Ainz looked at the man named Vault, a strange name in his opinion, and found him a little odd. He definitely had the look of a mercenary from a fantasy world. A tall and wide broad shouldered frame, sun darkened rough skin with small scars all over his bare arms, shaggy and dark unkempt hair. He was wearing a simple outfit of black pants and a black sleeveless muscle shirt that looked a size too small, and the only piece of armor he seemed to have on his person was a Vambrace on his left forearm. An oversized sword nearly as tall as he was hung off his back from a shoulder harness, and is boots appeared heavy and meant for prolonged use in rough terrain. His entire ensemble was completed by a dark cloak that hung from his shoulders, and honestly he looked more like a bandit than a mercenary.
And perhaps most importantly, Ainz found the man's expression grinding. He had a tough looking face, but the way his lips smirked and his eyes looked casually down on Ainz, as if he was inferior to him, was annoying. The man exuded arrogance and self-assuredness.
Ainz let out a sigh heavy enough that everyone around could hear it. "I believe I made my stance clear to the rabble you had harass us earlier. We have no intention of joining, or dealing, with your group in any way."
"Oh I heard," Vault said with a smile. "I just wanted to see one who had the Gall to deny us with my own eyes. It isn't often anyone denies us with how well known we are after all," He explained with a laugh before seeming to stare at Ainz for a second. "Honestly, I'm not impressed."
Hara tensed to act, only for Amrita to gently poke her in the side as Ainz spoke up. "And, when did I begin caring about impressing you?"
Vault's smile lessened as a number of the men with him looked confused and annoyed or angry. "What?"
"Hmm, you do not understand language? Let me explain in a way your simple mind will understand then," Ainz said as he took a step forward, making it clear to all that he and Vault were essentially the same height. "I have no interest in Mercenary bands, groups, guilds, or anything of the like. Therefore, why would I care about yours in any way or form? Yes I have heard that yours is a large group, but I have heard nothing of importance about anything of particular note that you may have done, meaning I can only assume your band is large only because you take others victories as your own as you strong-arm and press gang them into your forces."
"As if you know anything! We've killed thousands of demons you useless mage!" one of the men behind vault declared angrily, making many of the others parrot such emotions.
Right up until Vault raised a hand, and all of his people went silent. "You are new to Eostia I've heard, so it's not surprising you haven't heard of what we have done. We are not just the biggest mercenary company, we're the most successful. Every mission we take is completed without fail, and its only because of us that Eostia has not fallen to the dark queens armies!"
All the mercenaries let out roars of agreement, some even going so far as to scream their own achievements to the sky. Essentially they were making quiet the spectacle of themselves.
Enough so that many did not initially notice Amrita take a half step forward. "So you would claim that the Princess knights, the city knights, the Dawn Templars, and everyone else who fights for Eostia to have done nothing?"
Many of the Mercenaries scowled and glared at Amrita, but Vault did not, merely taking a step towards her with a grin on his face. "Nothing meaningful. Not in a long time. It's why we are here doing what they are incapable of, doing what men should be doing, not what women are!"
"I take it you do not agree with the current Gender divide of work then?" Ainz asked a he glanced and noticed that the Symbol on the collar of amrita's cloak that marked her as an Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen.
"Of course not," Vault said with a shake of his head. "Men are stronger than women, and it is we who should be fighting for this land." He then let out a chuckle. "In fact, we are getting ready to head out. It's why I came to see you myself. To give you another chance to join us and make something of yourself, rather than be led around by the nose by a bunch of wench's."
Ainz raised a hand to the side, stopping Hara from acting as h took a step forward. "These ladies are my apprentice, and Traveling companions. They do not lead me, and deserve more respect than you are giving them."
"Companions huh?" Vault said as he looked at Amrita and Hara, barely seeming to notice Flora. "Well if they can move their hips properly who I am to judge. You can bring them with you if you join us. What do you say?"
"The same thing I have said already that neither you, nor your men seem to understand. No," Ainz said as he released a bit of power, causing the stones below him to very suddenly crack outward in every direction, making many of the mercenaries look down, and then at him, in shock. "Now leave, before I allow my apprentice to Cleve you from your collarbone down to your crotch."
Vault blinked once, twice, and then chuckled out loud and in a pleased tone. "You have grit, and that makes me want you with my people even more. But sadly we have places to be, and mission to save this land from itself to complete, so I suppose we will have to speak of this another time," He said before turning and walking away, waving for his entourage to follow him, which they did without another word down the street behind him.
"Would you have really attacked him?" Amrita asked after a few seconds of silence as they all watched the mercenary band leave.
"I wanted to," Hara said with a grumble as she glanced to Ainz, who merely shook his head.
