MATURE: Chaos Rising: Age of Heroes (Season 4) Season finale up!

[CynthiaLover]

Time for the next chapter of Chaos Rising. (Warning: contains mild language, violence, mild sexual themes)

Spoiler: Chapter 41) Dark Lust

Dark Lust

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It had been a few days since the most recent Nightmare Seven attack. Hope was reaching its peak among the various nations, knowing that the eradication of the Nightmare Seven was within reach. With only two members left in the infamous group the nations and races were singing the Heroes’ praises, knowing it was them who were leading the charge against the murderous warriors.

In the rundown castle on Nyx, Maleagant and Melantha were trying to figure out a way to stop the Heroes and avenge their fallen comrades. Maleagant was going over the remaining plans that Helbram had left behind prior to his death while Melantha tried to think of a possible idea to turn things around.

“Dammit to hell!” Maleagant roared. “I can’t believe our group has been whittled down to just the two of us! How could those lowly ‘Heroes’ and their allies give us so much grief!? There’s no way they should be able to stand up to us yet they’ve killed five of our group! Did that Templar guy who ‘hired’ us know this would happen? Or was he hoping that we’d be the ones to prevail? I just don’t know anymore. We’ve never been beaten on the battlefield. Never. Yet the Shroud Hero party has managed to kill one member after another. Dammit, we need a new plan!”

Melantha, who was lying in a rather saucy pose, replied, “I’ll say. This never happens to us, so why is it happening now? I mean, we were considered invincible and had this entire continent under our thumbs. Now, the rest of the world is laughing in our faces that we’ve been whittled down to just the two of us. It’s gotten impossible to track down a sexy chick for me to have fun with, as they’ve all fled or now see us as laughingstocks. I won’t stand for it.”

Maleagant huffed, “Curb your libido for a bit and let’s try to figure something out. While you and I are the strongest of the Nightmare Seven, the fact that those ‘Heroes’ still managed to eradicate the other five members of our group means we need to take drastic measures. As much as I’d hate to do it, we may have to resort to using those Skull Bells we got from that Templar to summon monsters to either even the odds or at least distract those ‘Heroes’ so we can kill them. I really don’t like using monsters as minions, as they’re totally useless compared to more seasoned fighters like us. But we may have to just simply overwhelm those ‘Heroes’ with numbers in order to balance the playing field, as the odds are now heavily skewered in their favor.”

The lustful female Nightmare Seven member suggested, “Why don’t we ‘invite’ them to come to us instead of always going to them? I mean, no one steps foot on Nyx anymore except Infinator’s group, so maybe we can use this continent’s hostile terrain to our advantage? While having the ‘Heroes’ killed before the eyes of their allies would benefit us more, as it would strike fear into those lowly cockroaches, we may have to resort to dragging them away from their territory and into ours. Besides, even if we have to use monsters, the denizens of this land are far more vicious than the continent of Iselina, which is their home base. Why don’t we try that?”

“We’re out of options, so that may be our best bet. And it would be fitting to have them march to their deaths here on the deadliest continent in the world. Fine, let’s do it. But we need a means of ‘inviting’ them to our domain, as simply hand delivering a ‘message’ won’t work.”

“There’s always a crystal ball. I believe I saw one in that sack the Templar guy gave us. Use that to open up a message channel and contact the ‘Heroes’ to ‘invite’ them here. And make sure they come alone, as in no soldiers or ShadoKnights or that pretty boy knight with his harem or whatever acting as backup. Just that meddling group of ‘Heroes’ and no more.”

Maleagant nodded, “Right. Before I do, let’s iron out our battleplan so we can be ready for them. We’ll make sure that this is the last mission those ‘Heroes’ will ever do.”

It was the following day. King Alvin had gathered up the Heroes and their allies in the throne room. He took a moment to ensure that everyone was present before clearing his throat.

“Heroes, we received a ‘challenge’ from Maleagant,” he said. “He contacted us via crystal ball just this morning, challenging the Heroes. However, this time he wants you to come to him on the Dark Continent Nyx instead of ‘the other way around’, as he put it. However, only the Heroes and the Shroud Hero party are permitted to come to Nyx. He wants Sir Gram’s group and any other allies to stay behind. It’s obvious that this is a trap but it is also our best chance at eliminating the Nightmare Seven. Prince Avalar… what do you say? Should we abide by Maleagant’s wishes and have only your party and the Heroes go? Or should we send others under the guise of Cloak to act as backup?”

Celtic pondered for a moment before saying, “Let’s ‘abide’ by Maleagant’s wishes. Nyx is a dangerous no-man’s land: I’d rather we not risk hurting our allies in that harsh environment. Besides, it does raise the concerns that someone could launch an attack while we’re away, so having our allies stay behind to protect the people here would be wise. Yeah, only us Heroes should go right now and deal with the remaining Nightmare Seven members, the rest of our allies should stay here in case of an attack or other issues.”

Gram looked concerned, “Are you sure about that, Sir Celtic? Wouldn’t it be better to have backup on such a dangerous mission?”

“Having backup would be good, but at the same time we run the risk of allies like you getting caught in the jaws of certain monsters or a sneak attack happening here while our defenses have been thinned. It would be wise to leave you and more experienced fighters here to protect the civilians from such an outcome while we Heroes finish off the Nightmare Seven.”

King Alvin took a moment to think before he replied, “Prince Avalar is correct. If our enemies learn that our defenses have been thinned during this mission they may try to launch a sneak attack. It would be better to leave the Nightmare Seven to the Heroes and have allies like Sir Gram and the ShadoKnights stay behind to protect us. I’m not fond of the idea in sending the Heroes off to Nyx to hunt down the remaining Nightmare Seven, but if it eliminates them for good and ensures that our people are safe, then so be it. Avalar, you go and begin the preparations for the mission, since Nyx is a dangerous land. Then you’ll have to use Shadow Warp to get you and the other Heroes to Nyx, specifically the Nightmare Seven’s castle. Don’t take any chances and make sure you eliminate the remaining Nightmare Seven members, as this could be our best bet in doing so.”

Celtic nodded, “Right, I’ll get on it.”

Gram looked a bit worried, “I don’t like the idea of the Heroes going to Nyx alone. But the possibility of a sneak attack while we have fewer defenses is a very real threat. Just be safe, Heroes, as we can’t lose you now.”

Ryan nodded, “We’ll be okay. Thanks for the concern, Gram, we appreciate it, but if we’re just going to their castle then it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. But, again, it is Nyx, so we will be careful.”

Lucas added, “Yeah, we’ll be careful. And if this mission allows us to not only eliminate the Nightmare Seven but also gets us one step closer to shutting Robert’s faction down for good then we can’t pass up on it.”

Celtic said, “I’ll begin the necessary planning for this mission. Give me an hour. Then we’ll make our way to Nyx.”

An hour later Celtic had drawn out the Heroes’ battleplan for dealing with the last two members of the Nightmare Seven. The Heroes all gathered in the throne room, having been briefed on the plan, and were ready for action.

“Godspeed to you, Heroes,” King Alvin said. “Don’t take any unnecessary risks and make sure that you end the Nightmare Seven once and for all.”

“Be safe, Heroes, as we can’t lose you now,” Gram stated.

Celtic nodded, “Right, let’s do this. If we’re all ready to go we can begin.”

The other Heroes nodded, saying, “Let’s rock!”

“Shadow Warp!”

The Heroes and the Shroud Hero party vanished in black portals, leaving the Delgunner royal family and Gram’s group behind. They reappeared in an unfamiliar area. They took a moment to gather their bearings and observe the surrounding area.

“Yeah, this is Nyx,” Viola said. “Can’t mistaken this terrain, what with all the bones scattered about.”

Jerry said grimly, “I wonder if some of these bones are the leftovers from Slader’s ‘meals’.”

Leon replied, “That’s a very distinct possibility.”

Eric then said, “Don’t look now but I see Maleagant and Melantha approaching us from that rundown castle just ahead of us. Looks like we’re at the right spot.”

The Heroes looked straight ahead, seeing the remaining two Nightmare Seven members approach them. Maleagant and Melantha stopped at a certain distance from the Heroes, narrowing their eyes.

“So, you came after all,” Maleagant growled. “You’ll soon regret that, as your bones will be joining our other victims as part of Nyx’s décor. This time we’re gonna avenge our fallen comrades and finally put an end to you ‘Heroes’. Melantha, I know you want the Light Elf for yourself. You go ahead and ‘enjoy’ her while I deal with the rest.”

Melantha smirked, “Gladly, boss.” She turned to Skye, “Boobalicious elf, you and I are going to have ‘some fun’ together. Just you and me, no one else. Let’s put some distance between us and your little faction so we can begin. I can’t wait to have my way with you when this is all over.”

Skye snarled, “Bring it on. You’ll soon find out that my heart, body, and soul belong to Celtic. And I mean that quite literally when it comes to my heart, as the very organ that beats in my chest is actually one of Celtic’s hearts that he used to resurrect me when Sylph killed me. So don’t think that I’ll let you have your way with me, as that honor belongs to Celtic.”

Melantha’s eyes narrowed, “You dare let a man have his way with you? I’ll show you that there is only one true path to take when it comes to a gorgeous number like yourself. Let’s get this party started.”

The two scantly clad, busty, attractive females put some distance between them and the rest of the group. Celtic gained a worried expression but focused his attention on Maleagant. The leader of the Nightmare Seven gave his halberd a swing.

“Normally I’m against using a tactic like this,” he said. “However, desperate times call for desperate measures. I never thought anyone would push my group this far. But I’m gonna make sure that you all perish today and avenge my comrades!” He started to channel energy before stating, “Command!”

It was as if targets had been put on everyone in the Hero faction except Skye. Suddenly, they all heard heavy footsteps. Rupert was the first to spot something with his sharp eyes.

“Hey, heads up, gang!” he stated. “We’ve got a whole pack of King Gunthor Leviathans coming our way from the east!”

Everyone turned to see the herd of massive monsters approach them. They looked a lot like T-Rexes, only they had drill-like tusks on the sides of their jaws, a row of spikes lining their backs, dragon-like frills, and long, thick tails ending in a spade.

Lucas readied his Spear, “No worries. We can just use the Ringmonster-based abilities to flip the script on Maleagant.”

Viola shook her head, “Sorry, Lucas, but that’s not possible. Command is a spell that cannot be overwritten unless the target or targets are dead, the user is dead, the monsters affected are dead, or someone else uses Command. So the Ringmonster-based Gear forms are useless here. No, we have to do this the old fashioned way. Fortunately, they have a massive weakness to Ice, so any Ice-based skills will go a long way in killing them.”

Eric went pale, “Please tell me that’s not true.”

Celtic nodded, “Yeah, sadly we have to deal with those King Gunthor Leviathans the hard way. So, prepare for battle!”

The Heroes and most of the Shroud Hero party prepared for battle while Maleagant stepped back to watch. At the same time, Skye and Melantha started to fight, with Skye’s naginata clashing with Melantha’s spear. Both females fought fiercely, though it was obvious that Melantha was eyeing up Skye, especially the Light Elf’s bosom, much to her annoyance. Both charged each other repeatedly, trying to gain the upper hand, though it appeared Skye’s martial art strength was starting to overpower Melantha’s raw might.

At that time the King Gunthor Leviathans had appeared and started their battle with the Heroes. Viola made quick motions with her clawed hand, entangling the King Gunthors’ legs with her silk.

“Okay, that should limit their movements!” she said. “However, the raw strength in those legs will eventually tear the silk, so we have to act fast while they’re temporarily disabled.” She started to channel energy before stating, “Like this! Ice Tower!”

She slammed her palm on the ground, causing pillars of ice to shoot up, impaling the King Gunthors, making them roar in pain as the Ice damage hurt them.

“I’ll join in!” Celtic stated. “Ice Tower!”

He slammed his palm down, causing more pillars of ice to jut out of the ground, impaling the King Gunthors. This attack caused the King Gunthors to start struggling against the silk ensnaring their legs, causing tears to form.

Ryan turned to Eric and Jerry, “You both know Deep Freeze, right?”

Eric and Jerry nodded, stating in unison, “Then let’s put the freeze on these dinos!”

All three of them started to channel energy before their eyes gleamed.

“Deep Freeze!” all three said.

The Gunthors all were hit by a massive ice storm that briefly encased them in blocks of ice before the ice shattered. The King Gunthor Leviathans roared in agony as their bodies started to succumb to the Ice magic damage. They continued to pry at the Arachne silk around their legs but it was obvious their movements and strength was starting to wane, as the rips in the silk weren’t getting larger.

At the time, Skye and Melantha were still fighting hard. Both were launching spells alongwith their physical strikes, though it was starting to dawn upon Melantha that Skye’s magical levels and physical strength were higher than hers, as the Light Elf’s abilities were pushing back hers more easily.

“You’re a feisty one, elf girl!” Melantha stated. “But you’ll eventually lose and become my plaything. And I think I’m gonna take a sample right now!”

