but more still come!" cursed Arca as she barely evaded another attack, getting a slight cut on her jaw.

To the semi-orc's observation, Annabelle laughed.

"How many, you ask? Let me show you..."

To the vampire words, the room started to shake. The walls and ceiling gave up, revealing literal hair walls and ceiling, completely surrounding the group.

"Since earlier, a dark energy, stronger than any I've felt before, has started to fly around, darkening the sky and giving our armies more strength than ever. It would have been impolite for me to refuse such a pleasant gift, don't you think? I've been drinking, absorbing this energy, making me even more powerful. You asked how many there are? As many as I want!" finally said Annabelle, ending her sentence with a mad laugh.

From the ceiling and walls came many more hairy tentacles, all aiming at the fighters.

"Don't lose hope! We have to hang on, we have to win enough time!" exclaimed Lin-Lin as she cut one of the incoming tentacles with her gauntlet claws.

"Take all the time you want, mortals, I have a lot to spare." laughed the vampire once again before she continued her whip assaults.

...................................................................................................................................................

In Noire's throne room, Necros and Maximilian were exchanging blows so powerful the entire place was shaking.

Even if he didn't want to admit it, the necromancer had realised he was dealing with something more than a mere illusionist, and he was fighting accordingly.

Maximilian was experiencing a new feeling against this opponent, a slight resistance.

For the first time, he was fighting someone who could throw a punch back, or dark magic assault in Necros's case. Maximilian had noticed Octavia running at her friends' side, giving them the potion to drink so they would at least survive their injuries. Necros had noticed it too, and was aiming for her, forcing Maximilian to play on defence, raising magical shields one after the other, protecting his friend from the necromancer flying around, draped in his dark veil.

"You care for the eight legs I see. Don't you realise how weak it makes you? We've been at it for hours without you being to attack me at all!" said the old man as he turned his magic staff around, creating a wave of dark energy.

Maximilian easily blocked it, but this seemed too weak for it to be a direct attack. The several undeads appearing from the doors and the ground assured him it was a summoning spell.

"What about now? How will you manage between me and my minions?" chuckled the old man, still flying around to evade the magic projectiles send by Maximilian.

"Like this." simply said Maximilian as he used his free hand to point at the incoming undead.

"Fire arrow tempest." cast the man, creating an explosion of fiery projectiles coming from his gauntlet. The undeads, even if they could feel fear, got destroyed by the man's spell before they had the time to get scare, quickly turning to ashes.

"You know some good spells, good, they do too." said Necros as all the liches that were protecting the journey crystal entered the room, casting their dark magic attack on Maximilian.

"Light wall." cast the man, protecting Octavia and her sisters once again, the dark projectiles colliding with the protection in powerful explosions.

"I must say I'm a bit disappointed, for someone I can't read the level from, I was expecting more power." taunted the old man.

"I'm sorry, It's just that I'm a bit focused on something else at the moment." answered Maximilian as he took care of the undead mages with a wind wave, making the walking corpses fall in pieces.

"Something else? What could be more important than this fight?" asked Necros, surprised by the man's answer.

"You'll see, it won't take much longer." answered Maximilian with a cunning smile as he looked at the three runes shining white on his forearm.

"Octavia, how are the others doing?" asked Goliath as she did her best to stand on six legs.

"They will live, but Black Widow, she..."

"Let's go, we must be next to her!" interrupted Thomisa as she helped Cariaben up, the blue arachne doing her best to not stare at her missing arms.

"You think I'm going to let you go?!" exclaimed Necros as he tried to attack them by getting around Maximilian.

"Not so fast!" said the man as he appeared before the necromancer, catching his dark veil with his light covered hands.

"How can you....?"

"Light magic." simply answered Maximilian as he punched Necros once again, tearing off a part of his dark veil.

"Go to her." said Maximilian to Octavia without looking at her, his eyes focused on his enemy.

"Thank you." simply answered the white arachne as she and her three sisters quickly went to Black Widow's side.

Replacing his shin in place, Necros laughed wickedly.

"It's no use, she will die nonetheless. There is nothing they can do, nor you."

"I know." simply answered Maximilian.

"You know? How could you know anything, you weren't even there." asked the man, noticing the piece of dark veil Maximilian had torn off, on the ground behind Octavia's master.

"I felt it. There is one life for two, it can't work. I am not the one who must decide which one will live, the mother or the baby. All I know is that I can't create life, I can only heal injuries, even deadly ones. I will save this life, be it the one of the baby or the mother, because that's what someone I hold dear is willing. So, while those arachnes decide what will happen, I will stay here and wait, while forbidding you to pass as I do so."

As he was speaking, Maximilian felt the dark energy behind him.

"Forbidding me? I am too old to be forbidden anything!" exclaimed Necros as he made a simple gesture.

The tiny piece of dark veil expanded, becoming a dark rope that turned around Maximilian's neck in an instant, trying to strangle him to death. While the man was busy destroying the rope with light magic, Necros didn't waste any second and focussed his dark energy in one powerful spell.

A massive sphere of pitch black energy with black thunders running across it appeared at the end of his scythe.

"Bigger..." ordered Necros, and the sphere expanded, taking the size of a softball.

"Bigger!" ordered Necros once again, the sphere becoming bigger than himself.

"BIGGER!!!" ordered one last time the necromancer, making the sphere attain half of the room in volume.

"Forget about the baby, I will find something else for my experimentations. I will be glad to kill you here." stated the old man as he pulled the scythe behind his back and threw the sphere in Maximilian's direction.

"DARK ANNIHILATION!!!" shouted the necromancer, outraged at the man who had dared to stand in his way.

Maximilian could not prevent the magic projectile from being launched, but he at least had the time to destroy the rope around him and was free again.

He knew perfectly well he had to stop it or it was going to destroy everything around, including Octavia and the others nearby. Focussing his energy in his hands, he pictured in his head what he wanted and...

"LIGHT...FORTRESS!!!"

With his shouts, he cast the spell. One after the other, thousands of castle harrows fall from ceiling. Paper thin, they looked like a simple push would have been enough to break them.

But, far from being feeble, each of those harrows stopped the dark projectiles for an instant, just enough time to inject in it the light composing them. Each time Necros attack was colliding with one of the harrows, it was decreasing a tiny bit.

