RuggyRuggy

A kind of short chapter for Monday. Thursday's chapter is about 4.1k words. It's about something very important that's been coming for a while, so I hope you're all excited!

When I opened my eyes, I did not see anything except two armies fighting to the bitter death on the battlefield below me. 

Below me? 

I was floating above a massive plain filled with destruction and chaos. Screams and cries of men and women meeting their untimely end echoed about. Giant balls of fire and lightning were thrown about, and a sea of ice rampaged down the middle, freezing at least a few thousand to a chilly end. The ground shook like an earthquake when the immolated giants in the distance raised their massive metal molten clubs. Swords clashed against spears, bows pierced hearts and heads, and it seemed the incredible battle had no end in its near future. 

Was this a dream? I continued to look left and right and up and down, but I was stuck in place. It felt like hours were passing by each second as I witnessed this war. Eventually, a gigantic dragon-like creature flew above me. Its wingspan had to be at least 300 feet, and seven thundering elemental orbs lined down its spiky back. With hide the color of bone and scales the hue of darkness, this massive beast had to be an Ancient Elder Dragon. A shadowy figure stood tall and proud, yet this person was at least eight feet tall.  

“That was me, my liege.” I turned to the new voice and saw Sekh, who was in her birthday suit. “This is the battle Aello talked about... The one where Aetos met his end.”  

“Is this an image of the past? Did you do this, Sekh?”  

Sekh shook her head. “No. The one who created this temporal figment is too rude to show themselves,” she said, looking up towards the sky. “Glad to know the fear I instilled in him is still there.” 

“Are you sure?”  

“I’m positive, my liege. Two individuals in this village knows what happened that day. If it wasn’t me, then that only leaves the eagle.”  

“I see...” 

We became silent and watched the battle unfold. The Sekh from the past controlled her draconic mount with precision as they flew close to the ground. Powerful flames of many different elements roasted, froze, electrocuted, and dissolved all who were in the path of its incredible attack, killing thousands by the second and leaving behind massive streams of uncrossable terrain, which killed all who tried to run through it. 

That included friend or foe.  

“During this moment of my life, I just wanted to kill. No, my precise goal was to prevent that shitty High Elf and her weak little pet from reaching the volcano. You see, my liege, I had used [Tyranny Control] to bring scores of fire spirits under my control. I forced them to fight for survival, and the winner was chosen to inhabit a volcano. My slaves tortured him without rest and killed those he loved and wanted to protect until he had nothing to live for.”  

Suddenly, this flashback of the past flickered momentarily to skip to when Susize and Aetos joined the battle. She wielded a great bow and a legendary sword as she stood on the back of Aetos, a great eagle. 

Mere moments later, she engaged Sekh in mortal combat.   

The two combatants zipped across the skies; the clashing of their weapons erupted in shockwaves that knocked down everyone within a mile. Dragon clawed at eagle, eagle bit dragon, the two of them were vying for the ultimate control of the skies while their riders fought tooth and nail. The shadowy mace in Sekh’s hands had natural control over the black flames I knew her to wield, yet Susize’s wind magic was her every equal. She managed to divert Sekh’s torrential flames to attack her own army, yet Sekh only cackled in laughter and increased her barrage. 

The two sped past each other again before Sekh eventually jumped off her dragon and landed on Aetos. She took Susize off guard by grabbing her neck and leaning backwards until they fell into a free fall. Even while dropping fast to the ground below, the two quickly began a battle for the ages. The strikes were just too fast for me to see. Above them, Aetos and the dragon engaged in a death match. The elemental orbs on the dragon’s back began to glow, and it used its large talons to wrap Aetos around the neck.  

It flew high in the sky—even above the cloud lines as it roared a cry of victory.  

Then it happened.  

The air trembled—crying out in fright and terror as seven truly gargantuan meteors of seven different elements plummeted towards the ground. Each was about 1.7 kilometers high and about 1.5 kilometers in width-- all packed to the brim with its accompanying mana.  

