"Do I trust the humans? yes I do, Do I like the fact their nobles are nearly as bad as the enemy we fight but for some reason, they still rally behind their leader? I wouldn't be able to answer you that my friend but one thing is certain, there is no love among those in the noble game, only winners and losers"
Anonymous Orc Warmaster journal from the times when the fledgling kingdom of Vermilion fought against the Sea Elven oppressors.
William was having lunch together with his friends outside the cafeteria, basking in the warm sun for once as Lucrezia kept complaining about the heat. He on the other hand was enjoying himself, until a crow the size of a dog flew by and landed in front of him.
"Lady Velkarius" William finished eating his slice of pizza and bowed "To what do I owe you the pleasure?"
The bird snuggled up to William, grabbing his other slice and eating the thing whole in a flash, after that it sat on his left shoulder and William could hear the Goddess whispering to his ear softly.
"My child apologizes for being so distant as of late, maters to attend, heads to collect am sure you understand, hmm one of mine will come to you today, she has a mission so to say, and I can't spare any of my followers for the next few weeks" The crow flew around Lucrezia's head then landed on Hope's lap who was watching the bird with curious eyes.
"A message from Velkarius?" Hope asked petting the bird who was overjoyed thanks to it, William nodded and spoke "I'll take the mission then" the bird flew again, and soon it went over the horizon.
"Spear of Vengence's birds always spooked me, they are too big" Arthur spoke out loud "So, what did the Goddess want with you Lucrezia? if you can share it that is" He dusted himself off and got up.
"A mission, her people are busy" William replied, he began to stretch when he sensed movement from behind, a trio of beautiful girls coming towards them.
"That was fast" Hope spoke, Kaine turned to William and asked "Are they here for you? nevermind that they are here for you" William didn't miss him stealthily pulling his staff out, it seemed Kaine had gained a taste for combat huh.
The lead girl stopped a few feet away from him, she stared him down and focused on his missing arm "So the rumors are true, the arm you possess is artificial" she spoke without fear.
William turned around in his seat and took a gander at the trio, the leading one had a frown on her face, her blood-red eyes indicating vampiric ties in her bloodline, and her hair was neatly done in a himecut, a popular style with the older nobles of the capital, despite her frowning William could see that she cared much for her appearance as the nobles in the academy are know to do, a picture of beauty.
Just like everyone else in this place.
"I can show you the arm if you like?" William spoke laughing to himself "But a little bird tells me that ain't the reason you are here, what's your name sister?" he asked.
One of the girls behind the leader grew red in the face, she stepped toward William with anger flowing through her body language "How dare you! To not know the name of Lady Bloodbane!"
"Calm your friend over there sister, before she pops a vein or something" William waved the girl off, who grew even more incensed with him.
"As Gabriela has said, I am the scion of House Bloodbane, Eynhildr Bloodbane, it is an honor and a pleasure to meet the Duchess of Wulfgrem" Eynhildr bowed deeply, clearly decorum was important to her, and if William had to guess it was due to being part vampire, undead folk loved their tradition after all.
"Please, have a seat" William pointed to the empty chairs around his table, his group of friends making room for the trio, Eynhildr sat down and stared at William, waiting for something.
"The sigil if you would" she spoke after a tense few seconds.
"Ah, you want to know if I am the real deal?" William showed her the Sigil from Velkarius's greater blessing which earned a nod from the woman, the other two also relaxed as the mood became a tad lighter.
"So, I got asked by the woman in charge to help and so I will, what seems to be the issue Lady Eynhildr?" William asked as the woman sighed and stared at a particular point on the horizon "See those fields? You had an altercation with its owner a few weeks ago" Eynhildr tapped her finger on the table "My younger sister has been caught in his trap, her "love" for that leech brings shame to our House"
"But that isn't the issue, a strong word from the old fucks at home would've been enough" Eynhildr was losing her cool now "But that little godsdamned sack of ghoul shit went and gave that leech a secret set of martial skills only we get to use! Thankfully he isn't undead, can't use them right" Eynhildr sighed "And now he torments my sister, makes a mockery of her in front of all the academy! she's dumb for god's sake but..."
