Revenge of the Sorcerer King 2 - 28

GOOODDDD SATURDAY EVENING EVERYONE! Hope the weekend is treating everyone well?!

Chapter 28

Oberon

Back at the temple after Siateth returned us to the mortal plane, I glanced around to see if there had been any changes to the temple. For the moment, the only change I saw was that Siateth’s statue had gained a smug grin. If it wouldn’t have been blasphemous, I might have put a magic missile through the head of the statue. 

“Everyone return with all their parts? Planar travel can be a hassle.”

“I’m good, though I feel like a maelstrom is raging inside me,” Alessa said. I looked over and found her bent over with her hands gripping her head. Looking closer, I saw that her mana had vastly increased in density. It made the change that Helena went through look like child’s play. That being said, it was still a massive change to experience suddenly like that. 

“Don’t worry about getting up until you get that storm under control. We can’t afford to have you level a mountain on accident.” She gave me a barely noticeable nod then delved inside herself. I turned to Helena who had been quiet the entire time. “I suppose congratulations are in order?”

“Indeed. It came as a surprise, but has been long overdue if you ask me.” She made a wicked grin that exposed her fangs. “I can’t wait to see some friends of mine back in Hizin.”

“I’m all for revenge, but we have other matters to deal with. A large army marching for my doorsteps.” I tapped my chin as I thought about what to do next. There were several steps to take but each took more time than the last. Given Helena’s last report about the force’s movement, we didn’t have too much time to prepare. Still, every last one of them was going to die. “Do you think a main street into the desert made from bones would scary away trade in the future?”

Helena laughed until she was holding her sides. “Once the continent belongs to you, I doubt you’ll have too much trouble.”

I agreed, but conquering the world last time took nearly forty years. That was with me being able to gather allies to my just cause. I’m not sure how that would go once people started realizing that there was a mastermind behind the life ending force. While spreading misinformation and distrust would work for a while, the mortal forces would eventually reach a point that it will be hard to infiltrate.

“Well… I’ll put it off for now,” I said finally. 

Alessa stood up and I saw that she had gotten her berserk mana under control. “I’m… I’m better now.” Patting her shoulder, we left the temple and made our way out of the mine. Just as we were leaving I felt a pulse of mana emanate from the depths of the mine. The next moment, there was a surge as what appeared to be pure black rushed past us.

It poured into the sky like a twisted version of a waterfall in reverse. The sun had just risen and was quickly being blocked by the massive storm clouds that were forming. I calculated it wouldn’t be long before they covered the entire desert. I wasn’t sure if it would continue past into the area around the former town of Guil and the forest that the undead Range Guardian was slowly claiming. I could declare those my territory, but I wasn’t sure how the system would classify that as they belonged to someone else until just a few weeks ago.

I found Irgire sitting above the entrance to the mine. “Looks like everything went well down there. You didn’t sell all our souls, right?”

“No souls were included in the deal besides our enemies.” I glanced at the grow darkness that was covering the sky. “Will you fly out along with the edge and report how far it goes?”

