Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 81 - Name your enemy - Part Two

 

I could feel the Demon Lord trapped inside of the spear trying to work its way free. Fighting against the binding of the Empowered Banishment Spell in a fit of fury, desperation, and to my immense surprise, fear.

 

While the Demon Lord was technically my subordinate, it had not sworn any Oaths as a guarantee of good behaviour. As such, I was quite content with leaving it within the spear until such a time that I was confident I could engage it from a position of overwhelming advantage.

 

While I was preoccupied, the enemy Cultivators attempted to flee. However, deafened as they were, they failed to notice Yi Gim chasing behind them until it was too late.

 

Free to pick them off one by one, Yi Gim ruthlessly cut them down from behind. Making a point to cripple each man by severing their spine before moving on to the next. Once all four Cultivators were disabled, Yi Gim drove the crimson jade cutlass through each man’s abdomen, destroying their Cultivation.

 

Stripping their belongings with the use of his Storage Ring, Yi Gim stared grimly into the faces of the traitors as they expired from their injuries.

 

After the last traitor drew their final breath, Yi Gim began consuming medicinal items from his Storage Ring.

 

Feeling guilty about Mud’s sorry state, I used a small amount of my HP to flash burn a Beast’s corpse with Sorcery and the Fire Lance Spell. My hunger drove me to repeat the process several more times.

 

With the Demon Lord ‘gone’, Kwan had left his hiding place and had resumed gorging on the field of corpses.

 

“You defeated a Demon Lord...” Preoccupied with sating my hunger, Yi Gim’s observation caught me by surprise. “You defeated it...On your own...” He stared at me with a look I had known only too well back on Earth. It was the same way people would look at a feral dog. A potential threat that might be set off by a slight misstep or harsh word. “It’s impossible...” Yi Gim slowly shook his head, taking a moment to stare up at the sky where the void had occupied minutes before. “But I saw it with my own eyes...I saw you defeat it...” He looked down at his hands, at the crimson cutlass I had gifted him. “Why? Why did you spare my life?” Yi Gim asked quietly. “You had such power all along...So why?...”

 

“You apologised,” I replied honestly.

 

Yi Gim stared back at me impassively, but I could see the doubt in his eyes.

 

“You knew I had certain advantages,” I recalled, thinking back on our first meeting during the Supremacy Challenge. “An underestimation, to be sure,” I conceded. “However, I probably didn’t register as being a true threat. Not to you.”

 

Yi Gim nodded faintly in agreement and waited.

 

“You chose the pursuit of peace anyway.” I raised a hand to forestall the expected response. “I know you were looking out for your subordinates, but that’s a part of it as well...I don’t know how I would have acted in your place...” I admitted candidly. “But I’d like to think I would have had the courage to do the same...”

 

Yi Gim nodded again, his expression softening. “Territory can be replaced. Those we love...” He looked over at the twisted remains of the old man. “Only a fool would place a price on their lives...”

 

I nodded in agreement. If it meant protecting my children, I would resort to just about anything. If something were to happen to them...

 

“The assassins...they might return,” I commented, redirecting the conversation slightly. “What do you intend to do?”

 

Yi Gim’s face fell slightly and he turned to regard his city with a critical eye. “I’m not sure there is much I ‘can’ do,” he replied candidly. “I lost many retainers in the ambush...Good men and women who have been loyal to my family for generations...” His fists trembled with anger but there was a weariness in his eyes as well. “Recruiting and training replacements will take time, time and money that is needed to pay for repairs to the city...” Yi Gim relaxed his hands, closed his eyes and took a slow calming breath. “If your intent was to offer temporary replacements, I must sadly decline. After all that has happened, such open reliance on an external force would only sow seeds for further chaos.”

 

“I am aware, which is why I would not have made that offer,” I agreed.

 

Yi Gim appeared surprised and furrowed his brow as he considered ulterior intentions.

 

“I’m willing to offer shelter to your family while you resolve issues within your realm,” I explained somewhat reservedly. “Assuming they are willing to take the appropriate Oaths to guarantee good behaviour, I would make the same.” Reciprocating the Oath wouldn’t be a big deal. Anywhere they would be permitted to go, the local populace would be bound by similar Oaths guaranteeing good behaviour.

 

Yi Gim was so surprised that he nearly dropped the cutlass in his right hand. Resting his left hand on his brow, he dipped his head and stared at the cutlass. “What did I do in a past life to deserve such favour from the heavens?...” He whispered.

 

“I’m willing to extend that offer to your key allies and subordinates as well,” I added, pretending not to have heard what he said. “At the very least, that should help lighten the load in regards to your security. As for resources...” I suppressed my misgivings and focused on the potential gains. “We could also use this as an opportunity to begin our previously discussed trade arrangements.”

