V2 C7 - The Tomb of Karak-Harth

The sun was low by the time David’s party arrived at the Goddess’s Eye Lake.

Across the crystal blue water, they could see a vast snowy mountain range on the other side of the lake, just piercing through the clouds.

I didn’t expect it to be easy to find the tomb - I just hope it’s not impossible.

“Scylla, Charybdis, how large are your monster forms?”

“Master, it’s rude to ask a lady such a thing,” Scylla answered bashfully.

Charybdis, however, kept her normal sweet smile and answered. “We are about sixty metres long, Master.”

The more I learn, the more scared I become. Also, what was with Scylla’s response?!

“I see. Perhaps it might be best to explore other options then. If lots of people saw you in your monster form, it could complicate matters.”

Not unless there’s a story about a massive sea snake living in the lake.

“Jorōgumo, could we use your webs to construct a bridge and cross to the other side?”

“If the lake was smaller than this, I would be able to easily.”

“In that case, one of the twins will have to ferry us across. Which of you-?”

“I will!” Scylla eagerly volunteered, raising her hand.

Her sister giggled. “While it would have been an honour to do it myself, I think it’s only fair that Scylla does it. Master, I would recommend that you throw Scylla as far as possible into the lake before she transforms.”

“So that she’s deep enough in the water to swim?” Charybdis nodded. “Very well. Scylla.”

“Yes!” Scylla skipped over to David with a dagger in hand. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Please throw me, Master!”

How am I meant to respond to that?

He picked her up with one arm and threw her with all of his might over the lake.

As she flew through the air, Scylla took a deep breath, then plunged the dagger into her heart.

Her face contorted in agony as the poison spread throughout her body.

It attacked her like a roaring fire.

She bit down hard on her lip, but couldn’t stop herself from screaming.

After a few more seconds, her body shook and a green pulse burst out from her body.

It spread for a mile through the water and scared thousands of fish away from her.

Back on the shore of the lake, David, Charybdis and Jorōgumo watched and waited.

“How shallow is the water near the shore?”

“It shouldn’t matter, Master. We should all have the physical strength to leap from the shore onto my sister’s back.”

“Is something wrong, Charybdis?”

“Forgive me for not telling you sooner, Master, but there is a terrible burden placed upon us whenever we transform.”

“A burden?”

Charybdis nodded solemnly. “The poison we use to transform is very potent and painful. It courses through our bodies and causes a pain greater than any other in this world. And.” She looked over the surface of the water as it began to stir. “It is a pain that lingers and grows inside us when we transform.”

Several long, emerald coloured snake heads burst through the surface of the lake, stretching ten metres high and groaning. They flashed their sword-like teeth as the beast began to slowly swim towards the shore, getting as close as it could.

Scylla was able to get within a hundred metres before it couldn’t get any closer. She then lowered her body back into the water in case she could be seen by someone nearby.

“…I see.”

She volunteered even though it’d hurt her that much? That’s an amazing level of dedication, but I wonder how long the twins would be able to endure that agony. I wonder if Eris gave them that drawback to make me feel more conflicted about using them.

“Master?” Jorōgumo asked.

David shook his head, then opened a portal behind him. “Raven, return to the Keep and tell them that we’re going across the lake. If anyone needs me, have them contact me through Jorōgumo’s brood.”

“At once, your majesty.”

“Charybdis, Jorōgumo, let’s go.”

The three of them leapt from the shoreline and landed on Scylla’s back. Once they were on, Scylla turned around and swam towards the other side of the lake.

With Scylla’s size combined with her swimming speed, it only took them two minutes to cross the forty-mile-wide lake.

Once at the shore line, David, Charybdis and Jorōgumo leapt off of Scylla’s back before she transformed in the water to her human form. Jorōgumo shot some threads towards Scylla’s, who grabbed onto them tightly, and pulled her out of the water.

“Excellent work, Scylla,” David said, patting her on the head. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, Master,” Scylla said with a big smile. “All that pain goes away once I transform back to this form.”

“You aren’t lying to me so that I don’t worry about you, are you?”

A deadly serious expression overcame her face and she dropped onto one knee. “I wouldn’t dare lie to you, Master. My sister and I will not make the same mistakes as our predecessors and will tell you the truth whenever you desire us to.”

“It is as my sister says, Master.” Charybdis knelt beside her sister. “It is true that we experience great pain when transformed and when we transform, but that pain evaporates the moment we change back into this form.”

David smiled a little beneath his helmet. That’s a relief.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the pain before Scylla volunteered?”

