Chapter 2. Storming the Lair (world of Maou No Hajimekata.)
"Man, are we going for another one? I thought we would get some breather!" Whined Ossifer.
"Getting a breather in the Bloody Twelve hundredth," mocked Barreck. "Oh sweet summer child, as if young grumps would let us."
Ossifer and Berric were both in their mid thirties. The latter was balding and sporting a middling auburn beard. The first was more lean, almost wiry and certainly pasty, and had an outrageous blonde afro. People gave Kazuya a ton of shit for having bleached hair, but him? He was sure he would get hell 24/7.
"Why are they in another room, anyways, the second company?"
As far as Kazuya could see, only the armored knights that made up the first and the ragtag lot of the third used this mess hall, while the second company's fellas took the food and went to another room.
The duo and the rest of the table exchanged a momentary glance, then broke into a light chuckle.
"Dude, you don't want to see them eating," commented Ossifer.
"Hell you don't want to see them period," added Berric.
"Same thing your wifes said about you."
Kazuya snapped backwards to see Victoria. The pale woman made a slasher smile as she adjusted her teashades. Unlike most of the personnel she wore a more casual attire, a royal blue sweater and gray jeans.
"Ma'am, that assumes a woman was ever insane enough to even want to share a room with me," rebutted Berric in self deprecation.
Now the chuckle was raucous laughter.
"I see where are you going and we can spare ourselves the rabbit hole."
"Cap'n," the voice belonged to another new enlistee, whose name Kazuya didn't register. "Shouldn't you wear the uniform?"
"Oh, like I care. We are eating now, not marching on a parade. If the young gramps, fat chance at that, wants to enforce the rule he's welcome to."
"Young gramps," asked Kazuya quizzically, brows cocked in bemusement.
"He's a cranky jackass, and I say this while admitting the shit out of him, despite being twenty three," she laughed her ass off as Kazuya spat his drink in disbelief. "Oh yeah gramps! Add one more to the List!" She shouted at the officers' table.
Kragan simply stared back for a few seconds. He said nothing, instead settling for a silent flip of the bird. Victoria flipped the bird to and that prompted the colonel to do the same with his remaining hand.
"He says he's mildly annoyed," she said as she sat and pecked off a bite from Ossifer's plate. "Also fuck me, Vicky."
She took the mouthful chewed a bit and then turned again.
"Anyways, I came here for a specific reason and it's to start giving a debrief."
"Is it ambassadorial duty, Ma'am?" Asked Ossifer as he protected his plate from the free-riding officer.
"Yeah, good olde gunboat diplomacy. They want some shit from there, I cannot even remember the name, and they want to have a good relationship with the locals while showing off muscle. Luckily enough, we've got the right target."
"Evil Overlord number ninety-five?"
"Pretty much, Ain Soph Aur," Berric cringed visibly." Has been a naughty boy and we need to do some spanking. So buckle up boyos, because we are going full heroes on their asses."
At that point a round of cheers broke up.
"Also, he may or may not be a lich."
The response was virtually universal and perfectly coordinated.
"Oh fuck that shit!"
=== 0 ===
"Welcome to Bumfuckistan, capital of Who-gives-a-fuckia region, crown jewel of the land of Generica," announced flamboyantly Victoria, arms spread widely, before deflating quickly. "Probably."
"What the hell was that for?" Kazuya asked, completely weirded out.
"There's an obscene amount of places like this, I tell you," she pointed her finger around. "Virtually the same costumes and techniques, infrastructure and organization. Seen one and you've seen most of them. And we will need to spend quite a long time here finding the bloody phylactery."
"God fucking damn it!"
All of a sudden Victoria's face soured as he heard the booming tirade of profanity from the colonel.
"Don't tell me…"
"You telling me we've gotta leg it to the rendezvous point because some fuckwit cocked things up!?"
"Oh joy, it's going to be camping. Whoop-dee-dop, such fun!" she muttered with ice seeping through her tone.
A week later.
"At last a haven of civilization!" cried Victoria as she knelt over the flagstone and kissed them. "Oh gods in heaven, my gratitude runs deep and profound!"
The whole fortress was ravaged, littered with debris and mangled bodies. This had, by and large, been done by arrow fire, said the intelligence report. Fucking hell.
"This is like the second settlement we've found in such a state," said Kazuya, half unnerved. He was really having second thoughts about his (forced) decision of staying with them.
"Captain, how much of a resistance they tried to put?" Wondered another member of the company, the lion guy.
"Nyeh, hard to tell," she said abruptly as she rose again. "They, the enemy, are likely to hide their casualties, though by the smell of it… they pretty much died in a too short span of time," muttered the captain as she adjusted her teashades.
"The smell," asks Kazuya, rising his brows in bemusement. "What are you, a police dog?"
"Well, I was for a few years, yeah."
Kazuya switched from bemusement to outright puzzlement.
"You where what?"
"VICKY!"
"BOSS!"
"Get that fat ass over here!"
As Victoria closed by to the commander up to the main tower in the heart of the fortress, still exchanging screams at the commander.
Kazuya kept staring at her, dumbfounded.
"No one here bothers explaining shit ever," commented Ossifer. "No one ever does."