“You got it.”

~~~

A week passed with the desert preparing for war. The dungeon was being put through the ringer as we crammed as many undead and goblins through it halls as possible to get their levels up. The vampires had participated at first but Alessa wanted to get them more combat experience on the surface. The sun no longer being a risk, they were clearing the desert of monster, then Alessa was turning them into undead.

Gobluke and Gobrin had led the effort to bring all the goblins under my banner. While most of the tribes were Sun-touched, there was actually a tribe of original goblins closer to the ones that I remembered from my mortal days. They weren’t very combat oriented which was why they were the weakest tribe in the desert, but they made great officers once I removed their sins.

The combination of the goblins and continuous rising undead population had given me a force of almost four thousand that were combat ready. Not even half compared to the force moving against us, but as three thousand of that number were undead, I felt it was a close enough match. If I really felt pressured, I would mobilize the remaining seven thousand undead, but they weren’t very useful.

We had gained some time thanks to the darkness granted by Siateth. The Expedition forces didn’t want to risk venturing in until they had a better idea of the situation. Alessa’s vampire, herself included, had managed to captured a number of scouts making their way into the desert. With her Familia, it would be hard for anyone to sneak in to our territory. 

A swirl of shadow formed next to me. Helena liked to appear in a different spot whenever she visited the throne room. I was waiting for the day that she tried to appear on the back of my throne, which I didn’t put past her.

“I have some news.”

I closed the screens to the menu of the fortress core. It wouldn’t do for me to miss any details by being distracted. “Go ahead.”

“One of the other deities finally told their priestess what is going on. The lords are all the more determined to put an end to this blight against humanity before it gains any more strength. They plan to march in a day.”

“As always I’m impressed with your ability to gather information. When are you going to teach Alessa your tricks?”

“I’m not sure she has the… delicate touch needed. She likes to use her brute strength to solve her issues. Speaking of her strength, it has reached an all new level after Lord Siateth appointed her Maverick.”

“What exactly does that mean for you vampires anyway?”

“To put it simply, she doesn’t have to adhere to the hierarchy of age. Which was the only thing that would have hindered her in Hizin. The purebloods are all ranked by their age which determines their power. As a Maverick, she will be seen as an equal.”

“As long as it is a boon for the girl.”

“A boon as well as a target. The Purebloods might speak loyalty to Siateth, but most now death is the furtherest thing from their minds. I know of one that seems himself as a god in his own right. It will be very dangerous for her to go to Hizin without gaining a lot more strength.”

“I will take you word on these matters. I had no plans to reach out to Hizin for a while either way. I know better than anyone that strength is needed to make people listen to you.”

Helena gave me a smirk. “Considering how long the purebloods have been around, I have no doubt they all remember you.”

I laughed with a shrug then leaned on my hand as I sent her a devilish grin of my own. “I might have made the acquaintance of a few of them during my time as a human. At least one of the Purebloods will never rise again thanks to me.” I recalled the grizzly battle that lasted three days and literally brought a nation to ruin while stopping the vampiric army that had marched. 

“I may need to borrow your services to repeat that feat with at least one of the purebloods.”

I narrowed my eyes at her but nodded. Hizin was a bit of a touchy matter. I planned on putting it off until I had this continent under control at least. I would need a navy either way. Thinking of a navy sparked a thought. “Does Alice ever go to Hizin?”

Helena gave me a serious expression before she replied. “That’s a pureblood that is an outlier. Siateth took one of the most powerful races and corrupted it in a way no one had ever thought would work.”

“Angels are hard to corrupt after all.”

“Unlike angels that pledge to serve him from the beginning of creation.” The angels that surrounded Siateth’s throne back in his plane. “She was an unclaimed angel that had been borne close to the time you were alive. While not as powerful as the originals she was still a force of nature.”

“I think I get the picture. I really need to find her.”

“Just let me be a few nations away when you do. I know she was devoted to you, but she has been so thoroughly twisted…” She let the words hang in the air.

Alessa

The air was cool as I sailed through the air which was unnatural given I was in the middle of the desert which was in the middle of summer, in the middle of the day. I chuckled as I realized how many middles I had just used. Shaking my head, I focused back on the surface. I was tracking a certain scent that I’d picked up a few minutes ago on the breeze.

Glancing behind me, Jade was keeping her distance but was close enough to aid me in case of emergency. Just like everything else, the woman had picked up flying even faster than I had. If I didn’t have sway over her every existence, I might be jealousy of her natural talent.

After another minute or so, I spotted my prey. A man was making his way through the desert with an obviously enchanted camp to hide his presence. The beat of his heartbeat and the smell of his sweat was more than enough to give him away to me though. I gestured and Jade nodded her understanding.

Cracking my knuckles, I pointed down aiming just in front of the man. The first time I aimed directly at the man and inadverntly turned him into paste on the desert floor. My strength had nearly quadruble from being named Maverick. I had to be careful opening a door and was getting to the point of just having one of my Familia walk with me to do mundane things.

The wind whistled by quickly and in a blink of an eye, I impacted the ground. Sand and dust exploded out around me as a crater that was close to five meters deep formed around me. I was getting better. The first one had been closer to twenty meters and I’d had to fly out.

Using some wind magic, I cleared the air of the debris. I found the man on his backside looking in my direction in terror. I approached with a wicked grin, lunch was served. Jade landed and coughed which made me pause then sigh. “I know! I’m not going to drink his blood alright!”

“Master Oberon wants prisoners to interrogate. You told me to stop you, so you didn’t kill anymore since you had delivered the least among the Familia.” 

“Whatever!” I crossed my arms and turned away from the man before my appetite got the better of me. “Just grab him so we can head back.”

Jade grabbed the man by the neck and used ice magic to bind his arms and legs. One of the captured scouts had squirmed too much while we were flying and ended up falling to his death after his cloak tore. She attached a chain of ice to his waist which she then attached to hers. It would let him hang down as she flew and free her arms in case she needed them. 

Flapping our wings, we quickly ascended into the sky. The desert had taken to being as dark as a full moon night during the day and as pitch black as a cave during the night. The darker races were enjoying the change while the Goblins were working to adjust to the difference. Their race had dark sight so it wasn’t too rough on them but it was still a difference. 

We were the only ones in the sky. Several dozen undead monsters that ranged from ghosts and banshees to monsters that Oberon had turned undead that had a physical form. The desert was becoming crowded with how quickly Oberon’s forces were growing.

The castle was soon in sight. The magical aura that poured off it was no joke. Oberon been working magic almost non-stop since we returned from Siateth’s realm. Looking at the magic at play over the walls and the castle itself, I couldn’t help but wonder if an army could really penetrate them. 

The wards allowed us to pass through without incident and we soon arrived at the prisoner encampment. With the efforts of my vampires, a couple other monsters, and the goblins, we had captured close to two hundred scouts. It surprised me a little that they were still sending them in considering none of them returned.

I landed much more carefully managing only a small crack of a few centimeters as Jade took the man to the undead guards. I left it to her making my way to the throne room. When I arrived, I spotted Helena chatting with Oberon in an almost civil way. I had to struggle to keep from making any wise cracks at that fact.

“Welcome back. Catch anything?” Oberon asked when he noticed me.

“Just one today.”

“They still sent one in today?” Oberon asked with a raised eyebrow. “Either the leader of this force trusted in the man’s skills or just doesn’t care for the lives under him. I hope it’s the second as that will make things easier for us.”

Helena shook her head at that statement. “Both of the generals leading this force are well known, well liked, and very skilled on the battlefield. I doubt they would send anyone that they didn’t think was at least skilled enough to actually accomplish anything.”

I thought about that. It was true that I detected him, but Jade hadn’t noticed him. “I do admit that it might have been hard for anyone other than myself to detect him. You might have been able to Helena, but Jade hadn’t detected him and he was wearing an enchanted cloak that hid him from life sight.” 

“Why don’t you have Jade bring the man here. I think we might hear some interesting information from him.”

I sent a mental command to Jade to bring the man we caught to the throne room. She’d already searched him for weapons and traps by this point. She replied her confirmation and I let the link go quiet. I was getting better at using the telepathy skill without blaring my thoughts at the person. It helped that I had people to practice with. 

Moving up next to the throne, I took my spot at Oberon’s right hand. We waited for the prisoner to be brought to us, Oberon informed me that the enemy planned to march in a day. I was excited for a chance to use my full strength on something without having to hold back.