Zarathous’ Outskirts

Dark.

From here on, the barren lands stretched to the horizon infested by the remnants of demonic beasts that survived from the last war. Since they have lost their lord, they wandered the territory aimlessly finding something else to replace their master.

They would eventually form a horde around a new supreme being that trampled everything.

There, the Hero stood watch over some cliffs onto a ginormous moving rock in the distance. He had dark brown hair, and he wore a long coat. The weapon in his left shaped of a scimitar illuminated a soft light under shadows of thick clouds blocking off sunlight. On his right, a worn wooden bracelet, a memento from a once close friend.

He was the Shadow Lord’s demise. He was the one to free the world and defeated evil. From his accomplishments he believes he is just.

He gave the straps of his armor a few tugs and prepared for his first attempt on conquering this sacred dungeon. He stared at the clouds, blowing a puff white from the cooling weather as he made a fist.

He managed to rally over hundreds of otherworlders under falsified pretense of a raid. His army of otherworldly invaders were simply playing this war as another game to assist his true ambitions. Dozens of them were measly low-level soldiers, but their purpose were to be undying, numberless pawns brute forcing their path into [Overlord of the Land], the mysterious walking dungeon.

“I wonder how many tries Simonn had to challenge [Sovereign] to conquer it?” He murmured, taking on a pained expression. “Do we really have to fight?”

“Vassal, you’re talking to yourself again.” A warrior joined him to sightsee Zarathous’ barren lands. “I thought only the elders would start talking to themselves.”

At first glance she looked human with her white mercenary hair, but she towered over him even though she wasn’t a beastkin. The tattoos on her arms hailed from a nomadic tribe far north who live within brutal winters. Her body was well developed but not intensely muscular.

“Olga…” Vassal whispered her name as the warrior approached him.

Olga’s fur pelt cuddled over her hunter’s garb instead of armor to allow herself to move more freely. She dragged along an enormous battleaxe that heated the air around her from ancient runic characters engraved onto the handle.

“So that’s [Overlord]? If those moving dungeons were as big as that, I wonder how Simonn was able to capture one on his own.” She stood beside Vassal, examining the mountain eater slowly crawling its way towards them. “Where’s your prestigious cape? Zit too fancy for you?”

“It gets in the way.”

“I think so too.” She nodded admittedly. “I don’t think it suits you. Maybe you can give it as a reward to a lucky otherworlder to boost their morale, don’t you think?”

Behind them an army of fake adventurers hid above the cliffs of canyons where they predicted [Overlord] would travel through. Some had more flashy equipment then others and chatted in their own language using chat boxes as voices weren’t implemented yet. However, the hero’s party possessed special devices to translate their message through the player’s heads and give them the signal to strike.

Vassal despised the idea of summoning people from another world. He had no choice when he was aware of his position to go against the rest of the world to save it.

He was silent for a moment, then turned his attention towards her, “Olga, what do you feel about the other?” He asked. “What do you think Simonn, Felix, Darnick, Bardock were thinking when they left the group?”

“You think I would know?” Olga quickly made a shooing gesture with her hand. “You should ask Liandra-, no wait. She’ll ramble on about Simonn. Anyways, don’t think too much of it. Everyone’s meeting up soon.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We’ll have a chance to talk and see who is on which side.”

-Crush- Crush- Crush- Crush-

[Overlord] was constantly on the move and left many craters behind its wake. The stone golem carried a mountain on its back like a turtle’s shell. Its peak provided residence to many wyverns and giant birds to ward off any attempt to land it by air. Its eye, a giant glass dome, flashed a spotlight to scan the ground for stray enemies.

“Vassal~.” A flirty voice hollered as it dropped from the skies, “The teleportation circle is set. We can transport ourselves to the summit at any moment now.”

“Hm. Our expert spell caster’s here.”

“Liandra.”

Twilight Enchantress, Millennial Sage, Librarian of Forbidden Knowledge, Eternal Ice Witch and many more, the newcomer held many titles before joining Vassal to defeat the Demon Lord. She existed far before Vassal or the other Acolytes began their life as infancy.

Liandra, landed gracefully without a sound. One arm hugged her robust figure and the other securing her large pointed hat. She entered boldly and swayed her hips as she walked.

Her blindfold was covered by rebellious strands of jet-black hair. Liandra outfitted herself shamelessly to increase the chances of her charm magic’s effect. No matter the gender, race, monster or not, she will make them submit with one look as long as they have a beating heart. Not only is she passively threatening, her knowledge in magic is unparalleled. Liandra had studied and eventually became well versed in ancient words of the lost race, Ascendants, to cast spells nearing zero chants.