 

We had discussed the possibility of establishing a formal trade route between our realms during a previous encounter. I figured if I was taking in outsiders long term, now would be as good a time as any to take the plunge. Besides, any merchants operating within my realm would have to submit to the same Oaths, and a few others besides, to guarantee their good behaviour.

 

“If I had not witnessed events myself, I would fear alternative motives,” Yi Gim admitted. “However, what use are hostages for a man that could simply take all he wanted regardless?” He smiled wryly and stared toward the city again. “I do not doubt your intentions...However, I will need some time to settle my mind and discuss matters with my family.”

 

I had expected as much and nodded. “We will need to resolve our communications issue before I leave,” I cautioned, withdrawing the communication talisman from my Storage Ring and presenting it to Yi Gim for clarity.

 

Yi Gim snorted softly and smiled. “In all the confusion, it slipped my mind. I will see that it is resolved within the hour,” he promised. Offering a small bow, he began making his way back to the city.

 

Ji Daesung and his subordinates cast terrified glances over their shoulders as they hurried to fall in line behind Yi Gim.

 

Seon Hyun-Ki and Do Jung’s subordinates were similarly frightened but the men themselves spared a moment to bow respectfully before taking their leave.

 

Allowing the procession to return to the city first, I returned to roasting Beast meat with magical fire. After a few minutes of doing so, and with little else occupying my thoughts, it occurred to me that I could simply use my Fire Affinity to maintain a flame independently of my magic.

 

Sure enough, early experimentation confirmed that I could not only move the flames via pyrokinesis but also substitute Chi for a physical fuel source. Experimenting further, I was surprised to find that I could spontaneously generate fire at a small cost in Chi as well.

 

Considering the results while sating my appetite, I realised that I should have suspected as much from the beginning. After all, I had spontaneously generated small arcs of electricity over my body in the past, and generating flames was little different, at least in theory.

 

The possibilities of combining Affinities proved distracting to the point that I nearly rendered a whole shank of Beast inedible. However, despite the lump of meat being just a few seconds shy of charcoal, Mud didn’t appear to mind. An otherwise unsurprising discovery given the Ogres seemed perfectly content to eat everything raw if left to their own devices.

 

Returning to the city sometime later, I found teams of soldiers and civilians had begun leaving the city through one of the gates. They were loading the Beast carcasses onto wagons and carts which were, in turn, being sent back into the city.

 

I had no idea how much the meat, hides and other materials would be worth, but I doubted it would cover the cost of the Arrays and Formations destroyed in the attack. Otherwise, Yi Gim’s initial outlook for the city wouldn’t have been so grim.

 

Repairing the wall, the physical structure itself, was a simple matter and took me only a few seconds of effort.

 

Sending the relief force back to my realm was more or less the same process as I had used for their arrival, only in reverse. The withdrawal was undertaken in phases to ensure order was maintained throughout and no one was left behind.

 

Of course, certain supplies and materials were left behind anyway. Deemed expendable or too cumbersome to transport through the use of the Beacons. Mostly consisting of soiled fabrics and empty wooden storage containers, I was confident the less well-off locals would recycle and repurpose the materials within short order once they returned.

 

For my part, I withdrew to the grounds of Yi Gim’s estate alongside Kwan, Mud and my Bodyguards.

 

To my surprise, the ‘temporary’ Formation I had raised to protect the pagoda was still in effect. I had originally expected the Ability to last minutes or up to an hour. However, at its current rate of deterioration, it seemed likely that it would last up to twelve or more hours longer before failing outright. The deterioration that had taken place already had reduced the overall efficiency of the Chi drawing effect, but the minimal effort it had taken to create it was more than a fair tradeoff.

 

Meditating alongside Kwan within the Formation, I became aware of new subjects being taken under my authority. After taking a moment to investigate, I confirmed that they were Kang's people and had been recruited to his Faction.

 

Assuming that one of my champions had insisted upon recruitment before transportation was permitted, I decided to spend a small amount of MP to remotely view their location and take a look for myself.

 

Selecting Randle as my target, I took a deep calming breath and shifted my perspective.

 

Randle was standing in the clearing of a dense bamboo forest, his armour spattered with fresh blood.

 

Two anthropomorphic tigers lay at his feet, blood trailing from their mouths. They wore nothing besides a breechcloth and didn’t appear to have carried any weapons. However, the hooked claws on the ends of their toes and fingers left them far from defenceless. The same could be said for their teeth if Randle hadn’t broken most of them.

 

The stillness of the tigermen made it clear that they were dead but Randle was still on his guard, watching the surrounding forest with intense focus.

 

“The natives are involved in some form of a feud, Majesty,” Randle explained quietly, made aware of my presence through the Ability. “These strange Felids began attacking the settlement sometime after the Faction Leader left with their elite forces. Losses have been minimal, but some don’t want to leave without exacting some form of retribution first.”

