Disciple of the Liga Umbrei Pt. 07

"I have a few qualms with the vampires, but it's nothing compared to what Cawl has done."

"I am agnostic on the subject, myself," Magna said. "I think it would do us well to accept their offer, ultimately."

After several more minutes of discussion, we agreed to accept. This called for a change of plans. A crack team consisting of elite vampires, inquisitors, and goblin mages would launch a raid upon the production facility; this raid would be led by Magna. Meanwhile, Inquisitor Grey, Anise, and I were sent first to scout further.

It took two full days for us three to arrive. The remaining army continued their march. "So this is it, huh?" I muttered.

It was a large cave system, hidden with lianas. "So there are two entrances: one there and one further. And they double as exits."

"Ideally we'll have to block one of them," I said.

"Yes. We can storm it from one entrance. We can defeat anyone inside, and those who dare come outside ... they'll be captured by our allies," Inquisitor Grey said.

"Let's not forget that they are probably employing illegal slaves there. We don't want to discriminately kill everyone," Anise pointed out.

"Silence!" I hissed. I sensed a presence from afar. We immediately hopped onto a tree.

"That is Inquisitor Gwen," Inquisitor Grey murmured. "But who's the other one?"

"Kleist. One of the vampire coven leaders who sided with Cawl," Anise said.

"Can both of you assume your bat forms? I can cast obscuring spells to cloak you," Inquisitor Grey suggested.

"Not with Kleist there. He's not terribly strong, but he's incredibly perceptive. But Karl, you are not a vampire per se, are you?"

"Nay."

"Then I think we can risk it. I'll use my own obscuration spells, too."

As a bat, I charged headlong into the cavern. I quickly followed Inquisitor Gwen and Kleist. They were conversing with another masked man.

"Blackjack. I hope you will keep up the end of your deal," Kleist said. "We've provided you and your cohorts with funding and slaves, have we not?"

"Of course. The Unpeople will join your forces in greater numbers shortly. Many of them are still in slumber, but soon they will awake."

"How many is 'many' and how soon is 'soon'?" Inquisitor Gwen asked.

"Ten thousand have marched through our tunnels and should arrive tomorrow. At our disposal are thirty thousand that are not yet ready, at the very least. And it will take around one more week. We can speed the process up, but it's a risky move," the man named Blackjack said. "Let's speak about another thing ... there is another that you offered me, isn't there?"

"Magna, the Masked Witch," Kleist said. "Surely you understand we cannot capture her until the war is won. Only Lord Cawl himself has the strength to match her. But meanwhile, we have a little consolation prize for you." Bah. As if Magna would have folded so easily.

"Consolation prize? Kleist, we didn't bring anything," Inquisitor Gwen said.

"Didn't we?" Very quickly did Kleist move, injecting a paralyzing agent into Inquisitor Gwen.

"Ukh!" She fell down. "W-what are you doing?"

"Lord Cawl is displeased at your failure in Calvia," Kleist said. "At least your body is useful for our cause."

"Damn you! I am one of the Church's most powerful inquisitors, not a common whore! Release me this instant!"

"This one's noisy," Blackjack said. I listened no longer and got out from the cave, as I could feel the obscuring spells waning.

I told everything I saw to Anise and Inquisitor Grey. "Gwen ...," Inquisitor Grey whispered to himself. Anise, however, had other, seemingly more pressing, concerns.

"Ten thousand Unpeople may be able swing the tide," she said. "But thirty thousand will definitely swing the tide."

Magna and the reinforcements came hastily, and so our operation began.

Magna blocked one of the exits with a boulder she displaced. Anise and I led the vampires to the fray, a cloud of bats darkening the sky. We morphed into our man forms and began killing Blackjack's men. The deed seemed to inspire the slave workers to revolt, and they hacked their guards with shovels and rocks. The goons that fled outside were struck down mercilessly by arrows and magic blasts. "Damn it!" Blackjack shouted. He managed to cut down two of the vampires.

Inquisitor Grey fought him in a brutal close combat fight, his sword stabbing Blackjack multiple times before beheading him. I pushed to the lower levels of the cave. I had some of the vampires wake up and cure the Unpeople who could still be cured and euthanize those who could not, for the heavy task of mercy fell upon us.

Soon Inquisitor Grey and I broke down Blackjack's office. "Gwen!" Inquisitor Grey shouted. Inquisitor Gwen was tied to a chair and sperm stained her breasts and vagina.

"... Grey?"