"Let us not antagonize those who are not worth our time. We have much to do and little time to do it if we are to head to this city of Rad," Ainz said as he looked to Amrita. "How far away is it from us?"
"Rad is on the opposite side of Ansur, and about the same distance as Thorn is from it," Amrita answered as he gaze flicked upwards a bit, towards some nearby rooftops.
"Yes, ignore them," Ainz said as he bean walling down the toad once more, albeit more slowly than before, as he continued to speak. "I will not need it, but expect we will not be able to simply scavenge as we did before heading to the Tralford Barony. Even more so if we stop at that village I would like to that Hara and I saw on our way here from Ansur."
"Respectfully, I do not think we will need as many supplies as you think," Flora said with a strange sigh, as if she hate speaking, or hated what she was saying.
"Hmm, you may be right, and it is not as if we could not resupply at Ansur itself," Ainz said as he lifted a hand to his helmet as if rubbing his chin. He then reached into his robes and produced a pouch and handed it to Amrita, the jingle of coin coming from the bag. "Use this to buy what equipment the three of you will need, and meet me at the northern gate in an hour."
"What will you be doing?" Hara asked curiously.
"Looking into our stalker," Ainz said quietly as he waved and began moving toward a nearby side road. He could see out the corner of his vision that the construct was following him primarily.
Which was perfect, because then he could deal with it out of sight. Though it was strange that it followed him so eagerly. If it was being controlled then anyone with half a brain should have realized what he was doing, so perhaps it was a sort of automated drone in a sense.
Unfortunately Ainz found his thoughts cut off as he saw motion ahead of him. As down the side road, at another crossroads, were three groups of people. One appeared to be a couple merchants who looked nervous, and uncertain, the next was a group of almost three dozen thugs who looked arrogant and ready to throw down, and the last group were a group of five City Knights who looked like they knew they were outnumbered and had mixed opinions about such a fact three of them looked young, easily around Hara's age, while one was a bit older, and the last two much older. The older ones looked the most serious, but it seemed the thugs were not backing down.
Unfortunately one of the merchants young children noticed him and turned his whole head to look at him, garnering the attention of one of the thugs.
"Hey, just walk away freak, this doesn't concern you!"
Which caused the City Knights to notice him.
"Citizen, quickly, head to the Knights barracks and inform them of this situation!"
"Don't even try it!"
"Yeah, you just stay there and you won't get hurt, how's about that?"
"Citizen, move fast!"
Ainz let out an annoyed sigh as he stepped forward and quickly judged the situation. The merchant's wagon had a broken wheel with an axe on the ground beside it, and a couple of the streets were blocked by towers of boxes that had been knocked over. This had been a planned hit by the thugs and if the readiness of the knights was anything to go by, they had known about it as well.
At least it explained why no knights had seen or commented on their altercation with the Black Dogs. It still left him in a pickle though. Running off or staying could both earn ire, an if he solved the problem it would reveal much to whomever was controlling the construct high above and-
Ainz stopped and let out a short chuckle as a thought came to his mind.
Instead of worrying, why not give the stalker a show they would not forget and help those in need of help simultaneously?
"What's so funny?" one of the thugs, one of the larger ones, spoke up as he turned to Ainz and took a step toward him and toward the Merchants that were mostly surrounded by the thugs. "Did you not hear what you were told?"
"Oh, I heard you, I just find it funny," Ainz said as he noticed the Thug ever so slightly glancing toward the nearest merchants, an old man and young girl of maybe twelve. "That you decide to accost merchants in the Capitol of the alliance. Are you not afraid of the knights?"
"Bah, as if these bitches know how to fight proper men!" the thug spat out. The nearby nights twitched to act, but a Thug drew a bow, pointing to arrow at a merchants head.
"Then do you not fear the Goddess's wrath?" Ainz asked as he began flexing his fingers, magic arcing between them and slowly creeping under the cobblestones of the road. "you stand in the Capitol of her power, after all, no?"
"Fuck er," another thug said with a shake of his head. "Many of our families have lived here longer than she's even existed."
"Yeah, so just stand there," The first thug said before eying the girl, and suddenly grabbing her wrist and pulling her close to him, a knife coming off his belt and pointing at her throat. "Or these merchants will owe us more than just their taxes they forgot to pay to be able to work in our city!"
"Milly!" one of the youngest knights called, only to be held back by one of the Elder knights. "You let go of her you animal!"
"Ah ah, you useless knight can just stay there while we our business or the girl gets it," a thug with a Mohawk and a spear said with a grin as he climbed up onto the wagon and smirked. "After all, this is just business!"
"And what business could you possibly have with a little girl," Ainz said as he looked at the girl. She looked terrified, and by the way she was dressed likely had never been in real danger before. Especially not danger that could kill her.