"She's family" William spoke understanding why Velkarius had sent Eynhildr to him, as one of the Gods who was with him from the start he figured she could feel some of his guilt towards killing Lucrezia's kin.
Redemption, or the promise of it huh? what a treat.
"Is she being held against her will? I can understand your woes Lady Eynhildr but how exactly I am meant to remove her from Azarel's sphere of influence?" William asked, curious about what Eynhildr would ask of him.
"You won't, she lives in that accursed castle inside the Fields, this will not be possible with words and wit like you have done so far Lady Lucrezia, nay to get my sister out of that disgrace of a man you will need to do something you are also good at" Eynhildr spat on the ground and then pointed to the castle far in the distance "Siege the castle, bring the fight to Azarel and chop off his head as you did the First Prince, him and his Harem!"
The table went silent.
"William...We will be executed for high bloody treason if you bring as much as an honor guard here! stall for time! we gotta come up with a better plan than this" Lucrezia spoke and he agreed with her, all his work so far was to establish respectable ties and connections so that if the Queen came for him with a legal angle he would have plenty of friends in high places to help him.
Marching his Knights or Army down the highway to siege a castle in the middle of the capital would be hard to explain, even if he went for the religious angle.
"Eynhildr, I am sure you understand the repercussions of me doing something of the sort right? I understand your pain I do, and I agree with helping you save your sister from that creep, but I will have to come up with a better plan, something that doesn't have me jailed or executed for subversion of the state" William explained and he saw how Eynhildr wasn't happy with it, the woman wanted blood.
But Eynhildr was smart, she knew that William's hands were tied in a way, so she nodded "When you will be able to give me something then?" she asked her face betraying her emotions.
"After the ceremonies in the Palace, is that good enough for you?" William replied, the damn thing would be happening tomorrow and that would be ample time to think of a better way to save Eynhildr's sister.
"See you in the palace then Lady Lucrezia" Eynhildr got up and walked away, William sighed in relief and he heard Lucrezia laugh "We can't escape it can we? even now I can feel it, the blessings burning into our melded soul"
The call for war and bloodshed.
Idun sat in the underground dungeon that the core had made, in front of him was an elven man nearly thrice as tall, his eyes burned with divine energy and power flowed through him.
A divine avatar, a miracle bestowed only to those whose faith and mastery of ancient rituals tailor-made by their divinities could employ, assuming the divine in question was even strong enough to manifest itself in the mortal plane in that way that is, it took every ounce of power for the smaller divinities to do it.
And the one in front of him was anything but small.
"Your mistress..., was she the one who gave the go-ahead for those weapons?" The Goddess asked, her face contorting in rage "Such knowledge is...incredibly dangerous you see, I had a talk with your God and even he has expressed his fear of it, and yet you still have kept going forward with it, why?"
The dwarf cleared his throat "Lady Morugarius, understand that this weapon was solely created in the eventuality of an attack by the Queen, by having it we ensure the protection of our land and our people, you and yours turned a blind eye to the plight of this land, and worse still to the evils committed by the First Prince, we know you won't rush in our defense should the queen decide to march her Knights and put us to the sword"
"We can only rely on our own" Idun finished, his face red.
Morugarius went silent, and what else could she say to assure the people here that she wouldn't turn a blind eye to them? when her lover did just that? worse it was her artifacts that enabled it!
The Goddess sighed, Umaries' mad dash for power with the nobles in this country was an ill omen of a campaign, she tried warming her lover but it was for naught, the fool wouldn't be stopped for nothing in this world and this was the result.
The razing of Talos, Velkarius's making her army of battle priests, and Friede's working with a noble, and what a noble she had picked, one that somehow had intel on every dirty secret there was to have, knew everything and was single-handed forcing constant Sphere Shifts inside Morugarius's Sphere of Power.
So much she had changed, and more was to come, she had seen the war machines these mortals made deep underground, ready for a war of unprecedented scale, and yet, in the Dwarf's words she only found the truth, he wasn't lying to her and truly believed what he had said.
Lucrezia...Morugarius could see the mortal standing behind the dwarf, guiding him like a wraith, in another world she would've made her into a perfect warrior queen, ready to lead her armies to the great beyond for the All-Father.
