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Chapter 69

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In this once peaceful night of the village, where the darkness is settling in as the clouds began blocking out the moon's light from reaching the surface while the people are already asleep in their homes or in the tavern, The streets are empty, save for a few rats and birds that roam around freely with no one around to stop them from doing whatever they please.

So far, everything is fine except for one anomaly: the fog has thickened ever since night settled in, weirdly increasing in size and density as it creeps its way closer to the village. Its movement is unnatural for a natural phenomenon like this, as it continues to slowly advance like a predator stalking its prey.

Looking at the community from a safe distance, there are knights made of crimson red armor, cursed warriors who had served the dark lord for reasons unknown to anyone but themselves, as three stood together, with the middle being an intimidating nine-foot-tall man who is towering over the rest.

Having used his greatsword to puncture at the ground, General Wymar and his two knights stared at the village from afar, menacingly preparing for the invasion that the three had sent here to kill those so-called heroes. Their bodies are pulsating with the dark curse that is giving them the power needed to destroy anything that stands in their way.

"The Dark Lord has given us a mission we need to complete," the general announced with grim certainty. "Our task is to eliminate those heroes who dare challenge our master and wipe them out before they become an even bigger threat." His voice boomed with confidence as he prepared himself to engage in the battle.

However, one of the two retorted in disagreement with this plan, "Must we waste our time dealing with such insects?" The knight on the right spoke to the general in regards to his leadership's decision: "What is our worth in killing weaklings who can't even survive our prowess? Won't it be much quicker and more efficient if we used our magic to bring the dead back from their graves and have them attack these worthless peasants?" Advocating his idea while also pointing out the flaws in the current strategy.

General Wymar had thought about it for a moment. It is true that he and his fellow knights had really gotten tired of always winning against such weak warriors who barely could fight back against them. "Perhaps you have a point, my brother," he agreed in this sentiment. "But our dark master had sent us to eliminate those heroes," reminded his comrade. "When he wills it, so shall we receive."

Though the one who spoke reluctantly accepts this, "then he should have picked someone who is more capable of fighting strong opponents," the crimson knight grumbled at this: "What fun is there in fighting inferior warriors and those who cannot fight back? This is wasting our time for the more powerful enemies to have all the glory while we do all the work and yet not be rewarded for it!" Displeased with the task they have been given.

But the crimson knight who was silent all the time decisively spoke up, "then we should test their might," suggested his comrades as he raised his black, curved sword towards their direction, "if they are worthy of fighting against us, then we must bring the undead to their location," wanting to test the mettle of those heroes, "and if not then it shows that our master is correct about their insignificance in changing the outcome of the future."

Wymar actually agrees on this take, for he had never imagined to test out his skill against worthy fighters and now he will have an opportunity to do so, "what shall our master respond if we did not obey him?" He wonders, knowing the consequences for failure, "can you guarantee that he will not punish us for not following his orders?" Questioning the reasonability of this, "for as much I want to satisfy our search for worthy men in the battlefield, but I must decline, as my duty is to serve our master without questioning him and thus follow his commands without hesitation."

Thinking this through, the one holding curved sword nodded in understanding, "then it is pity because I desired to test them first," with swift motion, he cut off his ally with one full attack before turning to his general, who in turned grabbed the greatsword.

"What mannerism is this?" Wymar said in a disappointed manner, taking a stance with his large sword raised above his own head, "Have your instincts betrayed your loyalty, Ulric?" Words are laced with annoyance at this never-ending betrayal in their lust for fighting.

Ulric smirked under his helmet, "Don't take it personally; we just got bored of fighting weaklings and seek to find men of greater worth," explaining himself to the general, "If you wish to hinder this goal of ours, then I will kill you too," threatening his longtime superior.

Anger swelled in the general's chest, "so be it," he growled menacingly as his hands gripped the handle tightly, "this isn't the first time I have shoved my blade into fellow knight before," swinging in lightning speed before clashing with the blade of his former ally, sending shockwave through the area around them.

Possessing inhuman strength and durability beyond normal human limits in exchange for greater power, these two knights fought with all they have, muscles hardened and eyes are locked onto one another with the intent of slaughtering the enemy; a powerful kick landed square on the abdomen of General Wymar, causing him to stumble backwards before raising his greatsword, slamming the blade onto the ground to keep himself from falling.

"You will not leave alive, traitor!" The general declared loudly, "I will not allow you to do as you please! No longer shall I allow this selfishness of yours to persist within the order," speaking out his strong loyalty towards his leader that had given them power beyond imagination.

Ulric grinned, "I admire your devotion to our master, but your loyalty is wasted on a coward who only hides behind the throne that relies on his minions to do the dirty work," the red knight taunted with derision, "think for second, do you think only the once three of us can slaughter an small entire village?" Logical explanation to his point of view.