“It is because we didn’t want to worry you, Master. No matter what you ask of us, as your chosen generals, we should endeavour to perform your orders to the best of our abilities, regardless of whatever suffering we must endure.”

“Even then, Charybdis, Scylla, I want you to tell me everything upfront from now on. Is that understood?”

“Yes, my liege!” they answered.

David turned back to the mountains and scanned for any signs or indications where Karak-Harth’s tomb was but, unfortunately, there weren’t any clear signs.

“The stories don’t say where Karak-Harth’s tomb is buried, do they?”

“That is what Mímir said, Master.”

I thought someone as infamous as him would’ve been buried in a big scary place like the Shadow Tombs. We’ll be here for ages if they just buried him in a random plot of land.

“I guess they wouldn’t give the man who betrayed Themis a big, extravagant tomb, would they? Scylla, Charybdis; follow the base of the mountains and head to the left. Jorōgumo and I will do the same and go right.”

“Master, if one of us does find the tomb, how are we meant to let the other group know?” Jorōgumo asked.

“I and all of my generals are capable of teleporting to places we have already visited, aren’t we?”

“Yes, Master,” Charybdis replied. “Master, to make the search easier, should we summon our Hysminai now?”

On their journey to the Goddess’s Eye, Charybdis had informed David that she and her sister were capable of summoning demons from portals like Abaddon. However, where Abaddon could summon Machai from his, the twins could summon demons called Hysminai.

There’s no reason not to summon them, and it gives me a chance to see what these new soldiers are capable of.

“Summon them.”

“At once!” the twins answered.

The two girls stood opposite each other and conjured bright yellow portals behind them.

From each portal, stepped out a tall, fully armoured female warrior.

Ten more of their kind stepped through each portal. Once they were all through, they moved in sync with one another into formation, and stood at attention.

“Master, allow me to introduce the Hysminai!”

The Hysminai stood two metres tall and wore plate armour that looked like it had been made out of a blackened, twisted tree; their eyes glowed a soft yellow like a cat’s at night. Each demon was quite muscular, but not as much as the Machai.

Each individual Hysmine carried a spear and tower shield in their hands, and had a long sword strapped to their side. Just like their armour, parts of their weaponry looked like they’d been forged out of a twisted, tree looking metal.

Their sword’s hilts and the shafts of their spears looked like they’d been made from a blackened tree.

“What do you think of them, Master?” Scylla asked, puffing out her chest a little.

“Are they to your satisfaction, Master?”

Satisfaction? They look strong as hell!

“We guarantee you their strength, Master.”

David let out a low chuckle. “They do look the part. I hope to see that strength in person soon enough. How many of them would you be able to summon in a month?”

“Between the pair of us, perhaps five hundred,” Charybdis said.

So, roughly the same number of Machai that Abaddon can summon? David held in his frustrations. I know it’s probably Eris’s fault that they can only summon so many a month, but it’s still annoying nonetheless. At the very least, I’m now certain that Eris isn’t going to let me rely on a summoned army to forge my empire.

However. David frowned. I don’t have any other leads on potential allies I could make. Sylvan’s network is all but gone, Jorōgumo’s spiders are numerous and we have the giants on our side, but that’s not enough.

It might be worth having Hilda or Jessica’s team fight the spiders and the giants to gauge their strength.

“Master?”

David turned to face Scylla. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something else. Five hundred extra soldiers a month is a great boon.”

The twins smiled happily in relief.

Let’s not think about that right now.

“Servants, go forth and find the Tomb of Karak-Harth!”

***

Charybdis found the tomb after four hours.

It was small and hidden from prying eyes.

“Break it open.”

The twins broke down the stone doors and the Hysminai swarmed in.

If there had been any traps, undead or monsters on the other side of the door, they would’ve faced them.

Nothing was waiting for them.

The tomb was a single large stone room, its walls covered in runes, spells and letters David didn’t know and in the very heart of it was a raised platform with a sarcophagus resting atop it.

It was pitch-black inside, but David and all of his followers possessed night vision and thus could see everything clearly.

“Search the room just in case, see if you can’t find any hidden treasures or traps, Jorōgumo, wait outside with six Hysminai in case something happens.”

David and the twins walked up to the stone sarcophagus and found it sealed shut, tightly bound with rusty chains, worn out rope and talismans. The entire sarcophagus was decorated in runes and spells just like the rest of the room, except for the small golden plaque towards the head of the casket.

Here lies Karak-Harth: once, a close friend. May he rest in peace and comfort.

