The Kradlaits are odd creatures, as they are the only beastmen that use machinery and are also one of the only six races that rely mostly on technology (Seven races, if we consider a few human kingdoms, but still, as the majority of human nations and populations do not use technology, we will exclude them). Their machines are odd even by the viewpoint of another tech-user, as they are a strange mix of machinery, forbidden alchemy and a bit of shamanistic magic. They also tend to concentrate on the production of poisons and toxic gasses instead of efficient use for daily life or "conventional weapons". They have been known to substitute their limbs and organs with mechanical parts, which is considered forbidden in non tech-cultures, as it is considered as unnatural and unholy. The only tech-race that disdains this practice are the most traditionalist populations of Dwarves. Their main characteristic are their huge numbers and their almost hive mind level coordination (For those of you that do not know, an hive mind is a Mind Mage that has taken control of multiple bodies and controls them at the same time, as if they were one single being) which makes them fearsome adversaries in battle, along with their natural ruthlessness and intuition. They have an odd rivalry with the dwarves, as the few Kradlaits that were found and asked their opinion on them essentially said the same thing "I honestly think they're a bit too bigot regarding technology, and we would totally crush them in a fight, but they seem pretty good". This is quite strange as even the Dwarves have a similar opinion of them, instead saying they should give themselves more limits. Why the Dwarves and Kradlaits don't hate each other like most Light Dwellers and Dark Almightys is a mystery to this day. Regarding the opinion of the other tech-races, the only one which actually hates them are the Tesluans, as the Kradlaits' unhealthy curiosity pushes them to constantly try to steal their technology.

Dictionary of Races, Book II, Chapter 23

"Boss, what do we do now?"

"I have no clue, my lad. We're going to have to wait for Andrew to come help us"

Kakra and Rakhs were discussing about their current situation, which was problematic at best and catastrophic at worst. For the barrier that was protecting their base from intruders was under attack by a group of Inquisitors that was trying to break it down in one specific point.

"Why don't we just attack them? They don't know we're here, we would destroy them!"

"Yeah, but that would result in all out war and Andrew would be really mad if that happened. As much as I hate to say it, we gotta wait. Still where the heck is he? He should have noticed this by now"

"Probably... Still if he doesn't arrive in a while we'll have to retaliate by ourselves"

Just as he said so, a strange dark winged rat appeared from the roof and slammed into Rakhs' face.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!?"

"A.... winged... rat?"

"KAKRA! STOP STARING AND HELP! IT'S ON MY FACE!"

"Calm down, it's just a cousin"

"What? Oh yeah..... Wait, this lad right here ain't one our normal cousins"

"The wings speak for themselves I guess"

Rakhs began communicating with the winged rat, holding it in his hands.

"Wait, this guy's.... he's from Murgin himself"

"Seriously? What does he say?"

Rakhs stared dumbfounded at the air for a minute then turned towards Kakra, his face stoic and serious.

"Kakra, my boy"

"Yes, boss?"

"Get the lads ready"

"What for?"

"We're going to war on these human punks"

"What?!? WHY NOW?!?"

"They got Andrew, and I ain't allowing a comrade of mine in one of their rotting cells anytime soon. We also got orders from Murgin himself"

"Oh boy.... This is gonna get messy"

Kakra ran a bit further from where they were, towards the middle of the sewer section of their base and jumped on a barrel to attract attention. All the Kradlaits looked at him with curiosity and confusion, as he was a known lieutenant of their army.

"MEEEEEEEEN! READY YOUR STEEL, READY YOUR GUNPOWDER! FOR TODAY, WE GO TO WAR! THE HUMANS HAVE CAPTURED LORD ANDREW AND THOSE FOOLS THINK THEY CAN BARGE IN OUR TERRITORY IF HE'S NOT HERE TO PROTECT US! WELL, WE WILL SHOW THEM! ARE YOU READY TO BRING THEM THE PAIN OF FIFTY THOUSAND PLAGUES ALL AT ONCE?!?"