Half an hour later, the raid was over. Inquisitor Grey and I took some time to talk with Inquisitor Gwen. The latter seemed as if her soul had been sucked out.

"If you want to turn me into a sex slave, feel free. It's your right anyway, since I'm now a lawful prize of yours."

"We're not here for that," Inquisitor Grey said. "Gwen ... why did you join Cawl?"

"Grey, do you believe in the Lord of Light? Or Val? Or any other god in the Church's pantheon?"

"I do."

"I don't."

An awkward and tense silence followed. "From all of Cawl's promises, one struck me like a child receiving sweets: a more equitable society. I saw young, talented mages being passed over for promotion in favour of foolish nobles. I approved slavery as a punishment ... before I realized the rich could simply bail themselves out. Whatever Cawl did, I turned a blind eye because I thought it would lead to a better world."

Inquisitor Grey extended his hand. "Join us, Gwen," he said. "I cannot promise you anything, but we will work towards what you envision."

"You know what, Grey, I'm not convinced. But between you and a man who sacrificed me the moment I failed him once, I know my pick." Inquisitor Gwen held her counterpart's hand, and she faintly smiled.

Our army continued their march, this time bolstered by the vampires, who provided valuable air recon and support. Inquisitor Gwen, having recently switched sides, pointed out at Cawl's supply lines. All in all, leaving garrisons to guard Calvia and the small villages and towns that we recaptured, we would have 35,000 men in Calicia. Five days had passed and we took a moment to finalize our war plans.

"Cawl still has around 50,000 men, so he'll have a numerical advantage," Inquisitor Gwen pointed out. "We must move with the assumption that one person will have to kill at least two."

"Yes. This is our final plans. To the left and to the right are our cavalry, some 2,000 in total. We will place the war constructs in the middle to bear the brunt of a cavalry charge that is likely to occur. Behind them will be a mixed line of men and demons. Vampires and goblins in general will be placed as a reserve, with the exception of goblin archers, who will provide us with cover, and vampire crossbowmen to give us air superiority." Magna pointed her fingers at the map.

"In general I don't think we should commit our forces unnecessarily. We have aces of our own, but Cawl, I know, has devoted a good chunk of his resources to secret projects. The Unpeople, for an example."

"We have no time for second guessing. Tomorrow we march ... to our salvation, or our annihilation."

The next day the battle began. Calicia was a heavily fortified city, but even it was on the brink of defeat against Cawl. Using the forest as a cover, we carefully moved our forces. Yet Cawl was no amateur to be outmaneuvered so simply. A good chunk of his army had turned their formation, so that they faced us.

"It begins," Magna grimly remarked.

Cawl's opening move was a predictable cavalry charge straight at our centre, intended to destroy us before we could deploy in an organized fashion. Magna's war constructs stood firm, gaining an advantage in a battle between Cawl's archers and ours. Goblins pelted the heavily armored knights' horses with rocks and poisoned arrows, while Magna's war constructs formed pseudo shieldwalls.

With their momentum broken, Cawl was smart enough to pull them back. We formed an organized formation. "Are we seriously just not going to jump into the fight?" I asked Magna.

"Nay. Our task is to counter enemy elites, not waste strength on Cawl's rank-and-file soldiers."

We lit our arrows on fire and struck at Cawl's siege engines. In response, he activated powerful magical shields, which Magna and Ivala immediately tried to erode. The three monstrously powerful mages battled from afar, and Cawl was outnumbered.

A skirmish followed, our heavily armored knights fighting theirs in a stalemate. To break the stalemate we sent goblins to flank them, with limited success. Night fell, and the first day of the battle was over.

"Hmm. This went about as well as could be expected from an outnumbered army," Magna evaluated our progress.

"To be expected. But we need to do something to shift the balance to our favour," Inquisitor Grey said.

"I can help with that."

Anise approached us with a couple of her bodyguards. "We vampires thrive in the night. We can set fire unto their camps and shower them with arrows."

"That's fucking stupid, fire is colored orange and it will reveal your positions, so unless we have some fucking black fire-OOOH!" Ivala pointed her fingers at Magna and I like some child.

An army of flying vampires took off to the sky. Their arrows are torched by black fire. Devon readied our cavalry. On Magna's signal, they loosed their arrows, sowing chaos upon Cawl's camp. Heavy cavalry struck with devastating charges, and Cawl's sleeping soldiers had to scramble.

I joined the battle as a shadowy presence, cutting down foes with my blade and helping set fire unto the tents. "Princess, we have to retreat now!" I heard one of Cawl's men say. He and his fellows were guarding, lo, Princess Anna. I had almost tried to pursue her before realizing my folly.