"Impossible...IMPOSSIBLE!!!" shouted the man as he saw his most powerful spell turning into a sphere not bigger than a fist as it finally appeared before Maximilian who simply crushed it with his light covered gauntlet.

"Are you done? My turn then..." said Maximilian as he did a wide gesture in Necros' direction.

The old man used the veil to protect himself, but got pushed away with so much force he rammed into the wall, breaking it as he did so.

"I'm still there!" exclaimed the old man with a mocking chuckle.

"I know, this spell wasn't meant to kill you. I just thought this room could use a better view of the outside." said Maximilian as he showed the open wall behind Necros.

Looking behind him, the old man smirked.

"Indeed, it is a pleasant scenery. A sky so dark no light can ever touch this land, thousands of undeads ravaging the few living ones. Thank you for the fresh air, I suppose." stated the necromancer, not really seeing how Maximilian's last action had anything he should be worried of.

"You, who like to see the desperation in the eyes of your enemies, I thought it would be fitting to inflict you the same treatment. " calmly said Maximilian as he pointed at the sky, the three runes one his forearm shining even more than before.

"What are you talking ab...what is this?!"

...................................................................................................................................................

"What's the matter, bobull? Don't tell me you're done already, I'm only getting started." said Viviane as she pulled Binvo by one horn behind her, not even acknowledging Maximilian's students, out of mana, who were trying to attack her at close range. Simply sending them flying with her large wings, she forced Binvo to look at the village, where the undeads were slowly taking over the last wall built by the fighters.

"Look, bobull. Do you see? You've lost. See those fools dying, see what your actions had led to. Tell me, beast, how does it feel?" taunted the vampire, gripping the minotaur's horn so tight it was starting to crack.

Binvo, his eyes barely opened anymore, was injured, exhausted, empty. But, something in the distance made him look nonetheless.

There, he saw it. There, he felt it.

"Warm..." mumbled Maximilian's friend as he let a feeble smile on his face.

"What did you say, bobull?"

"Vampire....is cold...can not feel warmness...Binvo can...time has come." said the minotaur as he raised a trembling hand to point at the portal.

Looking at what the beast was showing, the vampire smirked.

"What, this shining crystal? Nothing more than a feeble torch in the dark, it will soon be gone."

"No...darkness will..." answered Binvo with a weak chuckle.

Angered by the minotaur's lack of tears and begging for his life, Viviane hit his facing on the floor several times.

"AND NOW?! WHERE IS YOUR WARMNESS, BEAST?!"

As if to answer her, the crystal started to shine even brighter, runes starting to flow around it.

"What the fuck is going on?! WHAT IS THIS THING EXACTLY?!" shouted Viviane, forcing Binvo on his knees once again, his horn cracking a bit more.

"Sanctuary." simply said the minotaur, a smile of relief on his bloody face.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Sanctuary? What is that? A place for you to hide? You won't be leaving this place, bearkin." said Annabelle, her whip covered with Lin-Lin's blood.

The panda-lady was on the ground, cut in so many places her black and white fur had taken a red colour. Arca and the mages, finally too exhausted to fight, had been literally nailed on the ground by the hair tentacles acting like spears. They were barely alive, and forced to stay conscious by the tentacles moving inside their injuries to be sure they would be in constant pain.

The vampire had seen the crystal outside shining more and more, and it had made her curious. Lin-Lin had answered her question with a content smile on her face.

"You want to know what it is? Wait for a second or two, you will have your answer." said Maximilian's friend as she used her spear to stand up again.

Using her blood, she covered the runes on her weapon, whispering the name of her spear to it like she would have shared a secret with a friend. Her weapon started to shine green, an emerald aura covering the spear head.

"Oh? A last attack? If this is what you wish for, bearkin, let me shatter your last hope... " said the vampire as she raised her whip, only to be interrupted by the gigantic aura suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"What in the devil's name is that?" asked the vampire, shocked by the tremendous power she was feeling.

"Sanctuary." simply answered Lin-Lin with a sly smile, preparing her attack.

...................................................................................................................................................

"WHAT IS HAPPENING! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" shouted Necros, anger mixed with a feeling he had forgotten for decades, fear.

"When I learned where my friend was, once I knew I would have to deal with a land covered in darkness, I worked on something..."

Maximilian joined hands in some kind of prayer fashion, his gauntlets starting to shine even more as the runes flew off his forearm, dashing at sound's speed in the three crystals' direction. Necros tried to attack, but his veil, like a scared animal, refused to approach the white light coming from Maximilian.

"...I knew darkness would be a pain to hunt, it would cover a place of the land while I would be working on another, the undeads would still attack innocents, and it would take decades to really heal this place. So I told myself: Why not purifying everything in one go?"

"It's impossible! Not even a saint would be able to produce a light spell that wide, YOU'RE BLUFFING!" shouted Necros.

"You thought I would try something that important without being sure of myself? I created what needed to be..." stated Maximilian as three light columns appeared in the distance, coming from the different villages to join at one point in the sky, creating some kind of star.

"Impossible..." repeated Necros, trying to convince himself.

"It took fifty years for darkness to totally cover this land. I used it to cast my spell, what did YOU use?" asked the old man.

"Hope...and chance." simply answered Maximilian.

"I bet that my allies would give me enough time to finalise my spell, I won that bet. And now..."

Maximilian raised his hand, pointing at the star in the sky, and....

"LIGHT...SANCTUARYYYYY!!!" shouted the man.

A sphere of white energy, dashing from Maximilian like a cannon ball, flew right at the star in the black sky. As it collided, a silent explosion of light, followed by a gigantic wave of white light, opened a hole in the black sky.

Not stopping there, the light wave expanded in every direction, making any traces of dark cloud disappear, revealing a bright sun above them. At a prodigious speed, the light was eating the shadow away.

"For too long has this land been covered by darkness, it is time for the people living here to see the light again." stated Maximilian.

Necros, first subjugated by the scenery outside, quickly went back in the shadow of the room, his dark veil acting like the very light on it was causing an unbearable pain.

"You...YOU!!!" cursed the old man as he turned to Maximilian, letting his dark aura loose...for approximately a second before his eyes opened wide in fear.

"Now that my attention isn't required on a complex spell, What do you say we finish this little fight?" said Maximilian as he made his knuckles crack a bit from under his gauntlets, a white aura around him enlightening the room like it had no roof to hide it from the sunlight.

