V2 C3 - The Battle of Black Port

As the army approached, the undead barrelled towards them.

Most were armed only with a single weapon, but others used the equipment of the dead city watch.

The Holy Legion halted their march and shifted into formation.

The soldiers on the frontlines stood shield to shield, swords drawn, and the pikemen behind them pushed their weapons far out in front of the formation, ready to skewer the attacking horde. Behind each of those formations along the Legion’s line were a company of archers and mages, ready to unleash volleys of missiles down on the undead.

When the undead got within a hundred metres, the missiles flew at them, destroying dozens at a time. Then, when the undead smashed into the frontlines, they were torn apart by the strong, coordinated attacks made by the Legion’s vanguard.

On the flanks, the cavalry and Paladins charged into the sides of the horde with more archers and mages at their backs, hastening the destruction of the undead horde.

From the rear of the lines, Prince Julius looked on and smiled.

It was clear to him, and his generals, that the undead horde was faltering.

For every soldier that died, more than eight undead fell.

“General Pontus, any word from our lookouts?”

“No, your majesty. It would seem that the entirety of the undead horde hit us from the front, just as your majesty suspected they would.”

“Excellent. At this rate, we’ll be done long before midday. However!” Julius thrust his arm out for emphasis. “We cannot start acting arrogantly or foolishly, even if we’re currently winning. For all we know, our opponents want us to let down our guard and strike.

“Send word to our lookouts to-”

“Your majesty! Look over there! Right above the horde!”

All eyes turned and found four liches hovering above the undead as they started flinging balls of fire at the Legion’s lines, killing many soldiers with every blast.

“Send word to the Paladins and mages immediately! Focus fire on the liches and destroy them at once! Soldier, is that all of them that you’ve seen?”

“It’s all our men have seen, your majesty!”

“Only four liches?” General Pontus whispered. “Then, that means-!”

Julius clicked his tongue. “The rest of the liches must be where our allies are. Send reinforcements to the Shadow Tombs immediately!”

***

The adventurers and the garrison from Cliff’s Edge ascended to the Shadow Tombs and found a few thousand skeletons and zombies waiting for them.

“Don’t falter! We can handle this!” Connor yelled.

In small, coordinated groups, the adventurers engaged the undead whilst the garrison soldiers tried to fight them one on one. The undead weren’t particularly strong, and most of the adventurers could handle five or six at once, but the battlefield was chaotic and unpredictable.

The terrain was rough, there were many blind spots and there were undead waiting beneath the ground to strike whenever someone stepped over them.

As Connor’s team dispatched wave after wave, the screams of anguish and sounds of blood being spilt increased.

By the time silence fell upon the tomb again, all of the garrison soldiers were dead, as were a handful of adventurers.

“Really wishing Kella was here,” Tiergan chided.

“Yes, you’ve mentioned that. Still, this feels…unnatural.”

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many undead gathered outside the tombs at once,” Alisa said. “Do you think there might be a few liches here?”

“Maybe. Best be on guard.” Connor then addressed the others. “Listen up! Due to the high number of initial undead we’ve encountered, we believe there could be several liches here. There could be even more so stay in your groups, stay alert and stay safe.”

With Connor’s team leading the way, they entered the Shadow Tombs.

They fought their way through the passageways, losing more adventurers as they cleared each room, until they arrived at the great doors to the central chamber where they suspected the liches were.

However, inside, they discovered that there weren’t just one or two liches.

There were sixteen.

“Dodge!” Connor cried as a wave of fire was launched towards them.

Half of the adventurers did so.

Others put up magical shields to deflect the attacks, but a few of them were incinerated by the flames, leaving only ashes behind.

“Welcome, foolish adventurers of Themis,” the Lich King taunted, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. “You chose the wrong day to come visit us, I’m afraid. However, fear not. Once you’re dead, we’ll bring you right back to-”

Alisa thrust her palm towards the Lich King and two rock pillars burst out of the walls and zoomed towards him with great speed. One of the other liches pushed the king back and took the attack head on; it reduced him to dust.

“I really don’t give a shit what you’ve got to say.”