 

[ How many? ] I asked, writing the words in the soil with the Shape Earth Spell.

 

Randle frowned and considered the question for several moments, all the while scanning the surrounding forest for signs of the tigermen. “Those who won’t leave? Maybe a couple of hundred?” He guessed with surprising glibness. “There are far more civilians than we had expected. The count was well over a couple of thousand when I left and I don’t know if it’s worth counting them all right now...As for these Felids? It’s uncertain...It’s been difficult to get actionable numbers from the Faction Leader, but we think the two groups are probably similar in overall size...Which would put their potential numbers in the tens of thousands...”

 

It took me a few moments to process the scale of what we were dealing with.

 

[ 10000+ ? ] I wrote, wanting to make sure I hadn’t misunderstood or misheard what he had said.

 

Randle nodded grimly. “Jayne was raising the subject of making contact just a short while ago. Trask and I volunteered to bait out the Felid skirmishers to take some pressure off the settlement, so I don’t know what they have decided.”

 

[ Take care. Remain vigilant. ] Although cliche, I couldn’t think of any other advice to leave for him.

 

Cancelling the connection, I shifted to Jayne’s perspective.

 

Jayne was standing atop a crumbling moss-covered tower, affording both her and now myself, a prime vantage point of the overgrown city beneath her.

 

Many of the buildings within the city were in a state of partial collapse, shored up with crude repairs made from materials sourced from the forest encroaching upon the city's boundaries. A small number bore similarly crude additions which more often than not combined a second story between two or more buildings.

 

Long thick ropes hung across every street and road, allowing the monkeys within the city to traverse their home without ever touching the ground.

 

Even at a glance, it became immediately obvious that Randle's estimate had been right. Thousands of monkeys, big and small, were gathered around the centre of the city, their chittering and whooping cries carrying on the wind and announcing their collective fear.

 

Smaller packs of larger monkeys patrolled the ropeways of the city with their weapons drawn and ready. The city’s original walls, or what remained of them, were abandoned outright. Instead, the defenders patrolled over stone and wooden barricades that were combined with the walls of adjacent buildings. Forming a second smaller settlement within the grounds of the city.

 

Jayne was distracted and didn’t appear to have noticed my presence. Following her line of sight, I quickly realised why.

 

The forest was on fire.

 

Thick plumes of smoke were rising from the forest beyond the northern wall and were multiplying with each passing moment. A clear sign that the fire was almost certainly being spread with malicious intent.

 

Jayne leapt from the tower, creating a Spatial Breach in the open air. Falling through the Breach, she landed in the city centre, joining the two Orcs, Lurr and Brok, the Naga, Itzal, and her cousin, Faine.

 

“They have set fire to the forest!” Jayne shouted, raising her voice to make herself heard above the chaos.

 

“Cowards!” Brok snarled, earning a rumbling growl of agreement from Lurr.

 

“Why not do this earlier?!” Faine asked. “There’s nothing here worth stealing! So they lose nothing by burning it down!”

 

Itzal frowned but said nothing. Likely carrying a very different interpretation of what constituted as valuable due to her tribal origins. Judging by the looks on Brok and Lurr’s faces, they appeared to carry the same opinion.

 

“We need to bring back Randle and Trask!” Jayne insisted.

 

Brok and Lurr nodded in agreement and each set off in a different direction.

 

“What about his Majesty?!” Faine asked, cupping his hands around his mouth to better make himself heard above the cries of the monkeys overhead. “There are way too many of them to evacuate on such short notice!”

 

Jayne was about to speak but instead pointed to the wall beside them.

 

[ I am here. ] I wrote on the wall, making myself known.

 

“What should we do, Majesty?!” Faine asked.

 

I took a few moments to think before making my decision and writing it on the wall. [ Fetch Gric and Sebet. Others, evacuate with civilians. ] I issued a second Quest to that effect as well, announcing my intentions to those who were currently absent.

 

Faine’s expression soured but he quickly regained his composure. “As your Majesty wills!” After sharing a brief glance with his cousin, Faine opened a Breach and returned to Sanctuary.

 

The MP drain required to maintain the remote viewing wasn’t high, but it was slowly reaching the point where I would be better off just traversing through a Breach outright. However, once Gric arrived, I would be able to communicate with them again anyway, except without the cost of MP. If I was needed, Gric or Sebet could pay the cost for the Breach.

 

With those thoughts in mind, I was about to cancel the connection but stopped myself at the last moment as someone brushed against the periphery of my will.

 

Seizing on their presence, I became engaged in a desperate but altogether one-sided battle of wills. Bearing down on my opponent's mind, I was surprised to find that it was both familiar and foreign at the same time. Instincts dictated that the individual was a subordinate, identifying them as an Ogre. However, the mental presence of the stranger was utterly alien to what I could sense from Mud.

