For the past fifteen years before the cataclysm, all I had done with my life was wake up, go to work, and go home. Occasionally, I would do something fun on the weekend; go see a movie, go out to eat, drink a beer with some pals. This is all to say, there are barren moons that are more bountiful than my love life.

How do I act? Are we a thing now? Is she simply attracted to me or is it something more? All these questions and more flitted through my head as I numbly ate breakfast the next morning. I'm nearly 30 years old and I'm acting like a teenager with a crush. I jolted when I felt a nudge to my ribs. "You good my Lord?" I blinked at Asha who wore an odd mix between concern and a knowing grin.

The grin widened when she caught me flick my gaze to Eliara unintentionally. "How can you always act so cheeky why calling me Lord. I poked her back."

She slapped my hand away and shrugged, "It's a talent." The others at the table were chatting about the upcoming attack while Asha leaned in and whispered, "So?"

"So what?"

"You know what. What happened last night?" she teased.

"Nothing happened." I denied.

"Bull. I saw Eliara leave her room and just so happen to head in your direction. Now she can't stop blushing and you're in Lala-Land."

I muttered something under my breath. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

I sighed and whispered, "We kissed." A glance to Eli revealed the red faced Half-Elf was getting interrogated by Fionna.

With a small false gasp, Asha whispered, "How scandalous! The adoptive daughter of a Duke and a foreign Lord having a tryst by night?"

I summoned a tendril of blood that slithered along the ground before wrapping itself around the leg of her chair. With a sharp tug, the chair was pulled from underneath the sassy woman. I continued to eat innocently as she fell on her rump with a loud yelp. "Really Asha, you must sit properly. Are you okay?" I asked.

She grumbled something about payback as she righted herself. As we finished up breakfast, the Duke's steward approached and said that the Bishop requested an audience. The Duke nodded then gave us directions to where the squad awaited. We bid our friends farewell and departed.

We soon found ourselves in a garrison where, among other soldiers who were training or performing daily tasks, a group of twenty Dwarves in high quality armor waited. Two of them, a man and a woman stood and greeted us. The man spoke, "'Ello, you must be this Lord Sanguine I've been told to expect. Helfist, it's damn good to have you by our side. I am Captain Bogerd and this is my Sargent Stalder."

The female Dwarf who's form was covered in plate armor nodded. She was pretty, but was slightly marred by the stout face of a boxer. A strong jawline, a snub nose, and fierce eyes. Her blonde hair was buzzed to a pixie cut. I smiled and nodded back, "Hello Captain, Sergeant. As you guessed, I am the Sanguine Lord Victor Gale. This is Asha Qi, my advisor and close friend."

After greetings were finished the captain shouted without looking back, "Rock Drakes, attention!" The squad behind him immediately stood ramrod straight. "We're heading out."

"AYE SIR!" they shouted in unison.

"Rock Drakes?" I asked.

"The name of our squad. Good for public reception if the famous squads have names," the captain shrugged. As we walked to the "transit hub", which apparently is the teleport system for the city, we chatted.

"How come we had to walk to the Duke's house if this was an option?" I asked.

"Not sure why you didn't. Sure it's expensive, but a Lord surely could afford the cost," the captain replied, "We have special circumstances, so the city is paying the fee."

I nodded thinking of ways to increase our funds. Veru used a coin system for their currency. It was the same everywhere that had a currency based economy. The only difference was the style of the coin, for example, Mithra'Vheen belonged to the Ice-axe kingdom and their gold coin was imprinted with a frozen axe. The typical tradition for coin designs is gold coins bear the country's symbol, the silver bears the city's symbol, and copper is engraved with the country's official animal. There is also the coveted platinum coins. These are the highest value coin and bears the mark of the country's primary deity. Veru's currency system is based on one hundred. A hundred copper is a silver and so on.

Thankfully, their sense of value is pretty easy to understand; you purchase meals with copper, you can stay a few nights at a nice inn with silver, you buy property, valuable materials, and equipment with gold, and you conduct intercountry trade with platinum. As of now I had exactly jack squat to my name. I think I can safely say I am the poorest Lord in Midgard. My contemplation of what my country's coins would be decorated with was interrupted as the gut twisting sensation of being teleported to the city gates made me wobble. I cleared my throat, repressing the nausea and said, "Oh boy, that really gets ya when you aren't paying attention. So, Captain, how far away is the encampment anyway? I have a rough estimate, but you would know more exactly."