Half an hour later, with Cawl finally managing to get his forces to a more disciplined stance, we retreated. That day's battle was over ... decisively favouring us.

The second day of the battle began furiously. Lines of infantry clashed against each other in the early morning. Arrows flew in the sky, with the vampires making foul sweeps from above. Yet neither side truly prevailed. Only Magna and I were held back, almost all elite mages on both sides fighting each other with fireballs and thunderbolts.

"This is getting bad," I remarked as a group of vampires was cut down by arrows.

"We are the only aces in the hole left in our army," Magna replied. "In-"

DENG!

"What is that?" I muttered. A loud ringing bell stopped all the fighting as everyone halted to find the source.

A loud roar was heard, and Calicia's gate opened. The remnants of Acacia's army, led by their elderly king, charged from Calicia, its elite cavalry sending tremors down Cawl's rear. "It's time."

Magna and I simultaneously conjured a wave of black fire, dispersing Cawl's men so that Acacia's cavalry could cut them down. Mr Karpov and his mages threw their spells at our enemies. With renewed vigour, we charged at the encircled army.

"Grah!" A man in dark armour flicked his hands, and several dozen men were knocked off their feet. His stomps made minor earthquakes on the ground. It was Cawl, and his sheer presence had struck fear into the hearts of all. He wore Morgana's cape and necklace, and bore her scepter. He threw an orb of light, and all of a sudden our demons were gone, leaving Ivala behind. She limped back to us.

"What was that?" I asked, half-screaming.

"A pre-prepared banishment spell! Shit, I'm badly weakened, my army's sent home, we're fucked ...."

Magna was having none of it. Blackness covered her, and one second later she was covered in an armour alien to me, but it was clear that the armour had various enchantments and spells embedded, and the armour itself was of near unparalled quality.

"Cawl!" Magna shouted, jumping right into the centre of the field. Both sides cleared out the battleground. "Let's not expend our soldiers' blood when we can duke it out like what we did five centuries ago."

"Gladly."

The two fought in desperate and brutal close combats, sword against scepter. "You're still Morgana's bitch after all this time. Still wearing her trinkets?"

"I know you're baiting me. I am no child to fall for such tricks."

The two powerful mages exchanged their spells, fireballs against shockwaves. We evacuated most of our men while those two battled. Ivala, Mr Karpov, and I erected a barrier.

So calamitious and horrendous was their battle that earth itself shook. Magna's armour had allowed her to battle Cawl on par. "So long, Magna. You have been a worthy foe."

Cawl charged up a black orb with all his remaining mana. "I am the one who should be saying that." Magna's fists glow bright yellow.

Magna punched the air and Cawl released his orb, creating an explosion powerful enough to break through our barrier. "Holy hell," Caitlyn said. "What sort of magic do they have?"

Both Magna and Cawl was knocked back, and they had exhausted almost all the cards in their disposal. I tried to come to her aid, as Cawl's elites came to his, but they both brushed us off. "It's between me and that bastard."

"My Lord!" A familiar voice startled me. It was Rosie, and she threw Morgana's sword at Cawl. Cawl took it and, with a decisive swing, broke Magna's blade.

"Rosie! What are you doing?" Kanako barked. "Are you betraying us?"

"Rather than betraying you, it's more accurate to say that I never switched allegiances like you did."

"Fool!" Magna cursed. "Have you gone senile? Do you intend to resurrect Morgana?"

"Why would I do that?" Cawl asked. "I have no intention to execute the ritual needed to revive her ... her artifacts are enough for me."

Out of nowhere, a black mist descended upon us all. "Magna!" I roared.

"Hurdle around!" she replied.

"What is going on?"

"No clue!"

When the mist disappeared Cawl had become a husk on the ground. A tall, pale, and black-haired woman took his place. She bore a long blade and a plate armour.

"... shit."

"W-what did you do to Lord Cawl?" Rosie asked. Everyone else was either too shocked or intimidated to speak. When Morgana didn't bother to answer, Rosie lunged at her.

"Silence. You're noisy." Without mercy or hesitation, she cut Rosie into two with her blade.

"Fancy meeting both of you here, Ivala, Magna. And Karl. We finally meet in person."

"How could you be revived? I thought you needed a ritual!" I said.

"My powers are not so limited."

"So you say, but you are badly weakened from such a forced rebirth," Magna remarked. "We can take on you."

"Try."