"Oh not her, ours is with these merchants, because they keep making us pay absurd amounts for mere produce!" the lead man with a spear declared proudly.
"You, my prices are fair, I would never rip off anyone!" one of the merchants declared seriously. "If you can't pay for my goods then clear you need to get proper jobs and-"
He was cut off when the thug smacked him in the face with the shaft of his spear.
"Shaddup, I'm not talking to you, you fat fuck."
"What do you do for a living?" Ainz asked, his tone cold and loud, making manty of the thugs look at him in fear, as well as confusion that they did not understand.
"What? Why, we protect our homes and city of course!"
"You are just leeches on society, not working and stealing form those that do!" one of the younger nights, not the one that looked ready to kill, stated angrily.
Ainz took a step forward, only for the thug holding the girl to inch the blade closer to her throat. "Ah, no closer or the future bitch gets it!"
"Why, are you calling a young girl, that?" Ainz asked as he felt anger filling him, and held back his power, letting it squirm through the cobbles unseen till it was around the thugs.
"Why wouldn't we? Not like she'll be any different than these self-centered whores who worship the goddess and relegate us to homebodies or lesser jobs!"
"If you dislike the idea so much, you should work to be different, not act like a petty thug," Ainz said as he looked at the girl. He was going to need to be very precise, lest she get caught in what he was planning. "Let the girl go."
"No."
"Not even on pain of death?"
"Like you could freak."
Ainz let out a heavy sigh, is magic vibrating for a moment and making the cobbles around all of their feet glow faintly, noticed by some, but not all of them. Certainly not the leader of the ones holding the girl and merchant at weapon point. "Then you have made your choices. Petrify!"
The instant his word was spoken a beam of light engulfed the three thugs, the one with the bow, the dagger, and the leader atop the wagon. As soon as the light disappeared a second later the result was easily seen for all. The man with the bow was turned to solid stone, along with his bow and an arrow that was in mid-launch, the man who had been holding the girl was stone as well, with the girl not being affected at all, and the leader atop was as well. The leader was at an odd angle, and his statue's form then fell off the wagon a second later, crashing to the ground and breaking into pieces to the various thugs horror and shock.
Ainz took the chance and raised a hand to the statue now holding the young girl, and focused. "Shatter." The statues one shoulder suddenly shattered with a tiny popping noise, causing the arm holding the girl to fall to the ground, and letting the girl rush over to one of the merchants to be held tightly. "Now, surrender while I am still feeling charitable."
"Kill the mage!" one thug yelled as he reached for a sheathed sword.
"Mass Paralysis,"
And in that instant all of the Thugs found their bodies limp and crash to the ground, unable to move.
For a moment nothing occurred, the Merchants and knights to surprise by what they saw to move, and after the moment passed Ainz stepped forward, grabbing the nearest thug by his head and lifting him up into the air.
"Did you think you were somehow in the right? That you were somehow the good guys here? For threatening working men, and a child? Did you think you would get a slap on the wrist and that was it? Perhaps I should end you, crush your skull right here for all to see, hmm?" Ainz asked casually as he ever so slightly tightened his grip on the man's head, making him let out moans and groans of horror and fear, real fear. "Or perhaps, the peacekeepers have input on the manner?" Ainz then asked as he turned his gaze to the City Knights.
"I do. Put them down and allow us to take them into custody sir Gown," the eldest seeming of the Knights said as she took a few steps towards Ainz. "Please."
To the younger knights surprise Ainz dropped the man to the ground and then tuned toward the merchants, kneeling down on one knee and looking towards the girl who still looked terrified. "Are you alright?"
The girl simply nodded, eyes wide.
"You were very brave, but it's over now. You are safe."
The girl simply stared for a moment before she began to sniffle, and then just loudly began bawling her eyes out while grabbing who Ainz was assumed was her father. "WAAAAHHH I, I Waz Sho Scwared!"
"There there, we're safe now," The man said with a happy smile as he held the girl in his arms as tightly as he could while looking up at Ainz. "Thank you sir, I owe you our lives."
"You do not owe me anything," Ainz said as he heard a step to his side and looked to see the eldest Knight standing before him while the others began tying up the remaining thugs. "I apologize for intervening."
"No, you did end the situation," the knight said with a heavy sigh. "Three deaths will not inhibit our ability to find this gang's headquarters. So thank you sir Gown."
"You have me at a disadvantage."
"I do," The knight said as she bowed slightly to Ainz. "My name is Clarice. I was among those present by the Archbishops command when you arrived to speak to the Goddess Reborn, and among those whom she has told what they both believe you to be."
"You do not believe as such then I take it?"
"I did not," She said with a nod before looking down at the pieces of stone shaped like a man. "Now I believe it is more possible than many of us thought it could be."
"Great," Ainz deadpanned.
"You did not intend this?"