"If we don't rush, we'll get there right at sunset," he answered.

I nodded and we made our way out the gate. I glanced at Eli who was looking a bit green. "Are you okay?" I placed my hand on her shoulder and she shook her head.

"Yeah," she replied tightly, "it's just that I'm getting a really bad feeling. I don't know why." Her demonic arm twitched slightly, though it seemed she didn't notice.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and I said, "Don't worry, we'll be careful. No stupid risks."

She simply nodded and we departed. Thankfully, she seemed to relax as we got farther from the city and nothing bad happened. We walked for several hours without rest. The Dwarves, all early to high silver rank, were able to keep up with our longer strides. Sooner than I realized, we reached our destination as the sun was just reaching the horizon.

I frowned and glanced at the Captain and he nodded, knowing exactly what I was about to say, "I noticed it too. No scouts at all. This is strange as Gnolls typically have bands out looking for quick raids while scouting."

I shook my head, "Not just that, but listen," I paused and pointed up, "There's no sounds, no birds chirping, no insects buzzing. Nothing."

His eyes widened, too focused on the lookout for Gnolls, he hadn't realized. My frown deepened, "What's worse is that just over those hills, I'm sensing a worryingly high amount of void mana. It's like a choking miasma."

Along with his eyes, his brows rose, "Is that what that is? It feels like worms of ice are creeping up my back. I thought it felt familiar, its the same as what's left in the wounds those beasties inflict."

I nodded and glanced at the now faded sunlight. By the time we crest the hill, it will be dark. I whispered, "Eli, come with me. I got a new trick I wanna try. You're the best at stealth so you and I will scout out the camp." She nodded and activated a spellform that caused the shadows to seemingly wrap around her. It wasn't that she was darker or harder to see, but my eyes wanted to slide off her.

I smiled and dissolved into a mist of blood. Before, my blood step allowed me to glide or hover. Now, I could fly high into the sky and stay in this form for a lot longer. I was also limited to a humanoid silhouette with glowing red spots for eyes. Now I was just a formless cloud of scarlet mist that could creep low to the ground. Another change was that before, anyone nearby could smell me as easily as they could standing next to a bucket of blood. Now that I had access to the Dao of blood, I had enough control to prevent the scent from escaping.

Like shadow of an owl on a moonless night, Eliara flew across the hill as I followed. She went to the right, and I to the left. Eliara would circle around the perimeter of the camp while I would carefully slither through the camp. As I wove between the tents, I noticed the tents were all empty. There were easily over two hundred tents that spread out from the central tent of the Matriarch. I heard something as I crept closer to the center of the camp. It was rhythmic chanting. As I got near, I began to make out a chant in a language I've never heard before.

I finally found the Gnolls. So many, what had to be the entire camp, were bowed before an effigy that hurt to look at. It was a wooden carving of a feminine eye. The pupil was that of a black sun and three tendrils, two on top and one on bottom protruding from the eyelids. It was the symbol of the cult. An eerie black flame that was sickeningly thick oozed from a bonfire below the effigy. Despite the flames licking the wooden idol, it didn't even char. I was glad I currently lacked a body as I would have gagged. The fuel for the flames weren't logs, but human and dwarven bodies.

The Gnolls were worshipping this effigy. Though I couldn't understand the language of the chants, their burbling, growling voices didn't help, I did make out 'Vacuolentia' every now and then. If the bonfire's fuel wasn't disgusting enough, the Gnolls were worse. They were twisted monstrosities now. They weren't exactly lookers before, but at least they were clearly humanoid hyenas. Now, many were hairless with bulging with muscles that looked more like tumors. Spikes erupted from their spines, dragging twisting flesh with it. Some were missing lower jaws, longue tongues dangling and twisting like a dying snake. Easily four feet long, they were tipped with barbed bone. Several had black tendrils that replaced arms or legs.