Morgana burst with pinkish fire, forcing Magna and Ivala back. I was bathed in it for I could not escape quick enough. Yet I remained unharmed.

"Huh. Eldritch spells couldn't work on other half-demons? That's incovenient."

"Karl." I heard Magna's voice in my head. "Change of plans. Ivala and I will be working to dampen and weaken her severely ... but we need time to execute the spell."

I glanced at Magna and I nodded. I stepped forward, drawing my sword Sylvan. "Well, I'm not even going to try and convince you anymore."

"Good. You shouldn't."

"Insolent fool!" Morgana unleashed a barrage of ice shards. I conjured a barrier to deflect it, but she was so fast. She struck me with a bluish sphere, and it felt as if a thousand needles had been thrown into my gut.

I felt a great amount of power flowing into me. I glanced and saw Seira, Caitlyn, and Andrea pouring their power for me. "Heah!" I conjured a massive black fireball before hurling it at her.

"Clumsy ...."

Morgana nearly stabbed me in the back with an ice sword, but I cast a shield of black fire just in time I attacked her with a blast of thunder, but she dodged quickly. "Damn it, I didn't expect to be this weak."

Weak? I was barely able to keep up with her, much less deal some actual damage, but she called herself weak?

I charged like a bull, finally landing a lust bomb on her stomach. In return she grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground before she stomped on chest. I rolled over and stood on my feet, firing bolts of black fire at Morgana. "What do you expect to achieve here?" I asked. "You have no army. You have no allies."

"I don't know, kid, last time I warred with the world I had an army of three hundred thousand," Morgana replied.

"We won't let you do that again," I said. "We'll finish you here!"

"Insolent!" Morgana roared, and an explosion of ice knocked me down, separating Sylvan from me. She encased my limbs in ice. "This is finished."

"I'm sorry ...," I talked to Caitlyn, Andrea, and Seira with our mental link.

"Master!" I broke off the link so that they wouldn't die with me. Such was my death; I closed my eyes.

"Not if we have anything to say about it!"

Magna and Ivala, alongside Mr Karpov and our mages, rose their staves, which glowed brightly. Suddenly Morgana found herself paralyzed and her defences stripped. "Finish her!"

I grabbed Sylvan, and, with neither remorse nor hesitation, beheaded Morgana.

For a second nobody seemed to know what was going on, but a second later all burst to cheers. Magna's corpse turned to dust for some reason, leaving behind a number of peculiar black crystals, which I gathered.

Magna approached me. A smile blossomed on her face. "It's done ... we have killed her."

And the war was over.

Later on, Magna shed some light on the black crystals that Morgana left behind. According to Magna, such crystals were parts of Morgana's power, and would be most suitable for half-demons. She helped implant a large crystal inside me so that I could drain its power. She took three smaller ones for her research, and implanted three similarly sized crystals inside Caitlyn, Andrea, and Seira, rendering them immortal and their magic boosted, albeit only slightly. A number of crystals was held in reserve for emergency uses, as we could immediately consume them for a temporary power boost.

Yet this all rendered us late for the Council of Calicia, a peace conference discussing the aftermath of the war against Cawl. I had sent Kanako and Devon to represent the interests of Magna and I. On the third day of the Council Magna and I joined them.

"So, how's the situation?" I asked as we stood down in one of the guest rooms of the Acacian Palace. Honestly, I didn't have many goals to achieve. All I hoped was maybe strengthening our position and independence in the forests.

"Well, the negotiations are pretty intense, but we wrestled a lot," Kanako said. She laid a map on the table. "Acacia is weakened right now, so its lands have been divided to form new nations."

"The territory from our southern forests to Maluscia's border will become the Confederation of Phantasma!" Kanako said. "The eastern border is Calvia, while the western border is the same as Acacia's."

"I presume this is Anise's demand ... who leads it?"

"Uh, both of you. Karl and Magna."

Magna and I glanced at each other with disbelief. "I didn't expect to be king."

"Nor did I expect to be queen."

"I don't know what your appropriate titles will be, but Phantasma isn't exactly a kingdom. Well, it is similar, but you two won't hold as much power as a king or a queen. A lot of power falls unto local nobles, especially Anise, who now commands the mountains and forests in the north near the border with Maluscia."

"It seems like a lot of work ... I don't know if I'm well-suited to that," I admitted.

"Fret not, My Lord! I am sure you will make a good leader!" Devon said, half-shouting.

"I am concerned about two things: one, will Acacia be bitter over this, and two: what will Maluscia's reaction be?" Magna questioned.