She charged at Skye. The Light Elf clashed weapons with Melantha. Melantha then moved one of her hands and tried to grope Skye’s breasts while they were up close. Skye noticed this, gained a hateful expression, and kicked Melantha back, stabbing her with the spiked heel of her boot, leaving a bleeding wound on the Nightmare Seven member’s bare stomach.

“Only Celtic gets to have any rights to have fun with my body!” Skye snapped. “I’m his and his alone, and I won’t let you violate me before he gets his way with me!”

As she said this Celtic gained an exasperated expression, thinking, “Does she really have to say that out loud? She really is shameless. I sure know how to pick ‘em. Though at least my judgment on a woman’s true personality is better than Lucas’, so that’s one advantage I have.”

Melantha looked livid, “You’d rather a dirty man have his way with you instead of a perfect woman like me? You really need to be taught that the only true path to sexual paradise is with me, not that slimy hybrid man of a Shroud Hero.”

Now it was Skye’s turn to be livid, yelling, “DON’T YOU DARE CALL CELTIC THAT, YOU SHAMELESS MURDEROUS PROSTITUTE!!! You can hate other men all you want in order to flaunt your sexuality, but I WON’T let you badmouth Celtic! He is the master of my heart! I am the dagger to his cloak! We are as one! I could never, EVER accept anyone else as my lover! If you’ve got a problem with that, then that’s your problem! Make it mine and I’ll show you how dangerous I can be when defending him! So, bring it on, scum of Zakota!”

Melantha readied her spear, stating, “Then I’ll just have to prove my point!”

She charged at Skye; spear ready to strike. Skye waited patiently as Melantha ran up to her, eyes closed. As soon as the Nightmare Seven member was barely a foot away, Skye’s eyes snapped open and she launched a martial art strike with her foot, slamming it into Melantha’s stomach, sending her flying. She then got into a crouch and springing upward, shooting above Melantha before readying her naginata.

“Game over, prostitute!” the Light Elf spat.

She started to spin like a sawblade while holding her naginata. Melantha could only watch in horror as Skye’s spinning assault sliced the Nightmare Seven member clean in two. Skye stopped spinning and landed on the ground gracefully while Melantha’s two halves crashed to the ground. At the same time the rest of the party and the Heroes had finished off the King Gunthor Leviathans, leaving a shocked and infuriated Maleagant.

Zuzu slammed her palm on the ground, “Let’s finish this! Wrath Fire!”

The cursed black flames erupted underneath Melantha’s corpse, burning it to nothingness. Leon then started to channel energy.

“Begone, thot!” he said. “Exorcism Eraser!”

The sacred circle formed underneath the charred earth where Melantha once was. It released a pillar of light before Melantha’s soul appeared briefly. She screamed in pain before her soul shattered into nothingness. Everyone then directed their attention to Maleagant, who was readying his halberd.

“You lot have gone too far now,” the leader of the Nightmare Seven growled. “I’ll make sure to avenge my fallen comrades… starting with you, Shroud boy!”

Next Chapter: Unbridled Wrath

That's all for today. Looks like the final battle with the Nightmare Seven is about to unfold. Tune in next time to find out what happens.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Time for the next chapter of Chaos Rising. (Warning: contains mild language, violence)

Spoiler: Chapter 42) Unbridled Wrath

Unbridled Wrath

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The Heroes were staring down Maleagant, the remaining member of the Nightmare Seven. The leader of the infamous group was clearly furious at the deaths of his companions and was ready to brawl. Both sides remained tense, as if waiting for the other to make the first move.

Finally, Maleagant spat, “If you’re not gonna make the first move, then I will! I’ll avenge my fallen Nightmare Seven members and make sure you ‘Heroes’ never see the light of day again!” He gave his halberd a swing, stating, “Eat this! Sonic Boom!”

He fired a massive air slash at the Heroes, who all dodged the attack before regrouping. Maleagant started to channel energy.

“I’m gonna make sure you hellspawns pay!” he spat. “Dark Chains!”

Everyone except Celtic were bound by the Dark energy chains, trapping them in place. Celtic’s eyes narrowed.

“So, you want to fight me first, huh?” he growled.

“Partly, but I also want your allies disabled so I can kill them unopposed once you’re dead!” Maleagant snarled. “I never thought I’d see the day where my team and I would be pushed this far, and it’s all because of that Templar guy ‘hiring’ us to deal with you. As a result, this is all your fault. So I’ll deal with you first to avenge my comrades before I finish off your allies.”

He then jumped into the air, his halberd raised up above his head, and prepared to slice Celtic in two. Celtic transformed his arm into Reflector Shield and prepared to defend himself. The halberd slammed into the Reflector Shield, blocking the attack and sending an instant aerial shockwave counterattack at Maleagant, knocking him back. He landed gracefully on his feet, angry, though it was clear he wasn’t expecting the Reflector Shield’s retaliation attack.

“Not bad, but it’ll take more than that to defeat me!” he snarled. “Sonic Boom rapid-fire!”

He started to swing his halberd rapidly, launching multiple air slashes at Celtic. However, for some reason, the air slashes missed, confusing Celtic. It then dawned upon him; he turned around, and saw the air slashes pummeling the other Heroes and his party. These attacks also caused a lot of damage to the other Heroes’ armor.

“Hey!” he snapped. “Leave them out of this!”

Maleagant sneered, “And what will you do to stop me from tenderizing them?”

“I’ll do… THIS!” Celtic roared. “Rook Defense! Meteor Barrier! Shield Wall!”

Two giant Rooks appeared in front of the rest of the group, shielding them. Followed by a Meteor Barrier forming around them on all sides. And lastly the orbiting shields of Shield Wall appeared, clustered together, and positioned themselves in the very front. This combination completely blocked any attempts to hurt the rest of the group. Maleagant’s eyes narrowed and he launched another Sonic Boom to test the defenses. The triple defense effortlessly blocked his attack, not gaining a scratch or crack.

“Clever, quite clever,” he said. “But you’re leaving yourself out in the open. At least your friends can have a front row seat to your demise. So bring it on, Shroud boy!”

Celtic stood his ground, “Gladly! Killjoy Shroud! Flame Dagger Acrobatic Assault!”

The Shroud transformed into the Killjoy Shroud, followed by several flaming daggers appearing. The daggers were launched at Maleagant, who placed his halberd in front of him. The daggers hammered away at this defense but they were unable to damage Maleagant. Celtic gritted his teeth.

“Then I’ll just have to pull out something with a bit more oomph! Pawn Attack!”

He summoned two giant Pawns that charged at the remaining Nightmare Seven member. They swung their swords at him, which succeeded in knocking him back, but he remained largely unhurt. He then jumped into the air, halberd raised up high, before slamming it down upon one of the Pawns. The force of the attack caused the Pawn to crack and then shatter, completely destroying it, much to everyone’s shock.

“No way!” Ryan sputtered. “The Pawn was destroyed! How is that possible!?”

Skye, who was struggling with the Dark Chains, replied, “While the Rooks are indestructible, unless they’re used in the Checkmate final attack, the Pawns and Knights have a certain amount of HP. If dealt enough damage they will be destroyed. Celtic can simply respawn new ones, but it’ll cost him a chunk of MP. At least, thanks to several MP buffs from other Shrouds and whatnot he has quite the large MP pool, but if Maleagant can shatter one of the Pawns with one attack then it might not be worth summoning another one to replace the one destroyed. He may have to use a Knight instead, especially since the Knights can pierce defenses.”

Maleagant turned his attention to the other Pawn, which lashed out at him. The Pawn managed to strike the Nightmare Seven leader, damaging him, but he jumped into the air again and slammed his halberd down on the Pawn. The force of the attack destroyed the Pawn, but Celtic noticed that the halberd had gained a few chips in it as a result.

“I’m far from defeated!” he said. “Knight Charge!”

He summoned two Knights which raced toward Maleagant. Maleagant swung his halberd at the Knights, which managed to endure the attack before ramming him, sending the Nightmare Seven leader flying. He crashed in a heap on the ground but quickly jumped back up. The Knights charged in again, but Maleagant gave a mighty swing of his halberd and sliced the two Knights in half, destroying them. However, like last time, Celtic noticed that the halberd was starting to gain more chips and a few cracks in it.

“I need to keep up the pressure,” Celtic said to himself. He then said aloud, “Let’s see you stop this! Dragon Rage Shroud!”

The Shroud transformed into the Dragon Rage Shroud, along with his armor transforming into its associated armor. He then coated himself in flames.

“Dragon Rage Impact!”

He charged ahead; his agility having been increased by the Shroud’s magic. Maleagant raised his halberd and ran toward Celtic. He gave it a swing, which Celtic dodged at the last second before ramming the Nightmare Seven member, engulfing both of them in a fiery explosion. Both jumped out of the smoke and landed a fair distance apart. Celtic then stumbled as he felt the recoil damage take effect, his HP dropping a decent amount, but regained his composure. Maleagant smirked as he saw the recoil effect.

“So, that form possesses great power but it hurts you in the process,” he sneered. “Are you really willing to risk damaging yourself in order to win this fight, Shroud Hero? Gutsy, I will admit, but it’ll take more than that to topple me!” He slammed his halberd in the ground, stating, “Eat this! Volcanic Blast!”

A massive volcanic-like eruption burst from underneath Celtic’s feet, pounding him with fiery energy. Celtic quickly jumped out of the attack to avoid taking any more damage, though he noticed his HP dropping a bit.

He said silently, “As powerful as the Dragon Rage Shroud is, I can’t risk its recoil effect. If Maleagant can deal damage to me despite my defenses being as high as they are. I’ll have to switch tactics.” He then said aloud, “Try this on for size! Charge Engine Demon Shroud! Crazy Locomotive!”

The Shroud transformed again, causing the dragon-like armor to vanish in the process. The Shroud then glowed and summoned the Charge Engine Demon. Celtic gave a strong swing of his arm, commanding the Charge Engine Demon to rocket forward toward Maleagant. The Nightmare Seven leader jumped out of its path but it came to a screeching halt just seconds afterward. Celtic then snapped his left fingers, causing the Charge Engine Demon to explode, much to Maleagant’s surprise as he was caught in the blast zone. The explosion sent him flying back, crashing onto the ground, badly hurt, but, to everyone’s surprise, he managed to get back up.

“Not bad, not bad at all,” Maleagant growled. “That explosion was certainly not something I was expecting. But this fight is far from over, Shroud Hero. I’ll make sure you and your allies die right here and right now. I’m far from finished. So take this!” He started to channel energy, “Dark Meteors!”

Dark energy meteors rained down upon the battlefield. Many of them struck the defensive combo that protected the Shroud Hero party and the other Heroes but were still unable to penetrate it. Celtic, however, was hit by several, though he appeared to weather the attack, it was obvious that he took some damage in the process. Maleagant then charged in and swung his halberd at Celtic while he was recovering from the attack, knocking him flat on his back. The redhead managed to get back up, though he was clearly hurt, much to Skye’s concern.

“That was impressive,” he grunted. “But I’m not dead yet! Try this on for size! Elemental Shift Shroud!”

The Shroud transformed again, this time gaining multiple patterns that each represented a different element.

“Element Change! Fire!”

The Shroud released energy that coated everyone within 30 meters of Celtic in flaming energy, much to Maleagant’s confusion.

“What’s the point of this?” he huffed. “You’ll only make me stronger.”

“Not quite. Because you now possess the Fire attribute… I can do THIS!” he started to channel energy before stating, “Draining Rain!”

A storm cloud formed over Maleagant before pelting him with rain. Maleagant roared in pain as the Water energy hit him harder than expected. Sparks then flew off his body as his stats decreased harshly.

“No way!” he sputtered. “I’m losing power! How?! Draining Rain only lowers my offensive stats by 50%, but it feels like all my powers are vanishing!”

Celtic sneered, “That’s because Draining Rain’s effect is doubled against a Fire-attributed enemy. So, in short, by changing your elemental affinity to Fire, then hitting you with Draining Rain, it completely zaps you of your power for a short time. Which allows me to follow it up with THIS!” He started to channel demonic energy, “From the depths of the Demon Realm I call upon thee! Entrap my foes in your cold virgin ore embrace, piercing them from all sides, their cries muffled, as your bloody iron spikes skewer them until death beckons them! Iron Maiden of Demon’s Wrath!”

Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and the clouds swirled before a gateway opened up, revealing the demonic Iron Maiden. Maleagant was surprised to see it, but in his moment of distraction Celtic transformed his arm into Yo-Yo, tied up the Nightmare Seven leader, and hurled him into the awaiting grasp of the Iron Maiden of Demon’s Wrath, which closed up afterward. However, just before the demonic Iron Maiden could begin its deadly assault, loud clanging could be heard from within it, followed by cracks forming in it. Suddenly, it shattered, freeing Maleagant from its lethal grip, allowing him to land safely on the battlefield, much to everyone’s shock. Though it was clear he still took some damage from it, as he had freshly bleeding wounds on him.

“I’ll admit that was impressive,” Maleagant panted. “You came very close to succeeding in killing me, especially since you decreased my offensive stats by such a huge amount. But it’ll take more than that to defeat me!”

