On a large river, a boat flowed. One after another a metal paddle crushed the water pushing the boat through the jelly-like water. On the boat were four individuals sitting quietly, not speaking with each other. Additionally several skeletons outlined by green light moved about, each working together to ensure the small vessel made it to the destination.

One was a man quietly playing a string instrument at the base of the ship's brown wooden stairs near the back. His face was obscured by a large hat and face mask that covered what little could be seen. The edges of his blue and white robes floated in unison with his strumings while a blue coat of mana pulsed in conjunction with a circle.

At the top of the brown wooden stairs, near the back of the ship was the second individual, a middle-aged man floating in a crossed-legged seated position. Cloaked in a skin-tight coating of green-blue mana, the man with golden hair continued to cast a summoning spell with assistance from an ornate grimoire.

Near the skeletons were the last two individuals.

One of them groaned heavily, her body sore and aching from head to toe. Her body had no signs of injury but phantom pains from her battle echo on her skin. While her mind spun, filled with fog, she opened her pupilless white eyes, that contrasted the rest of her face that was covered in black. It was Kali, the black chimera, who began to remember the fight that had left her inactive.

Kali's memories of the fight flooded back, and she relived the intense battle with vivid clarity. She remembered each intense clash with her opponent, the powerful and menacing Beast of Hills. Despite her best efforts, she was ultimately defeated, leading to her current inactive state of being.

The memories brought a mix of emotions - a mix of pride and regret, knowing that she had fought valiantly but ultimately fell short. 

She stirred, shifting from her back to her front, lifting herself from the carpet she was lying on. Her arms and legs trembled. “Come on stand! Stand! You can do it!” Kali demanded through grinding teeth, clear cracking sounds echoed before her left arm bent at an unnatural angle.

"Did...I...win...?" She asked, her voice trembling as memories played in her head. Tears fell from her eyes as she pleaded "please...please tell..." Her legs caved before she could finish, her side hit the hardwood causing her to spit hair sized drops of blood.

"Don't move," demanded the fourth person, her deep, honeyed voice easing the chimera as she guided her back onto the rug. Returning to her duty the person put various plants into a palm-sized dish and ground them into a fine powder mix. The fourth person continued "You suffered some damage, a lot is near your brain, that's not likely to heal easily."

"Really?" She wondered looking at her body wrapped in various wet white rags stained with black blood. "What? Is this?"

"Affirmative." Great Wiseman answered regrettably. Kali, through her constant use of third, fourth and fifth finger spells had caused near fatal internal bleeding that lingered a week later. Similarly her body was inflicted with cursed cuts that stayed open and even grew if not treated correctly. All the mana she could recover was put towards regeneration and the aid of Daji's healing ointments. "Master, I demand that you rest."

"Yeah." Kali muttered, too tired to move from her current position. running her eyes over the nearby female, the chimera asked "Who are you?"

The fourth person was behind a small table with various herbs, crystals and a few scrolls. She was dressed in a one-piece outfit that accentuated her curves and chest. The chains melted into her skin and bells nailed to her muscles rang lightly with each movement. With the powder finished she added water followed by slime from the tip of a tentacle, one of many that acted as her hair.

"I'm Daji." She sighed, stirring the foggy liquid till it turned a black and blue color. "Open your mouth, this will help."

The black skin where a mouth should be peeled back exposing a large set of teeth and an extremely long barbed tongue. Along the black slimy muscle the blue-black liquid was guided into the chimera's throat,easing her pain and numbing her body.

"Where are we?" The monster coughed as her mouth sealed itself with the heavy metallic taste lingering. "What was that?"

"We are at the southernmost point within the kingdom's territory. We are heading to a more secure area for some training." the tentacle haired woman answered, adjusting the blind fold over her eyes as she placed the dish down. "As for what that was? It was Ichor of Vihxortol, a powerful elixir with curse breaking properties."

"Training?"

"Yes, at least if you want it." Kali went over the battle in her head, and she felt a harsh sadness fill her. 'Fell short' didn't describe her loss. She was deluding herself if she believed that, even though it hurt a lot to realize this.

She was overwhelmed, truly overwhelmed. She could've done next to nothing-no she could've done nothing to change the outcome. That Beast of Hills had more power to unleash, more restrictions on him. Meanwhile she operated off fumes, causing severe damage to her body just to maintain a spell that did nothing. Still the question of 'What could i have done to change the outcome?' lingered in her mind. 