"No, I was looking for a chance to deal with something else," Ainz said as he raised a hand to the sky, to the construct high above. "Dispel Magic."
Clarice looked up and watched the bird drop from the air, crashing somewhere nearby, likely atop a roof. "I see. Well I am happy you encountered us regardless. The situation was looking to go bad quickly."
"Indeed. Who are they? Mercenaries?"
"No, just thugs, forming gangs." Clarice said with a sigh. "It has been happening more in the last few years. We believe there is someone inciting them, but haven't found any proof to that end yet."
"Well, I am sure you will soon, and if I find anything I will pass it on, but I have other business I must attend to."
"Of course, do not let me keep you sir Gown. Safe travels," Clarice said with a nod, allowing Ainz to walks over to the nearby collapsed boxes and hover over them. As he went down the street it became more normal, with people walking around talking, doing business, running errands and the like. It made it harder, but after a while Ainz did manage to find the ruins of the owl construct. It looked the same as the one previous, but when he approached it he saw the gem that acted as its eyes light up and shine, prompting him to pick it up and speak. "Did you think it would work a second time when I caught you already? I think it is time you tell me your location that we might have a talk, no?"
As if to answer his demands the crystal dimmed, the energy pulsing through it disappearing as the spell over it seemed to fade away.
"I think not," Ainz said in annoyance as he pushed magic into the crystal, weaving it with the intent of forcibly reactivating the spell so that he could trace it. The crystal then began to glow vibrantly, and from it he could start to hear noise, indistinguishable but clearly a person of some form speaking, of yelling.
Then very suddenly there was the sound of a pop, and a crack, and the crystal broke in half, no longer glowing.
"Did they do that, or did I, I wonder?" Ainz mused to himself before letting out a sigh. Ultimately it did not matter. He would find whoever was stalking him eventually; it was just going to take longer now because they would be wary of them now.
Ultimately it did not matter though, it was just something of a nuisance, and he had other things to do.
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A Man in a dark cloak reeled as he hit the ground, shards of a jewel pelting his form as it exploded off of his desk. A second later when the sound of shattering glass subsided he shifted and looked back at his desk, now a mess of wood splinters and cracked stone.
He had only just finished remaking that control crystal, and had only just an hour or so sent his new construct out to hunt for his peoples quarry to help guide them. But then instead he found his target in Thorn of all places, many days away from the Tralford Barony. Such a distance was near impossible to travel so quickly, so how had his target?
It didn't matter, his people would go there, and find their targets not there any longer, and he hated that, but could do nothing about it, so instead he moved to each the new target of most interest, the foreign mage.
Only for that mage to reveal to him a show of force so obviously prepared in advance it was as if he was trying to mock him, to mock his work and that of his organizations. And then not only had he mocked him through the crystal he somehow caused his control crystal to explode, nearly killing him in the process.
It was infuriating.
"My lord I heard a- Are you alright my lord!" an Acolyte yelled in shock as he came into the room.
"No, I was nearly killed by our enemy, and our men sent to Tralford will find nothing but innocents to slay instead of our targets."
"What? But, but what of your plans? What of our grand design, of our lord's resurrection?"
The robed man climbed to his feet, wiping fresh blood off his forehead with a hand and staring at it. "There is only one thing we can do. Gather everyone who remains in the main chamber. We summon our lord this night."
The Acolyte seemed giddy at the prospect as he smiled. "Yes, of course my lord, he shall come to us, and we shall ascend to new heights as foretold. We shall see him with our own eyes!"
The robed man smirked and then chuckled as the acolyte was out of earshot. "Well, I will, and that is all that matters." He got up and looked at a map nailed to a wooden spar on the wall and scowled. "The Tralfords were too weak, overcome by the gift they were given by their lord. They thought too little. I however, will not make the same mistake. My lord shall throw his power to our world, and I as the only worthy one to take it shall become the new demigod of this world, and kill the goddess reborn and rebuild this world in his own image!"
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The Black Dog Mercenary Band, or company, as some called it, was a huge Mercenary company. They did often pull other smaller companies into them both to fill out their numbers, and to acquire more capital, but the real reason for it was that mercenaries could only live so long on their own. The more of them that were on their side, the easier any fight could be made, and the easier a fight could be made the less people would die, making future jobs just as easy as well.
In Vault's opinion it was simple the economics of survival and battle. He who had more forces would win. Nice and simple. Who could argue with that?
They took almost any job given to them. Most were to hunt down or ambush forces of the Dark queen, or to deal with bandits that harassed the roads form the south to keep the Fortress cities stocked with supplies and foods. He hated it and found it foolish that the cities own knights could not be bothered, but it helped alleviate their boredom when not fighting truly worthy enemies.