Celtic, although surprised, regained his composure and stated, “Well, then, let’s try something a bit more effective!” He started to channel even more demonic energy, “From the depths of the Demon Realm I call upon thee! Imprison my foes in your flaming embrace, burning their flesh, blood, and bones into ash! May their souls be incinerated and immolated until nothing is left! Bronze Bull of Nightmare!”

Another portal opened up, this time causing a demonic Bronze Bull to emerge. It opened itself up and quickly snapped up a startled Maleagant, trapping him within it. Then the stomach of the Bronze Bull erupted in flames, cooking the trapped Nightmare Seven member within it. However, to everyone’s horror, cracks started to form in the Bronze Bull. Within moments the Bronze Bull was destroyed, freeing Maleagant from its fiery embrace, though he was clearly burned from the flames.

He panted heavily, “That… was a very close shave… You came very, very close to ending me with that move… But I’m still standing… It’ll take more than tricks… like that to… end me…”

Celtic thought grimly, “He’s managed to break out of both Iron Maiden of Demon’s Wrath AND Bronze Bull of Nightmare! Even AFTER his offensive stats were drastically cut down by the Elemental Shift/Draining Rain combo? Is… Is there any attack in my arsenal that can deal the killing blow?” He then realized something, gaining a grim expression, “Oh-no… I can’t believe I have to use that attack. But I need to finish him off here and now. I guess I have no choice. But I need to first immobilize him.” He started to channel energy, stating, “I still have a few tricks left. Like this! Grass Bomb!”

A green capsule formed in his hand, much to the other Heroes’ and Maleagant’s confusion. He then threw it directly in the center of the battlefield. The capsule sank into the ground. Moments later the entire area within 30 meters was covered in grass that seemed to be glowing a bit.

“What good will this do you?” Maleagant asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“You’ll see,” Celtic grinned.

Suddenly, giant blades of grass emerged from the grassy area around Maleagant and quickly ensnared him within their grasp. One even managed to pry his halberd out of his hand, completely immobilizing him, much to his alarm.

“I just need you to stay still for a few moments so I can deliver my final attack,” the redhead said darkly. He then started to channel more demonic energy, “From the depths of the Demon Realm I call upon thee! Accept my offering to destroy my foe, their flesh, blood and screams as a tribute to the gods as they’re devoured by the iron beast! May their fallen souls be offered up to the Demon Realm as fuel for its power! Chaos Blood Curse!”

Skye’s eyes widened in horror as Celtic called upon his most dangerous spell, crying out, “No! Celtic! Don’t do it! NOOOOOO!!!”

By that point it was too late. The demonic energy vanished, followed by a brief pause, then blood started to erupt from every pore in Celtic’s body, spraying like a broken fountain. Celtic was clearly in agony but he kept a straight face as his blood seeped into the ground.

“So, you’re willing to kill yourself?” Maleagant snickered. “And what’s the payoff of this spell?”

Celtic, although in great pain, replied darkly, “The payoff… is your instant death.”

Then, the ground shook, followed by cracks forming and blood gushing out. Then, without warning, something erupted from underneath Maleagant, much to his horror, sending him airborne, revealing itself to be the same serpentine demonic dragon. It opened its awaiting maw as Maleagant’s still entangled body plummeted toward it.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” the Nightmare Seven leader cried out in pure terror.

As he fell into the dragon’s jaws it snapped shut and started to viciously chew the malevolent warrior, his screams being heard from within before they went silent. The dragon then swallowed, sending the lump that was Maleagant down its throat and into the bubbling pool of blood below. It then gave a loud belch and spat up some of the large blades of grass before it slithered back down into the pool of blood. The death of Maleagant caused the Dark Chains shackling the other warriors to vanish, freeing them. Skye immediately ran over to Celtic, who fell to the ground, the others following, which also had the side effect of all the defensive barriers protecting them vanishing.

“Cel!” she begged, trying to get him to awaken. “Please don’t die! Please! I beg you! Stay with us!”

Viola and Leon were channeling energy, stating, “Restore!”

Celtic was bathed in healing energies but remained largely unmoving. Tears were in Skye’s eyes as she desperately tried to awaken him. Suddenly, a sphere of light emerged from his body before taking the form of Gust.

“Gust?!” Rupert sputtered. “What are you doing here?”

Gust started to release energy from its body, causing a healing wind to form in the area. This healing energy bathed everyone in its gentle touch, causing all their wounds to heal. Celtic slowly started to stir, much to everyone’s surprise, and weakly opened his eyes.

“It’s… It’s over… right?” he said weakly.

Skye nodded tearfully, “Yes, but you’re on death’s doorstep. We need to get you back to Delgunner for treatment immediately. Tyroe, you carry him. I’ll get us back to Delgunner, but we must hurry.”

Celtic then closed his eyes and went limp. Gust fused with him to help keep his strength up. Tyroe gently scooped up Celtic in his arms.

“Okay, let’s go back,” the Light Elf whimpered. “Warp.”

They all vanished from Nyx to return to Delgunner, knowing that the Nightmare Seven were finally finished and their reign of terror had come to an end.

Next Chapter: Heroic Resolve

That's it for today. Tune in next time to find out what our Heroes face.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Time for the next chapter of Chaos Rising.

Spoiler: Chapter 43) Heroic Resolve

Heroic Resolve

​

It was a few hours after the Heroes returned from Nyx. Word had spread rapidly that the Nightmare Seven was no more, much to everyone’s relief and joy. However, word had also spread that Celtic was in the hospital, recovering from his near-fatal wounds from the battle with Maleagant. People were expressing concern and praying that he’ll recover.

In the hospital, the Hero faction awaited outside one of the special rooms where Celtic was being treated. They tensely waited for any news on his condition. It wasn’t long before they’d find out.

A Druid healer emerged from the room and turned to them, “Well, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.”

Everyone exchanged looks before Ryan replied, “Give us the bad news first. It’ll give us something to look forward to.”

“You sound just like Celtic,” Leon chuckled weakly.

The Druid healer replied, “Well, the bad news is that Prince Avalar has taken long-term damage from his use of Chaos Blood Curse. Because he no longer has a full set of hearts his body wasn’t fully able to handle the strain of Chaos Blood Curse. His lifespan has taken a hit as a result. While we haven’t been able to nail down the exact amount of years he’s lost, we do know he’s lost around three to five years from his maximum lifespan. Combined with the 25 years he lost previously; we estimate that he’s lost a maximum of 30 years from his lifespan. That means he absolutely cannot use Chaos Blood Curse again, otherwise he’ll not only lose even more years on his life but could also suffer other long-term health effects.”

Gram gained a grim expression, “So, Sir Celtic has lost a sizable chunk of his lifespan. While demons and Druids are long-lived species, that’s still a nasty bite out of his longevity.”

Skye became depressed, “He lost those years because of me. He gave me one of his hearts to resurrect me when Sylph killed me, losing the first 25 years. Now, because he no longer has all seven of his hearts, he lost even more years from his lifespan because his body couldn’t handle Chaos Blood Curse as well as the last time he used it. While I’m not complaining that Celtic resurrected me, I can’t help but feel a bit guilty for him taking such a hit to his lifespan because of what he did for me.”

Zuzu placed a hand on her shoulder, saying, “Don’t feel guilty, Skye, as Celtic was more than willing to perform the deed in order to save you. He really can’t live without you; thus he was willing to take a hit to his longevity if it meant you could stay by his side for years to come. He could never blame you for the damage to his lifespan if it means you two can stay together. So, don’t feel guilty about it. This just proves why Celtic is the Hero who lived up to his title the most. Besides, there is a way to recover some of those lost years, at least to a degree.”

Ryan looked confused, “Really? How, Zuzu?”

She replied, “Well, don’t forget that we have those Divine Barandy and Tundra Snakeheads that Chief Ringo gave us when we chased the Nightmare Seven away from his village. Those increase one’s maximum lifespan, so Celtic could just eat a couple of those and he’ll regenerate some of his lost years.”

The Druid medic looked surprised, “You actually have some Tundra Snakehead and such with you? Well, that would most certainly regenerate the years Prince Avalar lost, even after all the damage he’s taken. That is most fortunate.”

Skye gained a small smile, “Yeah, I had almost forgotten about those. Good, then there is a way to help Cel recover his lost years.”

Lucas then said, “With that out of the way, what’s the good news?”

The Druid medic replied, “Well, the good news is that despite the damage, Prince Avalar can be discharged tomorrow. This is because his Spiria managed to anchor him and kept him from causing a potential mutual kill when he used Chaos Blood Curse. Not only that, but that Spiria Gust has been using its ability to heal him, thereby helping him recover faster. With a bit of extra treatment and some rest he can be discharged tomorrow. However, he will have to stay off the battlefield for a couple of days just to be certain. Hopefully Robert and his traitorous Four Stars Church goons won’t attack before then, especially since their gambit in getting the Nightmare Seven to do their dirty work failed. Along with hoping that Infinator remains silent for a bit longer. If he can just avoid fighting for a few days after discharge then he'll be fine. Though, again, he needs to never, EVER use Chaos Blood Curse again. While his Spiria will keep him alive and help him heal faster, the long-term damage could be even worse than it already is. You’ll have to find a way to keep him from using it again.”

Rupert replied, “I’m certain Skye will be able to convince him to never use it again. While Celtic is a man of his word, he won’t always make the promise in the first place. But if it’s for Skye or she requested it he’ll do everything in his power to keep his promise to her. That’s the beauty of love, after all.”

Eric turned to Skye, “Think you can convince him to never use it again, Skye? From what we’ve seen he will respond to you the most. Do you think you can do it?”

She nodded, “Yes, I’ll make sure of it. Not just for his sake, but because I can’t stand to see him ravage his own body by using such a dangerous ability. Even though we now know that his Spiria will keep him alive I’ll make him promise to never use it again.”

The Druid healer smiled, “Good, we’re counting on that, Lady Skye. If he’s willing to do as you ask, then that does inspire hope and confidence that he’ll abide by his promise. Especially since he’s both us Druids’ and the Shadokor’s long-lost prince, thus we want him to prosper as much as possible. Also, you all are free to enter the medical room now since most of the necessary work is over.”

Leon nodded, “Thank you, that’s very reassuring.”

The group entered the room. They saw Celtic sitting in a hospital bed with a few Druid and Shadokor medics tending to him. The visible parts of his body, which was most of his torso, arms, and head, had bandages on them. On his lap were his Spiria Gust, Icicle, and Magma, all looking at him with concerned eyes. He turned to see the rest of the faction enter the room.

“Oh, hey, everyone,” he said in a somewhat tired voice.

“You okay, pal?” Tyroe asked. “You sound weak.”

“I am, for the most part. Just a bit tired from the cost of Chaos Blood Curse. I’m not in any real pain, it’s mostly just bodily fatigue. I’ll be fine in time, especially since I was told that I could be discharged faster than the last time I used that accursed ability.”

Skye walked over to him and sat on the bed, saying, “Cel, I want you to make me a promise. I want you to promise me you’ll never ever us Chaos Blood Curse again. Not just because of what it does to you, both long and short-term, but because I can’t stand seeing you almost sacrifice yourself just to defeat our enemies. Please, I beg you, don’t ever use Chaos Blood Curse again.”

Celtic looked into her shining blue eyes and saw the emotion inside them. He took a deep breath before giving her a small smile.

“Okay, Skye, I promise,” he said. “I’m already aware of what Chaos Blood Curse did to me this time around, so I know why you’re almost pleading with me to never use it again. If it’ll put your mind at ease, then I promise I won’t use it again. I didn’t want to use it this time, either, but I had no choice. But I promise I won’t use it again, so don’t look so sad.”

Skye smiled, closing her eyes, “Thank you, Celtic. I know you’re a man of your word, so I’m putting faith in your promise to me. Please, keep it, as you’ve already sacrificed enough in our quest. I don’t want you giving up anything else just to satisfy our mission. It’s times like this that make me not only proud to be the dagger to your cloak, but also see why you’re the Hero who lived up to your title the best.”

Just then King Duskbane appeared, clearly worried about Celtic.

“Avalar!” he panted. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I wanted to drop what I was doing and check up on you but I was in an important meeting. Are you alright?”

Celtic nodded, “Yeah, just a bit fatigued for the most part. And it was just as well that you couldn’t come sooner, as no one was allowed in to see me until just a few minutes ago. It wouldn’t have mattered. At least I’ll recover faster this time despite having taken some long-term damage, mainly thanks to my Spiria.”

Gust, Icicle, and Magma wagged their tails, clearly happy to hear Celtic praise them.

King Duskbane gave a relieved sigh, “That’s good to know. I was informed about the consequences of your using Chaos Blood Curse this time around. Please, Avalar, don’t ever use it again. Even if your Spiria are protecting you I could never forgive myself for letting you die. I’d feel like I failed your parents again, like I did all those years ago.”

Skye replied, “We understand, King Duskbane. I’ve already made Celtic promise to never use Chaos Blood Curse again. While he’s a man of his word, if there is one person he’ll do everything he can to keep a promise to it’s me. So you can rest easy knowing that he’ll never use Chaos Blood Curse again.”

“Good, very good, that’s music to my ears. I’m just relieved that you’ll be okay for the most part, Avalar. I just wish there was a way to recuperate those lost years on your lifespan.”