"More power." Kali muttered. The world around her seemed to stop as the events of her fight replayed in her head. If she had more of her unused power back then perhaps maybe, just maybe, what could've been a loss wouldn't have been so devastating? Yes it might have. "I'm weak, too weak, not fit for battle, not yet. I could be in the future! Yes! Yes, I can! I can! I definitely can! But when? How long would that be? How long until I encounter a similarly strong foe or a stronger one? What will I do? What will I do?"

Hearing the chaotic storm of words and crazed giggles, Daji sighed "i think shes broken."

"Hey!" she called, tapping Kali with a tentacles but the monster payed them no attention. Grabbing Kali by her neck the tentacles repeatedly hit her head against the wood "I'm talking to you!" 

"AHHHHH!" The chimera screamed as she faded in and out of reality "Fucking hell?!"

"huh? even 'cancel pain' is turned off." The tentacle haired body hummed before shaking her head, tossing aside her simple observation. "I can point you in the direction of power."

Kali looked at the woman, shocked but attracted by her words. More power? Could the entity she feared most really help?

The man with the string instrument answered her unspoken question, "That body is endowed with the 'False Navigation (offering)' trait which can greatly enhance your growth." pointing at the tentacle-haired lady who was brewing a healing ointment. "Though it's not as good as any real 'Navigation' trait."

Kali gazed at the sky taking not needing a moment to ponder this revelation. "Please turn me into a monster."

"Trait: False Navigation (offering) has taken effect."

XXXXX

At the same time a man walked alongside an expanding crater. If one looks at this man the first thing they would notice was his lack of a left arm, the second was the black single-edged straight sword held in his right hand, and the third was his wooden skull-shaped mask that hid his face. He was walking next to a large green furred wolf with a large spiral pattern on its side.

The man continued to walk along the outline of the crater until he came to a stop near a hill that had a large amount of earth gouged out of it. What once was black dirt was now vibrant red crystal burning and hissing from the lingering heat. Periodically small red sparks ignited into flames with haunting shapes. It looked like the inside of a hellish portal to the underworld.

Whistling the man said "Yeah, that is something: cursed magic."

The wolf barked at his words.

"That's right, I'll tell them." he scoffed. "But it could be fun if one did pop up."

The wolf shook her head in admonishment.

"What? It's boring here!" the swordsman grumbled, kicking some grass that was almost instantly burned. "Makes me want to fight the monster that could output an attack that leaves this much behind."

This crater, covered in molten heat and crystals, was laced with near inhospitable amounts of lingering, curse-filled magical energy. He, the Spirit Sword: Dalton, a newly enlisted D-ranked adventurer, had been hired along with many others as security for the many priests, paladins, mages and alchemists who were sent to investigate.

In spite of the six days spent investigating this site, no monsters were attracted to it or spawned there. While this made most of the adventurers happy, since they had a bit of respite from the daily undead monster attacks, Dalton wasn't. He had a goal to achieve and he felt that his level wouldn't increase at this rate, he wanted to fight something strong, if that happened maybe he could overcome the wall he was dealing with. Still though he pushed these feelings and desires down, posting to distract himself  by theorizing about what could have caused this incident.

Whee he inquired to the mages about what they think they answered back "The general idea was that two formidable forces clashed here and the result was this crater." and while he agreed that didn't explain how.

"Something this strong." The grip on his sword tightened while his green cloak waved from the slight magical discharge. "An Evil God? No, not them. A worshiper? Which one?"

Evil Gods, more commonly called Vile Gods, were gods who originated from monsters who attained Godhood. They are the truest essence of evil itself, they pervert the worlds laws, toy with innocent lives and rule over monsters. it it was a moderately powerful and ardent worshiper of a evil god Dalton guessed it would be possible to this much damage but the hard part comes down to what evil god is being worshiped? and who's the follower?

If the God this unknown person worshiped, while not being rulers of curses, ruled an aspect of 'curse' like 'sin' or 'degeneration' there could be hundreds, maybe a few thousand evil gods. That number would only grow if he were to take into account the evil gods that ruled over domains like 'cursed bone' or 'cursed weeds'. He was also told that evil gods cast curses as divine punishments which could also be something that affected the power of the worshiper. The one option he didn't even want to think of was this evil god being one of the numerous evil gods who were sealed away and watched over by the churches but had escaped during the chaos five months ago.