"Who...who are you?" asked the old man, not believing the weight he could feel from the one in front of him.

"Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus, lord of this land...and friend of the one you were trying to kill earlier."

Maximilian disappeared for an instant, reappearing right before Necros, a sphere of white energy shining in his hand.

"And you...are not welcome here, necromancer. Now you can leave!"

Necros screamed, teleporting just as he felt Maximilian's attack touching him.

Alone in the throne room for a second, Maximilian nodded to himself.

"MAXIMILIAN!" called Octavia from the other room, making the man hurry where the arachnes were.

...................................................................................................................................................

Viviane screamed, the sunlight blinding her at the same time as the light wave had paralysed her body.

As a vampire, she was a creature of darkness, all her power came from it, all her strength. Bathed in the sunlight like that was the most horrifying thing that could happen to her. In a second, she had seen the army of death being vaporised, the undeads falling to dust as the wave of light passed through them, giving them no chance of fleeing even if they had the idea to do so.

*Binvo can do it! Move, body....MOVE!!!* mentally shouted the minotaur, using all the energy he had left to turn around and bend, still on his knees.

The vampire was still grasping his horn, and it broke, causing a lot of pain to Binvo. Nonetheless, he roared all his pain mixed with all the fury he had mastered and, rising his head from under the vampire...

"LIGHT...HORN!!!"

...He pierced Viviane's chest, his sole horn remaining passing through the armour, flesh, bones and, finally, the heart of the vampire before exiting behind her.

Viviane stopped screaming instantly, gasping for air, for dark energy, for anything that could have saved her, but nothing came, nothing was there anymore for her to take.

"Y...you fucking Bob..."

"I AM BINVO!!!" shouted the minotaur as he stood, lifting the vampire off the ground with another roar. Turning on himself, he threw the vampire off the edge, letting her fall along the manor side, all while being bathed in the sunlight, burning in a painful scream. She had turned to dust long before she touched the ground.

Binvo fell back on his knees and stayed like that, unconscious as he faced the sunny land of what used to be Viviane's village.

...................................................................................................................................................

"YAAAAARG!!! MY HAIR! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" screamed Annabelle.

In her feeling of superiority, she had broken the wall to give more space to her hair, breathing in as much dark power as she could. Her gluttony was her downfall, because now that the land was covered by light, she had nowhere to hide.

By reflex, she had tried to use her hair as a shield, only to see the red tentacles burning in mere seconds, be it the ones around the room or those maintaining Lin-Lin's companions on the ground.

"How does it feel? How does the pain inflicted on your so-called beautiful body feels, Annabelle?" questionned Lin-Lin, the emerald aura starting to cover her body too.

The pain-filled eyes of the vampire turned to furious red orbs as she looked at the panda-lady. Coming from the mad vampire, her dark power acted like an energy boost for her hair, closing back the holes that had been opened by the light and plunging the room into darkness once again.

"YOU KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! I WILL EVISCERATE YOU!!!" said the long hair lady as she dashed in Lin-Lin's direction, her whip turning so fast it formed a strengthened spiral.

Really moving around for the first time since her transformation, the vampire looked like the heart of a rose bush envelopped in barbles, linked by her long red hair to the walls and ceiling.

"DARK BRAMBLE DESTRUCTION!!!" shouted the vampire, a dark aura covering her entire body.

"WITH ME, TRIBULATION BREAKER!" shouted Lin-Lin.

On Lin-Lin's back, shining green from under her armour, the yin-yang symbol appeared for an instant as the panda-lady dashed.

The two weapon's end collided, the two fighters not giving any ground away to the other.

"This is the end for you!" said Annabelle, focussing even more of her dark energy in her attack.

The vampire started to push Lin-Lin's back, her power still superior into the dark.

"You are going to die! Then it will be your friends turn, and after that, I will consume every last living soul of this village!" stated Annabelle as several spear-looking tentacles appeared at her sides, ready to hit.

"HOW ABOUT YOU CONSUME THIS YOU BITCH!!!" shouted Arca.

Severely injured, the semi-orc had found the will to stand back up and, using the fact that Annabelle was focusing on Lin-Lin, had gone around the vampire. Ready to hit with all her lasting forces, she had shouted as her blade cut Annabelle's hair just above her head, leaving them a few centimetres long.

"NO!!!" cursed the vampire, trying to pierce the semi- orc's heart but, without any link to her, the tentacles had fallen down, all power in them gone.

"Let's see how you manage without your hair..." mocked Arca as she fell down, emptied of all her energy.

Without the vampire's power, the hair shield was quickly burning away, letting the sunlight in the room.

Annabelle screamed as the light touched her, her dark aura noticeably getting weaker.

*NOW!* Thought Lin-Lin's as she pushed Annabelle back.

The vampire hit the disappearing hair wall and barely had the time to look before her to see the incoming attack.

"INNOCENTS...REVENGE!!!" shouted Lin-Lin as her spear pierced the bramble armour as well as the vampire's heart.

A long spear-looking ray of green light went to the sky, taking with it the vampire screaming in agony.

"That's for what you've inflicted on those people..." stated Lin-Lin, smiling weakly as she saw the vampire turning to ashes in the sky.

With the battle over, the panda-lady fall on her back, enjoying the sunlight on her fur as she let her consciousness drift away.

...................................................................................................................................................

In the mirror room, Maximilian was kneeling next to Black Widow, on her other side was Octavia, the three others were around.

"Nothing..." repeated Octavia, not believing what she had heard.

"I'm sorry. I could try to invert the ritual, but it would kill the baby..." said Maximilian, only to have his arm grasped by the mother, a begging look in her eyes.

"No! Please...I know I cannot ask anything from you...but please...not the baby."

"Black Widow...you are dying!" said Thomisa with teary eyes.

"I know...but she will live..." said the dark arachne as she lovingly caressed her moving belly.

"You...Maximilian, can you do what must be done? Can you make sure she will live? Octavia told me you could do anything...can you do that?"

Taking a look at the white arachne, Maximilian saw her begging eyes.

"For Octavia to look at me like that, you must count a lot to her."

"She is my sister." said Octavia, holding Black Widow's hand.

