Chapter 21 Fire and Death
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I have reemerged from reality. I will try to get back and maintain a pace of one chapter per week.

 

There were many eager to win the last war in some capacity or another. Many dreamed of being the last one standing, to be the last one to walk Ibaran in its last moments. For many it was just wishful thinking, for some it was a possibility. Others pursued another goal in these last days.

The molten ruler was one of such individuals, being a member of the Tower of Annihilation meant that she wasn’t interested in being the ruler of the last days, instead she sought to unleash Annihilation, killing all.

A goal that was much harder to achieve than they had envisioned and time was running out. They had to find and kill all the recluses, who went in to hiding biding their time. To only come out, when all was fought and they could snatch victory from an exhausted opponent. Armies and rulers had to be manipulated and tricked so that they would not notice their trap and escalate into one big battle. Only to be ended by the Tower. And finally they had to remove some specific individuals from the equations. Individuals, who could foil the entire plan in its last stages.

And that's why the Molten Ruler was hiding behind a tree in the middle of a forest. The burning half elemental hatted every second of it, hiding like a scared rat, a nameless thug or an assassin. She wanted to stand in the open field and shout her challenge like the Elysian she was, the Molten Ruler, the noble who ruled all those who commanded the molten earths. Hiding was beneath her.

Despite her personal disdain for it she had to. In order to achieve the greater goal she had to sacrifice her personal pride. Sadly there wasn’t another way of doing it. In order to achieve their goal they had to remove some specific individuals and she had the task of taking care of one of them.

The Monarch of Death, ruling noble of all the necromantic Elysian, a true one man army. He was someone who could foil their plan in the last moment, if left unchecked. He was someone who could say with confidence that he would become the last to stand and probably would be right. Who could go against an endless army of undead. To make matters worse the holy nobility was mostly dead, they hadn’t risen from their tombs to partake in the last war. Which left the Monarch of Death unchallenged some already saw it as a given that he would be victorious.

That didn’t stop the Tower of Annihilation, they would do everything to let their grand plan come to fruition and they had the Molten Ruler, the next best thing to kill the Monarch of Death, if you had no holy nobility. And they had the Labyrinths child, a traitor in the Monarchs lines. A Traitor that could lead him into a carefully planned trap.

The Oni Queen had informed the about the Labyrinths child. Through her they had gotten the time and place of where the labyrinths child would lead the Monarch. All that was left was the construction of the trap. The Molten Ruler didn’t know anything about the Labyrinths child, besides them being a traitor to the Monarch. All the Oni Queen had said that she would recognize them when she saw them and nothing more.

And now the Molten Ruler was hiding behind a tree waiting to kill one of the strongest beings to exist. Her mind wasn’t even in the slightest occupied with the Monarch instead, she thought about the Labyrinths child. It wormed her to no end that she didn’t know, who they were. Not even the name gave any concrete evidence. She didn’t know anyone with the title Labyrinths child. Since the name lacked a noble title, it had to be something akin to a title. She didn’t know anyone that was associated with labyrinths or a specific set of powers and capabilities that was associated with it.

Thinking about the Labyrinths child, wasn’t particularly rewarding nor was it distracting enough to alleviate her boredom. And so the Molten ruler sat bored behind a tree and waited. The most interested thing she could do was to control her internal temperature to not burn the tree or grass. Which is easy if you have trained it for years and thus hardly a distraction.

A birds chirped loud and clear through the woods, as the day came to its end. The sun slowly began her descent down the horizon, bathing the forest in her orange light, creating long dark shadows. Suddenly one particular group of birds started to sing their song. Birds of war, followers of the tower, and their song heralded the arrival of the Monarch of Death. The Molten ruler flared up, all the boredom and fatigue had vanished from her mind.

Carefully she watched through the small hole she had burned through the tree, trying to pin the Monarchs position down. Seconds later she found him A hulking mass of bones, veiled in a dark glimmer of corruption. The Monarch was vaguely human in his silhouette, but nothing more. His body were bones upon bones pilled upon each other, held together by his magic. Each one of his many skulls had glowing green eyesockets

He locked terrifying, like someone you wouldn’t want to walk into in the night, because they would probably steel your bones. Luckily it was only evening and the Molten Ruler was a half elemental and thus had no bones, just fire, magma, lava and one or another not molten metal. He was accompanied by a Minotaur woman, who was at least two heads smaller, and Minotaur are at least 2 meters in height themselves. Just to put his size in reference.