The Kradlaits, who were already showing sign of unrest at his first words, began shouting and raising their fists in righteous fury. They did not wait a second to move out and spread the news. First to be warned were the rest of the Creakers in the sewers, who at the discovery of the news rallied together towards the armories, where others joined them, then to the training grounds and finally the labs. In the end, all the highest ranking rats joined together around Rakhs in front of the Altar, their main hall of reunion.

They stood there impatiently, the only thing they waited for was the order. The order to go and slaughter all of their enemies, rip them apart with their lances, shred them with their rifles and purge them with their plagues. That was the only thing they waited for. They only needed one phrase.

"MY BOOYYYYYYS!" Rakhs shouted with authority and command. His men began shaking in anticipation.

"I NEED NOT TO TELL YOU WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO! NOR DO I NEED TO TELL YOU HOW TO DO IT! BECAUSE, AFTER ALL, WE HAVE WAITED FOR CENTURIES! CENTURIES! TRAPPED IN THESE SEWERS, INGLORIOUSLY LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF THE HUMANS! BUT NOW, OUR SAVIOR, OUR FRIEND, OUR COMRADE! WHO GAVE US A CHANCE TO BE MORE THAN THIS! TO ONE DAY RISE FROM THE ASHES AND DIRT! HAS FALLEN IN THE HANDS OF THOSE LUX LOVERS! CAN WE ALLOW THAT?!?"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" They shouted in chorus.

"THEN GO! GO AND CONQUER THIS CITY! SHRED THEM APART! DESTROY THEM! BRING THEM EVERY PLAGUE KNOWN TO THIS LAND! CANCEL EVERY SIGN OF THEIR EXISTENCE! NOTHING WILL REMAIN!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

"AND NOW, FINALLY, BRING ME THE PLAGUE RIDEEEEER!"

The Kradlaits marched away, their weapons raised and their fury as intense as the fires of hell itself. They needed no plan. They had always known it after all. For they knew the city of Kieris better than those who built it and no weakness had escaped them, no single crack in their defense was unknown to them. And soon the children of men would have realized that their doom wasn't at the east, but below them, all along.

Five minutes later, Somewhere in the sewers

"So, how is the purification going?"

"Not as well as we expected. It's gonna take a few days before we make a breach"

"I see. That kid did quite the efficient job, as much as I hate to say it"

"What do you think is happening to him anyway?"

"Surely he's being interrogated by the Arch-Cardinal herself, since she trusted him so much. Still, I fell bad for her"

"Indeed"

"Yeah, that damn kid repaid her kindness with.... this freaking barrier! Break already!"

"Wait, can you hear that?"

They felt the ground below them beginning to tremble and a multitude of sounds coming towards them. They turned towards each other, but they had no idea on what was happening. Suddenly they looked at the other side of the barrier and discovered in horror what was happening. They strained their eyes to see further, and in the darkness they saw a horde of ratmen with eyes as red as blood charging towards them, armored and with lances and rifles.

"RATMEN! RETREAT! THERE'S FAR TOO MANY, EVEN FOR US!"

"WE WON'T MAKE IT! [HOLY BARRIER]"

A white magic barrier was created between them and the raging onslaught, but it could not do much against the raw strength of an entire army. The Inquisitors escaped, or at least they tried, and after a few seconds the barrier broke down. But none can outrun a Kradlait in its territory, be it Inquisitor or not. They were soon reached by the enraged beastmen, whose attack was far too strong and relentless for the Inquisitors, who were overrun and slaughtered in a matter of seconds.

"YES, KILL THEM ALL!"

"QUICKLY! THE SURFACE AWAITS US!"

"PREPARE THE BOMBS!"

The Kradlaits' charge stopped at a crossroad, where they climbed unto each other and placed a few bombs on the ceiling of the sewer.

"GET TO COVER!"

They ran away from the point where they placed the bomb and after thirty seconds or so an explosion completely destroyed the ceiling, leaving only an enormous hole.

"YES! THE WAY IS OPEN! SWARM THEEEEEEEEEEEEM!"