The Dark Lord of Tyranny and Susize, who’d been fighting as equals even as thousands more continued to perish around them, looked up the size. Past Sekh laughed and raised her shadowy shield to the sky while mana coagulated within the heart of her pitch-black shield. Susize looked like the fight had abandoned her soul.  

She cried out for Aetos in a passionate cry—calling the name of the only creature with the current means to protect the day. Having managed to break free from the dragon’s clutches, Aetos started to fly as fast as he could. He had to pick up speed, so once he was faster than the barrier of sound, Aetos accelerated even more until he was just a blur to even Susize’s all-seeing eyes. 

“And this is how he met his end. Sacrificing himself to stop just one meteor,” Sekh noted. “The story Aello knows is nothing but a fictitious fable. I don’t know where the yew seed came from, but I wagered Susize probably returned to his corpse and left it there.”  

I turned my gaze skyward right as Aetos made the ultimate sacrifice to destroy the meteor made of fire. His burnt, battered body was more skeleton than flesh at this point, and when it crashed into the ground, it shattered into a dozen large pieces while leaving a crater 400 feet wide.   

Still laughing like a mad scientist, the past Sekh slammed her shield into the ground, sending nocturnal flames in a circle that encased Susize.   

“DIE!!!!!!” shouted the shadowy Sekh. Everything within the encircled area was swallowed by abyssal flames so black and thick the brightest light couldn’t hope to escape through. But then the magic circle expanded outward into an oval-like shape with Sekh at the forefront until it had a radius of about a mile. Everything, without exception, lost their lives.  

Or so I thought. From a tear in space came Amos and his Soul Warriors. His cloak dazzled with mana—full of enchantments and mystical protection—supercharged his jewel-encrusted staff and sent a wave of lighting to attack Sekh. Beccy covered the hundreds of feet between her and Sekh in a fraction of an instant with her sword held high. It shimmered gold, the hardened steel filled to the brim with Holy Mana. It seemed more like a shining blade of light forged from a goddess than a weapon crafted by man. Murag created a hundred clones of himself, and all directed a powerful energy blast towards their ultimate opponent. Yaekira sleuthed up from behind and jabbed her powerful daggers in Sekh'sback. Reina stood back from a distance and hefted a heavy sniper on her shoulder, then delivered a series of precise shots to Sekh’s head. The shells ejected from her obsidian-colored firearm were as big as her arm, and each must’ve been going Mach 5. 

Yet Sekh and her shadowy armor withstood all these attacks without letting up the flames scorching Susize. In fact, she shrugged them off with relative ease and caught one moments before it tried to take her head off. The Holy Lord and Soul Warriors’ assaults only grew more desperate to save their leader from her horrible fate after Sekh pierced Susize’s armor by merely throwing the shell faster than Reina’s gun to shoot it.  

The Cowfolk flew back a dozen meters, her sword cleaving into the ground to stop her from going any further, which led to a giant chunk of soil splitting open. Sekh used her flame tendrils to pick up corpses around her, and she threw them into the hole while laughing about how they were all going to die by her hands. 

Then something else happened. From the far distance, a great plume of smoke and volcanic ash erupted past the horizon. It was like a cloud of locusts covered up the air, and it seemed like everyone ceased what they were doing and stared. Sekh paused her skill to turn to the horrific sight, yet she carried a cruel smile and let loose another vicious laugh.  

Amos and the others ran to an extremely burnt and nearly fatally wounded Susize, whose skin seemed to melt right off her bones, leaving her in a precarious position. Sekh turned around and leapt high into the air to land on her dragon. Then she sped off towards the erupting volcano, leaving everyone else to deal with the incoming meteors.  

The memory ended, and Sekh and I were brought to a floating void of white. She said Aetos died precisely at that moment, so he had nothing else to show us. “From what I remember,” she started to say. “The remaining meteors crashed down, and Amos was forced to pick who he wanted to save.”  

