A sick emerald-green mist suspends four glass shards in the air, each of the shards refracting individual scenes of chaos—Valery breaking down Sainid ranks, hunkering behind her summoned Demons and the legion of elite Elven Mage Warriors. Navi, a wild berserker of a Mage, unleashes spells of devastating effects, rivaling even King in that capacity.

The last two shards show King's personal armies. The Werebears never stood a chance against the halberd Hero, but she's learned something—leave even one Werebear cursed with undeath in a forest of goblins, trolls, chimera, and monsters of all sorts, and you spawn a bulldozing horde of rotting beasts.

Unchained, the undead forest scattered in search of living flesh to maul and curse, and much like the group of Runic undead, this horde successfully multiplied, even crossing into the northern side of the now-smoldering Sainid Empire.

Jerad scours the skies of every battlefield, a bane to the Sainids as his zoo of Tamed Beasts tear into Paladins and Duruk roasts griffins out of the air. The eager Elf provides critical aerial support wherever it is needed and usually on Paladins.

Since Dersen, King has come to respect the Sainid Knights; that respect comes with her unfettered attention though. No matter the battlefield, Paladins must be the first to perish. King's insistence on the strategy met little to no resistance with Lumina eating out of her palm, and it also helps that it works—slaughtering the Paladins before they can call on their Divine Spells, the one thing that's put King to kneel.

With the Sainid Paladins dying like flies, King grew brave and supplied each front—even Denkel's Orcs attacking from the north—with a group of Runic undead and a Great Draugr to herd them.

She promises me she doesn't summon the much more effective Vampire for my sake. With Hescaria's resources at hand, she would have little to no difficulty summoning one or even starting a completely new curse.

King lets out a sigh and the shards coalesce into a single, rectangular piece. Her eyes lose the emerald wisp and her feet touch the ground to stretch. Satisfied with the resounding pop and crack, she yawns and picks the leftover piece of lamb resting on the single tall stool in her lair.

"It's almost over, Nil," she says, chewing the lamb down to the bone. Glancing back at the mirror, she waves a hand and it refracts a smoking city, one she's obsessively stared at since she fashioned the mirror. "Kyis. That burning isn't cast from any spell or even any beast. That's fear. That's terror. I never expected them to hold up against us, between their vassals turning coat, the relentless undead, Valery and Duruk… it was only a matter of time."

She rests her palm against the mirror and breathes, "I hate you, Nil. You've hated me for a long time, longer than either of us must have known, and I'm just beginning to hate you too."

A knock at the door cuts off what I'm sure was going to be another monologue to rouse a word out of me. Letting out a low growl, she says, "Come in."

Cradling some cloth-covered item, Lumina walks through with Kelv trailing behind, the sight of whom startles King, "What is he doing here? Aren't you supposed to—" King loses her words when Lumina reveals what's underneath.

A blue-green Egg larger than Lumina's head sits in her palm. She gingerly passes on the Egg, and upon closer look its insides are shattered with yellow crystalline growths.

Lumina's breaks the silence as King marvels, "So… obviously there's good news and bad news." King sneers and she speaks faster, "Our artisans used up just about half of the Gestalt Crystals in the treasury to craft that… thing. And they spent almost a year doing it all to your specifications… what is it?"

"Will you tell me how bad the bad news is?" King says, looking up from the Egg to glare at a fidgeting Kelv. He'd been working beside Valery as a versatile rogue undermining the Sainid Empire's efforts at sustainability—he and his small platoon are largely responsible for how fractured the Empire has become.

He handed those duties over to a lieutenant, as King deemed his specialities better used stalking the Heroes, a plan that quickly bore fruit, since after King cursed another city the Ranger Hero made himself apparent.

The halberd Hero's lesson rang fresh, and King didn't stay long at that city, but Kelv did. He stalked the Ranger to his rendezvous with the other Heroes and has been King's personal Hero alarm.

He takes a steady step forward and explains, "Last night, they held some kind of group prayer. Once they got started I lost all sense of them, and it's been that way ever since. I don't know where they are, they could be heading here right now." He says the last part with a sidelong glance at Lumina.

King scowls, but as she rubs and shines the Egg in hand her frustrations melt. "No matter. It's like I said to Nil, it's almost over." She catches Lumina's knitted brows, doubts taking seed with Kelv's tone of disapproval. King taps the Egg and asks, "You want to know what it is?"

Lumina's thirsty stare says all, and King giggles, walking over to the chest she'd commissioned with the Egg in mind. The top pops open and reveals a soft crimson-red padding with an egg-shaped groove. She sets the Egg in but leaves the chest open.

"This is where the future will be born, Lumina. That's why I want you to be there, at Kyis," she says, sauntering over to run her fingers along Lumina's cheek. "This is the most important thing, and I need you to be there to protect it, will you?"

"Who could hurt it?" Lumina asks, genuinely perplexed at the notion that King could be hurt.

"Nil," King deadpans.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Her golden eyes skirt around, searching King's dead ones for a moment before stilling. Then she nods, "Okay. Yes, I'll be there."

"Lumina," Kelv hisses.

King fixes her sights on him and snaps open a portal. "Go to the Orcs, make yourself useful."

Kelv lingers for a moment, glancing at Lumina, who won't meet his eyes, and taking a breath as he walks to the portal. "One more thing then. Since the Sainid is… now what it is, they can't defend against those Demons anymore. They've taken a foothold by the Giopelsian Sea, if that interests you."

When King's glare doesn't let up, he sighs and the portal snaps shut behind him. With Kelv gone, King pulls Lumina by her hand to the egg. Setting it on the smooth surface, she says to her, "Thank you."