“Flirting, are we?” Liandra’s lips curled into a smile, “Young love is fine, but we have more pressing matters to attend, do we not?” and slid her frozen fingertips down Olga’s back.

“Eek!” Olga shrieked. “L-Liandra!”

“Fufu… your screams are as cute as ever.” She replied, smacking her lips as she continued to tickle Olga’s spine. “Tell, what are you two gossiping about me?”

“We weren’t. I was telling Olga how nervous I was to meet the others.”

“You? The Hero is nervous? Oh dear, you won’t be able to persuade others to join you like this when we meet them~.”

“If they don’t, I will be forced to kill them.” Vassal muttered. “Anyways, I will prepare myself and give instructions to the Players before we leave.”

“About that, I’ll be going ahead in a few moments~.” Liandra smiled.

Without a second look, Vassal left the two ladies to rally his forces. The girls stood there silently. Olga stared at Vassal’s back while Liandra grinned at her with a smug look. She moved her magical satchel forward and reached in. Two sets of tea and biscuits came out freshly prepared like she had just made it moments ago.

“How bossy~.” Liandra slid one set of her tea set towards Olga. “Frustrated?”

“I can’t lie to you, could I?” Olga sighed as she landed on her rump and faced back the open void. She reached for a treat and threw it into her mouth unladylike. “Honestly, I’m confused. We have to kill just to save? What’s your take on this?”

“I’m not the one to judge. I rather watch than join the fight, whether you all live or die is none of my concern. However, I sensed some unknown powers fluctuating into this world. Some rock formations in Lizurin are regressing, overlapping, existing and disappearing. An unknown type of power is being played. Even I am unaware of the source.” She sighed as she lowered the cup from her lips. “Then again, I’ve lost motivation to do research on it.”

“Then why do you joined to fight?”

Liandra kept to herself pretending to be oblivious to Olga’s question. She began humming moments later with an alluring smile on her face. As glamourous her wizard comrade may be, it was disturbing. Olga knew she asked something irrelevant. That’s how it’s always been; Liandra would never answer anything uninteresting to her with exceptions to people piqued her curiosity.

“Why did you join this side of the fight?” Olga asked again and blinked when she saw Liandra turn her way.

“There’s something I really really want that can only be acquired through this conflict. Shall I give you a hint?”

If Liandra had taken her blindfold off, Olga would’ve imagined the most frightening expression based from Liandra’s obsession. It was fortunate her eyes were kept hidden. Who knows what damage her cursed eyes would bring if it affected her allies?

“No thanks.” She pushed the empty tea set back to Liandra then quickly marched to her assigned post.

Of course, Olga knew the answer. Of everything in this battle, of everyone, this war revolved around two people in this world. One would be the hero, Vassal, for his conquest to bring salvation. The other would be his rival, the first to leave and is now a potential threat to rebel against him.

The air around the cliff had fallen ill. The wind had pulled her blindfold down, exposing the cursed eyes to petrify any monsters within kilometers. Beneath this beauty there was an ugly monster fueled from a sin of greed and lust. She cradled her breasts, wriggling her body on instinct to hold off her desire.

Suddenly [Overlord’s] head bloomed into a cannon and aimed directly at Liandra. Its anti fortress weaponry rotated forward and fired a barrage of projectiles.

“You are the only one who could make me feel pained this much.” She moaned, each time her fingertips ran on another part of her skin she felt a shocking pleasure. She playfully extended her arms forward like a child would ask their parents for a hug. “I reign over all laws of magic. Heed my demands and serve my will.”

Liandra projected seven magic formations, each taking on a color from the rainbow. She snapped her fingers crystal clear, expanding the space between them to erect a large scale barrier capable to halt [Overlord’s] finite number of physical projectiles.

[Overlord] was still on the offensive. A bright orb gathered energy, bringing it to critical levels.

“And now…” She giggled and closed her hands. “Sei for red, Gurd for orange, Ank for yellow, Furl for green, Sep for blue, Yol for indigo, Kerse for violet. Elementals, obey me. I am the one who seeks knowledge from the beginning of time.”

Lines of ancient texts ran through each sigil and connected them to form a diagram. When Overlord’s death ray hits Liandra’s ancient magic, the image lit up like a Christmas tree and absorbed all magic powers of the power.