And unfortunately this was one of those missions. To eliminate a cult to some evil god that had been found a few weeks earlier by a hunter by mere happenstance.
"You're just in time Boss.
Vault looked up to find his second, Hicks, standing by a tree ahead of him. A smile plastered his face as he held a short sword in one hand lazily.
"Hicks," Vault said with a nod as he began walking toward, and then past him, Hicks moving and taking a position to his right while the few dozen behind tailed in a line through the trees. "Is everyone in position?"
"Everyone but those now behind us," Hicks said with a nod. "We have the whole ruin surrounded and found an escape tunnel yesterday about half a day away. We collapsed it and have been surveying the ruin since."
"Good. Anything of note?"
Hicks shrugged. "Depends on what you consider of note. They change the guards about every nine hours, and we've seen some of them sparring with weapon on the ruins battlements and-"'
"That. How skilled are they?"
"Pretty good, but not as good as most of ours. In a one on one some of ours might lose, but since we never let anyone fight alone it shouldn't be an issue," Hicks explained before suddenly perking up. "Right, we saw some of them setting up pots around the battlements alongside arrows and javelins. Either pitchblende or poison probably."
"Which do you think?" Vault asked as they began climbing a steep incline, needing to use the tree's themselves as handholds to not slip. Something much harder for Vault with his wide frame.
"Poison," Hicks said instantly as he climbed the incline with the grace of a monkey. "These guys are like any other cult, so poison seems like the best choice. Also keeps longer than pitch does."
"Hmm, hope we have enough Antidotes then, or don't need them," Vault mused as the incline started to soften. "Do we know if the Ruin if old kingdom, or newer?"
"It is Old Kingdom. Very old in fact."
Vault looked up to see his left hand man, Kin, standing above them by a tree, a book in hand as one would expect for a mage. "You are sure of that?"
"Of Couse I am sure," Kin said with a nod. "that ruin is Old Kingdom, from before elves came to these lands. Perhaps from before the time of the Monsters of the north as well, though that is harder to tell."
"Wide or narrow halls then?" Vault asked. He knew one are of history had ruins with oddly narrow hallways, and they made fighting difficult. He just couldn't remember which. It wasn't his job to remember anyway.
"Wide," Kin answered, making Vault let out a small breath of thanks. "However, I am worried."
"About?"
"The run is Old Kingdom, and from its design, I believe it was either an early temple or academy. Such places often have hidden vaults with cursed items and the like. If any of these cultists found them, the fights within will be much more difficult."
"I'm sure we will be fine," Vault said with a sure nod. "You will tell us if you sense anything."
"Of course. I have not researched Dark magic to be caught unawares by-" Kin suddenly stopped, his head snapping toward his right. "Something is wrong. Move!"
Vault broke into a sprint following Kin through the forest; the dark tree's making him almost invisible to be seen due to his dark robes. After a few moments however the trees gave way to a small rise at the edge of a cliff. Bellow in a low almost craterlike field in the forest was a ruin of a buildings. Dark grey stone made up the broken and fractured remains of what was one likely some form of large fort, castle, or other building, and around its edge was a separate, mostly crumbled outer wall. What was truly out of place though was the glowing torch of purple light that looked to be burning through the ceiling of the central building. And alongside it was a faint sound of wailing, as if souls were screaming in torment.
"What is going on?" Hicks asked in confusion as they watched the glowing energy ripple and become larger, the very stones around it seeming to darken.
"Those cultists are attempting some ritual, it must be stopped!" Kin yelled as he began rushing down the hill.
Vault, hearing the panic in the normally so calm and composed Kin, stepped away from the tree line and drew his blade off his backside and held it aloft. "Black Dogs, the time to hunt is now; stop only when the enemy can do nothing and only our howls echo out. CHARGE!"
Without pause, Men began screaming and charging out of the forest from every angle. Hundreds of men of all shapes and sizes and ages, unified by their brethren around them and the commands of their leader moved as one, converging upon their foes like the tide striking at the shore.
The cultists in a show of fortitude did not scream in terror or run scramming, but began firing Arrows and throwing javelins. The Black dogs however were ready as many of them carried shields and used them to protect themselves or those near them who did not. And within a minute the first of the Black dogs reached the ruins.
And blood began to flow.
"Take them all, Kill them all!" Vault roared as he ran toward the ruins and glanced to see Hicks and Kin running behind him. "Both of you, with me. We will cut the heart out and end this personally!"
"Got it Boss!" Hicks yelled as he slipped a small axe off his belt and wiped it past Vault, striking a cultist as it came out from behind a wall and into the open, being struck in the face with a wet crunch. And with him dead, nothing could stand in the way of the trio as they burst past any cultists in their way.
A Bolt of flame to the head, a disembowelment, being literally blown in half, the three of them made short work of every Cultist that moved in their way and entered the ruins themselves and instantly stopped.