 

It felt different. Different in the same sort of way as Eg. An Ogre, but also not an Ogre. Something less, and yet also more.

 

Unable to bring my full will to bear through a proxy, it was all I could manage to keep the individual from fleeing.

 

Driven by my curiosity, I opened a Spatial Breach and entered the overgrown city. Before I could command them otherwise, or close the Breach, Mud and Kwan passed through behind me, depleting a chunk of my MP that I had intended to hold in reserve.

 

Despite my irritation, I couldn’t bring myself to chastise Mud for acting on good intentions. Especially since I could feel those intentions radiating from his otherwise simple mind.

 

Kwan was a different matter. I could feel his intentions as well and was far less impressed by his desire to sate his appetite and instil fear in new enemies.

 

Cowing Kwan with a glare, I felt somewhat glad that I had chosen to open the Breach on the edge of the overgrown city rather than at its centre. No doubt, Kwan’s sudden appearance would have only exacerbated the rising panic of the locals. Which was seemingly what he had intended given he was currently sulking and sneaking glances back toward the centre of the city while tasting the air.

 

Making a note to discipline Kwan later, I turned my focus toward the stranger.

 

Free to exert my will directly, the stranger’s resistance collapsed almost immediately.

 

I sent a mental command for the stranger to present themself to me. Compelling them toward my location.

 

While waiting for the stranger to arrive, I had Kwan and Mud hide themselves in the nearby ruins.

 

Sensing movement in the nearby bamboo, a hail of primitive spears announced that the stranger was not alone. However, I felt no other Ogres besides Mud and the stranger.

 

The spears were thrown with such force that the stone heads and wooden shafts exploded on impact, sending shrapnel skittering and flying through the nearby city streets.

 

The barrage of primitive projectiles continued for a few moments before abruptly coming to an end.

 

“I don’t care!” A ragged voice from the forest snarled. “Kill it! Or my brothers will flay your families alive!”

 

Four tigermen rushed from the bamboo forest with claws and teeth bared. No larger than those I had seen when remotely viewing Randle, they looked to be about eight feet tall but it was hard to tell with them running on all fours.

 

Mud planted his feet and began raising his machete while Kwan tensed in preparation to strike.

 

“No. I want them alive,” I commanded.

 

Mud nodded obediently and dropped the machete. Hunkering down like an American football player, he charged and intercepted the lead tigerman, driving him to the ground with what sounded like bone-shattering force.

 

Startled by Mud’s sudden appearance, the two remaining tigermen were slow in shifting their attention toward the immediate threat. A mistake that allowed Kwan to strike from the shadows and immobilise them within his coils.

 

“Stay!” Mud barked firmly and gave the tigerman pinned beneath him a hard slap across the face, dislodging one of the tigerman’s fangs.

 

“IDIOTS!” The voice called out in panic. “INCOMPETENT PRIMITIVES!”

 

A fourth, and much taller, tigerman stiffly stepped out of the forest.

 

Unlike the others, the fourth tigerman wore banded armour and carried a large steel sword on his hip.

 

Despite all appearances, he was also the stranger my Ability had identified as an Ogre.

 

Confused, I spent a small amount of MP to cast the Keen Senses Spell. Looking more closely, I only became more confused. Besides the armour and his weapon, the fourth tigerman appeared no different than the others. Except he registered as an Ogre, and I had no idea why.

 

In stark contrast to his earlier behaviour, the fourth tigerman had gone completely silent. We stared at one another in silence, each waiting for the other to speak.

 

“What are you?” I asked, leveraging my will to compel an answer.

 

I felt the stranger’s panic as he made a frantic attempt to break free of my will. “Grk!” The stranger’s body shook violently as I brought the full weight of my will to bear. “GAH! Enough! I...I am H-Horangi!” The stranger gasped.

 

“And your name?” I pressed, realising I had no idea what a Horangi was.

 

“Yejun...” The stranger hissed reproachfully. “My brothers will have your hide for this indignity!” He snarled.

 

Despite the brave front, I could feel his terror. What was strange, was that I wasn’t the primary source. The stranger, Yejun, seemed to be more afraid of his own siblings than he was of me.

 

“Why are you attacking these people?” I asked, shifting focus toward the greater issue rather than just indulging my curiosity.

 

Yejun tried to marshal his will and put up a fresh resistance but caved almost immediately. “Made...Made a deal with the humans!...” He groaned, trying and failing to hold the words back. “Eliminate the primitives...In exchange...NO!” Yejun violently shook his head and tried to resist. “They will know I told you! Stop! I can’t!...” He cried out fearfully, raising his hands to try and cover his mouth.

 

Any semblance of sympathy I may have felt had evaporated.