“Oh, Simonn… I miss those defiant eyes of yours.You were the first one to reject me. I can’t wait to see you again in a few hours. There will be a day you'll become mine forever, and ever and ever and ever.” Her body floated upwards with the wind treating her like a fragile princess. Liandra tightened the blindfold back over her eyes and turned towards her post hiding her demonic smile under her hands.

“Preparations are done. From here on, only Neila is permitted to accompany me.”

“If Neila’s the only one that can go with you, why am I here?”

As Davin impatiently waited for an answer, Felix reached into his back pocket, taking out a small box and handed it to him. Inside was a silver bell with strange characters and magic circles printed on its polished exterior.

“A bell?” Lucy popped behind Davin. “Looks expensive.”

“You five will stand guard and watch the area. Ring the bell if you see Demons and destroy the field around the portal before evacuating.”

“What about you two? How would you know if I rang it?”

“We will locate another exit.” Felix then waved down Elizabeth’s party. “We will go now.”

“Understood. We’ll wait here until something happens.”

“Aw man, why didn’t I bring my Gamemax?!” Davin frustratingly marched towards the campfire. “Anyone have a deck of cards?”

“He’s quick to adapt.” Felix complimented.

“He’s the type that doesn’t like being bored.” Neila smiled wryly. “Did you find the gate?”

“Yes. By the field beside that house.”

Felix pointed at one pile of debris. Judging from the rough layout of the rubble, a house was there at one time. There was also a rusty fence surrounding withered crops overran by weeds.

Neila looked perplexed. The lot beside the neighbor, where her old home was, is empty. No debris or anything, just an empty patch of land. The building looked like it was carried off and disappeared.

That’s where my old home used to be. Strange… there’s no debris or ruins of it anywhere.

“Do you remember now?” Felix snapped her back to reality.

“If I recall, that’s where the elderly neighbor used to live-? Ah! I remember now! That’s where a portal opened up for me!”

“There are multiple access points. Master has chosen this spot as his primary entry point through the realm.”

“Simonn chose this spot? Doesn’t it have to be night for it to activate?”

“True, mana levels here fluctuate higher during night. However, if you match the amount of magic required into this seed, it will bloom.” Felix then dug into his pouch for a seed.

A small colourless star like seed. It struck Neila with familiarity as she began to recover vague impressions from it. As she took a closer inspection, the seed contained a small red symbol in its center. Two long arcs diverting away from a circle.

“What is it?”

“I’ve saw that seed before.”

“You should have. This seed was the reason you are able to have met master and in turn rescued me from despair.”

Neila carefully watched Felix plant it in the corner of the garden. He then brought out a vial of magick ink and poured it over the soil. The seed reacted to the catalyst and turned the world had turned black and white as if all the colors was sucked into where the seed was planted.

Not only were the colors stolen, time had also seemingly stopped. A flock of birds froze mid air as if someone painted on a large canvas. The blowing leaves hanged in mid air. Davin and the rest slowly came to a halt and the campfire flickering became still.

Did time stop?

“Time to find Master.”

Fog quickly engulfed her. Slowly Neila felt the change in temperature as world being generated around her. Trees and land began emerging until all the fog faded away.

There she was, in a high fantasy setting where sparkling flower hanged like ornaments on a tree branches lit the area in light colors. Glowing mushrooms and sparkling flowers waved to the beat of the passing wind. Fireflies of everchanging colors dominated the air above and gathered into one large swarm feeding off a tree’s nectar.

Rainbow colored trees, glowing mushrooms, sparkling flowers. This was a place a child’s fantasy imagined in their dreams. A place ruled by alien plants, inhabited by unimaginable creatures thriving off the ecosystem.

It’s not as terrifying as they described it. This place is kind of cute.

The place was strangely quiet. She looked around, trying to get a good sense of her environment when she noticed she was all alone.

“Umm… Felix? Where are you?”

“Huma? Ascendi? Enui?”

“Voices?”

Two whimsical ball of light sat on a branch of a tree, mingling. They fluttered down, circled around Neila once then hovered in front of her.

They were as large as her hand and had two pair of butterfly shaped wings on their backs. They also had spaded tip tail underneath the wings and did not wear anything, though they did not have any genitals to show their gender.

Fairies? For some reason I’m getting a bad feeling, but they look so pretty.

“Huma ga?”

“Hu…ma? Human? I am Human.”

“Huma tas ko. Huma kin.”

“Wach no mana. Huma sta lefto.”

They’re talking among themselves. Hang on a moment, I’ve seen them before. Aren’t these the creatures…

The fairy like creature suddenly smirked. Neila felt a chill behind her, but when she turned around, it was too late.