The liches began generating shields and launching fireballs as the rest of the adventurers started to attack.

Arrows and magical bolts flew at and collapsed against the lich’s shields as the melee adventurers, led by Connor, charged them.

The Lich King growled at his fallen comrades’ remains and thrust his staff towards the adventurers. A stone wall shot out of the ground, sending three unfortunate adventurers skyrocketing into the ceiling, crushing them into paste.

An adventurer with a massive war hammer roared loudly and smashed his weapon through the stone, shattering it into pieces. Once the wall was gone, a wave of fireballs shot at the adventurers again, burning the war hammer adventurer to ashes, but Alisa and the other mages managed to protect the rest of the melee adventurers with their magic.

Connor charged forward and cut a lich in two before rolling out of the way of another lich’s lightning bolt. Tiergan fired enchanted arrows at the liches, but they kept being shot out of the air. Alisa manipulated the stones beneath the feet of the liches and had massive stone pillars shot out at them, but the liches had learnt from their comrade’s mistake and dodged them.

However, by doing so, they left themselves vulnerable to the other adventurers’ attacks.

As one lich fell, three or four adventurers lost their lives.

Despite their losses, the adventurers knew that they were winning.

***

Hundreds of skeletons collapsed into piles of bones.

Confusion quickly turned to jubilation.

Prince Julius roared with laughter. “This is what happens when a necromancer or conjurer is destroyed.” His voice carried across the battlefield thanks to a nearby mage’s magic. “Our brave companions, the paladins and adventurers, are destroying the foul liches that spawned this horde! This is a sign of our victory drawing ever closer!”

Morale soared, cheers cried out and the fighting intensified.

The Holy Legion knew it was only a matter of time until they won.

The two Ravens atop one of Black Port’s towers were not as happy.

“Did his majesty foresee this?”

The other shook its head. “There was nothing about this in our orders.”

“...This could be a problem.”

***

After an exhausting thirty-minute-long battle, only one lich was left standing: the Lich King.

However, only nine adventurers were left to face him, including Connor’s team.

They were all exhausted, bruised and battered.

Despite their losses, this was definitely a victory for the adventurers.

Liches were very rare, and very dangerous, monsters. All adventurers knew that to properly handle a lich, they would need at least eight people to destroy one in an open area.

However, today, they had to fight multiple liches in an enclosed space where both sides had to be careful not to hit their allies.

For the liches, it meant they couldn’t use their most powerful spells or risk collapsing the tombs on top of them.

For the adventurers, it gave them a greater chance of winning.

“This cannot be happening!” The Lich King thrust his staff once more towards the adventurers. Alisa and the other mages raised barriers to absorb the attack, but the shields broke and launched seven adventurers flying backwards. “How can I, the one he named Lich King, lose to weaklings?!”

Tiergan fired an arrow enchanted with lightning magic at the Lich King. It landed in his shoulder and exploded, knocking the Lich King onto the ground.

“I can’t lose!” The Lich King launched several large fireballs at the adventurers.

Connor and Tiergan took cover in some alcoves and Alisa generated a large magical shield to protect her and the other adventurers. The fireballs began to chip away at her barrier and Alisa felt her strength leaving her.

“I am the Lich King and I will not be defeated by the likes of you!”

The lich roared and thrust his staff forward, launching a gigantic fireball towards Alisa.

“Alisa!”

He jumped in front of her barrier and thrust his shield ahead of him. The fireball slammed into his shield and Connor screamed madly in pain.

Connor’s shield was magically enchanted to make it stronger and resistant to elemental damage, but the lich’s attack was too powerful and reduced it to dust. The fire then spread across Connor’s body and burnt him.

He fell to the floor as Alisa screamed in horror.

“Connor!”

Tiergan fired another lightning arrow at the Lich King. It snuck through the undead’s rib cage and into its spine, exploding it from the inside out.

To make sure it was dead, Alisa conjured a gigantic stone fist from the ceiling and crushed the lich’s bones to dust.

She ran over to Connor and cradled him in her arms, calling his name again and again.

***

Forty thousand undead collapsed, signalling the end of the Battle of Black Port.