"We all are sisters of the web." added the dark arachne as she held Octavia's hand back.

"It will hurt. Your body did not have the time to accommodate to the baby, you simply aren't ready to give birth. I will have to open your belly to extract the baby.

Black Widow gulped hard, but nodded nonetheless.

"Do what must be done."

...................................................................................................................................................

"SON!" exclaimed the general as the undead noble fell down, the stone blocking him crumbling.

"Father..." said Bilian, pointing at where his wife was resting.

With Viviane and Annabelle gone, the crystal and black roses started to disappear, Mel's body slowly being freed from her prison, surfacing from the crystal ground like she would have from water.

The old general ran, falling on his knees as he put his ear on the lady's chest.

"SHE LIVES!" shouted the old man, overjoyed.

Looking at the unconscious lady, the old general saw something between her hands. A dark hand looking a lot like a cage holding a still beating heart. The artefact holding the heart was quickly decomposing, the power that had created it was no more.

Acting quickly, the old general carried the beautiful lady to his son's side.

"Look son! She is here, she is alive! You've made it!" exclaimed the old man, doing his best to find something, anything that could make a tiny sparkle of life remains in his son's eyes.

The undead's eyes looked at the lady. For a second, she slightly opened her eyes, as if lost between a deep sleep and reality.

"Bilian...?" weakly asked Mel, the heart she was holding so preciously between her hands slowly stopping beating.

"I love you...I love you both..." simply said Bilian who, for an instant, retrieved the same eyes he had before the dark days.

"Stay with us..." begged the half-conscious pregnant lady.

"I will...through him..." said Bilian as he put a hand on his wife's belly.

"Always..." finally said the noble with a tender smile as the heart stopped beating, turning to dust with the dark cage that was imprisoning it.

Unlike the vampires and other undeads, Bilian Bitelberg didn't turn to ashes as the sunlight, passing by a broken window, touched him. On the contrary, his body turned back to his old self, as if the Gods wanted him to leave behind a body as beautiful as the sacrifice he had made.

Maria, who had arrived after it was certain the battle was over, had silently watched the noble make his farewells. As she saw Bilian closing his eyes for the last time, she walked to his side and placed a hand where his heart should have been.

"May your soul find the way to the holy lands. May your sacrifice grant you an eternity of joy. May you have no regrets and watch after your loved ones from above. Rest in peace, Bilian Bitelberg, you deserve it."

The old general said nothing, crying. Crying like he had never done before. Crying like he would never will again. Crying for the son he had retrieved only to lose him once again, this time forever.

Mel was sleeping, free from her fifty-year-long prison, from the cold crystal and roses coffin in which she had kept the same appearance, locked away in a magical coma. She was sleeping and, for the first time in years, she was able to do it peacefully, her hand resting on her husband's, above where their child was growing.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Is she..." asked Cariaben.

Maximilian nodded as he took out the fully formed baby, a girl, like they had supposed she would be.

He had worked quickly, the most precisely he could to inflict as little pain to Black Widow as he could. Hiding the open belly with a cloth, Maximilian came next to the dark arachne and carefully placed the newborn on her chest.

"She is healthy, you have a healthy little girl." said Maximilian as he helped Black Widow to put her arms around her baby, the mother rapidly losing the few forces she had left.

"I can feel her heart beat...Bilasira...my dear Bilasira..." said the arachne as she held her daughter as tightly as possible without hurting her.

This little gesture was too much for her, and she almost lost consciousness right there. Octavia put a hand on the baby, making sure she won't fall.

"Sisters...you helped me...so much..." said Black Widow with a tender smile, not leaving her baby from her sight.

Octavia was going to say something, but Maximilian stopped her, the dark arachne had little time left.

"I can feel it...I'm dying...I beg of you four...take care of her...please, show for her the same love you've shown for me..." begged Black Widow, crying.

"We will." promised Octavia, quickly imitated by her three sisters.

"My pendant...give it to her...tell her about me...about Nasfara...tell her that her parents loved her..."

"Of course!" exclaimed Thomisa, tears dropping profusely from her eyes.

Black Widow looked at Maximilian for a second, nodding at him, thankful, then looked at Octavia, smiling more tenderly than she had ever done before.

"You were right...about him...about me...thank you."

With her last words spoken, Black Widow brought her baby to her mouth and, with the last sparkle of life she had, kissed her daughter on the forehead.

Maximilian put a hand behind the arachne's head, slowly putting it down.

Bilasira, as if she had felt her mother pass away, started to cry like only newborn babies were able to. Around the dead arachne, her four sisters and baby were crying, some more silently than others. Octavia took the baby, carefully holding her in her arms and started to rock her slowly.

"She may have no mothers, but that doesn't mean she won't have a family." simply said Maximilian, the arachnes nodding their agreement.

"Now, before we start rebuilding, I think there is something you all should assist to." said Maximilian as he walked to the mirror in the room, a tiny bit of the dark veil in hand.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Is something wrong, Master?" asked Necros's undead butler on his natural nonchalant voice.

"What is happening to me?" asked the old necromancer, panting hard as he sat on his throne, facing his dark mirror he had used so many times in the past to travel and punish those unsatisfying him.

He was sure he teleported before the attack hit, so what was that weight on his chest, why wasn't he able to get his forces back?

The man looked right before him when the mirror started to activate.

"Who ordered you to activate? I don't need you right now!" said the necromancer as he deactivated the mirror with a simple hand gesture, only to see it reactivated itself the next second.

"What is happening?" wondered the man out loud as the mirror started to darken, what it usually was doing when someone was using it as a portal.

*Impossible! Only I know this passage!* thought the old man.

At the same instant, a tiny bit of his dark veil came out of the mirror, coming back to his master like a frightened little creature.

As he saw it, the necromancer understood something, and what he understood made him pick up his staff to destroy the mirror. But, as his weapon hit, he got ejected back on his throne. The mirror turned from dark to bright as Maximilian stepped out of it, calmly looking around.

"Intruder!" exclaimed the undead as he tried to attack Maximilian, only to be vaporised in an instant.

"Cosy place...a bit dark for my taste though." observed Maximilian.

"You...YOU!" shouted Necros as he tried to cast a spell, but an arrow of light pierced through his dark veil and literally nailed him on his throne.