The Kradlaits furiously climbed towards the surface where they were met by the blinding light of the sun, which would have scorched their eyes were it not for their darkening goggles. They rejoiced at the spectacle of the citizens running away in terror and despair.

"COME ON! TO THE CHURCH'S HEADQUARTERS!"

The Kradlaits marched towards the main church, where they knew the Inquisition resided, thanks to the information they had gotten from one of their smaller cousins listening to the conversation of a high-ranking Church member. But they knew they could not siege it with only rifles and spears.

"GET THE DEATHSTORMER!"

"YESSIR!"

Suddenly a huge group of Kradlaits came out of the breach, with long chains in their hands that reached the floor of the sewers.

"NOW! PULL!"

"OOOOOOOOH!"

They began pulling with all of their strength, as their comrades easily killed the few city guards that were unlucky enough to be on patrol in that area. Turning the breach into a bridgehead was far too easy for their forces.

"PULL!"

"OOOOOOOOH!"

They pulled till their arms felt like they were breaking and finally their effort was repaid: a glorious piece of deathly machinery came out of the darkness, which would have looked like a simple bunch of tubes on wheels to a normal person, but like their impending doom to anyone that had basic knowledge of technology. And in a country that concentrated so much on holy magic, few would realize that being in front of this machine could only end in death.

The Kradlaits made a final pull and the Deathstormer was finally on the ground, ready to use at any time.

"YES! IT IS READY! NOW PUSH TO THE CHURCH! IGNORE THE CIVILIANS! CONCENTRATE ONLY ON ANYONE WHO RESISTS! THOSE ARE THE ORDERS OF BOSS RAKHS!"

"Where's the boss anyway?" A rookie asked naively.

"WHO CARES YOU FOOL! HE'S ELSEWHERE, DISTRACTING THE ATTENTION OF THE CITY GUARD!"

"Oh, so he must have come out of the main plaza" This one rookie had no idea of how to treat his superiors.

"YES! BUT THAT DOES NOT MATTER TO US! NOW PUSH THAT DEATHSTORMER!"

"YESSIR!"

The Kradlaits finally began marching as the terrified population ran away from them, foolishly screaming for the help of the city guard, which was occupied with Rakhs' assault. Their march was only interrupted by some foolish adventurers and other law enforcers who were instantly taken care off by their rifles. They marched and marched, till finally they could see the main church, just a few hundred meters away.

"THERE IT IS! GET READY!"

They were about to charge, but suddenly they were met by a line of white shields and swords.

"THERE THEY ARE! THE TEMPLARS! SHOOT THEM!"

The Kradlaits organized themselves in a few lines, readied their rifles and shot. But what they expected to be a slaughter was instead a perfect defense. The rats were surprised at seeing how their trusty guns weren't enough to do the job. The templars noticed this and charged at them with their swords and shields up. The rats' captain wasn't surprised though as he quickly told his men what to do:

"THEY ENCHANTED THEIR SHIELDS AND ARMOR! BOMB THEM AND PREPARE OUR OWN SHIELDS!"

The line of gunners was swiftly replaced by one of rats equipped with spiked shields and bombs, the grenadiers, who planted their shields in the ground and showered the templars with bombs, which heavily damaged them and broke their formation, but it wasn't enough, as they promptly recovered and resumed their charge towards the spiked barrier. Even though the templars were heavily armored and tried to rely on their weight to break the shields, the Creakers managed to hold up and some of the enemies even got stuck in the spikes, which resulted in them being pierced by lances. But the Kradlaits mainly relied on middle-long range weaponry, such an intense clash of shields would not have been beneficial for them in the long run, and the enchanted equipment of the humans made the situation even worse. And they couldn't use the Deathstormer at such a close distance. There remained only one option to end the battle without suffering any more damage.

"BOYS, SMOKE THEM!"

From the rear arrived another group of Kradlaits which launched strange bomb looking objects right behind the enemies. Suddenly from them a green smoke came out, covering both the templars and the rats completely. The Church soldiers somehow began panicking and getting pushed back.