Alas, this was the sole reality Morugarius could tap into, sighing she left the host and that was that, the people of Wulfgrem wouldn't use their new weapon unless they wanted to risk being turned into the enemy of the entire world.
Idun on the other hand could only sigh as the tall elf gave his Goddess's ultimatum to him and left the dungeon, the dwarf knew they wouldn't be using those weapons willy nilly, he had seen the tests and felt the power sap the land of life in a way even the spirits were disturbed, it was in all definitions of the word a desperate measure only to be used in the direst of situations.
With another sigh he returned to his workshop, the sounds of it calming his nerves as he watched the fourth airship being built, Lady Lucrezia had ordered 10 in total, together with 5 more warships which took twice as long to be made due to the new weapon systems she and Idun had come up with it, cannons that could shell targets from miraculous distances, underwater shells made of magical crystals that could light water on fire!
A shame the terraforming train was a complete failure, the mana that thing consumed was on a scale not even the top mages of the duchy could keep it running for more than 10 minutes, according to Gabriel meddling with the forces of nature on that scale would require the work of at the very least one spirit of each season, if not more, which would be a feat nigh on impossible to accomplish, even for Lucrezia.
Same for the fully automatic weapons for the foot soldiers. The Zenos Weapons System on the other hand was finally rolling out for the standing army, the new suits of armor were wildly popular and even Morugarius expressed fear when seeing them! the power of turning a lowly footsoldier into a 600-ton metal and crystal machine of death was something that would give Wulfgrem an edge should invaders come for them.
Long-range, frontline bruisers, one-man walking artilleries... Zenos would be the ace in the hole for Lucrezia, and she wouldn't need to turn to that horrible weapon of mass destruction she had made, that was Idun's hope as he dozed off, the many sounds of the workshop making for a lullaby for the old dwarf.
"Lu, wake up, your new armor is here" Saa'ryu shook William awake as he yawned and smiled, the new armor was finally here! Idun had come up with a new arm too, who according to him wouldn't itch at all.
Thanks to Silverbrand his new gear was delivered within days after he put in the order, Idun after his harrowing encounter with Morugarius had asked for a small project to take his mind off things and thus they came up with an upgrade for William's armor and Arm.
First, the arm is made out of a special alloy made with mana crystals and mithril, with wind and water aspected crystals in the part that connects with William's body, Ice and Earth in the middle, and Fire aspected crystals in the fingers for some sort of elemental balance according to Gabriel who had helped Idun on the project.
As for the armor, it was now two pieces of protective gear, the first being a skintight bodysuit meant to regulate body functions and act as a last-ditch defense in case his armor was breached by magic or steel, William felt a chill in his spine as the bodysuit finished doing its thing, having to bite his lips to not let out a moan.
"Oh for Pete's sake William! this?! Godsdamned it all get a grip!" Lucrezia barked in his ear taking the edge off him.
"Lu..." Saa'ryu shook her head with a sly grin on her face.
"Ahem" William coughed "You didn't see nor hear that now pass me the armor" his face was red from before but he still managed to put on the suit of armor, looking like a lean mean killing machine made out of steel and silver.
As ever Idun had the artistic flair on his custom pieces, something Lucrezia greatly approved as she wanted more ornamental than practical, the armor spotted the Sigils of his blessings on their appropriated locations, With Raa'Tyrius one being on the breastplate, the crown now could morph into an actual helmet as well.
All of this for the show he would pull in the Palace, together with his new gear was also a custom Magi-Tech rifle to be presented to the Queen and King, as a peace offering and a way to let the royals start their R&D on the thing.
A compromise he had reached with the King a few days ago, it would take years for them to have their weapons and the means to stop it but he was but it was either that or risking deploying his nuke when Morugarius came for him with the Queen as the tip of the spear.
You win some you lose some as the saying goes.
William stalked the pristine halls of castle Vermilion, the seat of power for royalty, to his side only Saa'ryu and his weapons, he got dirty looks from the Royal Knights when he arrived, and the high nobles were whispering behind his back as William made his way to a specific courtyard in the palace.