"Why are you here? You said I could leave!" said Necros, understanding he wouldn't be able to win against the man in front of him.

"I had something to give you, but first I needed to know where your hiding place was, I suppose this is where you keep your troops, at least the most dangerous ones..." observed Maximilian, the old man reaction answering for him.

"What do you want? My army? It's yours." said the man with what was the best smile he could make, but it came out like a menacing grin.

*Fool! I can always create another one...*

"Thank you for confirming what I only supposed. Here, a present..." said Maximilian as he dropped several stones with runes on them on the ground, quickly writing others on the ground with his feet.

"I'm done here, farewell." said Maximilian as he turned back to the mirror.

"What did you drop?! What are those stones?!" exclaimed Necros, sensing the dangerous amount of energy coming from them.

"Those little things are going to create a star of pure light, enjoy it because it won't last."

"YOU SAID I COULD LEAVE!!!" shouted Necros, desperately hoping to make Maximilian stop what he was doing.

"I did say you could leave...not that you could live." answered the man with a playful smile just before he stepped in the mirror.

"COME BACK!!!" shouted Necros, still nailed on his throne.

As he saw the stones starting to fly and shine more and more, her desperately tried to take the magic projectile off, calling for help, ordering anyone close to come inside and do something.

Then all became white, the burning corpse of agonising necromancer being the last thing the mirror showed to the arachnes and Maximilian looking safely from the other side before it broke down.

"Thank you for that." said Octavia.

"It was my pleasure." answered Maximilian.

"Now that this is done, I think there are people needing some help." said the man.

"Go, we will be fine for now. We have...we must talk between ourselves, is that alright?" asked the white Arachne.

"Take your time." answered the man as he teleported after he made sure to leave a teleportation point behind.

...................................................................................................................................................

"Where am I ?..." asked Lin-Lin as she opened her eyes.

Seating on her bed, she immediately noticed the absence of injuries on her body.

"Lin-Lin is fine, sleep for all day." greeted Binvo from the bed next to her.

"Binvo! I'm glad you're okay. What about the others?" asked the panda-girl, making the minotaur look down for a bit.

"Lots dead. Soldiers came to help, half gave life to protect, heroes. Paladins good fighters, five dead. Royal mages dead, all but two, heavily injured."

"What about the students?" asked Lin-Lin, afraid of what the answer could be.

The minotaur sighed as he shook his head.

"All live, very lucky. Royal mages protect young ones, Binvo was told. William and Joe still sleep, exhausted. Ilin fine, gnome blood hard to shed, even when half. Little Cloud...must have harder healing, almost lost a leg and arm when vampire attack. Cekgo next to him, good friend, lizardkin strong, lost lot of scales and tail cut, but told scales and tail come back later, not a problem. Sphixine fine, injured and tired but quickly healed, now look after William and Joe, Binvo thinks Sphixine more worried for William than Joe. Guelan okay, long injury on tail, but should be fine now."

"Thank you for your concern, Binvo." said the lamia as she entered the tent.

"Lady Lin-Lin, I'm happy to see you awake. Sir Nilmerus said to keep an eye open for when you would."

"Maximilian did? Where is he right now?" asked Lin-Lin.

"He is healing people, like he has been doing since yesterday. He has been continuously using his light magic to help the priests and sisters, he has reopened one of the portals to Griffinia so the healed soldiers could go back to report. He has assembled everyone in the village near Annabelle's manor to make everything easier." explained Guelan.

"He teleported everyone?" asked Lin-Lin.

"No. He made some kind of link between the three portals so everyone was able to walk through them. But I've been told he personally came to pick us all up." said Guelan, a small smile appearing on her face.

"He did?"

"Does it really surprise you, Lady Lin-Lin? You and Binvo were the first one he looked after. He didn't start treating the others before he was sure you two were okay, not that it took him very long, but since...Are you feeling well, Lady Lin-Lin? You look a bit red." observed Guelan, making Binvo chuckle a bit.

Looking at the minotaur to scold him, Lin-Lin noticed something.

"Binvo, your horn! What happened to it?" enquired the panda-lady as she saw the bandaged broken horn.

"Vampire broke it. Maximilian said would fix later, not hurt, Binvo okay."

"Compared to what you did to her, I say it was a good payback." said Guelan, letting Binvo explain what had happened to Viviane like she had been told by her friends.

"Anyway, I think you should come with me. Maximilian is almost finished with the preparation, something about disfigured women he wanted to thank personally..." said Guelan, making Lin-Lin jumped out of her bed.

...................................................................................................................................................

"My Lord, we're not worthy..." hurriedly said the hooded one-eyed old lady whom Maximilian was politely bowing to.

"Why wouldn't you be? You have suffered for half a century, you have been injured, tortured, you all have suffered so much and yet, when it was needed, you managed to find the strength to help us all. No one should have to be treated like you have. If you are willing to trust me, I want to give you back what has been monstrously taken away from you." said Maximilian as he extended a hand, waiting for the lady to take it.

Seeing the old woman hesitation, Macy stepped in front of Maximilian, taking his hand.

"I am willing to let you try, my Lord."

"Macy! You should go back to Simon's side for now. " scolded the old woman.

"Mother, Simon is resting for now and my place is here. It is this man who sent help, I've heard he is responsible for the disappearance of the dark sky. If he says he is willing to help us, I want to trust him."

Maximilian led Macy to a chair under the look of the other village people. In front of it was a massive cauldron in which some kind of brownish paste was, one of the sisters slowly turning inside the cauldron with a long spoon.

"What do I have to do?" asked Macy, not really knowing how to act in her situation.

"First thing first, I need to see your face." said Maximilian, making the young lady froze for a second.

"Is...is it really necessary, my Lord?" worriedly asked Macy as she looked around a bit.

Seeing her daughter's uneasiness, the old lady stepped nearer.

"Women! Ladies and girls!" simply called the matriarch.

In a few seconds, all the hooded women and younger ladies and girls were standing before the men and other villages' people, giving Macy some privacy.

"Thank you, mother." said Macy as she tentatively pull out her hood off, revealing her disfigured head.

Maximilian examined her for a minute or two.

"I see...alright, I'm going to apply some of this paste on your face. It will itch quite a bit but please do not try to scratch your face. Close your eyes, they are perfect like that. Close your mouth, very well, now take a good inspiration." said Maximilian.