A third fairy-like creature hidden within tree leaves had materialized ice fragments already pointed towards her. A rush of hot air blew in front of her as the two others created fireballs, ready to be thrown at her.

They were monsters that attacked me the first time I came here! They’re not fairies! They’re pixies!

While laughing, one pixie twirled their finger, commanding its magic to be aimed at Neila. Her quick thinking led her to use one of her arrows primed with [Wind Blast] and detonated below her. A strong gust of wind scattered around her, temporarily startling the pixies and disabled their magic.

She dashed towards a random direction under the cover of her distraction. Ice fragments speared behind her as she vaulted over a tree root.

After taking a quick breath, Neila readied her bow.

“That was close. I don’t think I can fight them. Can I even hit them with an arrow in the first place?”

They were tiny and they were gifted the ability to fly freely. It would be a miracle if she can manage to even scrape one with her arrow.

Neila wasn’t the best sharpshooter. Her bow was only a tool to sling magic from afar. Her abilities were limited to her archery skill and knowledge of spells which both take time to prepare and limited resources.

“Sei, Foram, Jeltz!”

“Not good! Eep!”

One of the fairies threw a growing fireball, forcing Neila to flee from her hiding spot.

She ran and ran, until she encountered a stream of water downwards. Without a second thought, she followed it down. From the reflection, she could see three orbs of light tailing her.

“I might not get another chance. It’s do or die!”

Neila held one magic arrow in her mouth as she drew another. When she felt confident, she tossed one directly into the stream. She jumped forward, turning her body as the second arrow she drew combusted.

[Wind Blast] shot a geyser of water into the air, splashing the pixies. As their wings caught water making their tiny bodies heavier, they began to descend.

Neila didn’t have to an expert to know where the pixies would land. They would touch the ground for sure and that’s all Neila needed to know as she loosened a [Firebolt] where the Pixies would land.

“Ank, Foram, Maks,Val, Exlas, Ashent!”

Hexagonal panels of light materialized by one of the pixies and blocked Neila’s projectile.

“That’s not fair!”

“Keke! Huma dubeba.”

Two more pixies intercepted her route with fully charged spells. They brought two wolf-like creatures with protruding bones sticking out of their joints.

The hair on their backs stood up, more bones grew out of their spines. They pushed their bottoms up, lowering their front and showing spikes growing from their backs. A few of the bones shuddered then the wolf-like creatures hurled numerous spikes towards her.

“You’re kidding me! What do I do now?”

Neila brought her arms up hoping to defend herself.

A wall suddenly landed in front of her.

Once the pixies noticed their attacks was blocked, they tried channeling another spell. A hand quickly already swiped pixies out of the air. They scream out incomprehensible words as air from their lungs were forced out then blood popped out of their veins. They were eventually crushed to death.

The wolves fell into a state of confusion and looked around as if a spell controlling them wore off. Unfortunately, it was already too late as the wall was picked up by the attacker and arced at them, separating their bodies in half.

It was none other than Felix. As he heaved his guillotine over his shoulder, he sighed to express in disappointment.

“I told you to stay close.”

“I don’t know! When I got here, I didn’t see you!”

Felix stopped and looked at her blankly for a moment. He raised his mask as if a thought struck him.

“I see. You were charmed. No wonder you did not respond when we arrived.”

“C-charmed? How was I charmed? This place is dangerous…”

“This realm is more dangerous than you can imagine. You were lucky you did not encounter stronger creatures.”

“I find it hard to know how strong these monsters are if you’re defeating them that easily.”

“This is the result of hardships I was forced to endure.”

All his words were in a monotone voice, but Neila felt there was a hint of sadness from his response just now.

They stopped and looked at the path ahead blocked by a colossal tree trunk that had fallen down long ago. Grabbing one end of the tree, Felix lifted the entire side up and opened a path under it.

“This way.”

“Isn’t it heavy?”

“I have the strength to move it.”

“Right…”

Neila ducked her head down and proceeded to walk under the tree.

Behind the fallen tree, Neila found a clearing. Just then, in the corner of her eye, she caught a blue glow off a distant behind the mountains. It disappeared as fast as it lit up, but she saw it clearly.

A veil of cyan flames flickered violently stretched behind of the mountains then subsided.

“What was that?”

“Master must be fighting.”

“Simonn is?!”

“The flames are his. Nothing remains alive after his enraged enemies are consumed by it.” Felix tilted his mask to the mountains. “Though we do not much time. We must hurry.”