Leon replied, “We already have a way. As Zuzu pointed out, Chief Ringo gave us some Divine Barandy and Tundra Snakeheads when we saved his village from the Nightmare Seven. Those have the ability to increase one’s lifespan by a certain amount. So Celtic only needs to eat some to replenish those lost years.”

King Duskbane’s eyes went wide, “Chief Ringo managed to get ahold of Divine Barandy and Tundra Snakeheads?! Then that’ll most assuredly do the trick. Good, knowing that those sacrificed years can be regained in some form puts my mind more at ease. I guess now that I know Avalar is going to be okay I should return to Shadoria. Hmm?” He then noticed that the armor the other Heroes were wearing were badly damaged, “I take it that damage to your armor is because of Maleagant, right?”

Ryan nodded, “Yeah. We need to upgrade our gear anyway, but it’ll be costly.”

King Duskbane took a moment to think before saying, “I may be able to help. You four come with me. Seeing how good of a job Danial does on Avalar’s gear I’m going to ask him to construct new armor for you four. And don’t worry, I’ll have Shadoria fit the bill, along with providing him extra materials.” He snapped his fingers, causing a female Shadow Sentinel to appear, “I need you to return to Shadoria and have some ShadoKnights gather up some good, spare materials we have and bring them to Danial’s Blacksmith so we can upgrade the gear of the other Heroes. Also, send a Shadow Sentinel or two to head back to the Nightmare Seven’s castle and take back the items that Robert paid them for their ‘services’, so they won’t go to waste.”

The Shadow Sentinel bowed, “At once, Your Highness.”

She then vanished like a phantom.

Jerry asked, “Are you really going to help us get better armor and equipment, King Duskbane? Even after everything we’ve done?”

He replied, “If this was before the four of you reformed and started taking your jobs seriously, I wouldn’t. However, things are different now. And, besides, you all need to be equipped for the future battles, as they’ll only get harder from here. Seeing how Danial’s talent as a blacksmith is surprisingly high and seeing that Avalar and the rest of his party go to him, I have faith he’ll do the job. The armor will be made-to-order, and I have a few ideas that might work really well with you four. Now, come, let’s go to Danial’s Blacksmith shop and get you four outfitted with new, improved armor, as you’ll need it.”

Ryan nodded, “Right, as you say, King Duskbane. Seeing how Celtic’s Chaos Magic Armor Beta is so good it does inspire confidence that Danial can outfit us with some high-quality equipment. Thank you, King Duskbane.”

Eric turned to everyone else, “I guess we’ll be seeing you all later after Danial is done with us.”

Viola nodded, “Okay. And you won’t be disappointed with Danial’s quality and craftmanship.”

“Let’s hope so, as we need to be at our best if we want to stop Robert and Infinator,” Lucas said.

The four Heroes left with King Duskbane to talk to Danial about outfitting them with new, more powerful armor, leaving the Shroud Hero party and Gram’s party behind.

“I hope Danial can do a good job on getting the other Heroes better equipped for future battles,” Gram said. "I’ve seen and used his equipment, thus I know the quality is very high. I just hope he’ll have enough time to get them outfitted with new gear.”

“Let’s hope we have enough time before our enemies make their next move,” Rupert said. “But seeing how we shut down Robert’s latest plan to stop us and we know that Infinator is lying low until he can execute his big plan for Nyx, we know we have at least some time to work with.”

Leon nodded, “Agreed. And knowing my half-brother Robert isn’t very good at recouping lost ground or salvaging ruined plans quickly. He was probably counting on the Nightmare Seven to end us, or at least cause a mutual kill. Our victory over the Nightmare Seven will definitely shake him and his faction to their core. Which means he’ll probably have no choice but to execute his final plan: an all-out rebellion. It’ll be a do-or-die situation for him, as we’ve destroyed pretty much every other plan he’s concocted, thus our next battle with him will also be the final one.”

Viola nodded, “Yeah, you’ve got that right, handsome. Hopefully the Spy-Bugs King Duskbane planted in his little hidey-hole will give us all the dirt we need to counter his last plan and finally remove him from the equation. Time is the only unknown element right now, but if our luck holds we should make it under the wire at the least.”

It was the following day. Celtic had just been discharged from the hospital, much to everyone’s relief. Because the instructions about staying out of battles for a few days Celtic had been given upon discharge, he was instead spending the time crafting. He used the materials he had recently gotten, along with many of the “stolen” goods that the Shadow Sentinels took after raiding the Nightmare Seven’s castle to make more accessories. The other Heroes were in the clothes they wore underneath their armor, awaiting Danial to finish their new equipment. King Duskbane was busy gathering intel about Robert’s plans from his Spy-Bugs, discussing any information with King Alvin. Things were pretty peaceful at the moment.

A few days later Celtic and his party were waiting outside of Danial’s Blacksmith shop. Today was the day the other Heroes were to be outfitted with their new armor. After a short wait the other four Heroes emerged, now donning their new equipment.

“Man, oh, man!” Eric said, amazed. “That Danial guy doesn’t disappoint. No wonder you guys all go to him, he’s incredible.”

Danial walked out, smiling, “I’m glad you approve. It certainly helped that King Duskbane provided me with extra materials, as it helped speed up the process of forging you four customized armor. Now, Ryan is equipped with Storm Swordsman Mail, Lucas has the Inferno Lancer Armor, Eric is donning the Axe Raider Mail, and Jerry is rocking the Magic Assassin Armor. All of these are some of my best works, right up there with the Chaos Magic Armor I made for Celtic.”

The gang took a moment to look the new armors over. Ryan’s Storm Swordsman Mail consisted of a black and blue spade-shaped breastplate with a Clear Gem imbedded in it, two matching sturdy shoulder guards, with a Gust Gem and Spark Gem as part of their design, a gauntlet on his right forearm, hip guards made with light blue metal, and armored knee-high boots ending in metal tipped toes. This armor meshed well with his usual white and black coat, dark blue tunic, and navy blue pants.

Lucas’ Inferno Lancer Armor was made of red and silver diamond-shaped breastplate with a Clear Gem in it, over a white chainmail, with silver shoulder plates, gauntlets on each forearm, sturdy loin and hip guards with a Heat Gem imbedded in the front, and silver knightly greaves. This rig blended well with his usual red and gold tunic, white cape, and ruby red pants.

Eric’s Axe Raider Mail was built with a silver semi-circular breastplate with a Clear Gem in the center, over a brown chainmail, dusty gold shoulder plates that extended to his elbows, armored hip guards each equipped with Clay Gems, and brown armored adventurer’s boots ending in steel toes. The armor combined well with his usual desert gold tunic, brown fur-trimmed gloves, and dark green pants.

Jerry’s Magic Assassin Armor was a dark green hexagonal breastplate with a Clear Gem in it, a shoulder plate made from overlapping plates on his left shoulder equipped with a Wood Gem, matching hip guards, armored kneecaps, and dark green armored adventurer’s boots with steel heels. This gear blended nicely with his usual green and cream-colored tunic, cream-colored pants, dark green fingerless gloves, and a short dark green and gold cape.

Skye looked the new armors over, saying, “I gotta hand it to you, Danial. You really know how to build a better mousetrap. This stuff should easily carry Ryan, Lucas, Eric, and Jerry through the rest of our battles. I’d say only Celtic’s Chaos Magic Armor outstrips these.”

Danial smiled, “That’s true, as the Chaos Magic Armor is better geared to his more defensive style. But these four should keep the other Heroes well-equipped for the future. All four of them reduce a form of elemental damage by 33%: Ryan’s reduces Wind and Lightning damage, Lucas’ reduces Fire, Eric’s reduces Earth damage, and Jerry’s reduces Nature. Plus, because of the Clear Gem imbedded in their breastplates, they all have a 25% chance to reflect magical spells back at the user, further giving them more defensive prowess. And finally they all have auto-repair functions installed, so it’ll be even harder for enemies to break through. They should serve you lot well. And it’s good that King Duskbane is fitting the bill, as I doubt these four Heroes would have the cash needed to pay for them.”

Eric replied sheepishly, “Probably not, especially after Wench got her mitts on us during our Wrath Fire-induced broken mental states. It’s pretty clear she robbed us blind while we were basically mindless attack drones. Man, she’s just evil.”

Celtic replied bitterly, “Eh, nothing new at this point. And at least it gives you more motivation to finally end her for good. Besides, once we stomp out the Four Stars Church, Uncle Duskbane and I have plans for her little faction. Ones that’ll ensure she and her allies are gone for good. It’ll be overkill, I admit, but when it comes to us demons, we love overkill.”

Lucas asked, “Care to clue us in on what King Duskbane has planned?”

“You’ll see soon enough. We first need to get our mitts on Robert, Wench, and the rest of their traitorous goons. Then… well, let’s just say it’ll be quite the spectacle. And we’ll all be able to give a collective ‘good riddance’ to such a group of backstabbing schemers once it’s all over.”

Skye rubbed her hands together eagerly, “I don’t know what you and King Duskbane have planned but I know I’m gonna enjoy it. Now, all we have to do is gather up the rest of our intel and finally bait the mousetrap for the Four Stars Church to come out of their little hiding spot and give them what for.”

Tyroe nodded, “Yeah. It’s about time we stomped out the Four Stars Church. They’ll pay for all their crimes, both past and present. And I know all the races they have spat on with their corrupted, racist ways will be eager for that day.”

Leon looked up into the sky, “Now, let’s just hope that Infinator continues to lie low for a bit until the Four Stars Church is dealt with. The two factions have already dogpiled on each other enough, forcing us to constantly jump back and forth between them. If we can finally eradicate the Four Stars Church then we can focus all our efforts on ending Infinator once and for all. Especially now that he’s got three new Generals to antagonize us with. Hopefully this game of cat and mouse between us and Robert will come to an end soon.”

Everyone nodded, thinking about what Robert’s final strategy will be and how to end it once and for all.

Next Chapter: War of Heroes

That's all for today, folks. Tune in next time to see what our Heroes face.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Time for the next chapter of Chaos Rising. (Warning: contains mild language, light violence)

Spoiler: Chapter 44) War of Heroes

War of Heroes

​

Word had spread throughout the world that the Nightmare Seven were now dead. The people of the world were cheering with joy knowing that one of the most dangerous groups of enemies had been slain by the courageous Heroes. The nations and nobles knew that it was only a matter of time before the Four Stars Church faction and Infinator’s faction would be next.

At Starmist Valley Robert was in his office, clearly unhappy to hear the news of the Nightmare Seven’s defeat. Wench was sitting on his desk in a rather saucy position, trying to think of a new plan.

“I can’t believe the Shroud Devil and his party killed the Nightmare Seven!” she spat. “How is that even possible?! We were banking on those seven rogues to finish the Shroud Devil’s party off but they failed. How? And now what do we do?”

Robert sighed, “To be frank, I was hoping for both sides to kill each other. That way I could get out of paying the Nightmare Seven for their ‘services’. While the end results do mean I don’t have to pay them, their deaths ended up only furthering the Shroud Devil’s positive reputation. It looks like I have no choice but to enact my final plan: a full-scale rebellion.”

Wench asked, “Sir Robert, do we have the manpower and resources to do so?”

“Just barely, although recently some of my Templars did locate a handful of nobles who worship the Four Stars Church who are willing to contribute to the cause. We still need a bit of time before we can fully launch our rebellion, but the fall of the Nightmare Seven means we’ll have to speed up the process. I was hoping they’d at least buy us some more time but in the end I realize that they weren’t dependable enough to do the job despite their reputation. We have no choice but to play our final hand with those ‘Heroes’ and end this farce once and for all. I’ll begin the final plans for our rebellion. This will be our final battle. A do-or-die fight to the finish. And I intend to have our faction come out on top.”

What neither of them knew is that a self-cloaking Spy-Bug was recording the whole conversation. Robert began mapping out his battleplans for the rebellion, with the Spy-Bug watching over him, learning of his soon-to-be executed plans.

The following day the Heroes and their allies had been gathered in King Alvin’s throne room. King Duskbane and Queen Rease was also present at the meeting. When everyone was present and accounted for King Alvin cleared his throat.

“Heroes, we have recently gotten information on the Four Stars Church’s final plans,” King Alvin stated. “Robert is making the end-stage preparations for war. Apparently he was counting on the Nightmare Seven to at least create a mutual kill scenario between themselves and the Shroud Hero party but obviously that’s not the case. As a result he’s making the needed plans to enact a full-scale rebellion against us. This means our final battle against Robert will soon be at hand. Thanks to the Spy-Bugs we have gotten a lot of info on Robert’s battleplans, allowing us to begin preparing for the last battle against the Four Stars Church. King Duskbane, I’ll leave this next part to you.”

King Duskbane nodded and stepped up, stating, “From what we’ve gotten so far, Robert plans to take his rebellion right to our front doors. He’s planning on attacking Delgunner directly, as he wants to topple the most powerful kingdom in a show of his power. With this in mind we’re going to have to relocate the Chaos Chimera survivors to a different place to ensure they don’t get caught in the crossfire. While the preparations of giving the Chaos Chimera survivors a new, permanent home are nearly complete, we now have this little ordeal to deal with. From what our Spy-Bugs have recorded, Robert plans to begin his attack against Delgunner in one week. This means we have one week to finalize our battle strategies and meet that Four Stars Church crony head-on.”