They seemed to be absorbed in a conversation. Then the molten ruler realized. The Labyrinths child was the Minotaur. A child of the labyrinth, in reference to Minos, nothing more noting less. Just some random Minotaur. And there she was thinking the Labyrinths child was someone legendary. Someone she should know.

The Molten Ruler closed her eyes and prepared herself. The she let out a birds whistle, informing th others that she was ready.

Her body sprung to life, cold flames turning blue then white as her body reached battle temperature. Whit a sonic boom she dashed of melting though anything in her bath, heading straight for the monarch.

She reached the monarch, even before the sonic boom could sound through the forest. Catching him completely by surprise. Her fist hit his chest melting through layers and layers of hardened bone. The heatwave from her sprint alone was enough to set the surrounding forest ablaze. The Labyrinths child moved back her brown fur set aflame by the heat.

The Monarch tried to retaliate, but before he could even lift a finger, fire rained upon them. The Towers followers had opened up sending volley of fire and magma towards Ruler and Monarch. Burning the deeper and deeper in the ground. The Molten ruler pushed forward, slowly melting her hand deeper in the Monarch, grasping for his core hidden deep within his chest.

She found it seconds before he could rip her apart. She quickly crushed the writhing mass. Instantly the monarch stopped, his bones losing any and all power, falling down being reduced to a simple mass of bones. The green glow in his many eyes vanished.

A shriek erupted from the bones and everything went silent. The molten ruler was paralyzed in fear, even the fire had died.

Red glowing eyes stared at her, piercing her very soul.

Death had awoken.

A torrent of bones erupted from the Monarchs body, skewering the Molten Ruler lifting her up in the air. The bone spear in her body erupted, ripping her apart and shredding the remains of her body, as a tree of bones emerged from where she hung.

All that remained of the Molten Ruler, where some splatters of magma, strewn across the tree of bones, slowly melting and dripping down.

The Monarch of Death was irritated and slightly annoyed. There had been a lot of attempts on his life. Understandable since many feared that he would be the last to stand. Something that was only natural for he was Death, past him is nothing. Only cold empty stagnation. Only fools would think they stood a chance.

Yet this attempt bothered him. It had been the most successful of them all. They even managed to kill him. Not that it mattered as he was death and the attackers couldn’t escape him. Their leader hung shredded apart from his first real attack and the rest killed by his shriek. Still they managed to kill him. Something was of. It felt like a trap. The attack was well coordinated and they seemingly “found” him, here out in the woods. He only had decided to go here today on a whim. Urged by one of his subordinates. Was she a traitor? No that couldn’t be, she hadn’t been spared by the attack. He looked to the Minotaur woman, who was charred black but still alive, although barely. His enemy had been strong, very strong, that he acknowledged. If they were more durable they could have defeated him, but they weren’t.

A drop of white magma dropped on one of his skull, prompting the Monarch to look upwards.

Slowly glistening white magma melted itself through the bone construct, conjoining into greater and greater puddles, reforming the Molten Ruler. She emerged upside down from the bone tree, carefully cradling the cheeks of one of the monarchs skulls. Planting a gentle kiss on its teeth, like a lover slowly melting trough the bone.

Fire is a monarchs death”

She whispered in his ear, with a low voice filled love.

The Monarch ripped her of throwing the ruler away. He immediately sen d a volley of hardened bones after her. They ripped through the with a loud boom. Skewering the Molten Ruler like a pine cushion. He didn’t stop his volley only increasing the ferocity of his attack. Not giving her any time to react or act. He used this time to properly reconstruct and upgrade his body.

A fireball shot through the onslaught of projectiles, masterly evading the bones, heading straight for the Monarch. Instead of hitting him it zipped past him, briefly taking the shape of a human woman. She looked fairly mundane, dark skin and the red flaming hair that was usual for all those who were aligned with fire. She wore a long trenchcoat entirely made of flames and a pair of red tinted pilot googles covered her eyes. She gave him a quick nod of respect, before changing back into her fireball form and barreling into his subordinate. The two disappeared in behind a small hill before an explosion shock the forest.