Doing as told, Macy soon felt the warm paste being applied on her face, followed by the feeling of hands slowly massaging every inch of her injured head.

It went on for less than ten minutes, Maximilian had quickly opened small holes for her to be able to breathe. Once done, the man used water magic to carefully washed the small remnants of paste away. As she looked around, Macy saw and heard the astonished expressions of everyone around her.

"Is something wrong?" enquired Macy, worried as she saw her mother in tears.

"See for yourself." said Maximilian with a smile as he gave her something the village had banned for decades: a mirror.

As she looked, she saw the reflexion of a beautiful young lady, without a single injury on her face, not the slightest trace of what had been inflicted to her in the past.

"Is...is this me?" asked the young lady with a trembling voice, her hand coming to her face to check if this was the truth. Feeling none of her former scars, she let tears fall down her pretty face as she hugged Maximilian.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, my Lord!"

"Why? I only healed you, thank your mother for making you beautiful." chuckled Maximilian as he patted the lady's back.

Macy stood and ran to her mother who, still not believing what she was seeing, touched the perfect skin of her daughter to assure herself it was real.

"So? Who's next?" asked Maximilian, quickly reassuring the women that there would be far enough for everyone.

...................................................................................................................................................

The healing sessions went on and on without interruption. Finally, all that could be done was done. Macy's mother and other more injured women were surprised to find their more serious injuries being treated too, to what Maximilian explained it was thanks to the brown paste he was using.

After healing Arca's arm , the man had an idea on how to not inflict so much pain to the one he was healing. He had worked on it during the year of training and finally managed to create, an organic paste acting a bit like stem cells, a basic material that was then turned into what was needed, being flesh, muscle or even nerves. He didn't need to take some of their flesh away to heal them anymore, and it was a good thing, more so for the young children he was treating. The only downside was that it was only usable by people with a very good control of healing magic, but it was only a little downside compared to the help it provided.

Once done, it was decided there would be a feast. Passing by the portal, Arca and Alariel came back with a small army of servants carrying victuals gracefully offered by the royal family.

Asked by numerous people, Maximilian took the time to make a little speech. Standing next to one of the numerous tall barrels filled with alcohol, he waited for silence before he started to talk, looking at the villagers and fighters all mixed together as one crowd.

"Tonight, I want to give away the first drink for those who gave their life for us." said the man as he took a large cup he filled with some of the alcohol in the barrel and emptied it on the ground.

"Tears, I won't ask you to hide them, I know how losing someone close can hurt..." continued the man, hearing some sniffles among the crowd.

" BUT..." loudly exclaimed Maximilian, surprising everyone.

"...I say that if some brave ones have given their lives, it is not for us to cry! I say that tonight, we make them hear the music, the laughs and the songs! Show them all! Show them they did not die in vain. TONIGHT, LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD TO THE SKY!"

That night, tears gave place to laughs, dances and songs. The healed fighters were more than happy to invite, or being invited, to dance by the young ladies who had burned their hoods to signify the end of dark times.

...................................................................................................................................................

A bit away from the sound of the party, Octavia and her sisters came to see Maximilian.

"We have talked, for long." explained Octavia while Maximilian was busy healing Goliath and Cariaben, the health potions had stopped the bleeding but they still were missing some limbs.

"I'm listening." said the man as he was literally recreating the blue arachne's arms.

"We will be leaving tonight, if you allow us to." said Goliath.

"Goliath!" scolded Octavia, not too loud to not wake the sleeping baby in her arms.

"It's alright, Octavia. We were living with Black Widow and Nasfara, we understand that Lord Nilmerus wouldn't want to..."

"Work for me." interrupted Maximilian as he signalled Cariaben to stay still while he was taking care of her friend, giving a bit of time to the paste to transform.

Goliath and the other two got silent for a second, surprised. Octavia, for her part, chuckled for a second.

"Wh...what did you just said?" asked Goliath.

"You heard me right, work for me. Octavia likes you all, you fought alongside her, and I have some ideas of what you could do for me." said the man, making the tall arachne blush for a second as she felt the man's hand caressing the part of her front legs still there.

"I'm not sure we would be compatible..." said Goliath.

"What? Oh! No, no. I'm just massaging your muscles to help the connections being made." said Maximilian with a chuckle as he understood what the brown arachne was thinking.

"Don't misunderstand me, you are quite good-looking, but what I need you for is a more...political and profitable reasons."

"Political?" asked Thomisa.

"Profitable?" added Cariaben.

Maximilian nodded as he continued to help the front legs of the arachne grow.

"I'm planning to make this land a place for any race willing to live in peace with the others. You arachnes are from a race numerous consider monsters, I want to change this. It will take time, and a lot of efforts, that's for sure. What do you think an arachne would think if she heard about a welcoming nation, but with mostly humans living in it?"

"A lie." said Cariaben.

"A trap." added Thomisa.

"Exactly. I want the world to be aware any race will be welcome."

"But...what about dark races? Three vampires died as you were reclaiming this land, do you really think they will be inclined to listen to you after that?" asked Goliath.

"Vampire, demons, draws, I don't care. We will treat each individual like that: as an individual. If a vampire comes to us with hill attention, he will be destroyed. On the other hand, if he comes to us in peace, why would we reject him? From what I see, they also can love." said Maximilian as he nodded at the baby in Octavia's arms.

The three arachnes looked at each other, Octavia chuckling once again.

"I told you..." simply said the white arachne.

"And what about the profitable reason? " asked Cariaben as Maximilian came back to her, adding more mana to help her arms grow back.

"I want you to weave for me, from time to time." answered Maximilian.

To their silent question, Maximilian continued his explanation.

"If Octavia is an example of what an arachne is capable of with her web, I may have some ideas for you to create. Alright, I'm done, try to move, you two."

Slowly and carefully, the two arachnes moved around, every movement surprising them by the absence of pain.

"You really made it...Octavia was right about you, you are special." said Goliath.

"If you are willing to give us a chance, I think we can try to help you in return." said Cariaben, the other two nodding their agreement.

"Fantastic! Now that this has been taken care of, I think I will go and enjoy a bit of this party we're having. Are you coming?"

"It...would it be a good idea? Aren't the people going to be scared of us?" asked Goliath, worried a bit.