Queen Rease then added, “We also know that Wench will be involved, which will finally give us the opportunity to capture her and end her once and for all. That includes the Bow Hero’s former party as well. And we know that Robert has amassed an army of over 300 men, women, and various nobles to assist in this final battle. With that in mind King Alvin has concocted a brilliant plan to ensure that those traitorous people get their comeuppance for siding with the Four Star Church. Along with earlier preparations made upon request from Avalar we have the necessary means of disposing of them once we’ve captured them.”

King Alvin then said, “Under normal circumstances the nobles allying with Robert would only get jail time due to their status. However, because of the current situation, along with the fact that this isn’t the Four Stars Church’s first coup, their crimes will be considered severe enough that imprisonment alone is out of the question, instead resulting in execution. Thus, any nobles who are involved need to be captured first and not killed on the battlefield so we can set an example of what happens when traitorous scum like them side with a dangerous cult like the Four Stars Church. With that in mind I’ve already mapped out 11 different plans on how to counter our enemies. This also includes any attempts for them to use powerful moves like Judgment or Brionac. We’ll be getting additional help from our allies such as Shadoria, Gorgodos, and Flugel for extra support, money, resources, and soldiers to ensure that we’ll have everything we need to fight and defeat the Four Stars Church for good. From what the Spy-Bugs have discovered, Robert’s faction only just barely makes the cut when it comes to having the necessary resources to stage such a rebellion. We’ll have more than enough to counter his total resources with the added support from our allies, which have all be factored into my plans. Heroes and allies, it’s time to begin the final stages for war against the treasonous Four Stars Church.”

Lucas slammed his Spear’s bottom against the floor, stating, “Finally, we can end the Four Stars Church, Robert, and Wench. They’ve been too much of a problem and now we’ll finally have the opportunity to destroy them for good. I’m looking forward to giving Wench what for.”

Jerry nodded, “Indeed, and I have every intention of giving Marvin a hefty serving of karma for using and abusing me the way he did.”

Suddenly, without warning, Zuzu rocketed toward a soldier off to the side and punched him, sending him flying back. Everyone was stunned at Zuzu’s sudden action.

“Miss Zuzu, what’s the meaning of this?!” Queen Amelia sputtered.

The Succuryn replied, “Relax, as this soldier is not one of ours. Take a look.”

She extracted an item from the soldier, revealing it to be a Four Stars Church rosary. Everyone’s eyes went wide before they quickly surrounded the soldier who Zuzu had pinned down. Celtic took the rosary from his party member and glared at the man.

“Looks like we have a saboteur among us,” he growled. “One of Robert’s goons. I knew this might happen. So, I take it you infiltrated us so you can sabotage our plans and defenses?”

The soldier snarled, “I’ll say nothing to the Shroud Devil.”

“Is that so? Well, maybe this’ll change your mind.”

Celtic started to increase the pressure in his right hand while holding the rosary. The increased tension caused the rosary to start to bend, much to the soldier’s alarm. Celtic slowly increased his grip on the rosary, causing it to bend even more, knowing it was going to break soon. The soldier was struggling against Zuzu’s strong grip, trying to break free and rescue the symbol he cherished but the Succuryn held him steady. Finally, everyone heard the rosary begin cracking a bit.

The soldier sputtered, “All right! All right! I’ll talk! Robert indeed sent me to infiltrate your guard and disable the barriers surrounding the city so he could teleport directly into the heart of the capital to attack. And now that I know that King Alvin has made 11 plans to counter us I was going to destroy them. At least before this damn demoness caught me. There, I’ve told you everything I know! Now let go of my Church of the Four Stars rosary, Shroud Devil!”

Celtic replied smoothly, “Fine.”

He dropped the rosary. But, to the spy’s horror, he instead stomped on it, shattering it to pieces.

“H-How dare you!” he cried out. “I told you to let go of it!”

The redhead smirked, “Yes, you did. I did exactly that. But you only told me to let it go from my hand. You didn’t tell me to not step on it with my foot. Oh? Did you not want me to destroy it? You really needed to be more specific about what you wanted me to do with the rosary.”

Skye snickered, “That’s my loverboy. The master of loopholes and manipulating someone’s exact words to his advantage. You really should’ve known that you traitorous Four Stars Church goon. After all, look what happened to the Light Elf royal family’s status, authority, and even their names when Wench begged Cel for mercy at her previous execution. He gave her mercy, all right: cruel mercy to be exact, because she didn’t specify what kind of mercy she wanted.”

Viola’s six eyes narrowed, “But what I want to know is how he escaped Celtic’s, Leon’s, and Queen Rease’s aura-sensing abilities?”

Zuzu extracted something else out of the spy’s clothes, revealing it to be a shiny whitish blue diamond.

Leon’s eyes narrowed, “A Dawn Diamond. Makes sense, as the Holy energies of Dawn Diamonds can camouflage the auras of anyone or anything that possesses one. I’ll give Robert that move, as it allowed this spy to slip past our defenses and any aura-reading abilities so he could execute his orders. Although he clearly couldn’t escape Zuzu’s keen eyes and instincts.”

Gram growled, “What should we do with this goon, Your Majesty?”

King Alvin’s eyes narrowed, “For now, we’ll send him to the dungeons. Since we have plans for the final fate of the Four Stars Church and its followers, he’ll be getting his punishment when the time comes. Until then, make sure he’s locked up tight so he can’t cause any problems.”

Two real knights marched up and grabbed the Four Stars Church soldier, allowing Zuzu to let go of him, before carting him off to the dungeons. She then stood up and handed the Dawn Diamond over to Celtic.

“Here, Celtic, you take this Dawn Diamond,” she said. “Maybe you can use it for something.”

Celtic nodded, taking the Dawn Diamond, “Sounds good. Might as well use it for something, especially since this is the first Dawn Diamond I’ve gotten since I crafted Skye’s bracelet. Can’t let something this valuable go to waste.”

King Duskbane turned to Zuzu, “Well played, Miss Zuzu. You identified a potential problem before he could carry out his orders. Most impressive. Your observational skills and ability to identify hidden threats leaves nothing to be desired.”

Zuzu turned away, trying to hide her blush, saying, “Well, when you’ve lived by the ‘survival of the fittest’ mantra for nearly 400 years you tend to pick up a few useful skills here and there in order to identify threats and enemies better. It’s only natural.”

King Alvin smiled, “Indeed. I can see why Prince Avalar recruited you to his party. You’ve been invaluable to us. And you saved our people from Robert’s dangerous plan to infiltrate our capital city. I’m most impressed and most pleased. Now, with that issue sorted out, let us begin the necessary preparations for our war with the Four Stars Church. We only have a week before Robert executes his final push to restore the Four Stars Church, so we need to get to work on executing our plans to stop him.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and headed to the map room to begin the strategy meetings. King Alvin also put the city on high-alert due to the infiltration and sabotage attempt, informing the soldiers and general public to be on alert for any possible threats.

Meanwhile, Robert was working on his battleplans. A Templar Knight walked in, redirecting his attention to him.

“Don’t tell me,” he sighed. “Let me guess. The infiltration failed?”

The Templar Knight nodded, “Sadly, yes. That damn Succuryn identified our agent and exposed him, thereby preventing us from succeeding in sabotaging the defenses.”

Wench, who was also in the room, asked, “How? He was carrying a Dawn Diamond that should’ve allowed him to slip past them. And how do you know he was exposed?”

“Well, apparently the Succuryn is very good at detecting and identifying threats. She was able to sniff him out even with the Dawn Diamond concealing him from such things like aura-reading abilities. As for how I know, King Alvin used the magical megaphone to inform the public and other knights that an infiltration attempt had been thwarted, thus the capital city is on high-alert. Everyone in the city is keeping an eye out for any more of our units using such a tactic we won’t be able to sneak any other undercover agents into the city now.”

Robert could only sigh, “So, it appears that they were too smart for that strategy, and it cost us a Templar. Damn that Succuryn. I guess the fact that she’s been alive for nearly 400 years would grant her various means of detecting and identifying threats before they happen. Survival of the fittest, after all. But, despite this setback, we’ll still find a way to prevail. While it would’ve been better if that Templar succeeded in shutting down the defenses, we’ll have to make do with what we’ve already ironed out in our plan. Keep me posted on any updates.”

The Templar saluted, “Yessir!”

As the Templar Knight walked out Wench turned to Robert, “I can’t believe our infiltration attempt was ruined by a demon nudist. And now we have no choice but to move ahead without the luxury of Delgunner’s lowered defenses. Sir Robert, do you have any other ideas? Maybe we can just blast the barrier with something like Judgment?”

Robert shook his head, “No, that would be too obvious. And the barrier they erected can reflect spells back at the users, we’d just annihilate ourselves instead. I do have a few other ideas, but we can only really use them on the battlefield itself, it’ll have to wait until the day of reckoning. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a few more tricks that I could use outside of that. For now, however, I need to finish my plans for our final assault.”

A nun entered, saying, “Sir Robert, the nobles who have agreed to help us have arrived. They’ve also brought some additional men and supplies with them.”

Robert smiled, “Good, very good. Wench, you go and assist the new arrivals and get them up to speed. Then report back with the current amounts of new supplies and warriors so I can factor them into our plans.”

Wench bowed, “At once, Sir Robert.”

Wench left with the nun to begin the next steps while Robert continued going over his plans. He took out the Karma Diamond he had and looked it over, smiling.

“It’s only a matter of time before the fake Heroes and the Shroud Devil fall to us. And I’ll be adding their Karma Diamonds and the Master Karma Diamond to my collection very soon. Just you wait, Shroud Devil, as your days are numbered. That goes for you too, Leon, my traitorous half-brother. I intend to turn all of your faction into just a bad memory. Then we’ll deal with Infinator and finally purge this world of all demons with me on top of it all. The drums of war are starting to give their beat, and I’ll be sure to beat all of you into early graves!”

Next Chapter: Rebellion

That's all for today. Next time it'll be time for the big final battle between the Heroes and Four Stars Church. Who will win?

 

[CynthiaLover]

Time for the next chapter of Chaos Rising. (Warning: contains mild violence, mild language)

Spoiler: Chapter 45) Rebellion

Rebellion

​

In Starmist Valley Robert was standing over a large group of men, women, and various Four Stars Church Templars and nuns. He had a look of pure determination on his face. He raised up his rapier into the air.

“My fellow followers of the noble Church of the Four Stars!” he stated strongly. “The time has come! We will now overthrow the fake Heroes, led by the Shroud Devil, and reclaim what is rightfully ours! Tomorrow we march to Delgunner’s capital city and uproot those traitors! After we take Delgunner we will then move onto Shadoria and eliminate those vile demon scum called the Shadokor! Their day of reckoning has arrived! We will lead the charge and allow our Gods to smite those who oppose us! We will bring the Church of the Four Stars back to its rightful place as the only true religion of Zakota! We will prevail! Nothing our enemies will do will be able to stop us! Tomorrow we will make them pay for defying the Gods and allowing those demon swine to coexist with us! Tomorrow will be our day of glory and triumph!”

The various individuals in the crowd cheered, eager to strike down their opposition. Little did they know that several self-cloaking Spy-Bugs were watching the whole event play out, recording everything.

Wench smirked, “I’d like to see that Shroud Devil get out of this one. I’ll finally get the last laugh against him. And that goes for you, too, Skye. Tomorrow I’ll finally win and there is nothing that the Shroud Devil and his menagerie of monsters can do to stop me.”

Later that evening King Alvin had gathered everyone in the throne room. Alongside the Heroes was King Duskbane and several high-ranking soldiers. After confirming that everyone was present King Alvin cleared his throat.

“Heroes and allies,” he said. “Robert will deploy his forces tomorrow morning. We have confirmation from King Duskbane’s Spy-Bugs that his army now consists of roughly 400 members, including the nobles that have sided with him. However, we are prepared for such a sizable number of enemies. Thanks to the aid of our allies our forces are more than double the number of Robert’s army. And thanks to some early planning we’ve managed to prepare not only 20 strategies against him, but even rigged the field to our favor. But that doesn’t mean we can get complacent, as war is a dangerous game of chess where literally anything is possible. Don’t take any chances against Robert’s forces. While we may outnumber them they are like cornered rats, thus they will resort to whatever they have to in order to win. This battle will determine the fate of our people and the Four Stars Church. Is everyone ready?”

Everyone saluted, “Yessir!”

Gram then asked, “Your Majesty, if you don’t mind me asking, what about the Chaos Chimera survivors? Have they been safely evacuated to a more desirable spot?”

King Duskbane nodded, “Indeed, Sir Gram, you can rest easy about that. We finished the evacuations yesterday. They are now taking shelter at Wichwoode, where Queen Rease is overseeing everything.”

Lucas asked, “Why Wichwoode? Wouldn’t Shadoria be a better place?”