"Lu, why are we walking about the palace like a duo of zombies? where are we going?" the maid asked while looking about, Saa'ryu was nervous and William could tell, that she was constantly checking her gear and weapons, including the new pair of pistols Idun had sent to her, and she feared that the Queen would send assassins to kill them.
William knew the King would protect him, but that wasn't enough to put his maid's worries to rest, and so he decided to not worry about it, lest the woman got mad at him.
"I'm impressed you can read her so well" Lucrezia whispered to his ear, her presence hidden away in case Arthur decided to take another peek inside his soul "Saa always was one to guard her feelings very well, but with you, she's being opening up quite a lot, I don't know if I should be jelly or happy"
Lucrezia went silent after that, William could feel her soul resting near the monolith.
"Oh, Oh" Saa'ryu spoke when they crossed the threshold for the courtyard William was looking for, all around her and him was pure snow, the trees were heavy with the stuff and the benches around the place were untouched by it.
"Gods I've missed this" William said with a smile and he could feel Lucrezia's face cracking into one as well, the cold enveloped him like a lover, he felt the chills going up and down his spine as the tips of his fingers waved among the snowflakes.
"The cold suits you," Saa'ryu said and clicked on her armor, which cracked with magical energy to cover her entire body, shielding her from the oppressive cold.
A faint glimmer of cold light shimmered in the center of the courtyard, William moved towards it and saw the one person he had come to meet in this death trap of a palace, sitting under a dead tree was a crestfallen winter spirit, its form resembling a human woman, she sang a solemn song about the ancients, its lyrics a mystery to the people of this age but not to William who understood her pain and longing for those halcyon days.
The music stopped the second William got close, the spirit turned around and watched as he approached, its face morphing into a sad smile "Ahh I know of thee, child of the north, conquer of fiends and kinslayer, thy name is cursed in these halls" the spirit got up, towering over William "I can feel the touch of my kind in you, ah how they whine about the warmth of the sun and our cousins on your soul" another sad smile "and yet..."
"The whole existence I've waited for their return, only to wake up one day to find out a survivor of our creators was here all along!" rage poured from the spirit "And she didn't even try! to speak with us, to contact us! we were created to love them worship them!" a sword of pure magical ice was formed in the spirit's hand and William kicked forward, gun in hand, he dodged the first swipe and fired point-blank.
The bullet was made together with the spirits back in Wulfgrem, William had told them that their sibling in the capital was likely very upset at the news of an ancient being alive and living so near to it and so they devised a method to calm their brethren down. The bullet struck true and the spirit deflated.
"Shame it takes a long while to make one of those" William spoke out loud "Spirit, what is your moniker!" he spoke with the authority of the Crown, faint since he was so far away from Wulfgrem but it was enough to shook awake the Winter Spirit in front of him.
"I am...Shield" It replied in a crestfallen tone "I can feel sister Crown in you mortal and the rest..." The shield was close to William now, speaking in a normal voice as if it was a human of flesh and blood.
"You should leave this place, Shield, meet with the ancient who survived, and begin your life anew, she won't scorn you and as a matter of fact will be quite welcoming to your presence" William went for the kill, hoping the gamble would pay off "Say the word and my people in the Academy will grant you passage, the Ancient already knows about you and is expecting you"
There were two reasons he was doing this sidequest, one was that the Queen hated the damn thing making the palace cold in this part of it, and he would score some points with the madwoman for kicking the spirit outta there, even if she hated his guts.
Second and more important was getting a rare weapon from both the spirit and the professor, usually, you could only pick one but he had a feeling he would be getting both.
"The staff, in particular, will be a great boon for Kaine, until we can mine those extra rare metals and get more people to join the flock, increasing the Sphere of Power and unlocking more upgrades for the tech..." William watched as the spirit went away, the cold leaving the courtyard with it.
"Lu? did you just evict the Winter Spirit from the palace?" Saa'ryu spoke, "Won't the royals get mad?"
"Nah, the Queen hates it actually, let's go" William moved to the main ballroom. Hoping Malphas wouldn't slice his head clean off the second those doors were open and the master of ceremonies announced Lucrezia's name.
Third prince Arthur watched as his older sister got ready for the main event, followed by his father and mother.