"You don't have to—"

"I do. And I am truly grateful, Lumina. You've been there even when Nil, the person I started this with, abandoned me. You're the only one who cares about the bigger picture. Thank you for sharing my vision."

Shaking her head, Lumina chuckles derisively, "Even when I don't know what that vision is?"

"Especially then," King says, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "This has always been about faith, faith in the right being, the right person. This journey has taught me more than I ever knew I needed to know."

A high-pitched ring signals from King and Lumina's fingers, the com-ring worn by all of the major participants forewarning trouble. King waves a hand and the mirror breaks into four once more as Lumina answers the cries of the com-ring.

"Valery? What's going on?" She startles, as she always does; the com-ring has to be among her greatest sources of anxiety.

King narrows the mirrors, pulling the one with visuals of Valery's front up. Her charge has gone unfettered for months since King set targets and sent Great Draugr to herd the undead.

However, the battlefield is still. A wide breadth of space between Valery and the Sainid is bridged by a single man of large and imposing figure. Wearing a brown, medal-decorated coat and tight gloves, he glares out, white beard billowing in the wind at his unanswered challenge.

"It's him. The Major," Valery heaves through the com-ring. "He's right here. He sought me out, Lumina and he's… he wants to end this battle with a duel."

"Who is this man?" King cuts in, studying the clearly aged Human.

Lumina looks up at the mirror and gulps, "He murdered Valery's father, a renown Hescarian hero and Mother's beloved. Once he fell to the Major with the Chimeric Armaments, everything changed. Mother submitted and Hescaria… became as it is now."

"I'm going to kill him!" Valery yells out from the com-ring. On the mirror she's already pushing through to the front. "I'll kill him with my father's weapons. I can do it, I will!" She pulls the staff from her back and it shimmers into a long, curved scimitar as she charges. "Lumina, I love you!"

"Valery! Don't fall for it, he's baiting you out so-!" The light goes out on the com-ring before she can complete her plea for reason.

Lips trembling, Lumina looks up at King and she smiles. "Don't be afraid, Lumina. This is merely a desperate attempt to cut Hescaria down even as the Sainid burn. I'll help her cut him down."

King turns her attention back to the mirrors. Mana boiling through to the top, she commands, "Trakota." The emerald-green wisps carry the shards closer as she levitates. "Trakota." The cold-green flames lick at her eyes, submerging my vision in darkness for a brief moment. When the light returns, King's taken well to the Great Draugr she's possessed.

This particular Draugr is flanked by a ghast and rides atop a skeleton horse. Its skull burns with the same emerald flames licking at the Draugr's eyes. It's impossible not to spot Valery past the breadth of space between King's undead and her cautious Elven Mage Warriors.

Throughout the war, King's made sure to keep her creatures in line. When she's not possessing them, the Great Draugrs are almost respectable commanders, capable of differentiating friend from foe, setting targets, marching large hordes, and are wickedly efficient at spreading the curse.

King kicks the horse forth, galloping to join Valery and the three Crimson-tier Demons fighting the Major. Charging in, King's horse bellows out a neigh, resounding through the field stained with blood and littered with corpses.

Teeth, nails, fingers, femurs, and blood rip from each trampled corpse as King rides in. Valery's trio of Demons—little Essence-deprived imps—run interference, swiping and scratching at the Major, stealing any chance to land a solid hit or create an opening for Valery to come in swinging with her extended staff.

She affords a rattling smack at the Major's temple, whipping his head to the side and spilling blood down his forehead and cheek. Cheeky imps double down on the attack, taking an upward swipe at his blood-stained face.

Nostrils flared, the Major gnashes his teeth into the offending red claw. Thrashing his head around, he rips the Demon's hand off and grabs another by its face, smashing its skull against the earth.

Seven flaming skulls streak past a startled Valery, exploding against the Major and lifting a fog of undead curses into the air. Valery turns as King dismounts the skeletal horse, a thick blob of blood flowing after her.

"What are you doing?" Valery demands, identifying King's possessed Draugr by the lick of flame around its eyes. "This is none of your business."

The Draugr's lipless mouth stiffly counters, "You mean the obstacle between Kyis and I?"

Valery scowls, "Don't get in the way. These Draugr of yours are strong, but that man… he's an animal."

"My Draugr are finer warriors than your imps." Valery frowns at the tease. "Don't worry. You will land the final blow and avenge your father, I am merely puppeteering this one, after all."

Breathing, Valery sighs, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, here he comes."

The Major steps out of the dark plume, his coat and gloves burnt away. He glares at King and Valery. "Just like Hescaria to dishonour a duel." He coughs, spitting out a thick wad of phlegm.

"There is no honor in war, child," King says. Her blob of blood spills out into dozens of razor-thin Blood Orange shards, the deep scent of Essence refracting their surface. "Not for men, and not for Kings."

Name: King

Race: Demon

Type: Transformed Deviant Soul

Age: Immortal – 35years, 2months

Crystal Essence: [Blood Orange]- Lvl.5— 1440Esq

[Available Essence Points— 5]

Strength: 46

Agility: 61

Wisdom: 56

Abilities: [Faithless Absorption], [Faithless Mimicry], [Faithless Essence Amplification]

[Available Trait Points— 5]

Traits: [Armored Form]- Lvl.5, [Mesmer]- Lvl.5, [Psychic Barrier]- Lvl.2, [Somatic Manipulation]- Lvl.5, [Full Mimic]- Lvl.3

Ascension Perks: [Reais Fiend], [+]

Spells: [Invisibility]- Lvl.3, [Greater Deception]- Lvl.1, [Curse of Undeath]- Lvl.5, [Curse of Necrosis], [Planar Rift]- Lvl.2, [Arcane Mastery]

Patron: Lumina au Hescaria

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