I thought this couldn't get any worse, then the largest Gnoll stood and faced the crowd. She had to be the Matriarch. She was missing her skin from the shoulders up, revealing a muscular skull. She was huge, nearly twelve feet tall and four feet wide from shoulder to shoulder. Her chest was ripped open, black ichor dripping like tar from her sharpened ribs that twitched hungrily like the maw of a starving beast. Instead of bare innards, inside her abdomen was a black abyss. Then, a monstrous eye opened in the abyss and blinked.

'Nope', I thought and zipped out of there. Moments later bot Eliara and I were back at our group. I reformed and as Asha opened her mouth to ask a question, I raised a finger to cut her off and held my fist to my mouth, trying not to vomit. Once I got myself under control I took a shuddering breath and asked, "Captain, how many people do you have?"

Immediately, he replied, "Including me and my Sargent, fifty that the best had to offer. We would have less, but the Bishop convinced us that this was too important to leave some to assist the city."

"Thank God for the Bishop," I grinned morbidly, "Because, that is some fucked up shit back there."

Asha, no longer able to keep quiet asked, "What? What happened? What did you see?"

I told them about what I saw, everyone paling as I went on. Eliara added, "And I didn't see any manticores. Which is odd. Were there any in the attacks on the city?"

The Captain shook his head, "At the beginning sure, but now that you mention it, I don't think there were any once we began to notice the deformities. Though the last time they attacked, they weren't nearly as monstrous as you described Lord Sanguine." He then shuddered, "And the Matriarch; they are usually among the largest, sure, but only by a head at best."

I nodded, "Thankfully, I believe she's still only silver rank. A powerful silver, but at least she isn't gold."

The Sargent snorted, "That's putting it lightly. We'd need every soldier in the city to face down a gold."

I asked, "Is the power disparity that great between silver and gold?"

Asha replied, "It's harder to judge with monsters since it can vary wildly, but a good rule of thumb is a squad of five average bronze cultivators can take down a silver rank with minimal risk with a powerful bronze on the verge of silver possible taking it down. However, it takes a squad of ten silver rankers to take down a gold. Thankfully, at that point, the power begins to even out between gold and platinum where two gold can take down a platinum. However, even platinums hesitate to face down a mithril on the edge of entering the Master ranks."

"Jesus." I shook my head. "Well, in any case, they're all grouped together in their little bible study. Let's get this operation started." They nodded, I had briefed the elites on the way here. I dissolved into mist once again and shot to the sky. A few seconds later, I was past the crest of the hill and hovering a hundred feet above the worship circle. My timing had to be perfect. I mentally took a deep, calming breath on account of my lack of lungs before shifting back to my corporeal form.

Larges wings burst from my back that kept me in the air as I summoned not only several oil drums of gasoline, but an entire fuel transport truck. It took up nearly all of my storage, but it was worth it. As it fell, growls and cries of shock sounded below me. I waited a few heart beats as the truck fell before shooting out a small fireball. I was slightly shocked at its red tinge, I suppose the blood Dao affects me more than I thought. I then beat my wings as fiercely as I could towards my group. That much fuel was going to be loud.

There was the sound of impact and cries of fury and pain before a huge Wumph! Even with silver backed durability, I still felt my eardrums burst as a shockwave of burning compressed air hit my back. I tumbled out of the air, several yards away from the others. My world consisted of stars and ringing as I stared into the bright sky. The light was rapidly fading from the explosion, leaving only the glow of a large fire.

A couple of figures looked down at me with concern. I blinked dazedly at them watching with distant amusement at the moving lips of Asha and Eliara. I dismissed my armor, feeling hot. A wet, hot sensation came from my ears, but I hardly noticed it. I reached up and booped Eli's nose. I tried to say, "I like your cute freckles," But I frowned because I couldn't hear myself. Her concern turned to an exasperated smile and a slight blush while Asha rolled her eyes. She pulled out a piece of paper and pen out of nowhere and scribbled something on it. That was a neat trick. I didn't know she was a magician. Maybe she can do some tricks for Ashley's birthday. I frowned deeper as I realized I didn't know the little girl's birthday.