The air was stale, the floor dark, and everywhere hung a mist of black and purple making it hard to breath.
"A miasma. No human could live in this over long terms," Kin said as he pulled a cloth out of his robes and began wrapping it around his face. "It must be from the ritual."
"Then we stop the ritual before it begins to affect us," Vault declared as he strode forward through the halls.
Y̵̰͌͊͝ͅö̵̫́u̶͇̹͑ ̶̢̢́͒̚.̷̳͇̓͋̔ ̴̧̩́̉̋ͅ.̶̟͙̊ ̷̦̈̈́.̶͉̪͖͑͝ ̵͓̇̾̄.̸̫̈́h̴͕͔͋͝a̷̪̝̾̿̔v̴̟̺̿̽ẹ̷͓̩͊̀͗ ̸̡̙͌̃p̵͇̺͍͗o̸̪͔̾͝t̸̢̻͈͒͠e̵̢͚͎͒̓n̴̗̍t̴̝̿̈́ï̴͕̱̙̄̈a̶̭̘͌́͜l̵̳͑̃.̶͓͉̣̔
All three men stopped and froze, their muscles tensing.
"Did, you hear that?" Hicks asked quietly as he swallowed, his grip tightening on his blade.
"I did. Kin, what was it?" Vault asked as he began walking slowly down the hallway, blade at the ready over his shoulder.
"There are a few options," Kin aid as he mumbled something under his breath and crested a small floating light that began pushing the miasma away from the three of them as they walked. "Most likely it is a high ranking demon capable of speech and magic. Likely what these cultists are trying to summon.
A̶̰̿ ̶̬̎D̶͈̉̍͊è̶͉̤ḿ̸͙ö̷̮̮̉n̴̻̫̒?̵̟͇͗͘͜ ̷͙̆͂S̵̲͎̟͂͘͝ü̸͖r̸̡̛̍e̸͈͍̿͂l̷̛̲̰̱͗y̴̭̐̎̚ ̷̪́ý̸̼o̶̻͓̎̏u̶̡͇̦̿͝ ̴̭̐͜j̶̜͒̽̈e̴̡̻̔̀͝ś̷̫̒t̷̳͇͈̐̌?̴̬̪͒̾
"What is it saying?" Vault asked.
"I cannot tell. Its language is, not one I am familiar with."
F̶̼̦̔o̴͚̭͊̾͂r̶̖͚͕͒͑ ̷͚̑͐ẫ̶̤͕ ̶̠̊m̶̙͍̦͛ã̷̯̾g̴͉͕̿e̶͇͍̼̾̇͋ ̶̗͊s̶̰̳̽͊t̵͇͂ų̷͓͇̀d̴̢̽̚y̴̨̡͇̾̍̄í̶̹̬͘ṉ̶̤́g̷̘͂̕ ̵̨̠̬̂m̶͉̓̃͠a̸̼͗͋g̶͉̭̻͒͝i̵̼͖̇̍̿c̵̝̫̲͠,̷̧̊̆̆ ̸̪̘͊ỳ̵̱ǫ̴̼̈́u̷͖̍̆ ̸̫͓̦̾̍a̶̬͖̾̆͛ṙ̴͎̘̚ê̸̜ ̷̨̄͊s̸̰̳̀́͜u̴̫͓̖͗̆͌r̷̤̮͒͐͆p̷̭̄͜r̶̢̳̼̓į̴͒͘̕s̸̫͕͎̀̅i̷̲̲͍̊͝͠ǹ̸̡͜g̶̨̩̼̀̊͠ ̶̺̳͔̍̄̈́w̴̖̔̈́̑é̶̯̰͓͐͠a̸̖̽̓̚k̵̏ͅ ̴͖͂̈͛ĩ̶̱͔̟͒̇ñ̸̨̝̒ ̶̥̜̎͝l̴̡̻̫͊̀͌ḛ̷͋͒̑ä̵͈͙́r̸̗͉̾̈́̆n̶̮̲͙͛i̸͔̦̿n̸̪̠̰͆ĝ̸̝̓̉ ̸̡̘̙͋͝w̵̟̺̋̀͜ȟ̴̬̂́ḁ̶̬̱͌̕͠t̶̢͚̔͂̚ ̶̬͇̩̔h̷̜͋͗͗ä̴͈̍̈́s̸̢̪͇͌̈͑ ̴̨͖̠́͂̈a̴̲͉̯̔l̷̻̋r̸͖͉̗͋͐́e̵̱̪͕̍̆ḁ̷́d̵̛̠͈̰͌y̵̘̕ ̴̫̑͘p̷͓͚̀a̶͓̤͇͛̄s̵̟̺̃̿̓s̸̡̘̔̊͠e̶͇͙̣͒d̸̞̻̯̔̈́.̵̢́͐ͅ
"Is it mocking us?" Hicks asked carefully as he looked into a room they passed, finding it empty. "And where is everybody?"