His mom was still angry at him if her piercing gaze was telling.
"So, not only you bang a peasant, yes I know, she has the fucking most rare blessing this side of the planet" His sister snapped before he could even defend Hope "You get chummy with the woman that killed Galius? and squared off against mom?" she paused a smile on her lips.
"Well, well, well, little brother grew a fucking pair!"
Jason snapped her shut with a hand gesture "Please O daughter of mine, do not set off this magical keg before the master of ceremony can introduce the other nobles, otherwise, I'll have to hear their whining in the Long Queue"
He then turned to Arthur "It is true then, she will gift us one of her new weapons?"
"Yes father, I've seen the rifle myself" Arthur replied "It is her latest design on the weapon, one that is even faster than the muskets we recovered from the conflict last year when it comes to its rate of fire"
"Hm, the archer's division leaders are unimpressed, but then again you don't need 4 to 5 years to train a peasant to wield one of those weapons right enough to kill a charging band of knights or warriors" King Jason spoke "Malphas?"
Arthur could feel the fell powers of the Rage writhing and seethe below his mother's skin, alas even he knew she loved his father too much, and thus Lucrezia's life and status would be kept among the high nobles of the Kingdom.
For now at least.
"Do not speak with me" Malphas spoke her voice dripping with venom "Did you hear she got that Winter Spirit out of the castle? trying to butter me up no doubt the whore" she spat on the ground.
Bickering like that the royal family crossed into the main ballroom, the master of ceremonies announcing their entrance, polite claps all around from the heirs of the 5 families and other nobles' clans.
Among those Arthur spotted Catarina Silverbrand and the Matriarch of the Silverbrand clan, Richard wasn't among them sadly, he had found in the young man an unlikely friendship, sharp as tact and one of the few Lucrezia consulted together with his girlfriend and Kaine.
The latter was together with his family, decked out in that glowing Magi-Tech gear of Lucrezia's and on top a priest robe with the symbol of the Goddess of time, he had heard his father was planning on giving him a title but the Arch-Mage declined, not wanting to burden his son, Kaine's sister, on the other hand, looked like she hadn't slept in weeks, Kaine had told Arthur of this, she had seen Lucrezia fight and kill her ex-fiance, the scars of that battle ran deep in the woman's mind.
And yet, the one responsible for all of this was not among them.
The master of ceremonies went on, listing the great 5, the treasure weapon holders, and more "House Shatter-Spear! House Wulfgrem! House Maygriam! House Argonius! House Dariam!" thunderous claps from all of the members of those 5 "Our sacred weapons! Clan Bir'Yurar of the Sword! Clan Morgotth of the Bow!"
Arthur watched as the stain that was the current holder of the sword got up and cheered for himself, followed by his harem.
If only someone were to deal with that disgrace.
The Scion of the Bow he did not know, a beautiful elven looking woman who according to his knowledge was in the academy, next to her a shadowy figure whom Kaine had told him to avoid, or her family at the very least, Clan O'Xav were masters of mind magic and their lastest scion was powerful in the tricks of their trade"
"Now! the five will present themselves to the king and queen! as once our forefathers did in the founding of great Vermilion..." Arthur stopped paying attention to the man as he focused on the people going up the small set of ornamental steps to present their gifts.
His uncle, High Commander of the Royal Knights went first, Thadeus Senior was a rugged man who had survived the last wars against the Imperium and Grannarius, a master of mounted warfare and one of the best spear users in the new world, It was said that on his prime he could stand toe to toe against Queen Malphas with the max usage of the Rage-that-Dwells.
"From the ancient forgers of Clan Shatter-Spear, I present the Queen and King this" with a snap of his fingers a beautiful sword was summoned from thin air, Arthur could see the thing was no ornamental showpiece, no that sword was made for battle.
"A fitting weapon worthy of the Shatter-Spear name" Jason spoke with a genuine smile on his face, he had a deep bond with his uncle born from the countless battles they were part of.
His uncle nodded and walked off, the other houses sent their people each bearing a gift meant for war or trade, until the master of ceremonies took an audible pause naming the last house.
The tension in the room was palpable " House Wulfgrem!" the man called as the whispers around Arthur became louder.