The woman must be a lower noble, how else could she have survived his shriek. Despite that she was no danger. From his quick interaction, that didn’t even take a second he knew that she would honor the code of combat and would not interfere in the battle. Even if she would, she wouldn’t even be able to distract him for a second, before being squished by him.

He once again gave his full attention to the Molten Ruler, or the ever growing pile of bones intended to turn her into a collection of holes. The bones had turned white, white from heat. She was slowly melting herself through his attack. Not that he ever hoped to kill her with this.

The moment she moves her hand out of the cocoon of bones, he swung his newly created scythe. A wave of concentrated death raced across the forest disintegrating everything it touched. Suddenly bisected trees, slowly began to fall.

A glistening gestalt, glowing red like the sun rose from the ground. Letting out a scream of pure heat, sending heatwaves through the forest setting the forest ablaze and anything that could burn.

The Monarch answered by finally unleashing his legion. Hordes of skeletons rose from their slumber, answering his order. The march of the dead had begun. A massive dragon of bones rose from the ground, his spine as thick as the burning trees. He coiled himself around the Monarch, like an over sized cat.

Opening its maw it send a white beam through the hordes of skeletons at the Molten ruler. She answered with a laser of her own. Orange and white energy meeting mixing and fighting for supremacy. The orange laser quickly won, slicing through the white one and cutting the dragons head in two, reducing it to a mere pile of bones.

Another dragon rose.

And another one.

The endless legion marched on.

Not even fire would escape the cold grasp of death. Some things were inevitable after all.

The Monarch of death joined in in his legions endless onslaught, sending waves of death through his legion. Empowering them with as it past them and ripping the Molten ruler apart whenever it hit her. Disrupting her flow of battle, leading her to make mistake after mistake.

The elites of the endless legion slowly ganged up on the Molten Ruler, hordes of undead dragons and giant skeletons, drew closer and closer. Each of her mistake brought them closer to her, no mater how many she took down, another undead was ready to replace them, slowly drowning her in the cold embrace of death.

On command the dragons opened their maws, a white torrent formed, violently sucking the life out of everything in their vicinity, even their fellow undead, reducing them to piles of brittle bones.

The forest cooled down. Water that had been evaporated to steam now became fog. It was dead silent only the dead moved. Slowly rising and reforming. The Monarch of Death would take no chances.

It being cold and quiet didn’t meant that he won. He would only believe it, when he saw her corpse with his own eyes.

He ordered his legion to slowly open up the cocoon of bones. Carefully and prepared for the worst. He ordered them to open the cocoon as if it was containing a calamity from beyond.

Krakatau!”

A detonation annihilated the cocoon and the legion. Deleting a part of the forest. Leveling the surrounding into one big crater as the detonation resounded thorough the continent.

The Monarch of Death slowly peeled himself out of the molten bones, that had acted as his shield. Groaning in pain, he realized that his biggest fear had come true. Only now she was getting serious. So he too had to get all out. Luckily the stars were on his side.

The Molten Ruler rose from the epicenter of the detonation. She was smiling. She had fun, barely able to contain herself.

Pretty cold here.”

The monarch grimaced, as good as he could with his many skulls and missing muscles and flesh.

I like it cold, reminds me of death.”

Strange, as it will be hot.”

She answered earnestly, her smile getting even bigger. She herself was convinced of the truth of her words, the Monarch still doubted her.

Pacific Fire Ring!”

A heatwave surged from her incinerating the air setting it on fire, creating a true hellscape. A crooked ring of fire remained around her slowly orbiting her like the rings of Saturn. Leisurely she walked towards the Monarch her feed melting into the ground, as if she was walking in mud. She smiled victory was near. She almost bounced towards the Monarch, it costed her a lot of restraint to not do it. Simply because it would be disrespectful.

The Monarch was getting completely serious and a little bit desperate, although he never would admit it.

He reached out with his hand the energy of death permeating around him, bending to his will. He ordered to unfold. The Forrest darkened the light of the world vanished even the Molten ruler dulled down, only the distant stars remained shining. Slowly his domain expanded moving into reality. Once again pushing back the heat of the Molten Ruler, to bring forth the coldness of death. Hopefully for the last time in this battle. The gravestones of the long dead and heroes appeared from the ground. The realm of death took its shape.