"WHAT IS THIS SMO-UUUUUUUARGH!"

"HEY! ARE Y-WUUUUUAGH!"

"IT'S POISON! POI-OOOORGH!"

The templars had began vomiting and falling down after breathing the green smoke, contrary to the Kradlaits, who instead seemed to be quite comfortable in it. With the templars incapable of fighting back the ratmen finished them easily, though their leader was displeased at having to use some of their gas bombs so early.

"THEY HAD TO WASTE OUR PRECIOUS POISON....! KEEP MARCHING, WE HAVE TO MEET WITH THE OTHERS!"

The Kradlaits continued their march and finally they reached the main church. It was a majestic building, more of a palace than a church, its white walls surrounding an area almost as big as the royal palace and its towers reaching even higher than it. It was full of statues, symbols and colored windows which gave it a strange, spiritual look, like it was a gate to heaven itself. But currently it was surrounded by a powerful barrier and all its entrances were reinforced with barricades, along with enchantments. The group of Creakers looked around, and noticed that there were already other groups surrounding the holy palace, but for some reason their leader Rakhs was nowhere to be seen. The captain of the unit went to talk with another one of their comrades.

"Hey, you know where the boss is?"

"Uh? Oh, last I heard of him he was going crazy with the Plague Rider at the main plaza though I'm not sure now. I think he and Kakra went to take care of the city guards garrison"

"Ok, then. So, was it hard for you to come here?"

"Well, not really. The only resistance we found was a group of city guards. I heard from the guys that first arrived that there were a lot of templars guarding the roads, but they have been already taken care of. Actually, I think those guys you were fighting were the last ones"

"Wow, seriously? We came out like twenty minutes ago, and it's already done?"

"It was an ambush after all. But still, you're right, it was kinda disappointing. Though it seems the majority are inside the church"

"Uhm, i see. Though, one last question: did nobody heard the epic battle we were having?"

"Oh, yeah, but Rakhs ordered to not move once you reached this place, at least he told that to us who came out of the main plaza. And in this side of this building, that's the majority. He was pretty serious about it"

"That's just bad organization"

"Still, it works. Now get back at your position. Never know when these Lux lovers are going to retaliate"

"Yes, yes"

And so the unit captain returned to his position, waiting for the order to siege the church and acknowledging the fact that no one of their army had any idea of military strategies apart from fighting techniques.

Meanwhile, City guards headquarters

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TREMBLE IN FEAR MOTHERFUCKERS! TREMBLEEEEEEEEEE!"

"OH LUX HELP US! AAAAAAARGH!"

"HELP M- UARGH!"

"YEAAAAAAH! THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN I THOUGHT! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! BREATH IN HUMANS, BREATH INNNNN!"

Rakhs, who was guiding the biggest force of the army, with five thousand Creakers at his command, was finally using the Plague Rider, to the dismay and despair of the city guards who found themselves in his way, who were either run over by the quad or died a slow and painful death due to the enormous amounts of toxic gasses it released, which were for the Kradlait like simple perfumes. The humans could not do anything, and soon even the headquarters of the city guard fell to the might of their poisonous rampage. After finally noticing that he had exterminated everyone around the area, Rakhs went to Kakra for information.

"So, Kakra, how's our numbers?"

"With the information that just came in, of the fifty thousand Creakers that are sieging all over the city, with ten thousand currently overrunning everything in a seven kilometers radius of our target, we have only lost only one hundred eighty-eight men, and those casualties were due to the heavy enchanted infantry of the templars, which was taken care of already. But the majority of the Church forces, knowing that they could not defeat us in a direct battle, barricaded themselves inside their base, which is surrounded by our Deathstormer units. All in all, I think that we basically won, though I think that the siege may kill many of our boys if we're not careful"

"I see.... very good, my lad. Any news from Murgin?"

"No, nothing. But he's probably doing something important i guess"

"Yeah, but...."

"What?"