=== 0 ===
Captain Amandra, Knight of Flowers, stood by the side, guarding the gate. She needn't bother with strategizing and plans. She was a blunt instrument in the colonel's service. Shifting her stance, the baroque and flowery plates of her armor made a very light creak. She needed, though, to see some of support platoon for maintenance.
The top tower at the heart of the fortress was filled with carpets and exquisite paintings, every single bit of its furniture a yell of excessive luxury. No wonder they had been beaten so fast. Cosseted like this?
The room is virtually empty by now. Only Kragan, Victoria and Levi and lieutenant Berric were there representing the Free Companies. A woman and two knights representing this "Figuria" kingdom. She appeared to be all business, down to the smart suit-like clothing and round glasses, with a short haircut of earthen straight hair that reminded Amandra of her garden.
"Salutations, madam strategist," said Kragan as he came to attention.
After a brief moment of salutations, strategist Cass proceeded to the debriefing.
"This is one of the rare cases where he's shown excess violence-"
Amandra overheard them half the time. These kind of meetings bored the hell out of her, but ought to attend to pay loyalty to her commander. She half heard mentions about his pragmatism and cunning, about how they lacked (somehow) the material to properly rile up the people to fight him. Bounties had failed them, any attempts by adventuring parties failing miserably and losing contact. They had sent ten days ago an elite party that had gone missing, around the same time the Free Companies had begun to probe new worlds for potential assets. A convenient timing, if she was allowed to say so.
"The only thing close to a propaganda piece we have is that, according to some reports, he's been taking maidens from the neighboring villages as tribute. And well…"
And after hearing what came after, after two solid minutes, Kragan stopped looking out at the map. He said nothing, he didn't even blink. And just from taking a glance one could tell he looked absolutely livid.
"Vicky… bring the tanks."
=== 0 ===
The response was swift and brutal. After two days of forced marches, the twelve hundredth attacked the ruins that hid their target. It was an encirclement. An onslaught as Kragan hurled the entirety of the regiment.
"Team A, fan out! Team B, cover corridors theta and zeta!"
Brunhilda's tracks grumbled as the warmachine lumbered ahead the cloud of choking fumes. Amidst the noxious myst he could figure his mates' shapes: McHornigol touting the heavy machine gun and belching fire; Jenkins charging headlong a bloke. François hacking apart as he blasted things with his shotgun.
Levi walked softly, without need of getting worked up. The second company was the most stable and well coordinated lot of the regiment, drawing only from Grandfather's flock.
Thus, and being the biggest and bestest company clocking at two hundred and change blokes, they had been sent to cover the most of the entrances and routes. Sure, Vicky's tanks provided assistance but it was unneeded.
His mates, he thought as he drew his revolver and proceeded to blast to smithereens a charging kobold with a shot, could punk any idiot that got too cocky.
"AGH!"
Levi snapped from his complacence. He turned around quickly, seeing Mchornigol's shape slamming the floor. Two more cries, two more thuds and hissing sounds tearing flesh.
What was going on?
Levi readied his scythe, circling about.
Where are you little mice?
François down, two more voices at the same time. By now the volley fire had gained a ragged cadency.
There!
With a quick swing, Levi… hacked at the air. Da-
Fwip!
A pang of mild pain punched Levi. Looking, down, bringing his hand to feel the wound, he felt the pouring black blood from the gaping hole torn into his body.
"Oh my."
=== 0 ===
Elen, head of the black A'lfar clan, stared at the grotesquely obese being. Usually, such arrows would have ripped apart the target's body. Here they had just punched a small hole. Still enough to kill the target long before he ran out of… the ichor that passed by as blood.
Curiousity got the best of her. Carefully, she approached the corpse and thrust her blade at the throat, to ensure the kill. Then she tore off the gas mask.
As the leather fell a haunting sight assaulted the clan matriarch. Gasping in horror, she averted momentarily her gaze from the maze of buboes, scabs and putrid flesh. A pungent rot rolled into her nose, causing her stomach to heave in absolute revulsion.
She couldn't hold her guts anymore, throwing up in the process, when the scythe was cleaved into her torso. Gasping in pain, her body now numb to anything but the agonizing pain of her rapidly corroding flesh, she stared back.
Gurgling, the monster laughed. As she tried to get away, she heard blasting sounds, her kinswomen screaming in abject terror and agonizing pain. No, it couldn't be...
"Glory to grandfather."
The scythe twisted, ripping her body apart. So that's how it felt? Was her last thought.
=== 0 ===
Levi rose from the ground, using the cleaved corpse as leverage for his ascension. With a swift move he dislodged his scythe from the cold and rotting body. His mates were picking up the torn body pieces, putting them together thanks to the wondrous gifts of the Grandfather. Around them, the strewn and broken bodies were already growing mold and fungi as the cycle of life and decay proceeded to its next stage.
"Any bloke wounded?" Asked Levi, triggering a chorus of chortling laughter.
'Levi. Team C and D is having problems. Would you kindly move that fat plaguerriden ass of yours and help them, pretty please?'
"I lost my mask though."
'Do not worry, there's no friendlies outside of your company. You won't transmit some deathly plague.'
"Aye aye, boss," acknowledged Levi, full knowing that the telepathic link would pass it by. "C'mon, you cunts! There's a can of whoopass to bust open!"
=== 0 ===
Photobucket
For reference, this is Amandra.