She smiled everything was going according to the plan. The Molten Ruler had won. Her body went into overdrive her internal heat skyrocketing. Even her physical from started to loose its melting together into a human shaped silhouette. The magma spoke:

They also call me Muspelheim!”

Her domain unfolded itself rising from the ground slowly melting the ground turning it liquid into lava. Toxic fumes and ash rose from the red see, high into the sky shrouding it. Blocking the stars light from falling down on deaths domain.

She took a deep breath the toxic her filled her lungs burning inside her. It smelled rotten and vile, she could practically taste the sulfur in the air. Victory was in the air.

Slowly she walked towards Monarch of death, each step sending ripples through the magma. Now she had all the time in the world. She started to dance moving across the magma like a ballerina. Trying to replicate the moves she learned in her childhood.

The Monarch wasn’t too impressed by her dancing, but the appearance of her domain had managed to stop all his thoughts. He knew that he had underestimated her, but he still had been way off. Possibly to much. He didn’t expect her to have a domain herself a grave mistake.

He reached out with his hand calling for his legion to rise. They heard his orders and rose. An endless legion of undead empowered by his domain. An army of the dead heroes each one equal to lower Elysian noble. Ripples went through the molten lake as they rose, violently shaking the red sea. Molten skeletons broke thought the lakes surface, only to fall back into its shallow depth the completely melt.

He had made a deadly mistake.

The Molten ruler made her move. Dashing through their intertwined domains, heading straight for him. He swung his scythe, she went straight through it and entered his body. His bones offered no resistance melting upon contact.

The Monarch of Death had lost completely and utterly. He had been to arrogant, he realized. There was no room for excuses it was his fault that he lost. Well he could try to make it a draw. Before the Molten Ruler could give him the head death he sacrificed his remaining power.

The two domains collapsed in singularity of magma and death. Pure energy whirling around, mixing, separating and detonating. Even reality struggled to display what happened.

Only a distorted landscape remained, of what once was a forest. A massive crater filled with small lakes of lave and warped arching constructs of molten bones and cooled lave. Cartographers would have to rewrite some maps. Not that they would bother in these last days.

The Labyrinths child and the Courtmagican of Fire moved towards the crater. They looked exhausted but unharmed. After all they had spent the entire time the battle lasted, running away and desperately chugging healing potions. And they were nobles, lower ones but still.

So what now?”

The Minotaur asked, starring down into the new landmark and then to her companion.

We go down and search for the Molten Ruler, she should be somewhere down there.”

Came the answer from the Courtmagican. She moved her pilot googles up, revealing a pair of ice blue eyes, prompting a surprised expression from the necromancer.

They also call me Frostpunk. And no I don’t know a single ice spell and I refuse to learn one.”

Frostpunk said with a smile on her lips. Then they continued their search through the crater. Inspecting each puddle, nook and cranny they could find.

Found her!”

The Labyrinths child exclaimed, pointing towards a particularly small puddle of lava. Frostpunk quickly moved to her to confirm her findings.

Ima slime. I am melted!”

The puddle slurred with a happy voice. Two eyes and a mouth could be seen in the puddle stupidly smiling. Frostpunk took of her burning trenchcoat off and carefully scooped as much molten Molten Ruler on it, before bundling it up. The Molten Ruler had in the meanwhile begun to happily hum songs, randomly switching between Christmas jingles and good night songs.

Will she survive this? I’m not really knowledgeable on Half Elementals and not in the constitution to cast a resurrection.”

She’ll be fine. We just have to throw her into an active Vulcan. After that we should had back to the tower.”

Am I allowed to go there with you?”

Sure, why not. You’re one of us after all. Besides I want to show of our collection of frozen Molten Ruler statues.”

Then lets go.”

SHKEDDALE!”

And so the trio left the new landscape, before anyone could come to inspect it. Together they went on a short adventure to dump the living remains of the Molten Ruler into the next best Vulcan. After that they went to the actual tower of the Tower of Annihilation, to look at the Statues of the frozen Molten Ruler.

The Molten Ruler however went to another secret location, to meat with the Royal Sage of Null and some others, to announce her success and continue their scheming for their grand plan.

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