"Where are the rest of the humans? There were thousands of them thirty minutes ago"

"They escaped, the pansies. They ran to the western gate, since we conquered the other ones like Murgin told us to do. There is still a bit of them at the outskirts but I wouldn't waste my time with them"

"Ok then. Let's go knock at the door of these light loving pansies then"

"I think you should calm down with the Plague Rider"

"Why?"

"It's a prototype and we took the design out of our asses"

"Tell me one thing, ONE thing of which the design does not common from the depths of our buttocks?"

"Our spears, our rifles, our bom-"

"TRIVIAL DETAILS, MY LAD!"

".... Idiot"

"You said something, you punk?"

"No, not a word"

"Good then, now, LET'S GO MAKE SOME MAYHEM!"

Rakhs pressed the accelerator of the Plague Rider, and he basically flied away due to the high speed of the quad, forcing all of his troops to run after him, ensuing in complete chaos and disorder of the formation. Kakra was displeased.

"RAAAAAAAAAKHS! YOU FREAAAAAAKING IDIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOT! SLOOOW DOOOOOOWN! I SWEAR I'LL PUT CHESEE ALL OVER HIM WHEN HE SLEEPS!"

The rats around him looked at him like he was dumb. He responded at them angrily.

"What, you don't know? He's terrified of cheese! Once he ate a piece of poisonous cheese and he almost died! He's gonna shit his pants!"

They responded by simply shaking their heads slowly, disappointed.

"OH, COME ON!"

They did not stop till they reached the Church, where the final battle was about to happen.

At the same time, Western Gate

"This is a disaster!"

"Luc help us!"

"HELP MY BROTHER, PLEASE! HE'S HURT! HE BREATHED THAT STRANGE FOG!"

The people of Kieris were terrified, hurt and packed at the gate, trying to escape their doomed city, which had basically already fallen to the might of the ratmen attack. The surviving city guards were trying to guide the people outside as quickly as possible but they were few, and it was completely chaotic. And they couldn't even heal anyone, as it would stop the giant line of civilians.

"By Lux, how could this happen?

One of the last remaining captains of the guards commented on the spectacle before him from a small improvised tower, built to check on the citizens.

"I don't know old friend but we must do our best to aid these people"

"Aid them? How? We lost basically all of our men, it's complete chaos out there, we still risk being slaughtered by those damn beastmen, and this kingdom IS FUCKING DONE"

"What are you saying?!?"

The colleague of the captain grabbed his shoulder and shook him, but he was pushed away.

"What am I saying?!? You think the kingdom can handle this? All of our forces are already struggling with the freaking Savage FUCK IT ALLIANCE! You think they can also handle a back attack by thousands of Kradlaits? Because I don't think so. And if you didn't hear the news, even the royal family escaped, thank to some portal they had in their castle"

"How do you even know?"

"One of the adventurers that was hired as a bodyguard after the slaughter of the ball is a friend of mine. Actually, even the adventurers escaped when they saw just what the heck was coming for us. And those COURAGEOUS TEMPLARS, are now probably shitting in their armor inside of that palace of theirs"

"..... I understand what you're saying, but we must stay positi-"

"ARE YOU SER-"

The captain was punched in the face by his friend. He fell to the ground and shockingly looked up, his nose bleeding.

"You imbecile, I'm not telling you this because of some bullshit thing like hope or morals, or whatever. I'm telling you this because it's what these people need right now. Now get up and do your job, if you still think it's useful"

".... Yeah"

The captain got up and returned to his position. They stood silent for a while, simply gazing at the human river that was right below them. Even the nobles were running away on foot with the commoners, their children and most precious objects in hand. But surprisingly enough, nobody attacked or harassed them, which was a relief for everyone. The two guards thought that they and their few men would have to care of all these people but thankfully they heard the shouts of one of their subordinates.

"IT'S LORD ALSE, LORD ALSE IS COMING TO HELP US!"

"What, seriously?!?"

"Thank Lux, help has come!"

"With his aid, it won't be a problem managing the- Ugh?"

The captain and his friend looked carefully in the distance, where they could see the banners and army of the Alse family, and saw a black energy concentrating at the front of the army. They were confused, what could possibly be the Duke doing?