Asha then turned the paper towards me. I blinked owlishly at the words as it took me a couple of tries to understand it. She wrote, "Heal yourself, dumbass."

I believe I said, "Takes one to know one," but I couldn't hear myself. I decided to heal myself, not because she told me to, but it was annoying not being able to hear myself. Using more instinct than coherent will, my body healed itself. With an audible pop I could hear again and the fog over my thoughts cleared. I shook my head and sat up. "That sucked. Can't remember the last time I was concussed that badly." I was happy to hear my voice, or anything for that matter.

Asha said, "Well get up. Your plan worked, blowing yourself up aside."

Eli glanced at the flames, "Well, for the most part. Some survived. The Rock Drakes have began to battle the Gnolls. They still outnumber us but only by about a dozen or two Gnolls. Thankfully they're mostly bronze with a couple of low silver. The real issue is the Matriarch. She somehow defended herself and is nearly unharmed, but rather furious. The Captain said they'd handle the warriors but we'll have to deal with the Matriarch and her shamans."

I groaned, "Some shamans survived?"

Asha nodded, "Yep. Only three though."

With a sigh and groan of pain I stood, "Silver linings, I guess. Okay, you two work together and take out the shamans. Stop them from assisting the Matriarch. I'll deal with her."

Asha nodded but Eli asked, "Are you sure Victor?"

I grinned, "Ooh, yeah. I finally get to try out this shiny core of mine."

The sounds of conflict was ringing out as weapons clashed and metal met flesh. Screeches and yowls contested against the shouts and curses of the Dwarves. Three decrepit and distorted Gnolls were casting nasty looking spells at the Dwarves as Eliara and Asha engaged them. A shard of ice and a glowing crossbow bolt impacted against a black forcefield. With their battle joined, I turned my focus to the Matriarch.

I reformed my armor, sensing how much stronger it was. In a blur to the human eye, I was suddenly a couple of yards in front of the Matriarch. It glared at me, part of its bare muscled skull was scorched, but otherwise she was unharmed. She spoke in a surprisingly feminine voice, though the voice came from the void in her chest while her canid mouth remained shut. Actually, now that I was this close, I could see that her mouth and eyes were sewn shut. "Ah, Mistress's Shepherd has arrived. We were waiting for you. Though I had not expected such a... warm welcome."

"Oh goody, it talks. I hate it when they talk," I muttered, "Alright, I'll bite, the hell are you talking about? How am I a shepherd?"

"Not a shepherd, the Shepherd. After all, is it not you who allowed this world to form? Without you, our Lady would still languish in her dull kingdom. I am grateful to you Shepherd, as well. For, had it not been for you opening the gates and acting as a beacon to the Lady, then I would not have found enlightenment. I would still be a growling mongrel ruling over beasts that tore apart scraps. Now I am wise. Now my eyes are open to the strength my Goddess provides."

I grimaced, a sinking feeling in my gut, "Explain monster. What do you mean beacon?" I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

The horror in front of me chuckled but didn't answer, "Vacuolentia has the answers for all who seek them, Shepherd. All one must do is accept her into your heart." She spread out her arms as if beckoning to a church audience.

"Yeah, fuck that." I burst into a mist and along with me rushing towards the giant Gnoll, I pulled a small tidal wave of blood from the dead Gnolls. I slithered between her twisted legs and before the wave made impact, they formed into a wall of spikes. Unfortunately, the Gnoll flicked her wrist and a wall of black flames halted the blow. I cursed, "Shit, she can instant cast?" I reformed, scythe in my hand.

Before the blade made contact with her leg, I yelped as something wrapped around my ankle and yanked me off my feet. I landed on my back and was dragged back in front of the Matriarch. A braided rope of black muscle protruded from the inky abyss of her abdomen. The eye was narrowed in amusement. "Oh how cute the Shephard is, no wonder our Lady is smitten by you!"

"Oh, that is fucking gross." I grumbled and ran through different ideas. I grinned and burst into mist, only to reform with another version of me standing next to me. He was made of glistening black and red similar to my armor. I made a blood clone. We glanced at each other and fist bumped. It was an odd sensation, but it was like my mind was split in two. The computing power of my silver ranked brain allowed me to multitask in two bodies. I went high while I went low. Wait, that's confusing. Thing One went high and Thing Two went low.