Of course he was also entertaining the idea that maybe this had nothing to do with evil gods and was just a powerful monster who had a caused placed on them which was even more terrifying. a lone monster reaching this level of power without being guided? that made him tremble both in fear and excitement.

"Perhaps it snuck in from beyond the boundary?" he muttered before his wolf companion barked while growling at the area behind Dalton.

The man looked over his shoulder, gazing at the group of bickering miscreants he was protecting. There were Artificers and Mages eagerly talking among themselves as they looked at the many harvested crystals. Surely those crystals, made of solidified mana, would sell for quite a sum of money.

The priests and paladins of the church of Argus and Golia took out holy artifacts and water that would soon be blessed. The holy men began setting up the ritual to purify the land but his well-trained ears heard the protests of the mages and artificers followed by the religious nonsense of the holy men.

"We need more time!"

"Do you not see the potential for money here?"

"We are doing our holy duty. Now move aside!"

"The agreed three days have passed you godless heathen!"

"Shut it down you religious sycophants!"

"Yeah! We still have more investigating to do."

"This was commissioned by the Pope!”

"This was commissioned by the third prince! You just piggy back off us!"

Hearing the confrontation between the mages and priests' volume increase, Dalton shook his head. "Rookies, I'm basically a babysitter."

The wolf growled and barked.

A sigh escaped the man's lips, half impressed and half exasperated at the suggestion made by his companion. "You know not all priests are as incompetent as Lodos."

Still the man wasn't so quick to throw his companion's idea out. That explosion of negative mana had many fallout effects, some seen, like the mass production of undead in the city's graveyards, others unseen, like weakening seals put on items.

His sword was one such item and it felt so much heavier to wield with the seal permanently weakened.

The church of Argus received many of these items from adventurers for safekeeping and seal maintenance. When an evil god granted a fragment to a believer, or a sealed fragment from years ago was found, this was standard protocol. Is it possible that a monster broke a seal and gained access to a fragment?

Maybe a priest gave it to the monster? Or they themselves became a vessel? One of the reasons he was an adventurer was to hunt down one such priestess who was last seen in the City of Ulst before disappearing. Not too unlikely but there was another more dreadful option at hand.

"But, hear me out, what about if it was one of them?" Dalton asked, running a finger over an insignia on his sword as it emitted bloodlust. "One of the vampires?"

Vampires, a species spoken of in hushed tones, warned in the same breath as dragons and liches.

His wolf companion barked in agreement.

Before he could wonder any more, the man moved, raising his sword and unleashing several attacks that brought down the remnants of the small hill. That didn't stop what was happening from continuing nor did it slow down in the slightest.

From the crater and its surrounding earth, dust, dirt, rock, water, tree roots and other foliage shifted. What emerged from the earthen masses was something harshly forcing itself into a rough bestial shape. They let out ghastly screams that were filled with pain as crystalline structures resembling teeth and claws emerged ready to eat the nearest prey they could find.

"Hold up." Dalton commanded, swinging his sword with great expertise and power from the air despite his lack of a second arm. Each attack easily reduced the golems to a pile of dirt. "Damn it, I'm a little out of practice."

"Look chipper youngsters." He yelled as he landed in front of the group who were preparing for battle. "Those cursed golems are filled with some very, very, very angry monster souls."

"How are we going to survive?" One adventurer called, causing Dalton to roll his eyes "those are C rank at least!"

That's right, unlike normal golems that occur in nature, Cursed Golems were stronger only due to the souls trapped within had lingering attachments and unfinished business. They will reform ceaselessly unless the souls within are destroyed or separated from the body in some way.

Looking at his wolf companion, who could eat souls, he began his orders.

"It doesn't matter if it is temporary or permanent, Artificers, enhance everyone else's stuff." He replied halfheartedly as the golem beasts took shape again. As he swung his bare hand, he ruthlessly smashed several newly-formed, nearby golems. "Paladins and warriors will join after the nerds are done."

From the side a red flaming beast golem sent a whip attack with roots, only for it to be easily swallowed by Dalton's companion. Growing in size, the wolf howled loudly as it swallowed the golem beast whole. Its eyes glowed in anticipation of souls to eat.