"Have they already seen you all before?" asked Maximilian.

"No, we lived with Black Widow and Nasfara, we weren't going out much, and when we did it was at night so..." answered the tall arachne.

"All is fine then, I'll explain them thanks for whom I hurried here and helped them...follow me." said the man with a smile as he went back to the village.

...................................................................................................................................................

The festivities went on for a whole day, lasting till the following night. The last ones still recovering were finally able to stand, Joe and William woke up around midday, Cekgo and Little Cloud at their side to explain to them what had happened. The young wind mage was fine too, his leg and arm were as good as new, although he would need a day or two to be able to move around normally.

Binvo, after he had lost a drinking contest against Arca, had literally fallen asleep on the nearest bench, making the people around scatter, bothered by the loud snoring of the minotaur.

All around, people were having fun, drinking, eating and laughing all together.

As for Maximilian, after he had spent some times with everyone, dancing around, drinking and eating, he had suddenly felt something and excused himself before hastily leaving the party a bit before the second day.

Away from the commotion, the man took Dragnïr's egg out of his protective bag and placed it on a stone pedestal he had made.

Silently looking at the golden egg illuminated by the rising sun, Maximilian was waiting.

He had felt a variation in the energy coming from it, right before he started to feel the egg shaking a bit. Now in front of it, he was observing with attention any movement coming from it.

For nearly half an hour, nothing happened, there wasn't even a sound, as if nature itself was holding its breath. Then, with a feeble noise, the egg shook. Then again, and again, a slight rift started to form on its side. Hit after hit, the golden egg cracked. And, with a last effort, the little thing inside managed to break out.

A dozen centimetres high, the dragon was looking around, sitting, with big bright red eyes filled with intelligence. Its body was covered with golden scales, the tiny claws and spikes along its back as red as its eyes.

"Dragnïr?" tentatively asked Maximilian.

The dragon, hearing the man's voice, focused on Maximilian, the two orbs shining for a single second as it tilted its head on the side.

"Do you recognise me?" asked Maximilian, stepping a bit closer.

The dragon blinked several times, looked around once again as if searching for whom Maximilian was talking to, then looked back at him. Opening his little mouth, already filled with pointy white teeth, the baby did something looking a lot like a wide smile as he let out a roar that sounded a lot cuter than intimidating.

Seeing that, Maximilian let a smile pass on his face as he took off his gauntlets, extending a hand. The baby dragon smelled him for a second or two, then used his childish arms to climb on the offered hand.

"Welcome back, my friend. I have a lot of things to tell you." said the man as he used his other hand to scratch the dragon's head, something that the said dragon seemed to like a lot.

...................................................................................................................................................

Women and men of all ages were assembled. Hundreds of people were standing before the stage Maximilian had created to speak to them all. On the man's sides were the old general and Lady Maria, the two there as representative of Griffinia and the church. A messenger had been sent from Griffinia by the portal to bring Maximilian his coat of arms. The thing was splendidly made, and Maximilian was more than happy to pay the messenger the money asked for it, adding a gold coin or two for the timeliness of the work. Lin-Lin was currently holding the coat of arms, standing a bit on the back, waiting for the old general's signal.

"Fifty years ago..." started Maximilian, his powerful voice heard by all.

"...This land has been taken away by those who wished to destroy it. For fifty years, they have been able to do as they wished, but those days are over! The enemy has been defeated, the sun shines once again in the sky after a far too long night, and we will all be able to start reconstructing!" said the lord, acclaimed by his people.

Although, some faces showed worries, not knowing how they would be able to do so.

"To set things right, we need three things: will, time and resources. If you place your faith in me, I can give you all two of those three things. If you, brave people, have the will to set things right, I will give you the time and resources you will need."

As Maximilian was talking, he could see hope and joy starting to picture the people's faces.

"My lord, the land is dead, we haven't been able to grow anything good since years ago." loudly said one of the men among the crowd.

"The dark energy that was poisoning the earth is no more, give it some time and I promise you, you will be able to harvest once again."

"When? In another fifty years?"

"After this winter." simply answered Maximilian, his calm smile stronger than the man's voice.

"After this winter? You want us to believe that the land will be living again in several months? That's impossible!" said the man, some of his fellow farmers nodding their approbation.

Some of the people started to argue with the farmers, the women Maximilian had healed being the loudest ones raising their voices.

Without a gesture, Maximilian let his aura out just a tiny bit, more than enough to get everyone's attention back.

"Some would say surviving fifty years while being surrounded by chaos is impossible, but here you are. If you made it through dark times, why not push a bit further?" asked the lord, his blue eyes gazing at the farmers for a second as he looked at the crowd.

"What about this winter? We may be free, but we still need to protect ourselves from the cold! Our houses have been destroyed by the undeads, and what about the children? We won't have enough for everyone to eat and drink, my Lord!" said a mother carrying her crying baby.

Surprising the people, Maximilian came down from the stage he was, the crowd stepping out of his way as he walked to the woman. Seeing him approach, the commoner looked down. She stiffed as she felt the man's hand on her shoulder. Daring to look up, she saw Maximilian's calm smile as he was observing the baby in her arms.

"As long as I will rule this land, there will be no starving children, nor a mother without a fire to warm her...hello, little one..."

As he talked, Maximilian made some circular gestures with his fingers, creating a dozen light balls as big as fireflies slowly dancing above the baby who quickly stopped crying, amused by the small things he was trying to catch with his tiny hands. Maximilian nodded at the mother before looking around.

"I may not be able to bring back those you lost, but I can help the dear ones you have who still live. In every village, temporary camps will be assembled to help those with no house anymore. You will all have food to eat and clean water to drink, we will even provide milk for the babies. Young as well as old ones, you will receive what you need to rebuild anew. Lend me your strength, people, and together, we will give this land more glory than she has ever had! "

Maximilian's speech was first answered by a heavy silence. Then, one by one, the peoples put a knee on the ground, politely recognising their new lord officially. Seeing this, the old general coughed in his fist for a second, signalling Lin-Lin to step forward and to present the coat of arms to the crowd, before speaking loudly.

"Respect and greeting to the new Lord of this land, all hail Lord Maximilian Baltazard Van Nilmerus!" exclaimed the old general.

"GREETINGS TO YOU, LORD NILMERUS!" answered the entire crowd as one.