Focusing on the original, the Matriarch chuckled throatily reached into her chest pulling out a huge spear made of human bone, the blade was some sort of obsidian-like material that protruded from a screaming skull. To my horror, there were a pair of eyeballs present in the skull's sockets. Despite the lack of flesh around the eyes, I could tell they were begging for death, an end to the pain the victim was suffering.

I snarled at the bitch and swung down. As she parried my blade, I willed the scythe to snap at the point of contact. I flew past her guard and plunged the handle which I had reformed into a sword into her shoulder. Unfortunately, her thick muscles stopped the short blade from reaching anything vital. As she screeched in pain, I kicked off of her and blood-stepped a few feet away. The distraction allowed my clone to slice off her left foot. She used the spear as a walking stick to brace herself.

The beach ball sized eye glared at me inside her chest. "You'll pay for that Shepherd. Even if my Lady has plans for you, if I kill you here, then you were not worthy of Her attention. Besides, my Lady didn't forbid me from keeping you close to death, begging me to end the pain," she snarled.

She slammed her spear into the ground, black, bony tendrils tore through the ground towards my clone. Before it could react, it was entangled and squeezed by the thick tentacles. It was ripped apart and I pulled the blood back towards me. A deep pain hit me from the feedback of the shattered technique. "Oh, it won't be me begging for release, hag," I grinned. I willed my trap to trigger. The blade I left in her shoulder liquified and slithered into her wound.

She snarled and shouted, "What are you doing?" Thick black veins spread like poison from the wound. In my intense focus to reach her heart with my attack, I didn't react in time as she threw her spear at me. I grit my teeth as the large spear pierced my gut and pinned me to the ground standing.

The Matriarch's sewn mouth ticked upward in a victorious smile as she approached me. My arms fell to my side and I went slightly slack, huffing heavily. "Oh, what rewards I will receive when I present you to the Empty Sun. She will rain down praise and power unto me." She grabbed my arm, ready to rip it off. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind me repaying you back for my foot, Shepherd."

My head snapped up and I said, "Gotcha." With a flex of will, her giant eye widened in horror as the blood I sent in her body vaporized, the rapid expansion of the vapor caused an explosion that tore off her left arm all the way to her sagging breasts. An inhuman screech tore at my ears and sanity. The other Gnolls contorted and lashed out wildly hitting friend along with foe.

My helmet split open, revealing a maw of sharp fangs. I extended my reach with tendrils of blood that latched on her and pulled me towards her, the spear ripping through my body. With a wet shlorp, I wrenched myself free and swung myself on the gravely wounded Gnoll's back. I bit hard on her meaty neck and ripped and tore until I reached her carotid artery. I began to drink deeply, and much more rapidly than I was capable before.

She began to reach up with her remaining arm to tear me off of her neck, but I summoned my clone once again that sliced her arm at the elbow, sending the appendage flying. She fell to her knees, her cries weakening. I kicked off and flipped over, landing in front of her. I grinned, black blood dripping from my mouth, "I'll send your regards to your Goddess when I rip out her throat as well. I reached into the odd void space in her chest alongside my clone. With both of us gripping the giant eyeball, our clawed gauntlet tearing into it, we tore it out. With a nauseating squelch, the organ dropped to the ground and the Matriarch went limp, the corrupted life leaving her. She fell backwards and the remaining Gnolls went insane. They tore themselves apart as if part of their minds were freed and they rejected their current forms.

Only the shamans didn't commit brutal suicide and that was likely due to Asha tossing the disembodied head of the final Shaman behind her. I sighed in relief seeing the girls were alright. The Captain's squad took some casualties, but not too many. With a great inhale, all of the blood in the area flowed towards me, disappearing into whatever ephemeral reserves my body stored them in. I could tell the capacity was greatly increased. I won't know until I filled it up and this amount only got me halfway. Unfortunately, it seems corrupted lifeforms didn't have as much of the delicious void mana as an actual Void Brood.

I approached the Captain and my friends, "So, ready to head back? I could use a nap."