"I'm not sure, but the cultists may all be in the main chamber," Kin suggested with a grim look. We should hurry."
Y̵̳̊͠ĕ̷̠̈s̸̰͛̈́̆ ̵̧̀̋.̵͚̞̪̃ ̴͔̿̅̈.̴̠̽ ̵̳͕̓.̴͍͓̬͒ ̷̭̅.̸̠̽ ̷̓̚͜ ̵̲̠͖̂̀.̶̲̪̬̆h̶̖̭̅ů̸̖r̸͇͉͙̒̈́̑r̴̨̙͙̐̓͆ŷ̸͉̙̩̔́ ̸̜̀̓͠a̷̘̱͉̅ṅ̷̃̽ͅd̸͕̘̆ ̴̦͎́̒͌͜w̵̥̜͚̓͌̐e̸͕̓͝ ̵̘̹̻̊s̷̡̫̼͒h̴͈̓ä̵͕̯̺̀͝ļ̸̘͙̑̎̏l̸̡̛͗̔ ̴̗̲͓̊s̶̢̻̹̎e̸̩̲̭̊̉̅ẽ̷̖̓͝ ̶̫̳̼̑̽͋w̶͔̦͑̽̌h̵̜́̄â̸̬̼͠t̸̛͍̹̏̅ ̵̜̥̓ị̶͒̓̉ ̸̡̦͒̊̏ç̵̛̼̄̌ä̷͖͇͙́̀n̶̝̞͇̿ ̴͕̻̬̄g̵̮͗͊͆i̶͓̋̿͒v̸͚̺̽e̵̯͐͛ ̴̢̦̇̊͝y̶̺̋͛o̶̡̳͌̚̕͜ù̵̥̼,̴͉̹̆̽̔ ̴̤̪̈́͒̂h̸̜͉̰̀̑̅u̷̖͉͑m̴̧̀̓a̷̡̮̾̍n̸̮͗̊͛s̴̱͙̊͜.̴̫̓͝
Then we hurry," Vault said as he sped up his steps, a chanting noise being heard far beyond them as they turned down a sharp stairway that led into the darkness. "Did that voice, sound like it was offering something?"
"It could have been if it was a demon," Kin stated simply.
Ï̷͙ ̴̻̓o̷̩̍f̴͕̾f̸̺̆è̴͓r̴̢͛ ̶̬̾e̸̘̓v̵͕͗e̵̠͑ṛ̶̋ỳ̴͇t̸̺̍h̸͠ͅi̴̙͑n̷̟͝g̴̞͋,̶̥̌ ̷̰̅ỳ̶͓e̸̡̋ẗ̸͎ ̶̥̅ṉ̸̽ǫ̷͐t̵̩͠h̸̪̚ȋ̶͓n̷̳̓g̵̗͑.̸͇̍ ̴̣͆i̵̗̒ ̸̖͂ò̵̡f̷̛̺f̶̝́e̸̩̊r̶̠̋ ̸̣͠o̷̜̽n̸̗̾l̴̼̿ý̶̤ ̷̱̄t̴̰̉h̴̡̕e̵̝̿ ̴͚̏p̶͙̏o̵̱͠w̶̥͗e̶̯͛r̸͎̾ ̷͚͠t̷̬̍o̴͔̍ ̷̫̾m̵͆͜a̷̹̕k̷̟͂e̷͚͗ ̴̰̀ẏ̶̼o̴͙̽u̶̾ͅṙ̴̹ ̶̲͗d̴͔͝e̸͇̔ś̴̯į̸͗r̶̡̽e̶̲̕s̴̥͌ ̴͖̎r̶͈̎ȇ̸̯ả̶̬l̸͍̈́.̷̣͐
I̸͖͗ ̷̤̏s̴͘͜ẽ̶̜e̵̮̚ ̵͍̉ÿ̷̘́ö̴̯u̶͓̓r̵̟̊ ̵̦͒ḓ̴̀e̴̛̻s̴͓̐i̴͉̽r̶̫̕e̷̻͂ŝ̷̰.̷̰͂ ̶͓͐y̸̦͌o̵̠̒u̸͙͌r̷̼͒ ̵̭̒t̶̥͝h̷̩̐o̷͚̊ų̴́g̷̻͌h̷͍̀ẗ̶͕s̵͍̈́.̴̙̃ ̵͕͑ŷ̷͖o̷̝̾u̶̞̽r̷̡͠ ̶̻̉f̷̖͝e̷̦͘è̶̩l̶̘̓i̷̧͌n̷͇̂g̵̀͜s̵̪̒ ̸̛̬ò̶̹f̴͕̍ ̴̦̀t̸̟̑h̸̡́e̵̘̚ ̶̗͂w̶̦̋õ̵̩r̷͎̊l̵̊͜d̴͚̔.̸̳͊
Ỳ̷̥ö̷̜u̶͍͊r̷̖̈́ ̸̳̎h̶͕̕á̴͇t̷̘̒r̴͚̊ē̸̦d̵̟̽.̷̻̑
Ỳ̸͇o̴͂ͅü̵̬r̵̪̄ ̶̽͜d̵̨̉ẽ̴͙s̶͚̎i̸̠̅r̵͖̅e̵̜̅ ̷̟̾t̶͈̚o̵͓͝ ̵̹͝ş̷̕e̵̠̋ë̴̼ ̷̡͒t̵̫̆h̷͇̎o̵̪̾ş̴͋ę̸͋ ̶̙̿a̴̝͐b̷̖̋o̸͔͌v̸̪̎ė̵̦ ̵̗͠y̶̱͠ŏ̸̲ù̷̠,̶͉͌ ̴͍̅b̵̯̑r̵̦͛o̵̬͂ṵ̶̎g̴̗͊h̴͙̎t̴͈̎ ̸͕̚l̴̥̎o̸̟͗w̸̟͋.̴͓̈́
Y̸o̶u̶r̴ ̷d̸e̷s̶i̶r̴e̶,̵ ̵t̵o̵ ̵r̴e̴i̶g̵n̵ ̵o̷v̸e̸r̸ ̵w̴o̵m̸e̶n̷,̷ ̷t̸o̶ ̴m̴a̵k̶e̷ ̴t̸h̴e̶m̸ ̸s̴u̵b̸m̸i̸t̸ ̶t̴o̴ ̶y̴o̷u̶.̶
C̶o̶m̴e̴ ̷p̴o̸w̵e̴r̷f̶u̷l̵ ̶o̴n̵e̷s̵.̴ ̵l̸e̶t̸ ̴u̵s̵ ̸s̴e̷e̸ ̸i̵f̸ ̶y̸o̵u̵ ̴w̵i̶l̶l̶ ̵a̷c̵c̷e̵p̴t̸ ̴w̶h̸a̷t̷ ̶i̷s̸ ̵o̵f̶f̴e̶r̶e̸d̶.̴
None of the three men said anything as they moved down the dark halls. Words could be heard, and the less they said the better, but they also could not help but think over what the voice was saying, its words seeping into their ears to be understood. Offers of power, or potential.
Of a world not run by women, where men could live as they should.