"Priests begin the ritual to cast 'Divine Radiance'. Mages cast as many enhancement spells as y'all can before the others join in."

He took a step towards the reforming golem beasts with his body glowing green. In preparation for combat, he flowed brilliant green mana.

"I'll bide y'all time to get ready." Dalton said with bright green eyes cutting through the darkness of his mask. Dalton, the hidden hero of the hunt, bared his fangs as the call of the hunt rose within his body, bursting from his skin like lava. "It's time for a hunt!"

XXXXX

As the sun began its descent on the city of Ulst people began to awaken just like the moon would in a short time.

Riding through the streets were men dressed in holy robes on horseback shouting half-empty promises of safety while gathering those who couldn't fight and transporting them to safety.

Those who were able to fight took up their weapons with heavy hearts.

The Duke's personal knights ushered people away, sending them to the various graveyards while others went to certain storehouses or basements. Adventurers and mercenaries solemnly prepared their weapons, a mix of fear and dread on their faces.

Over the past few months, many people have died. The crowds of adventurers that came to Ulst for its red light districts, gambling, and other dark delights have dwindled. They were culled by the blades of the undead. Those who were the few who were worth their shit or just lucky.

Neither Kain nor his brothers and sisters knew which was which, and they didn't care to find out.

"Alright fellas get a move on baby!" The golden haired man yelled, ringing his rusted silver bell as he walked down the alleyways of the slum district waking the homeless children who were grabbed by the women. "We gotta go! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon baby! Y'all best get goin' r'else the ghost'll get ya!"

Nobody protested, and those who were about to were quickly silenced by others who were more intelligent than them. Not like it was Kain's problem but it made his job easier. The authority held by the family and Mother among the commoners was second to none. The entire lower city was theirs and the people, as long as they listened, would be fine and safe.

In a flash, the northern portion of the lower city, Damptown, was reduced to little more than a ghost town. Looking up at the sky, which had grown darker as the sun neared its disappearance beyond the horizon.

Kain let out a sigh of relief and took out a shrunken head from his pocket. It was the size of his palm, with various runes carved into the dried skin and bones.

"Hela, C'min, Hela!" He spoke into the head, a recent magical device created by the researchers of the Family. "Give me ya’ report for fuck sake."

"Hela: reporting." the head answered, its eyes glowing green as the runes were inscribed on the dried wrinkled skin. "All people have been safely evacuated and are secured a safe distance away."

The members of the Family had guided and transported the homeless. They were sent to the basements of brothels controlled by the Family, while others were sent to storehouses. Nearly all of them managed to get outside Damptown and were hiding in underground facilities.

"Good. Hades out." Cutting communication he moved, turning several corners while ringing his bell as loudly as possible in a beat.

1-2-3-1-2

1-2-3-1-2

1-2-3-1-2

From the shadows of the alleyways men dressed in full enchanted gear emerged ringing their own bells to Kains beat with each step they took.

Walking down the main street of the slums, men pooling behind him, Kain smiled savagely, maniacally giggling "Men let's go, Mother is watching us."

These men, numbering a little more than fifty, nodded at their older brother's announcement, their resolve firm and their minds steeled for death.

"Hades: Reporting." Kain began. The runes and eyes on the shrunken head communication device glowing white as it connected to the larger communication network. "North Damptown has been evacuated. Heading for south Damptown. ETA: Twenty-five minutes. Over."

"Jack-o-lantern: Reportin'." The head's runes and eyes turned bright red as a light, feathery voice of a girl exited the mouth. "East Damptown has been evacuated successfully, heading for South Damptown. ETA: Twenty minutes. Over-n-out."

"Ereshkigal: Reporting." The head's runes and eyes turned blue with the voice of a haggard old man coming out. "West Damptown has been evacuated. My forces are heading for South Damptown. ETA: Twenty minutes. Over."

Just then, with the sun fully vanished beyond the horizon. With a thundering explosion, the moon rose fully, heralding the undead horde once more. An earthquake broke the roads, destructive black lightning reduced city blocks into heated craters. Rising into the sky, a swirling funnel of ghastly spirits letting out mind-bending screams was clear as day.

Kain, the hidden hero who gathered death, pulled together shadows around himself, in preparation for the onslaught of wraiths.