“Is this how people treat their friends in the Holy Empire?” Scylla asked.

Charybdis giggled and lightly touched the edges of the plague. “Only someone truly arrogant could write such drivel.”

I wonder. It might be small and hidden away, but there’s almost a warmth to the whole place. If she didn’t care for him, why didn’t she just dump his body into the ocean or burn it?

You don’t bury a person you don’t care about.

Karak-Harth was always described as the traitor of Saint Themis’s court, the one who cursed her until his dying breath who vowed his vengeance upon her and her descendants.

His betrayal should have hurt her and yet, Themis still buried Karak-Harth in a tomb like this.

“…Maybe Themis truly did feel that way about him,” he whispered too softly for the others to hear. David turned to the twins. “Open it.”

Scylla placed her hands against the chains and her palms opened, revealing hundreds of teeth that began shredding the metal into tiny pieces. Charybdis deployed her claw-like arms and tore the ropes free from the sarcophagus, before scratching at the spells and runes.

Once they were done, David grasped a hold of the lid and, with a mighty throw, flung it behind him, revealing the unrotten corpse of Karak-Harth.

Karak-Harth looked like a man in his late fifties with long white hair wearing beautifully crafted robes. He was holding a wooden staff that looked like it was made of two broken halves forcefully fused together. There was a clean white-gold cloak neatly folded on top of his chest, revealing the crest of Saint Themis’s noble house.

Had David not known this was a tomb, he could have assumed the man was sleeping.

She did care for him in the end. But. David placed his palm against Karak-Harth’s heart. That doesn’t matter to me.

David channelled his magic into the corpse, causing it to overflow with a dark mist.

The body began to stir and, with a deathly howl, he leapt up in the sarcophagus.

Black lightning and balls of fire spewed from his body, shooting all over the room. The twins jumped to protect David and the Hysminai raised their shields to defend themselves. A few were hit with the spells and went flying across the room, and two of them crumpled down dead against the wall.

Karak-Harth’s screams began to die down and the magical attacks began to stop.

The mage took several deep breaths and looked down at his body in confusion.

He touched his hand to his wrist to try and feel his pulse, but couldn’t.

He checked his heart and then his own breath to try and confirm that he was alive, a sight that made David disgustingly nostalgic.

“Karak-Harth.” When the wizard turned to face David, he found an arrow aimed at his skull and two daggers digging into his throat. “Do you know who I am?”

The wizard nodded and lowered his head. “…My master. The one who brought me back to life…the Demon Emperor.”

David nodded. “Then, do you know what I wish from you?” The wizard shook his head. “You are to raise a great undead army from here and, when the time is right, you shall depart from this place and destroy the Holy Empire of Themis.”

Karak-Harth’s eyes slowly widened as a nasty scowl grew across his face.

David wondered if the wizard was conflicted or against the idea, but those fears were quickly dashed when Karak-Harth began to cackle.

“The Holy Empire?! Themis’s?!” The wizard kept laughing, shaking his head and running his hands through his hair. “Absurd! How could that happen?! Why did those fools continue to serve that naïve princess?! She forged a Holy Empire?!” Karak-Harth slammed his fist down hard against his sarcophagus; the stone cracked and he went silent.

“Unforgivable!”

“Then, will you do as I command?”

“It would be my honour, your majesty. I’ll do whatever it takes to see that woman’s empire burn.”

“Perfect. Start raising your undead army now and make it the largest the world has ever seen.”

“Gladly, your majesty. What types of undead would you like me to summon?”

“What types?”

“Should I raise higher ranked undead, lower ranked or a combination, your majesty?”

He can summon higher ranked undead without a corpse? I needed the physical bodies of the mages at the Shadow Tombs to raise liches, but he can summon them without corpses? He has to be a stronger Necromancer than Mania or I.

“What types of higher ranked undead can you summon?”

“Whatever you desire,” Karak-Harth answered. “I can summon liches, death knights and bone golems. I am only able to summon three liches a month and about twenty of the other two a month.”

“That’s fine. Summon the liches first and get to work raising your army as large as you can, but do not allow yourself to be spotted by anyone on the lake or that comes ashore over here. If you are spotted, kill the witnesses and make sure no one finds out you’re here. Is that clear?”

“Yes, your majesty. I shall get started right away.”

“Good. Then, there’s no longer any need for us to remain. Someone will be back every week to check on you.” David narrowed his eyes and let out a tremendous, oppressive aura of mana from his body. “I expect great things from you.”

After all, you’re our precious Great Disaster.