"Those who succumb to fear are perfect weapons to be controlled. They don't care about rights or even if the enemy is a defenseless child. In the face of fear, nothing cannot be killed." Konrad Curze, Primarch of the Night Lords Legion.
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Quaithe found herself unable to move; terror and fear made even the mere act of breathing a arduous and tiring task. Before those black eyes, she had lost all resistance. A lamb about to be slaughtered at any moment.
"Feel fear, only fear is the true way to control people. Loyalty is nothing more than an illusion in people's minds." Konrad said, his voice couldn't be colder and more indifferent. As the ruler of Asshai, he used blood and death to control these unruly mages.
"You madman." Quaithe said with difficulty. The man had killed her father and used his face to deceive everyone, gathering all the traitors in one place. She didn't need to be a genius to understand that everyone was already dead, just waiting for the Supreme Mage to give the order for genocide.
"We cannot win this war; the Emperor of Humanity's Legions are too powerful." Quaithe didn't wait for his answer and spoke in a desperate tone. She didn't understand why such an intelligent man wanted to wage a war that had already begun lost.
Konrad looked at the masked woman before him with a slightly surprised look, his lips curled into a malicious smile. "This war is just to train my Legion, to filter the best from the trash. Nothing more and nothing less."
Konrad's answer sent shivers down Quaithe's spine. The entire existence of the city of Asshai was nothing more than a cruel, inhumane, and insane training. At the same time, she knew that Konrad had already planned from the beginning to surrender to the Emperor of Humanity.
"You monster." Quaithe said with her jaw clenching, she gritted her teeth and looked coldly at the ruler of Asshai. The man who was supposed to guard the city would be the same one who would destroy it.
Konrad looked at Quaithe with a satisfied look. "You haven't surrendered to fear, do you want to join my legion?" Although he liked to control people through fear, he himself knew that soldiers who couldn't control fear in times of need were useless.
This was one of the reasons he started this war; the other reason was to attract the attention of his future Father. After all, to become a Primarch, he had to have the support of the Emperor of Humanity.
Quaithe didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes." In her eyes, the most important thing was to survive; nothing else was more important than that. If she could survive by kneeling before her father's killer, she would.
Dignity, revenge? That's a luxury for powerful people; although she was a fire mage, she was far from strong. Before Konrad Curze, she was nothing more than a slightly larger cockroach.
Konrad showed a satisfied look, he turned his attention back to the army of mages before him. A cold gleam reflected in his eyes. "Arise."
With his words, the shadows within a hundred-meter radius began to move; faceless creatures made of pure darkness emerged from the shadows. They looked thin and tall, with abnormally long arms. There were no features on these creatures' faces, but that made them even more terrifying.
Quaithe looked with a fearful gaze at the spell that made Konrad famous and extremely powerful.
Army of Shadows.
The insane amount of magic (Psychic Energy) needed to cast such a spell was something she would never have in her life, even if she sacrificed her entire body to have more magic. But Konrad used it daily as if he were casting a simple fireball.
The power difference was so great that Quaithe didn't even think about fleeing. She would be dead if she tried to escape from such a dangerous man.
Quaithe noticed that Konrad was back in the middle of the crowd, knowing exactly what he wanted to do, she backed away not wanting to be accidentally hit.
The mages around clearly noticed the famous spell and became solemn. They knew Konrad was approaching. After all, there was no way to hide hundreds of mages from the Lord of Asshai's spies.
However, they were not afraid; there were hundreds of mages around, even if Konrad was strong, he was not invincible. After all, not everyone in the world was an extremely powerful being like the Emperor of Humanity.
As Quaithe had imagined, spears of pure darkness emerged from the shadows. All manifested around Konrad, who was in the middle of hundreds of mages.
All mages within ten meters were pierced by the spears of darkness, impaled still alive as they thrashed painfully. The screams of pain, agony, and horror hung in the air like a sad and terrifying chorus.