 

“In exchange for what?” I demanded coldly.

 

“Exchange...for...” Yejun began to jerk and twitch flooded with pain in response to bitterly contesting my will. “N-No! I-I w-won’t t-tell! Y-y-y-ou-w-w-w-urgh...” He collapsed to the ground, shuddering and shaking in the grips of a seizure.

 

Even after mentally retracting the compulsion, Yejun’s convulsions continued.

 

Watching him thrash and spasm in the dirt, I felt nothing but disgust and anger. I had known him all of two or three minutes and was already convinced that his death was more than justified.

 

“You!” I pointed to the two tigermen, not caring which of them would answer. “What humans was he talking about?! And what were they offering?!”

 

The tigermen glanced at one another and came to a silent agreement between themselves.

 

“Humans look same. Uncertain...” One of the tigermen replied nervously. “Humans say, kill monkey clan. Promise powerful treasure...” He looked to his companion and gulped nervously. “We no want kill. Horangi force clan. Horangi kill children...Horangi...Horangi eat us...”

 

Given Yejun’s earlier outburst, I was inclined to believe him.

 

“Cannibals?...” Something clicked in my mind and I thought back to what one of the Cultivators had said. “Man-eaters...” That was what the subordinate had called the Ogres.

 

There was what Yi Gim had said as well. The weird translation that had just seemed off.

 

Thinking of Yi Gim, something else clicked into place.

 

“This isn’t his true appearance, is it?” I asked.

 

The two tigermen shook their heads.

 

I had appeared before Yi Gim in both my true form and in a human disguise. At the time, I had thought his authority as a Monarch identifying me was the reason he had been able to take things in stride.

 

But what if it was something else? What if he believed that I wasn’t just a Monarch? That I was something else?

 

I pointed to Mud. “These Horangi, do they look like him?”

 

The tigermen nodded.

 

Shapeshifters...

 

Cannibal shapeshifters...

 

Cannibal shapeshifters that were involved in a plot to assassinate a Monarch, my ally, and plunge his entire realm into chaos...

 

Setting aside any consideration for what they may have demanded in payment, the civilians of Yi Gim’s realm were now in incredible danger. With the Monarch’s forces compromised, realm security would be weakened. Allowing the shapeshifters the opportunity to predate upon the population with a greatly reduced chance of being discovered.

 

“You said they have taken prisoners?...” I really didn’t want to ask. Memories of broken bodies discarded and strewn about a stone basement came unbidden to my mind. The faces of men, women and children frozen in terror. Their empty eyes pleading for help that would never arrive.

 

I took a calming breath and let the memory fall away.

 

The tigermen nodded again, this time more vigorously.

 

“Take children! Keep hidden!” The second tigerman exclaimed earnestly. “You help us?” He pleaded. “Kill Horangi! Save children?!”

 

<Release them.> I commanded.

 

Kwan immediately did as he was told, loosening his coils and freeing the tigermen.

 

Following Kwan’s lead, Mud awkwardly pushed himself upright, liberating the half-crushed tigerman from beneath his prodigious weight.

 

“How many more of them are there?” I asked coldly, shutting down the vulnerable parts of my mind in preparation for what needed to be done.

 

“Minsu, Chihun, Shi-Woo, Yin-Jun,” the first tigerman replied eagerly, rattling off names so quickly that it took me a few moments to gain a proper account.

 

“Four of them?” I asked, counting off four fingers and holding them up just to be certain.

 

All three of the tigermen nodded. Although the third was having great difficulty and seemed far more preoccupied with bracing his ribs.

 

I knew that the smart decision would be to wait for backup to arrive and coordinate a plan of attack.

 

Today was proving a day for acting otherwise.

 

I figured Gric and Sebet would make contact once they arrived and could catch me up if necessary.

 

I withdrew stone chains from my Storage Ring and tightly bound the Horangi’s body. Once he was secure, I slung him over my shoulder and turned to address the tigermen again. “Take me to them,” I commanded.

 

Only too eager to obey, the two healthy tigermen supported their injured kinsman between them and led us into the forest.

 

Any attempts at stealth would have been pointless, so I didn’t bother.

 

More of the tigermen revealed themselves as we travelled deeper into the forest. Although few in numbers at first, they quickly gathered in the hundreds.

 

At first, the tigermen we encountered appeared committed to obstructing our path, even going so far as to throw spears and stones from a distance. However, after a brief exchange with our guides and revealing Yejun’s unconscious body, they quickly changed their allegiances.

 

After repeating this process a few dozen times, word began to spread ahead of us. Not only ensuring safe passage but also drawing away the warriors that had been sent to attack Kang’s people.

 

Uncertain how far we would have to travel to discover the tigerman village or city, the sudden appearance of two Horangi in my peripheral senses nearly caught me off guard. If I hadn’t been expecting them, they would almost certainly have been able to take the opportunity to slip away.