“Under normal circumstances, yes,” King Duskbane replied. “However, Robert plans to go after Shadoria as soon as Delgunner falls, thus the Chaos Chimera survivors will be vulnerable to attack. Not to mention he and his forces would most likely try to nuke the capital city with a spell like Judgment or something of that nature. Remember, Shadoria is a kingdom of demons, and those Four Stars Church goons hate demons. Because of such an outcome, we’ve decided that Wichwoode would be safer for the survivors. Other than the previously mentioned reasons, when it comes to racist individuals like Robert, the Druids tend to sit in sort of a neutral zone. Unlike other races, Druids are at least seen in a semi-positive light in the eyes of such people, especially since they’re considered a holy race, thus they tend to avoid most of the hatred races like us Shadokor receive. The Druids may be on our side during this event, but they are less likely to be targeted by Robert compared to Delgunner or Shadoria. As a result, we figured they’d be safest with Queen Rease and the Druids.”

Ryan nodded, “Makes sense. Seeing how the Four Stars Church has a human/elven-supremacy mindset, yet they don’t seem to mind the Druids due to their holy nature compared to other races, I can see why you’d figure that Wichwoode would be the safer location to stash the Chaos Chimera survivors than Shadoria. Good call.”

“Indeed, and we need to limit the casualties of innocents as much as possible,” Celtic stated. “The Chaos Chimera survivors have already endured more than their fair share of hardships, thus keeping them safe is a high priority. At least we can prevent any attempts for Robert to use the hostage card against us. I just hope the Druids have enough defenses to keep themselves and the survivors safe.”

King Alvin replied, “We took care of that, Avalar. The Shadokor have sent some of their best men to guard Wichwoode in case of any possible attacks. And thanks to some quick modifications to their defenses the barrier that shields Wichwoode is much stronger. It should keep Robert’s forces out, even if he were to use something like Judgment. The survivors will be in good hands, so you can rest assured that they won’t be harmed. Now, before we go over our battle strategies again, I want to remind everyone that we need to capture our enemies, not kill them, so we can set an example to the world what happens when you turn your back to us. Therefore everyone will be carrying several anti-magic cuffs and other disabling effects to ensure that our targets cannot escape via teleportation magic. King Duskbane also took the liberty of copying Prince Avalar’s Mag-Bolt arm form and constructed it into a handheld weapon that’ll allow us to steal anything like Teleport Crystals off our foes. This includes the Karma Diamond Robert is currently holding. That way we can ensure that our prey cannot escape by any means. Now, with that said, let us begin the last strategy meeting.”

It was the following morning. Tension was high and the air was thick with anticipation. Delgunner’s defenses were fully functional and ready to weather the storm that is the Four Stars Church. In the area outside of the front gates the Heroes, led by Celtic, stood firm, ready to fight.

Eric held his Axe tightly, “The time is nearly upon us, huh, Celtic.”

The redhead nodded, “Yeah. Robert and his goon squad should be here momentarily. Heh, boy are they going to be in for a rude awakening. This time… we will finish the job we started when we fought Ebenezer way back then.”

Leon nodded, “Yeah, let’s finally put an end to this ridiculous farce and eliminate one of our enemies once and for all.”

Suddenly, an entire army appeared before them consisting of various Templars, nuns, and other soldiers. Some were holding flags that had the Four Stars Church emblem on them. Robert was in the lead, gaining a smirk as he saw his opponents.

“Really?” he said smugly. “This is the only defense you have against us, Shroud Devil? This’ll be easier than we thought.”

Skye pointed her naginata at them, “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Robert. They may end up as goose eggs. We’ll put an end to you and the Four Stars Church today.”

Wench sneered, “Oh, yeah? You and what army?”

Celtic gained a diabolical grin, “I was hoping you’d say that!”

He snapped his left fingers. Suddenly, hundreds upon hundreds of warriors and soldiers of all types and races appeared out of nowhere, much to the alarm of Four Stars Church army. Their numbers easily dwarfed Robert’s army, all glaring at them with eyes of contempt and hatred.

“W-Where did all these people come from?!” a Templar sputtered.

Celtic grinned darkly, “You can thank the spell Cloak that the Shadow Sentinels cast on them. They’re all here to see you fall, as we all have had enough of your spiel, you sewer rats. All the races and people you’ve spat upon have joined us to ensure that today you and your army will fall. And believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve got plenty of tricks waiting for you, and they won’t be pleasant.”

Wench sputtered, “H-How could you have hidden such a huge force?!”

Lucas gave his Spear a spin, “Here’s a pro tip, Wench: never ask the question, ‘You and what army?’, as it’s just asking for fate to step in and screw you over!”

Jerry primed his Bow, stating, “Yeah, we’ve had enough of you! You all will pay for what you’ve done! That includes you, Marvin! We’ll make sure of it.”

Celtic transformed his arm into Fighter Sword, stating, “But like I said, this is just the beginning! Shadow Sentinels, activate your secret weapons!”

Several Shadow Sentinels appeared, holding strange gun-like structures, each equipped with a large horseshoe magnet. They activated the magnets, followed by a short pause, then dozens of items flew off every person in Robert’s army and latched onto the magnets, much to their alarm. The items consisted of various valuables such as Elemental Gems, Teleport Crystals, magical accessories, and other such useful items. One of them also managed to snag the Karma Diamond from Robert’s backpack. After extracting every last item from Robert’s army the Shadow Sentinels vanished, taking the treasure trove of items with them.

“There. Now with those items out of the way you’re left with no extra firepower or escape routes. Looks like this battle will be the final one.”

Robert’s eyes flared dangerously, “You vile Shroud Devil! You cowardly cheat! I should’ve known you’d pull a dirty stunt like this! How dare you!”

A nun sputtered, “H-How did you know we had all that on us?!”

Celtic grinned darkly, “I’m a ‘cowardly cheat’, as you so eloquently put it. I have my methods in setting things in my favor. Like we were going to let you have any advantage you could possibly gain. You really should’ve thought of that before marching into battle. And we’ve got one last trick up our sleeve to ensure that this will be the final battle between the traitorous Four Stars Church and the Heroes. Druids, come forth!”

Several Druids appeared, channeling energy, before stating, “Spell Prison!”

They fired into the air a collective ball of Holy energy that exploded at a certain point. A huge area was coated in energy sparkles that seemed to linger. Knowing that their task was done the Druids quickly vanished.

“W-What is this?!” Marvin sputtered.

Leon replied, “Spell Prison prevents any activation of certain magic, depending on the need, and the effects can only be removed by the caster or casters themselves. In this case, we’ve locked out all teleportation magic, thus you have no choice but to stay and fight. It also prevents you from running away; not that it would matter as our army has you surrounded. But this is to ensure that you won’t weasel your way out of this fight and try to retreat to your hidey-hole that is Starmist Valley. This way… we can make sure that this battle will be the final one and that none of you can escape.”

Robert glared at Leon, “Leon, I knew you’d be trouble when you first came to our abbey, but you have sunk to new lows.”

Viola countered, “That’s the pot calling the kettle black, Robert! Leon has proven to be the best thing that ever came out of the Four Stars Church, using his powers and abilities to help the people. You, on the other hand, have abused your powers and harmed innocents in order to get your revenge. You’re living proof why the Four Stars Church is such a vile cult. We have a laundry list of crimes that you have committed and we intend to make sure you get punished for them. You have hurt or ruined the lives of countless while Leon has used his talents to help those in need. He is a shining example of what a true Templar Knight should be, unlike you.”

Robert was infuriated at this remark. He clutched his rapier tightly in his hand, his eyes flaring dangerously, bearing his teeth in a snarl.

“Then I’ll just have to prove you wrong, Arachne,” he growled. “You may have us outnumbered, but we will still prevail. After all, we still have a few tricks up our sleeves. Like THIS!” He started to channel energy before stating, “Brionac!”

He fired a powerful Holy energy beam from his rapier directly at the Shroud Hero party. Celtic jumped in front of the attack.

“Not happening!” he stated. “Mirror Shroud! Mirror Force Reflector!”

The Shroud transformed into the Mirror Shroud, followed by a wall of light forming in front of Celtic. The Brionac spell struck the wall of light and was reflected right back at Robert, much to his alarm. He and his forces hastily dodged the attack. This reaction allowed the Heroes’ forces to immediately charge in, ready to strike down Robert’s faction. The Templars and soldiers of Robert’s forces quickly jumped up and began their counterattack, clashing weapons with the various races who they despised.

Marvin rushed in toward Celtic, stating, “I’ll cut you down to size, Shroud Devil!”

Celtic retaliated by clashing his Fighter Sword with Marvin’s sword while channeling energy in his left hand.

“Let’s see you fight this!” the redhead stated. “Acid Mist!”

He fired acidic mist from his left hand directly in Marvin’s face, striking his eyes and making him back off in pain.

“My eyes!” the thug of a soldier screamed. “My eyes!”

Celtic took the opportunity to transform his arm into Giga Knuckle and throw a massive uppercut, sending Marvin flying into the air. He gave a nod to Jerry, who immediately loaded up an arrow.

“This is for stabbing me in the back, Marvin!” Jerry spat. “And for using me for your own selfish gains! Meteor Shot!”

He fired the attack at the airborne Marvin, striking him with high power, making the still blinded soldier scream in pain before crashing to the ground. At this time Skye charged toward Wench, who had drawn her sword, ready to counter her younger sister. However, when she tried to attack Skye, the younger Light Elf effortlessly parried the attack and launched a harvest moon-style kick that sent Wench flying before crashing to the ground.

Wench got back up, “Skye, I intend to put you in your place right here and right now! You’re nothing more than a shameless traitor to us Light Elves and that deserves death!”

Skye smirked, “Considering you’re too lazy to actually train and instead rely on goons to do your fighting you don’t stand a chance against me, Wench. And I’ll have you know that the Light Elves have turned over a new leaf. They’re working for the good of the planet now and not for themselves. In short, they’re following my lead and becoming actual good people instead of the most hated race on all of Zakota. Now they see YOU as the shameless traitor and seek your death! Especially since it was your scheme against Celtic that cost the Light Elves everything. And believe me, that’s just the beginning of your crimes.”

Wench charged in with her sword in hand. However, Skye effortlessly kicked it out of her hands and began pummeling Wench with a rapid barrage of kicks.

“Your first crimes was what you did to those 45 innocent men!” Skye stated. “You toyed with their emotions, strung them along with your cutesy, innocent façade before throwing them to the sharks with your favorite false rape allegations! You sent 45 innocent men to early graves, forever shamed by your underhanded deception!”

She switched tactics, now lifting Wench up into the air with her naginata and kept her airborne by constantly kicking her with harvest moon-style kicks.

“Your second crime was stabbing me in the back! You used a multitude of underhanded tactics in order to get the better of me because challenging me head-on was suicide. So you used a body-numbing poison to drug my dinner with, a slave seal, AND sicced several soldiers on me! However, despite all that I still managed to fight back, maiming many of our soldiers, knocking out one of our generals with a single kick, AND nearly breaking your spine in two before the body-numbing poison finally stopped me! I was sold to three different slave traders before I came into possession of the greatest Hero of them all: Celtic Pulsar! He gave me the opportunity to get my revenge against you and make you pay for your crimes! And I’m glad I took that offer, as it allowed me to finally put the traitorous Light Elves in their place!”

She then let Wench fall to the ground with a heavy thud. Sky then slammed her spiked heel into Wench’s spine, making the older Light Elf cry in pain.

“Your next crime was your vile scheme in hogging all the Heroes and betraying Celtic!” Skye continued. “You stabbed him in the back just like the 45 other men before him but thanks to his status as the Shroud Hero he was too important to execute! However, he delivered immediate karma by blasting the throne room with his built-in weapons before escaping! He then recruited me to help get his revenge, which I was more than happy to comply! You then continued to sic your ‘chosen champion’ Lucas at him in attempts to stop my beloved Celtic from achieving his goal in going to Delgunner and having the Light Elves pay for their treachery, including you and father! In the process you nearly started a world war ON TOP of the crisis with Infinator, which would’ve resulted in the Light Elves being eradicated due to our race’s incompetence on the battlefield! Be thankful that King Alvin quelled the fires of war before Lumestia was steamrolled by the other vengeful nations.”

Skye then removed her heel from Wench’s back, used her naginata to flip her older sister over, slammed her foot into her stomach and pointed her naginata’s blade at her throat.

“Your next crime was using the Fun Box to try to demoralize Celtic by forcing him to fight against his greatest fear! You then tried to steal our party’s job at retrieving the Goddess’ Tear only to end up attracting countless Undead-type monsters to your wicked aura! You followed that up by planting the idea in the heads of the other Heroes of releasing the Chaos Chimera in order to one-up Celtic, only for it to go on the rampage, lay waste to the continent, and harvest hundreds of souls for Infinator. And you abandoned your chosen champion to the beast! If it wasn’t for Celtic that creature might still be rampaging as we speak! Then your next crime was taking advantage of Eric’s and Jerry’s Wrath Fire-warped minds and turned them into your personal attack dogs like you did to Lucas! Your next crime was throwing yourself in with Robert and the traitorous Four Stars Church! That one will be your final one, as we intend to haul your sorry carcass back to King Alvin for your final fate! Now it’s time to say good night!”