The Holy Legion and Paladins cheered, thrusting their weapons high into the air, praising Themis.

“General Pontus! Send relief and reinforcements to the Shadow Tombs as quickly as possible. Send medics, mages, healers and whatever men we can spare. Have the rest sweep the city, clean up the battlefield and make camp.”

“At once, your majesty!”

***

“Open your eyes, dammit!” Alisa screamed, tears falling from her eyes. She hit Connor’s chest again and again. “Why did you jump in front of me, you idiot! You knew what’d happen and-!”

“Sorry, but I couldn’t let that thing hit you.”

“I could’ve handled it!”

“No, you couldn’t have,” Tiergan said. “Your barrier was about to break, so Connor acted to protect you and give me a chance to finish the last lich off.”

“But-!”

“Hey, he’s not dead. He’s just a bit charred.”

“A bit?!” Alisa howled. “Even the highest-level healing spells can’t fix all those injuries.”

“And? Will that change what you think about him?”

“Of course not, but-”

“Just be grateful that he’s still alive, unlike.” Tiergan glanced over his shoulder at the dozens of dead adventurers.

Nine of them had survived and seven of them had been wounded in the final fight.

Alisa bit down on her lip and whispered, “Don’t you think I know that? I-I was scared that Connor wouldn’t make it.”

“Me too,” Tiergan mumbled.

“I didn’t know what I’d do if that happened, and-”

“Hey, let’s not think about that,” Connor mumbled. “We’re all alive. I might just have to take a break for a while to heal up.”

“In that case, might’ve been better if you’d kicked it.” Tiergan smirked. “The life insurance would’ve been more than enough to make sure we’d never need to work again.”

“Tiergan!”

The two men began to laugh until Connor started to sputter and cough again.

“You mind helping me get down the mountain?”

Tiergan laughed and went to offer him his hand. “Sure, you lazy git. Just don’t get too used-”

He cut himself off.

Something made all the hair on his back stand up.

“I’m so sorry.”

A portal had appeared behind them and, before anyone could react, Alisa had been stabbed in the back.

The blade pierced all the way through her heart and into Connor’s.

Alisa’s face contorted in agony as she collapsed on top of Connor, blood pouring from her wound.

Tiergan fired an arrow with frightening speed at the attacker.

The man dodged the arrow, then dragged his sword’s blade through Alisa’s corpse and cut Tiergan in half.

“I’m so sorry.”

Tiergan’s torso fell into a pool of his own blood as he glared up at the man who had killed his friends.

I won’t forgive you!

Connor could hear the screams of the other adventurers as they too were attacked by an unknown force.

Themis curse you! Themis curse you!

Die!

Die!

Die!

Di…e…

***

“I’m so sorry.”

He kept repeating himself even after they were dead.

David had been near the Shadow Tombs when the battle started; he wanted to see how it’d play out and how strong the Holy Empire, and its adventurers, were.

In his previous world, adventurers in games and stories could kill soldiers, monsters and even Gods.

David didn’t expect them to be capable of destroying liches with a single blow, or see liches kill adventurers with a single spell.

Once David knew there were only a few exhausted survivors, he decided to do something he’d been putting off for months - killing a human being.

I know I’d have to do it eventually - I had to or else I might hesitate later, but-!

No matter how David rationalised it, he couldn’t stop the tears beneath his helm.

“Your majesty.” The masked adventurers knelt behind him. “We have dispatched the other adventurers; what would you have us do?”

Focus, David…Focus.

He took a deep breath, then spoke softly. “Burn your cloaks and masks, and head back to the Dread Keep through my portal. Jessica, Lucy, Cain; you performed excellently.”

“Thank you very much, your majesty!”

They did as instructed, leaving David alone in the tombs.

He dropped his sword and collapsed onto his hands and knees, weeping uncontrollably. David dismissed his armour just before he vomited, spewing up his guts to the sides.

“Why…do I have to…do this?” David hit his head against the ground. “No more. I don’t want to-!”

A gentle, familiar giggle from behind him quickly made him shut up.