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"That will be all for my report, your Highness." said the old general.

Standing before the King and the Queen, the two sitting on their throne, the old man had just achieved reporting what he had learned and seen about the fights and what had happened after them.

"You confirm, Lady Maria?" asked the King to the church leader standing next to the old general.

"As far as I'm aware of, yes. The dark forces have been driven off the land, those who could be saved have been, and the people have all swear allegiance to Lord Nilmerus. When we left, he was already working on some kind of portal he will...what were his words...'use as material providers'." said the woman.

"Material providers? What kind of strange magic is this man going to use this time?" asked the King, more to himself than to the others.

"My dear husband..." said the Queen, getting the King's attention.

"...I think we should let Sir Nilmerus act as he sees fit, let's not forget how helpful he proved to be when the situation required it." calmly said the Queen.

"You are right, my Queen. Excuse my worries, I know this man less than you do. This will be all, you two. Lady Maria, please accept our sincerest thanks for your help."

"Don't mention it, your Highness. It is my duty to fight off the dark forces anytime I can, I was happy to provide any help I could. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some matters to attend to." said Maria as she politely bowed to the royal couple, nodded at the old general, then left the room, followed by her paladin bodyguards.

"As for you, my friend. Once again, your actions speak for themselves, how can I thank you for your help in the matter?" asked the King to the general who, hearing him, quickly shook his head.

"I don't need anything, my King, if only some time to rest. I think I will go back to my home for some times, I may have lost my son, but I still have a step-daughter and grandchild to look after." said the man with a sad smile.

"How are they doing?" inquired the Queen.

"She is still resting. Lady Maria and Lord Nilmerus have examined her, she nor the baby are in any danger. I want her to find a welcoming place when she will open her eyes. I will be there for them. My King, my Queen."

The old general politely bowed to the royal couple and left the room.

"What do we do now, Husband?" asked the Queen.

"Let's wait and see. For now, we must take care of the several problems here. There are so many things to do that I have some trouble deciding where to begin..."

"If I may suggest you something, my Love, I think you should start by accepting the help of your son and daughters..." suggested the Queen with an amused chuckle.

"Gods and Goddesses...where is the time when I could take my son on my knees? Time does fly by."

"Indeed it does..." confirmed the Queen as she took her husband's hand, holding it tenderly.

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Once done with the most urgent things he had to do, Maximilian went to Nasfara's ex-manor. In the near future, he would change a lot of things around, but for now, he was standing in the throne room, looking at his land from the open hole in the wall.

"Maximilian?"

Looking on the side, the man saw his three companions.

"What is going to happen now? What are we supposed to do?" asked Lin-Lin.

"For the time being, this land is going to require a lot of attention. It could take some time before I will be able to go back on the road...I would understand if any of you was willing to..."

"Don't be stupid!" exclaimed Lin-Lin, surprising herself at least as much as the others.

"We have spent too much time together for letting you down now. You will need help to take care of this land, and we will be there for you." added Lin-Lin, her two friends nodding their agreement.

Hearing that, Maximilian smile.

"It was stupid of me to think otherwise for even a second. I know I can trust your loyalty...thank you all, thank you for being here."

"It's not us only." said Octavia as she pointed out of the broken wall.

There, in the courtyard before Maximilian's manor, the thirties were there, with some of ex-soldiers of Griffinia, humans and non-humans all together, waiting for Maximilian to talk to them.

"We told them they could go, but they refused. They told us their place was here, following you. The soldiers have families they would like to bring here, we told them it wouldn't be a problem after a while. They respect you, what you have done. They left Griffinia's capital to be here. We already asked them what they thought about fighting alongside non-humans, they answered us they would be glad to." explained Octavia.

Maximilian looked at the arachne for a second, surprised.

"You are already doing a great job at helping me, I see."

"It was Lin-Lin's idea. I was there to see how they reacted to my kind." answered Octavia, looking away, a little smile on here face showing she liked the compliment.

"Go talk to them, Maximilian. Show them they were right to do so." said Lin-Lin with a chuckle as she slightly pushed Maximilian out of the room, the three companions following the man.

Standing at the top of the stairs before the courtyard, Maximilian looked at the young mages and older soldiers before him. In them, he saw a glimpse of what could very well, one day, be the new generation of an open-minded powerful nation. With Dragnïr on his shoulder, the man raised a fist.

"WILL YOU FOLLOW ME?!"

And, as one voice, the crowd before him shouted their agreement, seconded by Maximilian's three companions behind him, and a golden dragon on his shoulder who, lifting his head up, let out his first small golden flame.

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*Pain...so much pain...*

Necros's spirit was floating in a sea of dark water. He wasn't awake, but not sleeping either.

He remembered the light, so white, so pure, a poison, the white death.

"Wake up..."

Was it an echo, an illusion? The old necromancer was dead, who could be calling him?

"Wake up..." called the voice once again.

*I don't want to, the pain is unbearable, let me go...* ordered Necros.

"Wake up!" ordered the voice.

Necros opened an eye, the only eye he had left, and the pain became much worse.

He tried to sit, he couldn't, he tried to speak, but only a painful growl came from his throat currently filled with some kind of fleshy tubes.

"Finally, you open your eyes...your eye." said the one looking at him from the side.

Necros wanted to ask where he was, who was this strange man with glasses, white hair, yellow eyes and...horns?

"My name is Scheme. I was the one who forbade your death."

Once again, Necros tried to speak, but was stopped by the pain in his throat.

"You are in pain? This is obvious, you have lost a good part of your body, after all..." said scheme as he snapped his fingers, making a mirror appear above the table Necros was on.

The sole eye remaining opened wide as he saw his sorry state. No arms, no legs, half his chest gone, as well as the left part of his face. He shouldn't be alive, it wasn't possible.

"Now that you had the luxury of admiring yourself, let's not waste any more time. I am one of the four archdemons serving the Demon King, you are dead to the world, and here, only dark gods could hear your cries, and they don't answer cries, believe me." explained Scheme as he slightly turned one of the numerous flesh tubes linked to Necros's body, making him scream in agony.

"You are here for one reason, and when I'm done with you, I may end your suffering, depending on how useful you are going to be." said Scheme as he stepped a bit closer.

"Tell me all you know about Maximilian."

End of volume 1