Skye kicked Wench in the head, causing the older Light Elf to be immediately knocked out. Satisfied, Skye took out some anti-magic cuffs and placed them on Wench’s wrists, completely disabling her. She then gave a whistle, causing a Shadow Sentinel to appear and snag Wench before vanishing, taking the evil Light Elf with him. Skye then focused her attention on assisting Celtic in subduing several Templars and nuns. Celtic had transformed his arm into Gatling and opened fire on the Templars and nuns, severely hurting them with his energy bullets but not to the point that they’d die. This allowed his fiancée to rush in and disable them with anti-magic cuffs, preventing them from healing off the damage.

At this stage in the fight most of Robert’s forces had been defeated and captured by the Hero faction, leaving only a moderate amount of troops left. It was clear to Robert that he was on the losing side of the fight but he kept on fighting. He started to channel energy and directed his attention to Celtic.

“If I go down I’ll take you with me, Shroud Devil!” he spat. “Sacred Cannon!”

He fired the massive beam of Holy energy at Celtic, who glared hatefully at Robert.

“Try this on for size!” he countered. “Titanium Body!”

Celtic’s body turned into titanium. The Sacred Cannon attack struck him but didn’t do any sort of damage to the Shroud Hero, while also blocking and dispersing the attack around him, preventing it from hurting his allies. As Robert tried to brute force his way through Celtic’s defenses Leon loaded up an energy arrow and aimed to the sky.

“I’ll shut you down, Robert!” Leon growled. “Arrow Storm!”

He fired the arrow into the sky, where it vanished, followed by a glimmer of light, then a barrage of arrows rained down upon the remaining forces of the Four Stars Church, pummeling them with intense power. This attack ended up knocking Robert to the ground, thereby ending his Sacred Cannon barrage at Celtic. Celtic then deactivated Titanium Body, allowing him freedom to move while Robert tried to recover from the surprise attack.

“Leon, you traitorous worm…” he growled at his younger half-brother. “You will regret throwing your lot in with the Shroud Devil!” He started to channel energy before stating, “Brionac!”

He fired the powerful beam of Holy energy at Leon, who didn’t flinch as it approached him.

“That doesn’t scare me, Robert!” Leon countered as he started to channel energy. “Aura!”

He was encased in a protective aura. The Brionac spell struck the aura but was unable to penetrate it, leaving Leon completely unscathed, much to Robert’s shock. Leon then started to channel energy again.

“You’re all washed up, brother,” he snarled. “Time to sink you! Tsunami!”

He fired his spell which caused a humongous tidal wave to form and sweep all over Robert and the remaining members of his faction, leaving the allies of the Heroes untouched. This attack knocked several of them out, allowing the various fighters on Celtic’s side to quickly rush in and slap anti-magic cuffs on them, followed by the Shadow Sentinels swooping in to capture and transport them away. Robert was clearly reaching the end of his rope as he tried to stand after being hit with the powerful Water spell. He glared hatefully at the Shroud Hero party who had all gathered and surrounded him.

“Damn you, Leon!” he spat. “Damn you, Shroud Devil! Damn all of you! I won’t let you beat me! If I must die I intend to take all of you down with me one way or another!”

Suddenly a quadlet of voices could be heard.

“Meteor Slash!”

“Meteor Thrust!”

“Meteor Slam!”

“Meteor Shot!”

Celtic’s party stepped aside as the four Meteor attacks barreled toward Robert, who could only watch in horror. He was struck by all four attacks, ravaging his body with power before the attacks waned. He fell to his hands and knees, clearly beaten. Leon walked over, kicked Robert’s rapier away, and strapped two anti-magic cuffs on his older half-brother’s wrists, a look of contempt in his eyes.

“Game over, Robert,” Leon said coldly. “You lose.”

It was at this point that Robert saw the remainder of his army had fallen, leaving him with no escape or chance to attack. He looked up at Leon with hatred in his eyes.

“Damn you to hell…” he said weakly. “I will make sure the Gods smite you for this… When my soul joins them I will make sure that they strike you down!”

Celtic gained a dark smirk, “That’s assuming your soul will remain intact, Robert. And let me tell something to you… spoiler warning: it won’t. When the time comes you and your soul will become nothing more than a bad memory. You’ve hurt the souls of countless, so it’s only fitting that you pay with your own soul. And believe me, we have just the means to ensure that your soul will never ascend to the heavens. Take him away.”

Several ShadoKnights and Shadow Sentinels grabbed Robert and the remaining members of his army before carting them off to Delgunner. The various warriors who fought alongside the Heroes cheered triumphantly, clearly happy that they had been victorious over the Four Stars Church.

Celtic then stated, “We’re not quite done yet! All healers report for duty! We need to heal our allies from the damage they took in the fight! And confirm the casualties among us, if any! Afterward we will return to Delgunner to report to King Alvin.”

The healers, most of whom were Druids, all nodded and began their rounds in curing and restoring any injured soldiers and warriors. This allowed everyone to take a moment to rest while the healers worked their magic. After healing all those who had been hurt a Druid walked up to Celtic and told him the results.

“I must say I’m very pleased to hear that,” the redhead said. “We managed to get through this entire battle without a single casualty. King Alvin will be most pleased to hear that as well. Good work, everyone. Today we won a massive victory over one of our enemy factions. Today the Church of the Four Stars has fallen for the final time. We can now rest easy knowing that one of our most hated enemies is no more. This victory belongs to all of us!”

Everyone cheered triumphantly. They all regrouped and returned to the capital city, where the civilians cheered and sang their praises. Everyone felt great relief knowing that the Four Stars Church was no more.

Next Chapter: Execution of Victory

That's it for today. Tune in next time for the season finale.

 

[CynthiaLover]

Time for the season finale of Chaos Rising: Season 4. (Warning: contains mild language, executions)

Spoiler: Chapter 46) Execution of Victory

Execution of Victory

​

It was the evening after the Hero faction defeated Robert and the Four Stars Church. Everyone was celebrating, with a city-wide party going on in Delgunner’s capital. People of all different races and types coming together and declaring victory over the Four Stars Church. The Heroes were being touted as saviors and the ones who led the charge, with Celtic getting the highest billing of the five. The Karma Diamond that had been recovered off of Robert was now safely stashed away inside his Tek-Pak. Inside the main banquet hall of Delgunner castle people from all over were present, celebrating and expressing joy that the Four Stars Church had finally fallen.

King Alvin stood up and raised his glass, “My people, allies, and warriors. Today we have claimed a massive victory over one of our enemies. Today, we have finally triumphed over the treasonous Church of the Four Stars and put an end to their reign of terror once and for all. Now, we can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that one of our enemy factions has been defeated. We owe this victory to everyone who participated, but especially the Heroes, who led the charge against Robert Hammerlocke and his army. Prince Avalar Darkstar, aka Celtic Pulsar, the Shroud Hero guided us to victory. Tonight we celebrate! And tomorrow: the final fates. Those who aligned themselves with the traitorous Four Stars Church will get just what they deserve. A toast to our triumph!”

Everyone cheered and raised their glasses in a toast, praising the Heroes and their allies for their hard work. The other Heroes were lapping up the praise, though they made sure not to let it go to their heads, especially since they noticed that various ShadoKnights were keeping an eye on them. Everyone was having a good time. Except a certain grouch sitting in the corner.

Celtic merely sat off to the side, trying to avoid any attention, his usually broody attitude on full display. In his hand was a goblet of wine, which he largely ignored, while looking out the window. He could see all the people celebrating in the streets, happily indulging in the good food and drinks. Skye shook her head, giving a sigh, before walking over to him.

“Cel, you should relax and enjoy yourself,” she said with a smile. “Thanks to you leading the charge, we finally defeated the Four Stars Church. Not to mention that thanks to you we also eliminated the Nightmare Seven, further liberating the world from such evil forces. Have a little fun, as you’re one of the biggest reasons why we are victorious today.”

Celtic replied in his usual grumpy tone, “You know I’m not one for parties. And everyone’s making such a racket. Although the free food is nice. And this party better not go straight to the other Heroes’ heads again. While we have eliminated one of our major enemies, we still have to finish the job to ensure that Robert’s faction is gone for good. And Infinator is still a threat, especially since he’s been so quiet lately. We can’t really celebrate until we know that all our enemies are gone.”

Skye placed a hand on her hip, chuckling lightly, “So typical of you, loverboy. Try to relax for a bit for once. It’ll help reduce your stress levels, especially since both the Druids and Shadokor are very concerned about you getting it down. You’ve already lost at most 30 years from your lifespan, so unwind a bit. You don’t need to take any more hits to your life expectancy. Try to have a bit of fun, loverboy. At least enjoy the food, since I know you tend to eat a lot when moody. From what I’ve heard, King Alvin pulled all the stops for this celebration, even netting some rare delicacies like Starbolt Roasts, Divine Barandy, and certain edible monsters like Platinum Boars and even some Shadow Bison. The Starbolt Roasts and Divine Barandy are something you should really consider, Cel, as both boost your lifespan by six months, and you could use the few extra months on your total lifespan. Try to cool down your wrath for a bit and enjoy this while we can, as we may not get another chance to celebrate until Infinator’s defeat. Please?”

Celtic looked into her sparkling blue eyes, which were overflowing with emotion. He could feel his defenses weakening as she gently prodded him with her soulful eyes. After a minute of this exchange he gave a defeated sigh.

“Okay, okay, you win,” he grunted. “I’ll try to enjoy this while I can, but don’t expect any miracles. I just can’t be at ease knowing that Robert, Wench, and the rest of his goon squad are still alive, even if they’re in captivity. Tomorrow is their big day and I can’t help but dread they might pull something to avoid their final fate. Especially Wench, as she’s proven to be as slippery as a greased eel. And as charming as one, too.”

Skye gently grabbed his metal arm and started to pull at it, saying, “That’s good enough for me. And try not to always think of the worst case scenario. We’ve really got to work on your unflinching pessimism before we get married. Now, come, let’s rejoin our award-winning party and enjoy ourselves, as we’ve earned this.”

Celtic reluctantly complied, allowing the Light Elf to gently drag him back over to where his party was seated. They all flashed him warm smiles as he sat down, with Skye sitting next to him. Before long the various foods had been brought out. There were several different dishes of food, ranging from meats to fruits to salads and everything in between. The people attending were also eager to try some of the rarer delicacies like the Starbolt Roasts and edible monsters. Everyone present immediately tucked into the food, eager to try these rare treats, especially the other Heroes.

Skye ensured that Celtic got at least one serving of Starbolt Roast and Divine Barandy in order to increase his longevity after his earlier sacrifices to his lifespan, while also helping herself to some. After all the food was cleared the dessert trays were brought out. There were lots of different types of sweet treats, mostly pies and cakes, but a few other items like pastries. Before long the desserts were gone, leaving everyone full and satisfied. After another hour or so the party began to end. The various nobles who had attended started to make their way home, while the citizens returned to their domains for the night. The Heroes and their allies all retreated to their rooms to rest, full and happy, knowing that tomorrow was the biggest event yet.

Celtic said silently as he rested in his bed, “Tomorrow’s the big day for Robert, Wench, and all their allies. Hopefully everything goes according to plan. I shouldn’t be such a pessimist but I can’t help it, as these enemies have managed to slip through our fingers multiple times now. Let’s just hope that tomorrow will be the final day for those wretches.”

Eventually morning broke over the horizon. Everyone in the castle was up and about, eager at the thought of what today brings while also still talking about last night’s party. After a nice breakfast in the royal dining hall King Alvin stood up.

“Okay, Heroes, the time has come,” he said. “King Duskbane should be arriving soon with our ‘allies’ to ensure that Robert, Wench, and their allies get exactly what they deserve.”

Gram asked, “And, if I may be so bold, Your Majesty, what exact are these ‘allies’ of ours?”

“I suggest Prince Avalar explain it, Sir Gram.”

Everyone turned to Celtic who replied, “Guess there’s no reason not to tell you now that the day has arrived. Our special ‘allies’ are the Shadokor’s domesticated Soulavores. King Duskbane and I decided that in order to ensure that Robert, Wench, and their allies are gone for good, we wanted to go all-out for their execution. As such, we decided that using Soulavores to consume those traitors’ souls will erase them from existence, thereby preventing any form of reincarnation or revival. And, for bonus points, since the Four Stars Church and its followers hates demons, their final fate will be at the hands, or rather jaws, of demons. We’ve also cooked up some creative methods of executing our enemies. In short, today will be a feast of souls for the Soulavores to ensure that those goons are gone for good. By doing so we’ll all be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief knowing that some of our most hated enemies will be nothing more than bad memories.”

Leon chuckled darkly, “Soulavores, huh? Very creative, Cel. And how fitting, as the Four Stars Church always had propagandas against demons, so might as well remove them from existence with the very creature they despise. Talk about irony.”

Lucas then asked, “And what type of execution do you have planned for Wench, Celtic?”

The redhead replied, “Well, she always wanted to live like a witch. She’ll have to settle for dying like one if you catch my drift.”