“Honestly, what would your generals think if the cruel tyrant who had ordered the deaths of tens of thousands of people would cry just because they personally killed a few people?

“Actually, isn’t it quite pathetic that you didn’t weep for the people of Black Port, but you did for these adventurers instead?” Eris laughed and sat beside David, smiling. “What a pathetic Demon Emperor you are.”

David glowered as his hand instinctively reached for his sword, but he stopped himself; he knew it would be of no use.

Eris’s smile grew a little at his reaction.

“I’ve always heard mortals describe killing in such poetic ways.” She lightly wrapped her arms around David’s neck from behind, placing her lips beside his ear. “Tell me, David Athelward, how did it feel? Did it make your heart race? Did you feel proud when you finally mustered the courage to kill someone with your own two hands? It’s a completely different feeling from killing goblins, right?”

David dug his hands into the rocks.

Don’t. Don’t give her the reaction she wants.

“Tell me, David, how do you really feel right now? Didn’t it feel great having the lives of these people and the people of Black Port in your hands? Didn’t it give you a thrill like no other, knowing that you had thousands of people’s fates in your hands? Tell me.”

“…Shut…up.”

He cursed himself for not being able to endure her taunts.

“Ah, I seem to have struck a nerve. A shame, really.” She released David and skipped away from him. “I thought that the gift I gave you would’ve made this easier for you.”

David froze. “Gift? What gift?”

Eris smirked. “If you want to know, then I suggest you start being a bit more honest with yourself.”

“Tell me.”

“Why should I?”

“Tell me!”

Eris laughed once more, her wings flapping happily behind her.

“What’s so funny. Tell me, Eris! What’s so funny about this?!”

“Everything, David Athelward,” Eris said gently. “The way you quickly raise your voice in anger at me even though you know I could kill your family with a snap of my fingers. The way you deny your true feelings about everything you’ve done. The way you refuse to listen to that little voice inside your head that tells you how proud you should feel for gathering up the courage to kill humans with your own hands. And, more than that, the way that my gift has changed you.”

“…What gift?”

“Your blood and biology. When I was reconstructing you, I changed your body into a half-human, half-demon hybrid of sorts and the blood flowing through your veins is that of a demon’s, changing the way you think and act. It makes you capable of killing things without hesitating. It makes you quicker to anger. It makes you just how I love to see you.

“Desperate, angry, and trying your best to deny your true nature.”

“How the hell is that my true nature if that’s something you gave me as a gift, Eris?!” David roared, wiping his dried tears. “If what you’re telling me is true, then-!”

“Then it makes it all the easier for you to accept your feelings, doesn’t it?” Eris purred. “It makes it easier for you to stand up to me and convince yourself that this isn’t the real you.”

“Y-yeah. So why-?”

“David Athelward, do you really believe everything that I tell you? I believe that you’ve said that you don’t before, so then, pray tell, why were you so quick at accepting my answer this time as if it was the truth?”

David’s eyes widened and he took a step back, shivering from the chill left behind by Eris’s words.

S-she has to be telling the truth this time, right? She has to be!

“I-If you were telling the truth, this would-!”

“What? Magically make everything fall into place?” Eris asked. She took a step forward. “Make you feel a lot better?” She stepped forward again. “Make it so that you could convince yourself that you’re not a monster, even after everything you’ve done and are going to do?”

Eris’s smile was the largest David had ever seen it.

With one final step, Eris pushed her face just a few inches in front of his.

“I’m the last person you should ever trust, David Athelward.” David shrieked and Eris giggled softly again. “As a last gift for today, I’ll clean up the mess that you’ve left behind. Aren’t I such a generous Goddess?”

David slithered away from her, grabbed his sword, opened a portal and ran back to his bedroom at the castle.

Once he was gone, Eris hummed gleefully as she erased David’s vomit, leaving the bodies of the adventurers untouched.

“I said that I’d help you clean up your mess, but didn’t say I’d help you cover it up.”

Eris’s body turned into countless feathers and she disappeared into the darkness.

***

Following the victory at Black Port, news quickly spread throughout the empire of their victory and of the deaths of the brave adventurers at the Shadow Tombs.