"Murderer!"
"Blasphemer! Whore of the Night!"
"Kinslayer!" the last one was a shout that ringed across the silent ballroom.
Lucrezia walked to the steps in full armor, Arthur hadn't seen this new armor of hers yet, it looked like she was ready for combat right there and then, on her back were thin metal rods dark as a knight, almost like wings, strapped to her armor was the dragonbone ax and on her hips the Katana from the Arch-Duke, a sight that made many shouts die down.
Ah yes, mother knew about her ties with Uncle Jin already, and the saving of Viviene.
Arthur's gave went to his mother and he gasped, in her hand was a wicked-looking saber, his innate necromancy screamed at him in panic, that weapon screamed death like a banshee, but it wasn't a meanless shout, no the weapon cried out for Lucrezia's soul like a demon.
His father's eyes went wild but he didn't move an inch, that was when his mother's focus went to the other side of the room, to a corner he wasn't expecting in his wildest of dreams.
Kaine had his Magi-Tech staff out, planted in the ground, and with nearly 5 sigils of pure mana and divine energy behind him, Arthur knew those formations! Time Magic! and it was a big spell, his mother put away the blade and peace returned to the room.
"Gods be good the welp got her to stand down" Arthur heard his father whisper, Lucrezia reached the gift altar and removed her weapon, there were no words from her as her face was masked under an ornate helm that looked like a veil.
Out of everyone, it was Arthur's sister who went to receive the gift, using her Blessing of War she neatly loaded the weapon, took aim, and fired, the loud noise ringing across the ballroom.
"Powerful, I like it," she said with a smile and returned to her parents.
And then it was over, but this tension would still run for a whole week until Lucrezia was allowed to return to the academy, Arthur would take another week after that due to special reasons thanks to his royal status, with a clap of the master of ceremonies everyone dispersed and the castle band began playing their music. many went to the dance floor while the rest went to their tables.
It took a while before Arthur could shake off the nobles bothering him about his relationship with Hope, finding Kaine on his table together with his parents was a nice change of pace.
Until he sat down and was stared down by the two most powerful mages in the kingdom.
"I swear, if any of you two are branded traitors by the crown I will take measures" Kaine's mother spoke "Godsdamned Kaine what the fuck was that spell?!?! You would've leveled half the palace with that!"
"Please, a third maybe, I had new wards placed a month ago" Kaine's father spoke "Do you doubt my warding skills, dear? did you forget last year I-"
"Oh don't you start, those wards wouldn't take the divine energy and you know it! look the calculations for it are all wrong if you had..." Kaine gave Arthur a gesture he knew well, it was time to leave.
And so they did, Kaine shielding him from the nobles, as they left the ballroom the mage spoke "Arthur I am-"
"Don't, you have no reason to be sorry, mother was out of line and we both know Lucrezia is in the right here, not her" Arthur cut his friend off, he knew Kaine liked to be as fast as possible with these sorts of talks "You did the right thing"
Kaine scoffed "Fucking hells, It's like we are dancing on her palm you know? Had I not stayed with her for all those months I would say she's playing with us but now...Anyway, that sword was bad news Arthur, Saw it on your face"
Arthur nodded "It wants Lucrezia's soul, we must speak with Castra-Cam about it"
Kaine made a negative motion with his head "Won't work, there's only one person that can store soul weaponry of that scale and he has written permission from the Undying" Kaine tapped the ground with his feet "Your ancestor the Red Dragon"
"Fuck" Arthur was livid, his mother had gotten a weapon from the godsdamned dragon!
They found a quiet corner in the now-vacated courtyard that housed the Spirit of Winter, Kaine pulled his staff "Where's the Spirit? Ready yourself Arthur"
"He's gone Kaine, Lucrezia somehow got the damn thing to leave, shack up with the Ancient at the Academy I think" Arthur calmed his friend down, who smiled when the truth was revealed.
"Fucking scary, even Gwenarius is suspicious of her you know? she knows too much, alters the river of time with every single action she takes and the Goddess is perpetually angry about it, yet all across history there have been individuals like her, so all Gwenarius can do is grin and bear it"
Kaine sighed "Gods I hate these gatherings, I do, wish Hope or the others were here so it wouldn't be so bloody boring" Arthur couldn't help but sigh as well, he missed his lover something fierce, same for his new friends.