The other Heroes gained dark grins at the thought, knowing what Celtic meant.

“Perfect, just perfect,” Eric said.

“And how fitting, too,” Jerry added.

“I never thought I’d be this excited for a public execution,” Ryan said. “And yet I can’t wait to finally see Wench go up in smoke for all she’s done to us.”

Celtic replied, “Normally I don’t like the thought of public executions, and yet, like you said, I feel strangely excited for it this time. Probably because people like Wench have made my hybrid blood boil so much that the only way to relieve myself of all that anger and stress is to see them burn. I just hope our prey didn’t escape during the night.”

King Alvin smiled, “You can rest assured, Prince Avalar, that the entirety of Robert’s faction remained in place. Not a single one of them was able to even attempt escaping. Each and every one of them are present and accounted for.”

Celtic gave a relieved sigh, “That’s good. For once my unflinching pessimism yesterday wasn’t justified. At least I can rest easy knowing that today is the final day for those fiends.”

Queen Amelia nodded, “Indeed, Prince Avalar. We’re all looking forward to putting the Church of the Four Stars and its followers behind us. Then we can focus on our real enemy: Infinator. By the time the sun sets today we’ll have ended a nightmarish chapter in Zakota’s history, with some of its most hated war criminals being put out of our misery. Hopefully King Duskbane arrives with his pet Soulavores soon so we can begin the executions.”

Ike then ran in, stating, “Pardon me, Your Majesties, but King Duskbane has arrived with his entire pack of Soulavores.”

King Alvin chuckled, “Speak of the devil. Then we can begin the executions. Lieutenant Ike, go and get the other soldiers so we can begin hauling those sorry carcasses called the Four Stars Church followers out to their execution. Have some of our men alert the public, as they’ll want to know that this event is going to take place very shortly.”

Ike saluted, “Yessir!”

As Ike scampered out King Alvin couldn’t help but chuckle, “That young lad Ike has proven to be a fine addition to our ranks. I can see why you took a shine to him, Prince Avalar. But time for that later, as we have to prepare for our final farewell to our hated enemies.”

Nodding, everyone got up, gathered up their stuff, and began making their way outside to where the executions were to take place. By the time they had gathered in the arena-like building in the city the stands were packed with people of all types and races, eager to see the Four Stars Church fall for the final time. Various executions methods had been brought out, including items like bronze bulls, guillotines, and stakes. The Heroes and the Shroud Hero party remained on standby to ensure that everything went according to plan. King Alvin and his family were in the royal stands, ready to begin. Before long the first group of prisoners were brought out, revealing them to be Jerry’s former party.

Jerry walked up to Marvin, eyes narrowing, growling, “This is what you get for using and abusing me, Marvin. You’re about to find out what happens when you betray my trust. And trust me, we’ve made sure that you’re not getting out of this alive.”

King Alvin stated, “These first batch of traitors will be executed by bronze bull! And their souls will be consumed by King Duskbane’s domesticated Soulavores. It is time to start the execution of the followers of the treasonous Church of the Four Stars!”

Jerry’s party was led toward the sets of bronze bulls. Marvin, who had been keeping his face hidden, suddenly fell to his knees.

“Please, Master Jerry!” he pleaded pathetically. “Spare us! We did no wrong! It’s the Shroud Devil who has brainwashed you! You’re the noblest and strongest Hero! Please, don’t do this!”

Jerry’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “Don’t you dare call Celtic that. It’s because of him that I’m the Hero that I am today. He’s shown me the light and I gladly follow him. He’s the strongest of the Heroes and by far the most noble despite his darker tendencies. No, I’m not going to let you off the hook, Marvin, not after everything you’ve done. You used me for your own selfish gains only to discard me when Celtic rescued me from your grip. If anyone has brainwashed me it was you. No, it’s time you take your punishment like a man. This is your final fate, Marvin, and you’ll see why betraying the world is a bad idea.”

He then held out his hand, closed it up into a fist, and stuck out his thumb. With a look of contempt he twisted his wrist to give a thumbs-down symbol, making Marvin’s eyes widen in horror. With this signal Marvin and the rest of Jerry’s party were shoved into the bronze bulls, locked up, and the stomachs set alight. They screamed from the inside, begging for mercy as their bodies burned. While Jerry was a bit disturbed by this he held strong, allowing the execution to continue. Before long the screams went silent and the current Soulavore held by a chain started to flare its nostrils and widen its eyes. The ShadoKnight who was holding the Soulavore noticed this and smiled.

“Time for breakfast,” he said to the Soulavore, letting go of its chain.

The Soulavore floated over the bronze bulls, opened its mouth, revealing the black void that was its throat, and started to inhale. Shortly afterward the souls of Marvin and the rest of Jerry’s party appeared, screaming as they were devoured by the Soulavore. After the last soul was consumed the Soulavore’s fifth eye gleamed, followed by it giving a light burp, before it floated back down to its ShadoKnight master, who grabbed its chain.

King Alvin stated, “The first of many criminals who have betrayed us have been permanently eliminated. Let us continue with the next batch of criminals.”

As time went on group after group of Four Stars Church followers were carted out and executed, with their souls consumed by the various Soulavores that were eagerly awaiting their meal. Before long it was Wench’s turn.

Wench was dragged out by two ShadoKnights. As soon as she appeared the public immediately booed her, much to her horror. Not long after the rest of her family appeared, all displaying looks of contempt.

Wench wailed, “Mama! Papa! Brother! Save me! I did nothing wrong! It’s all the Shroud Devil’s fault! And Skye’s! Condemn them, not me! I’m a good, honest girl! You know that!”

Sludge gave her a thumbs-down, stating, “You are nothing more than a shameless traitor, Wench. And you still have the gall to beg for mercy that you don’t deserve, along with blaming everything you’ve done on others. The entire Light Elf race is ready to wash their hands of you, as are we. You are no daughter to me. You are nothing more than a backstabbing terrorist who is about to go down in history as one of Zakota’s most hated war criminals. You had every chance in the world to turn your life around and become a better, or at least more tolerable, person. But no, you predictably blew every chance you had by sinking lower and lower, escalating your crimes as you did. Skye is a role model of what a Light Elf can truly be while you are nothing more than a terrorist and criminal who deserves death. You make our ancestor, who started the Great Demon War, look like a saint. Burn her like the witch she behaves!”

Wench wailed as she was strapped to a stake, ready to be burned. Celtic gained a dark grin as he approached her.

“I’ve got one question for you, Wench?” he said with a sadistic smile. “Medium-rare or well done?”

Wench whimpered, “How about neither?”

“Well done it is.”

He stepped back, transformed his arm into Heat Cannon, took aim, and fired it at the wood surrounding Wench, quickly setting it ablaze. Wench wailed and struggled to break free from her shackles as the fires burned around her. As she burned everyone cheered, with the Heroes looking particularly smug about it. She continued to scream in pain while constantly begging for mercy, but her cries fell on deaf ears. Before long her screaming went silent. The Soulavore that King Duskbane was holding immediately sensed that a meal was ready. King Duskbane smiled as he saw the Soulavore start salivating.

“Go and enjoy your breakfast, my friend,” he said, letting go of its chain.

The Soulavore eagerly floated up above Wench’s burning carcass, opened its mouth, and started to inhale. Wench’s soul appeared briefly, screaming as she was consumed by the Soulavore, causing it to float back down to its master.

Celtic huffed, “I hope that Soulavore doesn’t get food poisoning from her rotten soul.”

King Duskbane chuckled, “No need to worry, my dear nephew. These Soulavores can devour even the worst of souls like candy. The worst it’ll probably get is gas.”

As if on cue the Soulavore released a large flatulence, making everyone cringe.

“Case in point…”

Lucas fanned the smell away from his nose, “Wow, that reeks! But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that such a rotten soul like Wench’s would have such a reaction. At least she’s finally gone for good.”

Celtic merely crinkled his nose, saying, “It smells better than Betty’s broccoli casserole or Jonathan’s squid surprise. And at least it’s to be expected, given what a vile, toxic person Wench was.”

Skye replied, still trying to fan the stench away, “I’ll say. And this execution is full of karmic irony. She was an accomplished Fire mage who routinely burned the lives of those around her, acting like a true witch. How fitting that her final fate was to be burned at the stake like the witch she behaved. And at least the Soulavore didn’t let it rip over the flames, as that could’ve been a problem.”

Sludge walked up to Skye, saying, “Thank you, Skye, for helping us truly see what an irredeemable monster Wench was. I still feel great regret in selling you to slavery when I went off the deep end so I’m grateful you forgive me. At least now our people can start healing and become proper citizens of Zakota and no longer follow the path that Wench, or our ancestors, took.”

Zuzu huffed, “About time. And all it took was you losing everything when you tried hogging all the Heroes for yourself and stabbed Celtic in the back. Hopefully you and your people will stay on this path of reformation and not slip into old habits.”

Jade flinched before replying, “We cannot deny your words, Zuzu. We got what was coming to us. But we are going to stay on our path of reformation and become proper citizens of this world. It’ll take time before we are more accepted after thousands of years’ worth of vile get-more-power-quick schemes, but in time we will gain acceptance from the people. At least Skye proved that there is some good in our race, acting as a true role model for us to improve and become better people. It’s no surprise she was going to be the next Queen before we lost everything. At least with Wench gone we can finally start healing and mending our ways properly without her corruptive influence.”

Soon after Wench’s execution the process continued. Before long it was Robert’s turn. Like with Wench when Robert entered the arena he was instantly booed by the people, making him snarl in contempt. Leon then walked up to him.

“Well, well, brother, how the tables have turned,” Leon stated darkly. “You tried to scapegoat and execute me when Abbot Joseph was killed by Sylph. Now it’s your turn to be executed for your lying hypocrisy. You’re the last one needing to be executed today. I hope you’ve said your farewells to the hypocritical teachings of the Four Stars Church, as after you’re gone the Four Stars Church will be gone with you.”

Robert spat, “Our teachings aren’t hypocritical!”

Celtic walked up, opening a book, saying, “On the contrary. This book that we obtained from the ruins of the original Seraph Abbey says otherwise. Before you’re executed let us shed some light on the truth behind the hypocritical nature of the Four Stars Church. Read this page and watch as everything you believed in shatter.”

He held out the book open to a certain page. While Robert was initially not willing to read it he then noticed something on it and started to scan the pages. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the text on the pages.

“N-No…” he sputtered. “N-No, this can’t be right! The creators of the Church of the Four Stars KNEW that all five Legendary Gear originated in the Demon Realm!? And they only created the religion out of spite: that the Shroud was not only crucial to the war but ultimately won it?! T-This can’t be real! So… then all five Legendary Gear are demon weapons… not just the Shroud… T-This can’t be true…”

Leon huffed, “Believe it or not, Robert, but it’s the truth. So you’ve been following a hypocritical lie concocted by the creators of the Church of the Four Stars out of spite toward the Shroud when they knew the truth all along. Some golden boy you were, as you clearly didn’t know this. Everything you believed in was nothing more than a lie created to nurse the bruised egos of those who thought the Shroud was useless during the Great Demon War after it proved otherwise. All this time you’ve been following a false religion that had no place in this world. This is why I tried to tell you during our time together to keep an open mind, as you never know if your ‘mission’ is true or not. And I’m glad I kept my mind open, as it not only allowed me to see the truth but I gained some of the best friends I could ever ask for. Sorry, Robert, but this is the price you pay for following a lie. We figured you should know the truth before dying so that way you can finally see that everything you believed in was just hogwash.”

Robert’s eyes went wide and his face went pale at the realization. Celtic and Leon then returned to their group, allowing Robert’s execution to continue. Robert was strapped to another stake like Wench, but unlike her he had completely resigned to his fate, now knowing that everything he believed in was a lie. The wood around him was lit before becoming a large flame but he didn’t scream nor struggle. He simply let the flames consume him without complaint. After a bit the Soulavore nearby sensed its meal, which alerted King Duskbane to it.

“Okay, my fine Soulavore, time to have your final entrée for the morning,” he said, letting go of its chain.

The Soulavore floated upward, opened its mouth, and began inhaling. Robert’s soul could be seen briefly, just as despondent as he was before his execution, before getting consumed by the Soulavore. The Soulavore then gave a light burp before floating back down to King Duskbane.

King Alvin stated, “With Robert’s body burned and soul now consumed this officially marks the end of the Church of the Four Stars. We, the people of Zakota, can finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that one of our most hated enemy groups is no more. This means we can finally focus all of our attention on our true enemy: Infinator. According to King Duskbane he’s got something big planned for Nyx, so we must begin preparations immediately for his diabolical plot. At least now we won’t have to divide our attention and resources to fighting two enemies at once. Let us begin the next stages of our fight with Infinator’s forces.”

Celtic looked up at the sky, thinking, “Finally, one faction has fallen. Now we can completely focus on Infinator. We need to be ready for the worst, as whatever he has planned for Nyx is going to be a doozy.”

Next Chapter: The Dark Continent

End of Season 4

That's it for Season 4. Next time will be the start of Season 5. Tune in for the final season of Chaos Rising.