And suddenly they witnessed it: a black wave coming at them, erasing everything in its path.

"GET DOWN!"

The captain's friend jumped in front of him, and the first thing that they could feel was a wind that could flay skin, and then the heat, the painful heat. They couldn't even hear their own screams, a burning black flame covered all, and their wooden tower took barely a second to fall down and throw them into the scorching crowd. There were no screams.

Only silence.

The captain who had closed his eyes the whole time, discovered that his eyelids were gone now, and that his right eyes was half-melted. He felt intense pain in his body, so intense in fact, he couldn't believe he was alive. He tried to touch his face, but his right hand was gone, and he saw that his skin was completely burned. He tried to walk, but what remained of his left leg were only bones, he tried to take off his helmet with his remaining left hand, but his armor had melted on his skin. He wouldn't get rid if it anytime soon. So, the only thing he could do was to look around him. He saw corpses. Thousands and thousands of corpses, some with their skin destroyed, some skeletons, some almost completely turned to ash. He saw a man holding two children, still. The children had their burned skin melted on the man's bones. He saw a girl holding her pet dog, a man with some golden metal on his chest that was protecting a small boy. And right beside him, the skull of his friend.

"Yo... protec.... me....."

He couldn't talk much, even if his neck was one of his least damaged parts.

"I.... dyin.... hel.... me.... plea..."

"Don't worry, I'll help you"

The captain gasped, or he would have if he could. He turned his head as much as he could and saw a man riding a horse, followed by an army of armored soldiers. The man was terrifying: his skin was white and his eyes as dark as the night and as evil as the most demented demon. And his banner was that of the Alse family. The captain realized what he did and began shaking his destroyed arms at the Duke.

"I.... kil.... you......."

The Duke got down from his horse, who had some strange black substance oozing from its eyes, and got close to the angered guard.

"I know you will"

He put his deformed, clawed hands on his face and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I know you will"

*crack*

".... That was less enjoyable than usual. It seems i don't have the bloodlust I had when I was young anymore.... But I guess it's to be expected when I slaughter someone who can't even defend himself... Now, to save my champion"

He walked for a moment between the smoking piles of bodies, gazing at the results of his [Dark Fire Storm], before getting back on his corrupted horse. He would have used a less extreme method but that was the most quick and less energy consuming spell he could cast for the situation. After all, leaving such a huge amount of witnesses would have been problematic for his plans. He had to leave only a few alive, since a huge number of survivors would have attracted a lot more quickly the attention of the Empire and it also would have spread the rumors of the might of the Kradlait army inefficiently. With so many people, it would have spread too fast and there would have been too many details, confusing the information. While that could have been useful, Murgin wanted to make sure that the people thought the army was much more powerful than what it actually was, stalling the sure retaliation of the Empire, which considered Kieris an ally, for as long as possible. Thankfully, a decent number of people had managed to escape through either the other main gates before they were conquered by the rats or other less important, smaller exits. He also made sure that what he did could be seen for kilometers. And without the help of the imperial forces, Kieris' army would be completely annihilated by a back attack of the Kradlaits, leading to adding enormous quantities of new soldiers to the horde thanks to necromancy, which Murgin planned to teach to Andrew properly when he freed him, instead of leaving it to his mental archive.

"I did well in stockpiling so much information of the neighboring countries over the years.... Ah, Nox, what would I do without him?"

After having a quick memory trip of Nox's merits, Murgin entered the city, which was much more orderly and less damaged than he expected.

"Wow, they did a pretty clean job for a siege.... can you call this a siege? Or is it more like an ambush? A siege ambush? An ambush siege?"

As he was asking himself vital questions to the life of any person, Murgin arrived at the church without even noticing it. And that was not the only thing he didn't notice: the Kradlaits were confused and a bit hostile to him, not knowing who he was, even if they recognized his dark aura. After finally finding the answer to his question, the forgotten God acknowledged the existence of the ratmen and watched calmly as Rakhs approached him.

"Ehm.... you.... you Murgin, perhaps?"