 

Keenly aware of what was at stake, I pounced on their minds with as much force as I could bring to bear and demanded their complete obedience.

 

Caught off-guard, the mind of one Horangi collapsed outright, stripping him of all agency. Leaving him little more than a puppet. The other Horangi managed to put up a semblance of a fight before collapsing into unconsciousness from the pain.

 

Five minutes passed and another Horangi entered my field of influence. However, he managed to slip out of range again before I could act.

 

Deeply concerned that the Horangi would escape, I cast Yejun off my shoulder and broke into a lurching run.

 

<Watch him!> I commanded.

 

<Obedience.> Kwan replied, falling away from my side and seizing hold of Yejun before his body had a chance to come to a stop on its own.

 

<If he tries to escape. Kill him.> I added, now far more concerned with damage control than taking prisoners.

 

Kwan made no reply but I couldn’t pretend not to notice a marked rise in his bloodlust and hunger. There was every chance that he would execute the Horangi at the first opportunity, regardless of what I had instructed.

 

Making matters worse, for the Horangi. Kwan knew that I knew, and he also knew that I didn’t care.

 

Running as fast as I was able through the dense bamboo forest, I took the most direct route possible toward the direction where I had last sensed the fleeing Horangi. Unable to manoeuvre more than a few degrees in either direction while running full tilt, I employed my Affinities as best as I was able to shift obstacles out of my way. Unfortunately, more often than not, I had to simply plough straight through them instead. Relying on sheer strength, mass and momentum to see me through.

 

With the memories of several large-scale atrocities circulating in the back of my mind, I continued pushing myself to put in greater effort. To run faster. To catch the enemy BEFORE they had the chance to slaughter the helpless...

 

Without warning, two Horangi appeared in the periphery of my consciousness and launched a combined counterattack, sending lances of pain through my mind. However, the efforts of the weaker Horangi collapsed almost as quickly as they began. No doubt unprepared for the pain generated from the Artefact lodged in my brain.

 

The stronger Horangi faltered but quickly rallied, somehow rendering himself immune to the pain.

 

<Surrender!> The Command was simple and carried the collective weight of my entire will.

 

The Horangi’s mental defence strained, cracking and bending under the weight, but it didn’t break. <I refuse.>

 

Maintaining the pressure, I became vaguely aware of a wooden fortress atop a mountain in the distance.

 

Opening a Breach and stepping through to stand before the fortress, the majority of the distance between us had evaporated, magnifying the effects of my will.

 

The Horangi’s defences buckled almost immediately but he was still somehow immune to the pain.

 

<STAY.> I Commanded, forcing his body to act against him as I tore the gate of the fortress from its rope hinges.

 

The Tigermen within the fortress struck at me with their spears and claws but found no more success than those who had tried before them. For my part, I ignored them, focusing solely on finding the Horangi.

 

Leveraging brute strength, I smashed through the walls in my way, scanning each room with a mounting sense of dread and anticipation. All the while, the Horangi struggled to free itself from my will. Growing more desperate as the space between us grew smaller and smaller.

 

Crashing through another wall, I found myself standing before the mouth of a massive pit. Preparing to descend the large stone stairs built into the side of the pit, I felt yet another Horangi presence appear on the periphery of my mind.

 

Unlike the others, the newcomer was utterly unprepared and collapsed the moment I brought my will to bear.

 

The Horangi below attempted to use the opportunity to break free but failed.

 

We were so close now I could probably maintain the pressure without trying. But I refused to take that risk, maintaining my focus as best as I could manage. Forcing the Horangi into compliance and immobility.

 

I could smell the scent of blood, death and decay on the warm air rising from the bottom of the pit and fought to hold back my despair.

 

“Not again...” I growled, refusing to accept the possibility of failure.

 

Bracing myself, I stepped off the stairs and fell into the darkness of the pit.

 

Exercising my Earth Affinity, I was able to slow my descent at the last moment and land on my feet.

 

The bottom of the pit was littered with bones, but nowhere close to the number I had expected. What came as a far greater surprise was the size of the bones. While I did not have the time to make anything more than a casual observation, I couldn’t see any bones small enough to belong to a child. I took what small comfort I could in that fact.

 

Turning to face the direction of the Horangi, I found a tunnel blocked by the flayed hides of adult tigermen. Many of them were undergoing purification and I realised that they were most likely the source of the foul smell I had detected from above the pit.

 

Unwilling to touch the rotting remains, I snapped the rope they were hanging from and then surveyed the stone passageway beyond.

 

Contrary to my expectations, the passage was incredibly short, no more than a couple of dozen feet long at most. Beyond the passage was a large stone chamber, and standing at its centre in clear view was the Horangi desperately attempting to break free of my will.