"You going back after the week is over Kaine?" Arthur asked.
"Aye my friend, why?" He replied with a puzzled look on his face.
"Watch out for Lucrezia and Hope for me will ya? I fear the nobles might have something nefarious planned for both of them" Arthur said with a worried look "Gods I hate being stuck in this place for two whole weeks but Mother is angry with me as it is, if I skip town for the Academy I am liable to be cast out and disowned"
Kaine got up "Finally got to join us eh?"
Arthur saw Lucrezia, this time out of her armor, Arthur could detect a strange kind of sadness in her face, that went away seconds after Kaine called her out, she lacked the Magi-Tech arm from before as well, her coat covering the missing limb.
Arthur was fascinated by the woman, part of that was thanks to her mysterious soul realm he had glimpsed so long ago, but nowadays it was mostly due to his relationship with Hope, his girlfriend viewed Lucrezia in the highest of esteems, a pure desire that was nearly equal to her love of him, and in deepening his ties with Hope and her mastery of the magic he could employ those feelings eventually bled into him as well.
A very strange situation, but Arthur always prided himself in being adaptative to whatever was thrown at him, Kaine could attest to this with the many days they spent training magic at the very least, now if that adaptability would translate into this realm of love he did not know but was eager to find out.
"Friends" Lucrezia came and sat down beside them, sighing as she did "God I am tired, the stress was a bit too much today, and to think I'll have to weather this for a whole week...but enough about me, how are you two doing?
"I miss the academy" Kaine spoke "Same for our friend here"
Arthur stood there, talking with the two of them for a long while as the moon shone in the courtyard, already counting the days for his return, it was a nice night out.
The last one in a long while for him he would soon learn.
Two days had passed now, Hoped missed the warmth of her boyfriend in her bed in the early mornings, the laughter of Lucrezia as she played around with Richard, Kaine's magical teachings and more, the academy felt cold and uncaring.
Richard was the one keeping her company, the young man was almost relieved in a way, being around Lucrezia was a tad too much for his nerves but Hope knew deep in her heart he was in love with the woman, and who could blame him?
Even her boyfriend Arthur, Prince of the Kingdom was attracted to her, she exuded that pull very few individuals had, her parents called the mark of a true leader, someone men and women would go through hells and back following their lead, and she now understood, the gravitas of Lucrezia as Laplace once told her after her class was over.
Castra-Cam was teaching her and Richard the basics of fighting with her weapon the scythe, it felt odd at first but Hope had simply switched to a War Blessing, and thus the fundamentals were quickly imprinted in her mind, Richard was having a hard time but together with Castra they got him to wield it proficiently enough
"Now all you gotta do is th-" Castra's voice was abruptly cut as a blank of pitch-black darkness fell over Hope, she heard Richard scream and Castra summon her real weapon cursing at something or someone, Hope flooded the area around her with a volatile mixture of fire, ice and wind magic, a spell taught to her by Lucrezia for usage in case she was surrender or ambushed.
"You dare!" Castra screamed but she went silent as Hope fought to stand, she felt punches and kicks raining on her magical armor spell and eventually steel, another wave of pitch-black darkness flooded her mind and Hope heard Richard screaming only for his voice to go silent.
Hope came to in a room, she tried to flex her magic and divine miracles but nothing worked, it was like something was sucking the power out of her spirit the second she tried to let it out.
A tall elven woman entered the room she was in, her face was unmasked and Hope picked the details apart, she had been kidnapped and they were dumb enough to unmask themselves.
"Ahh, the little peasant thinks she will get back at me if she knows my face, O dear whatever I am to do..." she slapped Hope across the cheek "I will teach you your place peasant scum, you think you can whore yourself to the Prince and nothing will happen?" another slap "You Blessings and Magicks won't work here I am afraid, the one who hired me has paid top coin to make sure of that"
Hope knew of the Uumaries artifacts that could mask Spheres of Power, Lucrezia had told her how they worked, but they couldn't outright block Blessings! which means the Goddess had worked on them after the Talos fiasco!