He smiled.

There was nothing that was comedic. He smiled devilishly at the mixed army of Otherworlders and Demons marching towards him. He sat cross legged on top of a standing coffin, waving his morning star playfully.

“C’mon, is this what Vassal’s army are like? They’re so weak. Why do I have to be here? I wonder what Neila’s doing?”

He heaved a sigh, momentarily closing his eyes. To him, everything in the Demon Realm was disgusting.

He missed the blue skies and vast plains near Fell Glades as oppose to the red sky and blue fields he constantly had to look at. The charred patches where once Demons and Otherworlders stood had made the scene much more offensive to look at.

When he looked to the sky, he was greeted with a view full of projectiles. Any ordinary soldier would flee upon sight, but the effects of his coffin, [Luster of Pride] forced his opponents to strike him. Deathly rolling fireballs, giant ballistics and magic beams converged on him.

“This again? [Void of Gluttony] would just eat up everything again.”

He kicked the side of the coffin with his heel, commanding it to open. It made a little mischievous giggle as the cover opened on its own. The coffin vaccuumed everything of the enemy’s ranged attacks and safeguarded the land behind him.

“Ah~ I’m so bored. Hit them with another [Flames of Envy]. Hopefully they learn to give up. It’s almost time for the summit. I just want to get it over with.”

He slouched forward, putting on a frown. Turning away from the battlefield, he stared at the small cabin he set up during his stay in the Demon Realm. There was light from the window, meaning someone had entered.

When he looked back to the enemy side, the vortex in the sky began acting. It collapsed on itself, sucking the blue wave of unknown energy into a singularity until it vanished.

“Oh good. Those annoyance are finally gone. Time for a break.”

He hopped off the coffin and carried it to the small building.

The interior had a warm homely feel. Beyond the foyer was the living room. There were luxurious chairs, a pelt of an unknown creature as a carpet. The walls were decorated by old relics of all kinds from weapons to little knickknacks. They were too dull and rusted to be used and kept as memorials instead.

“I don’t want to stay in this world anymore. Hey, Felix, are we done yet?”

The masked man who was there to greet him tilted his body slightly.

“Master, please be patient. The others are nearly here.”

“I know, I know. They’re taking their sweet time. Anyways, what took you so long to get back?”

“You have a visitor.”

“Visitor?”

He bent to the side, looking past Felix. Sitting next to the fireplace, there was a girl with her arms folded.

“Geh! N-Neila?!”

“Geh, what? You don’t want to see me?”

She seemed to be in a foul mood glaring at him. Though he felt he did nothing wrong, he felt ashamed for some reason.

He began to stutter his words.

“I-It’s not that. I really wanted to see you, but something came up.”

“You’re meeting with the other Acolytes, right?”

“Yeah… Wait. How did you know that? Felix, you told her?!”

“It was by your orders, master.”

“I didn’t tell you to bring her here! Don’t you know how dangerous this situation’s becoming for me?!”

“But you said to obey her.”

“I- wha- I.”

“Simonn, it’s not Felix’s fault. I pestered him to bring me to you. I got worried.”

“I see. You got worried.”

Set aside his weapons, he walked to one of the leather couches and sat down feeling defeated.

“Simonn, you have a lot of secrets.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“You’re an Acolyte, right?”

He nodded.

“I guess you know. I was hoping to tell you after I got back.”

“Which one are you?”

“Defiance. I am the Acolyte of Defiance.”

Of the eight heroes, the Acolyte of Defiance held the worst reputation. Some said he was ruthless on the battlefield, did not care for the lives his comrade and went to hog all glory to himself. Some said he let a city burned where he could have saved it. Some said he had murdered the previous Acolyte in order to become one.

“Master, we do not have much time left. Dur to our miscommunication, it would be risky to try to bring her back outside. I believe I can mask her presence but only if she is confined here.”

“Could you hide this house instead?”

“The others would find it suspicious if they detected an invisible structure. Liandra would notice it immediately.”

“Fine. Do it.” Simonn tilted his head up. “Neila, listen to me. There isn’t time to bring you back home. No matter what happens, stay in this cabin. Your safety is my priority. I know you have questions but there’s no time. I’ll answer them when I come back.”

“What about you?”

“I’m strong. I’ll make it out of every hell I’m thrown into.”

“Simonn, good luck. Be safe.”

“With you cheering me, I have all the luck in the world. We’ll talk more later. I’ll answer everything.” He smiled. “Felix, it’s time.”

“I am ready.”