 

Lips curling in hatred, I could feel the Horangi’s thoughts squirming beneath my touch but otherwise remaining hidden. Even so, there was something foul about them that was triggering a primal response in my subconscious.

 

Each step closer I came to the Horangi, the more convinced I became that he was deserving of death. A disconcerting realisation given how disturbingly similar we appeared to be.

 

Nearly fifteen feet tall, the Horangi was hairless and had a muscular build bearing black tiger-like stripes over sickly pale skin. He was naked except for a leather harness with a metal plate that covered his heart.

 

Behind the Horangi was a large stone table, and on top of the table was the mutilated body of another Horangi.

 

No...

 

Something in my subconscious refused the interpretation. Flagging it as incomplete in the same manner as the earlier interpretation.

 

It wasn’t a Horangi...It was something else...

 

The stumps of its arms and legs were tied with discoloured lengths of rope and stank of gangrene. Septic veins spread like fractures against a wasted frame of pale violet skin. Entire sections of flesh had been shorn away, leaving the raw exposed sections of muscle to rot. Sunken eyelids were drawn back from empty sockets and mangled optic nerves. All the while, bloody drool pooled from a dislocated jaw.

 

The longer I looked, the more abuses I discovered and the more vindicated my subconscious became.

 

Unable to stomach the sight any longer, I turned my full attention toward the Horangi. “Why?!...” I demanded refusing to accept that such acts of hate could be justified, driven to find some sort of answer to make sense of what I had seen.

 

The Horangi stared back at me and raised his chin, glaring up at me defiantly in silence.

 

“Wrong answer...” I growled, stalking forward and took a firm grip on his left shoulder. “I asked you a question!” I tightened my grip and felt his bones begin to give.

 

The Horangi grimaced and gasped in pain, but I wasn’t paying attention to him. My new vantage point had added yet another dimension to the violations of the Horangi’s victim.

 

Deaf to the Horangi’s screams, several long moments passed before I was able to overcome the initial shock and begin making conscious decisions again.

 

Lifting the Horangi by his shattered shoulder, I stared him straight in the eyes and seized his genitals with my left hand.

 

Understanding and terror flashed in the Horangi’s eyes and he railed against my control with every fibre of will he could muster. Unable to so much as raise a finger to defend himself as I ripped his reproductive organs free from his body and cast them against the far wall, detonating them in a rain of blood and pulped flesh.

 

Ignoring the pain, I sacrificed a chunk of HP, using Sorcery to open a Breach back to my realm and Summoning projections of Wraithe and Sebet.

 

Wraithe took in our surroundings in silence, awaiting my orders while Sebet began walking around the room wearing a bemused smile.

 

I pointed to the Horangi’s victim on the stone table. “To the hospital...” I growled, trembling with rage and fighting to maintain control.

 

Wraithe nodded and silently moved to obey, lifting the violated soul with absolute care and hastily carrying them through the Breach.

 

“And ‘Him’?” Sebet purred excitedly, baring her fangs and biting down on her lower lip with anticipation.

 

“I want to know why...” I continued staring the Horangi down, carving the pain and terror on his face into my mind. “I want him to suffer!” I snarled.

 

“I can do that, on both counts,” Sebet promised, grinning from ear to ear. Like a cat with a mouse caught in its sights, she slowly crept forward, her tail snaking back and forth in her wake. “I really must thank you, Great One,” Sebet groaned with arousal. “It has been so long since I have enjoyed the company of a true sadist,” her eyes glittered with malice and anticipation. “Turning the tables provides an experience that simply cannot be replicated through other means!” She smiled coquettishly and feigned a blush. “But you don’t want to hear about what I have planned...” Sebet purred, returning her gaze to the Horangi, making no attempts at hiding the perverted hunger in her eyes.

 

“No...” I growled, catching her by surprise.

 

“No?” Sebet repeated, confused and unable to read my surface thoughts for answers.

 

“I need to know...” I insisted.

 

“Why he did it?” Sebet asked curiously, “Orrrr?” She let the question hang while waiting for an answer.

 

“Everything! All of it!” I snapped. “I...I need to make sense of this! And I need to know how you intend to make him pay for what he has done!”

 

Sebet cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows in an exaggerated proclamation announcing her surprise. “That is unexpected...

 

***** Gric ~ Yi Gim’s Interdimensional Plane ~ Monkey Clan ruins *****

 

Evacuating the Celestial Beasts through the Dimensional Breach, Gric couldn’t help but worry. While he was still convinced that standing up to the Tyrant had been the correct thing to do, he was becoming increasingly alarmed at learning just how much danger the Tyrant had faced without his support.

 

Making matters worse, The Tyrant’s mental defences were raised at their highest level, blocking all of Gric’s attempts to establish a telepathic connection.