For the first time in her life she felt afraid, all that power, all that knowledge she had gained all made useless in the blink of an eye, she feared for her safety, for her body and mind both as she couldn't predict what the elven women would do to her.
After the fear washed over her she felt angry, a wave of anger so strong so pure so strong it was driving her insane! deep in her mind, she heard a whisper of a voice, begging for her to come closer.
It was the Rage or the entity that became the Rage, once again the words of Lucrezia came to Hope's mind and she wept, begging for her friend to come to save her from this. Alas, what answered her was not the voice of the All-Father or the other Gods, but something evil, evil, and ancient.
"...Ties that bind, you and her and him, all together, but you can go deeper than her, deeper than anyone but very few so come childe of Faal, deeper..."
In the height of fear and rage Hope leaped in her mind, to the deep she had seen in that fateful dream on her 18th birthday, she arrived at a chasm that ran red with blood, as vast as the ocean and just as deep.
"Ask childe, ask for help, beg for my power, not the sliver of it you tasted before, but the full might of it! ask and I will call her and him to you! ask and the world will bow to you!"
"Look at how their power has failed you! but not mine! I am unbound by these shackles, We are unbound! to death and beyond we will fight! and once all return to dust we will fight again!"
Hope closed her eyes and let the entity meld into her, a power that like it had said she had only a taste of before was now fully integrated into her very being, much like in the words of Queen Malphas who penned the book on the Rage, she was now part of that grand ocean of blood and war, and with but thought the entity heeded her commands and reached for the shallows here Lucrezia's soul was, Arthur was in the deep with her, him and his mother.
"Help me" was faint but the message was sent, now Hope needed to escape her captivity, and then, there would be blood, she would find whoever had done this to her and her friends and put their heads on pikes!
"Finally!"
Hope returned to her body, only to feel another slap across her cheek, checking over herself to see if she wasn't abused beyond slaps she exploded into motion, breaking whatever bonded her body, she couldn't use magic and miracles still, but the Rage gave her power, speed, made her think faster and the world around her was slow, she checked the place she was being held captive for Richard and Castra but didn't find them, barreling through guards at the door she busted into a busy street and leaped upwards, her blessings kicking into full gear.
She was still in the Capital it seemed, using the rage nigh unlimited power she flew faster than a comet to the academy, feeling the aftershock of air as she broke the sound barrier like the mages of yore in their first flights.
The second she landed in the Academy, security surrounded her, she flexed her muscles to fight, the Rage running hot in her soul but when Richard came sprinting past them she calmed down, Castra Cam was following him her eyes dead with a cold fury only an undead could muster.
"She's back, stand down men! Report to the Dean at once!" the security personnel disappeared, leaving only Richard and Castra there.
"You have been gone for nearly 5 days! they found me and Castra on the side of the road leading to the capital a day ago with no injuries or soul fuckery but you! Oh, gods Hope are you alright?!"
The poor man was crying on Hope's shoulder, she felt that emotion and nearly cried herself, the rage fading and giving away to fear and sadness again "It's ok Richard, I am not that hurt" she lied.
"That was the Rage, wasn't it? felt it once before, Gods above and below Lucrezia must be made aware of this right now! even if we have to storm the fucking palace!" Castra-Cam summonsed undead horses "Hop the fuck on you two, we are doing this right now!"
As they mounted their steeds a bolt of lightning slammed right in front of them, coming out of it were 3 people, the one leading then in full plate armor, her hair neatly tied in a ponytail and her azure eyes brimming with wrath so strong it made Castra-Cam recoil and suck in air.
"That, won't be necessary" Lucrezia spoke slowly, as to fight the sheer anger that poured out of her, Hope ran to her friend and locked eyes with her, her face bruised from the slaps.
A nod, an understanding that went above words, Lucrezia would deliver those who had hurt her and her friends, and then...
Then she would kill them all.
Im kinda lost right now but will make the connection once i‘ll reread everything haha it seems things are picking up and lets see if the queen will get condemned for her grave robbery of Lus parents once that piece of info gets out.
Thanks for the work
Indeed things are building up haha
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for reading