".... Yes, yes i am. How's the situation then?"

"Well, we surrounded them, but they're not doing anything. I think they're planning to stay in there as long as they can"

"Of course they are"

"Uhm... can I ask where did you come from? Nice black oozing army by the way"

"Thank you. I came from the western gate"

"The one you told us to not attack? Wasn't that the evacuation gate?"

"I opened the way"

"What do you... oh"

"Yes, oh. Anyway, I see what we have here. An overly strong barrier and reinforced doors and windows. I could break through it, but that would be far too easy"

"Far too easy? This ain't a game"

"Not for us. But for Andrew, eheheh. It'll be good training"

Murgin jumped from his horse right in front of the barrier. He kneeled and touched the ground, grinning.

"[Seal Break]"

The Kradlaits, who expected something amazing to happen, were incredibly disappointed in seeing that the only thing that happened was absolutely nothing. Rakhs scratched his head.

"What did you do? That was anticlimactic as hell"

"Wait for about ten minutes, then we'll see"

"If the big boss says so"

Meanwhile, Inquisitorial Dungeon

"Damn, I wish I could sleep as well. This guy looks awfully relaxed for a prisoner" Kalas said so in envy, as he watched the sleeping and chained Andrew.

Regrettably, as a ghost, sleep was one of the things that was taken from him. Along with disease, pain, and various other annoyances of a living being. But Kalas would gladly suffer them all, if he could only have the pleasure of sleep, long forbidden to him. But as he daydreamed about napping under a tree, he felt a strong sensation of liberation and power, like a weight was taken away from him.

"Wait, this is..."

He floated way from the cell and checked around the prison. And his suspicions were confirmed, resulting in the largest smile appearing on his face, as much of a smile one could have without facial muscles. He quickly flew to Andrew, and tried to touch him, succeeding.

"YES, THE SEALS ARE BROKEN! ANDREW! WAKE UP YOU LAZY SON OF A DEMON SPAWN! WAKE UP!"

He began slapping the kid ferociously, thanks to his powers returning to him. And Andrew woke up, confused and annoyed at such a rough treatment.

"Wha.... KALAS WHAT THE HECK, I WAS SLEEPING!"

"YOU THINK I CARE?!? CAN'T YOU NOTICE WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?"

"What could possibly be.... My magic.... i can feel it!"

"EXACTLY! THIS IS OUR CHANCE! WE CAN GET OUT! I CAN FINALLY GET OUT OF THIS PRISON! NO MORE DAYS INSIDE THE BUG INFESTED WALLS! NOW BREAK THOSE CHAINS, BEFORE I BREAK YOUR ARMS!"

Kalas grabbed Andrew's arms tightly and pulled them with all his ghostly strength, foolishly thinking it would speed Andrew up. Thankfully for the dark champion, ghost are not very strong, even with the help of their magic. And since he wanted to get rid of the excited undead he used his herculean strength to break the chains off the walls, making a few bricks collapse. Kalas was quite surprised at seeing a dark mage with so much strength and simply gazed with his jaw literally on his hand as the kid destroyed the chains on his arms before returning to his excited mode.

"OK! NOW LET'S BREAK OUT BEFORE THEY NOTICE THAT THE SEALS AREN'T WORKING!"

"Yes, but calm down first!"

"NEVER!"

Andrew walked to the cell bars and bent them so as to pass through. Kalas kept doing front flips in excitement and floated to what Andrew presumed was the closest exit. After wandering through the cell filled hallways for what seemed an eternity, they reached a metal door. Andrew had no difficulty ripping it off the wall, and Kalas had began barrel rolling, laughing like a madman.

"Yes, yeeeeeeeeees! Freedom awaits!"

"You know there's likely an army of Inquisitors awaiting us, right?"

"THEN WE'LL PLOW THROUGH THEM!"

"We sure are. Come on, let's go"

"... Ehm, aren't you worried? I mean, I'm excited as fuck, and i'm happy you don't have problems with escaping but shouldn't you.... worry about your relationship with the girl?"