 

<You shouldn’t worry.> Sebet snickered smugly, grinning mischievously at him from her position across the overgrown square.

 

Gric couldn’t help but scowl. There were precious few exceptions where she would have a cause to be so pleased with herself and for it not to be a cause for serious concern.

 

<You really do worry too much.> Sebet taunted. <The Tyrant is perfectly safe, and you would know that if you hadn’t made such a determined effort to lose his confidence.>

 

Gric wanted to counter with a barb of his own but came up short. His efforts were undermined by resurfacing doubts. <You have confirmed the Tyrant’s safety?> Gric asked, swallowing his pride to try and settle his concerns for the Tyrant.

 

<Mhm.> Sebet replied smugly. <He’s wearing his armour and everything. Although it’s just as well he has those extra eyelids! Going without his helmet and all, he would have needed some form of splash guard.>

 

<No helmet? Splash guard?> Gric shifted uncomfortably and felt a marked rise in his anxiety. <You are not tempting the Tyrant with debauchery?!” He demanded coldly. <The Tyrantess would not be pleased!>

 

<Hrmph! Only you would think me so stupid as to provoke the Tyrantess!> Sebet sneered. <Besides, not all forms of debauchery and expulsion of bodily fluids revolve around sex! The fact that I derive sexual pleasure from them anyway is beside the point.>

 

Gric grimaced with disgust and loathing. The fact that Sebet remained in the Tyrant’s favour, while he was not, was a serious motivation for rigorous introspection.

 

<It’s so nice to see the Tyrant move beyond his comfort zone!> Sebet continued in the same smug tone. <It really makes a gal feel like her work is appreciated when the boss gets hands-on, you know?>

 

Ignoring the Transcendent Beasts shuffling through the Breach, Gric fixed Sebet with a cold calculating glare. <What is it that the Tyrant is doing, exactly?> He demanded, already gathering his mental reserves in preparation to brute force Sebet’s mental defences if she attempted to side-step the question.

 

<You aren’t supposed to do that.> Sebet warned with a small smile, silently acknowledging the fact that they both knew who would come out on top in a direct battle of wills, and that Gric was not bound to the same restrictions that she was.

 

Gric made no reply.

 

<Fine.> Sebet made a show of shrugging nonchalantly and leaning with a bored expression against a pile of rubble. <If you really must know, we are in the middle of interrogating a prisoner.>

 

Gric relaxed his will but remained wary of signs of deception. <Just an interrogation?>

 

Sebet rolled her eyes at Gric and gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look. <It’s rarely ‘just an interrogation’.> She sniffed haughtily. <Which you would know if you ever used anything remotely resembling finesse when rifling through a target's mind.”

 

<Finesse is for the weak.> Gric replied, returning the contempt twofold.

 

<Nothing to worry about then?> Sebet huffed and cut the connection. She stuck her tongue out at him and then looked pointedly elsewhere, ignoring him.

 

Gric scowled darkly and considered launching an attack on her mind. Stifling his urges, Gric became aware of another Daemon's presence within the Realm. His position as Daemon King gave him knowledge of all Summons and Pacts made targeting his subordinates. The fact that he was not alerted through this method left only a handful of possible candidates.

 

Sure enough, Gric’s ‘request’ for a telepathic link was answered almost immediately, identifying the Daemon as Wraithe. She was one of the few Daemons who was given a Faction all of her own in recognition of her contributions, putting her outside of his hierarchy. At least, for the time being.

 

<Are you with the Tyrant?> Gric asked, forgoing all semblances of formality. Such frivolity was unnecessary amongst their kind and would not only go unappreciated but waste both their time.

 

<I am.> Wraithe replied somewhat distractedly. Fleeting impressions of exposed muscle and sinew drifted from her end of the connection.

 

In other circumstances, such impressions would have bothered him. However, on this rare occasion, Gric found himself glad of them. <Sebet is performing an interrogation?> He asked.

 

There was a marked pause as Wraithe considered the question. <A subject is undergoing repeated mutilation.> She replied somewhat hesitantly. <I am not aware of any attempts at extracting information having taken place.> More impressions passed through their connection along with half-formed thoughts of whether it would be appropriate to ask if junior Surgeons could use the subject as teaching materials.

 

Gric was about to ask another question but became aware of something trying, and failing, to worm its way into the projected copy of Wraithe’s mind. Seizing on the presence, Gric expected to follow it back to the subject of the Tyrant and Sebet’s interrogation.

 

What he discovered gave him far more cause for concern. The presence was reaching out from the Cultivator ring hanging from the Tyrant’s neck, and now that it had become aware of Gric, it had begun trying to latch onto him as well.

 

Worse still, with the Tyrant’s mental defences raised, Gric had no way of knowing if the Tyrant’s judgement had been compromised.