“We’re standing in the very place...”  

Sekh nodded. “It must’ve taken Aetos a few hundred years to clean up the damage after becoming a spirit, then even longer to recreate Vredi Forest and bring over Susize’s mansion.”  

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I know I said I wouldn’t force you, but...” 

“I wanted to tell you, but I figured I’d wait until this sad eagle brought us into this dream,” Sekh said. “After Aeto's death and Susize's wounds, morale within Amos’s pitiful army was at an all-time low. People hated that he didn’t save their loved ones, and I received reports that a not-so-insignificant number of brawls broke out, resulting in the army growing even weaker. But this is the truth of the matter, my liege. The Ashlands, as it is now known, came as a result of a fire spirit being tortured beyond belief until he couldn’t take it anymore. I presumed their goal was to stop the volcano from erupting, but nearly killing Susize put a nail in their plans. She wasn’t ordered to fight me, and she ignored direct orders from Amos. That led to them having to pick and choose. Should they rescue the spirit and prevent a massive eruption? Or should they save the most powerful Soul Warrior of her time from a foolish mistake, which, in turn, led to so much death? They made their choice, and we’ve seen the results from it.” 

“You sure were incredible, Sekh. Amos and his Soul Warriors weren't weak, but you were shrugging off their attacks like nothing.” I gushed about Sekh’s display of true power. She went weak in the face and blushed a cute shade of crimson. I willed myself over to embrace her in a tight hug, then kissed her head and fluffed her adorable ears.  

“My liege...”  

“You’re the strongest, cutest Dark Lord in all the land, Sekh.” I piled on the compliments and continued to aggressively shower her with so much affection she almost passed out. But then I became serious and told her how much I appreciated her. I almost wanted to thank Aetos for showing me visual proof of just a slice of Sekh’s former power. “But seeing it made me even more curious about your mace. And about that armor. I assume Aetos didn't want to render it.”  

“You're probably correct about the armor, but I can always tell you about my mace.”  

“Where’s the fun in that?”  

“I don’t want you to be disappointed. You probably think the world of it, and I’m afraid it won’t reflect your idealized version.”  

“I’m sure I won’t be disappointed. Believe me.” I pressed my lips to hers, and we enjoyed our time in this void until we woke up in the real world. Something told me Aetos wouldn’t do this again. If his intentions were to make me either scared or frightened of Sekh’s power, he accomplished the opposite. More than ever, I was inspired by her sheer strength and ultimate control over her destructive [Black Fire]. 

I’m quivering just thinking how much stronger she’ll be this time around! She’s incredible! 

RuggyRuggy

So! Sekh? Yeah, she was super strong. She caught a sniper bullet longer than Reina's arm in mid-flight, and threw it hard enough to shatter Beccy's armor. Beccy was almost second to none when it came to melee combat. And this was while she was channeling a super powerful skill to kill Susize, who was the most powerful Soul Warrior of her time.

Oh, and the Ancient Elder Dragon? SEVEN METEORS?! Yeah, each Ancient Elder Dragon can use the elemental orbs on their back to summon seven meteors. The size depends on the dragon's strength and current mana. And Aetos, the strongest great eagle, was forced to sacrifice himself to destroy one? So, yeah, Amos couldn't stop the other six, and I can confirm a lot of people perished that day. And Sekh? Well, she got just what she wanted. She proved she was the better fighter, achieved her goal of inflicting more tyranny upon the world, and crushed Amos's army's morale.

Oh, according to her, Susize fought Sekh of her own will after disobeying orders from Amos, meaning the loss of life and failure of the mission fell on her hands. So, yeah, more despair for the High Elf, which is exactly what Sekh wanted. 

That, my friends, was Sekh in her prime, and she didn't even display her most powerful abilities. The secret of her mace is still unknown, and I intend on that being a mystery until it's revealed.

However, by the end of Arc 3, there are very few hints of what its true ability could be. I wonder if you can guess?