".... I do not think either of our opinions are going to change if I remain in a cell"

"Fair point.... fair point indeed"

Beyond the door was a spiral staircase built of grey bricks and with very dim light, produced by the few torches that were attached to the walls. Andrew and Kalas slowly climbed them, trying to not make an excessive amount of noise. But even so, the fact that there was no guard in such an important prison was quite odd, even if it was supposed to be a secret.

"Kalas, where are all the guards?"

"There's no need for them. Apart from the fact that the seals of this place could incapacitate an Archdemon, even if you did get out of your cell, you would have to pass through the main church, which is right above this place"

"Main church?"

"The headquarters of the Kieris branch of the Church"

"Oh shit"

"Don't worry, we can sneak out if we're careful. If memory serves me well, which it probably doesn't, there's supposed to be a small, empty hall at the end of this staircase. And the exit it's a hidden wall, so more sneakiness for us"

"I hope you're right"

"So do I"

And just as he said so, they reached a dead end, with only a torch besides it. Not being able of thinking of anything else, Andrew grabbed it and tried to move it in various directions, till he rotated it to his left and the dead end lifted itself, revealing the exit.

"Bingo!"

"Yes, bingo! What's bingo?"

"It doesn't matter, just be careful"

They went through the exit and found themselves in the same room Kalas had described, to their joy and relief actually empty of templars. But suddenly, a huge figure appeared at a door on their right and both Andrew and Kalas readied themselves for a fight.

"So you escaped. I hoped that you would have enough decency and respect for lady Edresia to remain even if the seals were broken, but I was wrong, regrettably enough. But this time you will get more than a few bruises"

"Lanius!"

"Oh Lanius, my favorite Inquisitor, how are you doing this fine day?"

"Did you really think I would not notice the destruction of the seals? And is this ghost another servant of your master? I do not remember meeting him personally"

"We didn't in fact, but I know a lot about you. Like the fact that if Andrew here was captured eight years earlier then you would have been cellmates"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!?"

Lanius crashed the floor with his foot, and the wall with his fist, his anger filling the room with an aura of dread. Andrew perceived him more as a beast than a man as he was in that moment.

"Ahahaha, you would like to know, wouldn't you big boy? And to think you were once such a fierce warrior, now only a mere dog on a leash"

"SILENCE!"

Lanius dashed towards Kalas, his fist charged with holy magic, but the undead trickster simply flew out of the way, grabbing Andrew along with him.

"Now, such a rough welcome, ahahahahahahaha"

"I will destroy you, undead abomination"

"Try me. Actually no, try us!"

Kalas began emanating mana from his purple immaterial body and so did Andrew, who wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

"So you'll fight too. But don't think I'll underestimate you a second time, boy. Prepare yourself for extreme punishment"

Lanius put himself in a boxing like position and started emanating a large amount of holy energy. The two dark mages were sure that all the guards would have been warned by so much mana and would have arrived soon, but in such a small area, numbers were nothing. If they managed to take care of the Lord Inquisitor, there was nobody that could stop them, apart from Edresia.

"Now, heretics...."

"BE PURGED!"

And now, after the epic announcement, random information which may or may not interest you. First, reason for my absence: the first two weeks or so were to relax and get my games list done, as I finished Shovel Knight, began and 100%ed Plague of Shadows, spent thirty hours on fire emblem birthright (without ending it), began Grand Kingdom, began rewatching all Adventure Time episodes, along with discovering Star and the forces of evil. Then that was supposed to be it, then the fire n- intestinal virus attacked, like a bitch. And before that I spent a few days making a teaser for one of those poll stories I talked about. And last thing I downloaded Battle For Wesnoth, resulting in add-on hunt madness, discovering that Birth of A Lich is not a good newbie campaign and that the tutorial of the official site for making your own campaign is currently beyond my understanding. And the last few days I spent making this chapter. So, yeah, there you have it, the reasons for my absence, which don't justify me at all, but still, I wanted to tell you.

Now, I said everything I had to say, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and see you in a few days!