Stopping for moment, Wymar stared at him if the man was idiotic or not, "yes, we have. I have seen our comrades easily slaughtered entire villages with barely any scratch," boosting in confidence, "it is useless to resist for we will be victorious in the end, no matter how many enemies or threats we face."

Despite hearing this, the man holding his curved sword grumbled in hearing such vanity coming from his superior, "think, general, think. We do not know the capabilities of these heroes the king had send to slay our dark lord nor we have clue in knowing what their capable off aside from what they were tasked for," elaborating his standpoint while also voicing out concern.

He can see point in this, for nearly all his life; he had slain so many adventurers and warriors that the concept of defeat is merely impossible to him. Moreover, it is his loyalty for the dark lord that has kept him from challenging him for his position, despite how inefficient some of his master's ideas are.

The thought of not following any order without question or thinking whether they're smart or not is something the general found difficult to understand, despite how many times he tries to make sense of this, "I...see..." Feeling convinced, he lowered his guard while staring at his opponent in conflict of what to do next.

Seeing this, Ulric sighed in relief as he lowered his guard, "I'm glad you see my point," expressing satisfaction for finally convincing his superior, "finally, we can begin with the main plan now," before the two red knights then proceeded to start summoning the undead for the purpose of testing their battle prowess.

Hearing this, Wymar could not help but feel offended by it, "whether it is test or not, I'm still going to do my duty in bringing out the dead for battle," he told himself, "this doesn't change anything between us, Ulric. Just remember, betraying him won't be tolerated; he will know," reminding of doing something this foolish will be the man's undoing.

Instead of feeling terrified, Ulric was intrigued of this rather than having fear instilled in him, "very well," the knight replied with confidence, "for we all seek good death in the battlefield, don't you agree?" Saying in playful tone which amused his superior.

Smiling under his helmet, "indeed, that is a very noble notion," Wymar said in agreement, "all of our brothers wants to satisfy their hungry bloodlust in the battlefield, I pray the heroes live up to their names," hoping his dark master was right about them.

"Then we rise and let us go," Ulric turned to face where the village is, raising his arms; he then began to speak learnt spell inclusive for those who joined their cause, "gnivil eht fo htrof kees dna snoinim ym esir!" Announcing the accursed words aloud, skeleton hands with flames burst from the ground as they dragged several rotting corpses out of their resting place.

Seeing the undead summoned from the depths of the grave, the two watch them sprout like weeds as hundreds of skeletons and zombies alike surround them while moaning and groaning like they usually do. All of them are armed with various weapons and armor.

Some are burning eternally, seemingly unhurt by it while the rest waited patiently for their summoner to give the command of their target, "I always despise them," the general said in disgust, "undead are weak and pathetic, only good they do is to sacrifice themselves for us to use during battle," dismissing them as disposable soldiers.

His subordinate disagreed in this take, "they are nothing more than testing dummies for those heroes," the man added in more of a humorous tone, "however, I have to agree with the fact that they are weaker than us, even before they lost their sanity, they are still incompetent in combat," agreeing with the part of their weakness, "dumb and lacking tactics but dangerous if they overwhelm the enemy."

True, even though the undead are fairly dangerous, they are incapable of using tactical formations or using teamwork in the battlefield; their only way of winning is by sheer numbers but this makes them extremely easy to be exploited by smarter individuals.

Regardless, this will do if those chosen group in slaying the dark lord is truly worthy opponents to face in combat. Because if that is the case, then it would be both good and bad thing for them, good in having real opponents to face; and bad in having to deal with equal footing.

And yet, they all wanted the thrill in finally getting worthy challenge, even with their victory assured, it won't be fun otherwise because the general has disobeyed the will of their dark master for their own wishes, the first time he had ever done in his long servitude to him.

It feels disappointing but nonetheless intriguing to see what happens, "what about the women and children? Shall they be spared in this encounter?" He inquired about the logistics in destroying the village for Wymar had already done this multiple times, seeing no fun in it.

From the general's words, Ulric laughed from this absurd suggestion, "mercy? We do not show any compassion to those who cannot fight back, they will die just like the rest of the men, they are more useful for our undead army to consume and add more strength in their ranks," declaring mercilessly with no shred of remorse, "and besides, there is no need to hesitate," speaking in harsh tone, "enjoy the spill of innocent blood while it last."

Before the general had a chance to reply, his ally marched to the village with the undead army trailing behind the summoner, marching through the heavy fog as their armors glowed brightly in the night while the darkness engulfed everything in its path.

He watched them from afar, a small chuckle escaped from the lips of Wymar, "hmm, perhaps this will be good time in letting out my boredom to these weaklings once more," admittingly enjoying in fighting lesser beings for the thrill in combat is what drives him, "hopefully they will motivate me in enjoying slaying them."

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by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.042 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 17:18, Nov 14 2024