In this attack alone, Konrad simply killed about thirty mages, all impaled alive. Some had their bellies pierced, others their chests; some lucky ones had an instant death as the spears went through their heads.
The metallic smell of blood filled the battlefield; bodies fell to the ground as everyone's frightened eyes focused entirely on the man in the middle of the mages.
"Konrad." A trembling and almost inaudible whisper sounded through the surroundings. They finally understood that they had fallen into the trap of the Supreme Mage of Asshai. From the beginning, they had been manipulated.
"He can't keep the spell forever; when he's exhausted, we'll kill him." The man who had spoken these words was hidden in the crowd and dared not take the first step.
No one was foolish; although what the man had said was true, the first ones to fight Konrad would definitely die. So, even knowing this truth, they dared not fight for fear of death.
But would Konrad let these people wait patiently? The answer is a redundant no. He advanced extremely fast. He didn't even look like a mage with a fragile body; he looked like a cheetah at full speed.
At the same time Konrad attacked, the army of shadows also moved; these beings made of pure darkness roared even without mouths to roar and advanced as if they were animals, running on all fours.
Konrad quickly reached the first mage, his hand moved and simply went through the man's chest from one side to the other, tearing out his heart.
Regardless of whether it was raw or of human origin, he bit the human heart and swallowed it with a touch of coldness in his gaze. His psychic energy was quickly replenished using blood magic, and he ran towards the rest of the mages with a cold and indifferent expression.
"Oh no, he knows blood magic!!!" A mage saw the scene and screamed at the top of his lungs; the terror in his eyes could no longer be hidden. If Konrad knew blood magic, it didn't matter if he was out of magic or not; by devouring the mages around, he could replenish his magical source at all times.
They were a feast for Konrad!
The mages were terrified at the idea and also used magic to try to fight or escape the encirclement of the Army of Shadows. Fire, blood, and shadows filled the entire battlefield.
Magic has always been something mysterious and frightening for most people in the world, but for the Mages of Asshai, it couldn't be different. Even if there was a price to pay for casting spells, these people didn't care in the face of the temptation of the power to control the world.
Konrad showed a bloodthirsty look at the scene before him, he smiled maliciously, almost sadistically, like a snake watching the animal thrash after injecting venom into its prey.
Wherever Konrad fought, mages were killed; they had their hearts, eyes, or even heads torn out. All devoured or had their blood sucked. He looked like a demon from hell, covered in blood and with his mouth dripping blood.
This scene completely destroyed the last remnant of their courage; how could anyone fight such a demon? Only fear remained in the hearts of these people; they began to beg.
"Lord Konrad, spare my life, I will be your slave forever!!!"
"Master, I am your subject in your dark court, spare my life!!!"
"Mercy!!!"
Quaithe coldly observed these people; the more they begged for their lives, the less chance they had of staying alive. Konrad would accept those who fought to the death, but would never accept the cowardly and weak.
As Quaithe imagined, Konrad only intensified his killing, slaying those who knelt and begged.
In the end, after three minutes, all the cowards were killed while a small group of mages had joined and fought the army of shadows while remaining on guard against Konrad.
Quaithe saw that Konrad stopped his killing and approached the group that was still fighting for their lives. There was fear in these people's eyes, but there was also the determination to die fighting.
"You are fit to join my Legion, do you accept?" Konrad was never a man to beat around the bush, so he spoke directly about his proposal. His obsidian black eyes stared at the group of surviving mages with a cold gaze, awaiting their answer.
There was no choice; it was kneel or die. And since life was more important than anything else, these mages chose the most obvious choice. They knelt and accepted submission.
"Open the barrier and let's receive the father's legions." Konrad said as he walked away, he looked like the king of darkness, darkness bowing at his every step.
Quaithe looked at Ambery's body on the ground and sighed; Ambery was one of the unlucky ones to be hit by Konrad's spears at the beginning.
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Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.