Finally the darkness receded as they reached the bottom of the stairs, rivaling a bleak underground chamber of stone, illuminated by torched made of animal skulls, and with dozens of cultists lying upon the ground dead, their blood filling the Dais that one man too in the center of.
He turned his head to the three of them and smiled. "You are too late. With but a bit more my lord shall-"
"DIE!" Vault roared as he threw his sword at the cultist, his blade sailing through the cultist and creating a messy blast before crashing into the opposite wall with an even louder crash and the cracking of stone.
Silence reigned as the three men stood at the ready.
Only nothing happened for a solid minute, and the miasma was not disappearing.
"Yo Kin, did that do it?" Hicks finally asked, the silence becoming too unbearable for him.
Y̴E̷S̵ ̸I̴t̶ ̸a̸d̸d̵e̷d̴ ̷t̸h̷e̸ ̵b̴l̸o̷o̵d̶ ̶t̸h̸a̴t̷ ̶w̶a̴s̴ ̵n̸e̴e̴d̴e̷d̸.̶
Just as the voice spoke, the room lit up vibrantly purple and pink and the miasma seemed to disappear. Then in its place, a mass of energy seemed to form in the center of the dais, glowing white eyes forming in its center.
So, now we speak, as we are. Now you stand here, victories over fools, while being led around by them your whole lives. So sad. But it doesn't have to be.
"Shit, this not a demon," Kin said as he glanced behind them, only to find that the stairway they had entered by was no longer there. "We're trapped."
Trapped? No, not trapped. Invited. These fools sought to claim power from me, and while they knew how, they did not have desires strong enough for it.
You however, you three have desires so strong, they could take my powers and not be driven mad. You could become Messiahs of a new world. Of a world without the Goddess reborn. Of a world where you rule, as men like you should.
"That sounds . . . absurd. A whole regions religion cannot . . . be simply undone so easily," Kin proclaimed, having difficulty in speaking.
No, but with the right catalyst anything is possible.
In that moment a glowing orb appeared before each of the men, drawing their gazes and filling their mind's with visions of what could be.
You could be those catalysts.
So, what say you?