It Ain't Over til...

Serilda had been pretty angry the day that Mythal called her to say that Ozorith had paid him a surprise visit at his house. It hadn’t been a confrontation of any kind. At least, not from what Ozorith had claimed. All he’d wanted to do was supposedly meet Mythal and pass along some valuable information, but that hadn’t made Serilda happy with it. If he’d wanted to meet him, she would have preferred to set up a meeting on their own terms. Unfortunately, Ozorith wasn’t the type to take other people’s terms into consideration unless it suited him, a fact that both she and Mythal were well aware of. Mythal had been quite staunch in his refusal to play nice with the Prime Sin through the meeting, not that Serilda had any issue with him being obstinate toward Ozorith. She knew Mythal could handle himself around the demon, she was just sour that Oz had thought it best to approach Mythal alone.

Time had healed that annoyance a bit, if only because she’d gotten caught up with a million other more pressing problems between then and now. However, now that they were finally here on the day they were taking their move against Vriko, those annoyances had drummed back up again. Their troops had been dispersed to their various locations through the city, where they knew their instructions on what to look for and how to react once the action got moving. Mortgage was a bit of a hell hole, filled with far too many places that people could hide or set up some kind of ambush, and unfortunately they didn’t know exactly where Vriko and her bandits were at present. They knew the dark haired woman was camped in the center somewhere, but they needed to know more than that if they were going to move forward effectively.

Which meant that for now, they were waiting. Ozorith had promised a contact, one of his followers that had somehow joined up with Vriko’s group and was willing to betray them at the behest of her lord. A time and place had been chosen and arranged through one of the demon lord’s subordinate demons, and now Serilda and Mythal were keeping an eye out for the contact at an abandoned strip mall. The place had been reduced to rubble long ago, either during the original outbreak or during a former dark guild’s magical testing on the grounds. It smelled awful, a fact that Mythal commented on absently as he sniffed the air. Serilda nodded.  “The scent of corrupted blood is strong, too,” she informed him softly, not wanting to speak too loud so they could hear anyone approaching.

Victoria was present for the day’s events. The Conquoress was more than a little interested in participating in the venture and watching the Rune Knights work, and Serilda herself was surprised to realize that she actually wanted the older woman there. There was no telling what kind of tricks Vriko could pull with her own connection to Kingdom Darkness, and it eased Serilda’s stress remarkably well to know that she had Victoria to rely on as additional support should something unexpected come up. Though, that would only be as a last resort. More than anything, Serilda did not wish for Ozorith to discover that she shared a soul with the nephilim. She wasn’t sure how he would react to the news. Either he would be furious, or find a way to try and use it to his advantage. Neither option was ideal. Unfortunately, Serilda could not plan properly for the unknown, and Vriko had already proven herself a wild card a number of times.

Somewhere on the fringes of her Void Sense, she felt the air shifting.  “Someone’s coming,” Serilda informed Mythal, turning to face the direction the figure was approaching from. They were still a ways off, but the two Rune Knight leaders wouldn’t have to wait long before the woman appeared, stepping into the mall carefully through an opening in the rubble. She had short blonde hair that flipped out on the ends, and blue eyes just as fierce as Serilda’s, if a little darker blue than the Voidwalker’s. She was garbed in a long blue robe with an oversized hood that revealed the fullness of her face as she pulled the cowl down from her head. Xiuh, who had been sitting at Serilda’s feet, stood up to face the woman with attention.

“Praise to Ozorith, the Lord of Wrath,” the woman said, her voice surprisingly melodic and sweet for someone who was loyal to arguably one of the most vicious and dangerous demons currently alive. It was obviously a passphrase of some kind to confirm that she was with the right people.

Serilda’s face scrunched in annoyance.  “I am not saying that.”

The woman smiled a little, her expression filled with honest mirth rather than a mocking one. “It was implied that would be your response.” She approached cautiously, taking her time so the pair would know that she wasn’t going to try anything shifty while in their presence. When she was within a respectable distance of them, she dropped to a knee at Serilda’s feet with her head bowed low. “It is an honor to meet you, my lady. And you as well, director. I am Morgaine Tenebris, humble servant to you and our lord.”

“Your lord,” Serilda corrected the woman, her tone patient despite the scowl on her face.  “Your genuflection is appreciated, but not needful. I am not royalty. A simple bow is appropriate.” The noblewoman was used to this type of behavior. Most people didn’t go so far, but from time to time there were people who overplayed their respect, usually out of nervousness or uncertainty in not knowing the appropriate way to behave before a noble. Serilda never chastised them over it -- after all, how would that look on her to berate someone for treating her with deference? But she usually did take the time to gently correct them.

Apparently, in this instance the education wasn’t needful. “With all due respect, my lady, you misunderstand. I do not kneel to you because of your nobility. I kneel to you as the vassal and Sword.” Morgaine looked up then, still with her kind smile. Serilda was starting to wonder how in the world this woman fit in with Ozorith or with Vriko.

Doing her best not to let her own expression sour any more at the reminder of her high station in the woman’s faith, Serilda recognized that Morgaine was waiting for a dismissal of some kind and nodded to her. The blonde woman rose gracefully to her feet and faced them both. “I have been instructed to provide you all the information I have on Vriko and her followers, as well as to comply with whatever you instruct of me for your mission, on the grounds that I am to be granted clemency for any actions upon my part taken during my tenure with the bandits. If these terms are correct, then I am ready to obey. Where would you like me to start?”

If Morgaine noticed Mythal’s scoffing or comments, she didn’t show it. The woman was content to be who she was and to act how she saw appropriate, clearly more concerned about being true to her oddly matched faith than on coming across as bizarre to these people. There was nothing about her thus far that came across as openly suspicious or ill intentioned outside of the fact that she clearly worshipped Ozorith like a god, which meant that there had to be something wrong with her… but even from the few seconds that they had spent together so far, Serilda was fairly certain that if she had run into Morgaine on the streets with no reference of their shared connection to the demon lord, she likely would not have thought twice about her.

When Mythal confirmed that the terms had been agreed upon between both him and Ozorith, there was a brief look of… surprise? Awe? Like perhaps she hadn’t known that it was Ozorith himself that had worked out the terms on her behalf. There was a moment of slight shock before she shook the expression from her face and focused on the more pressing matters at hand. The director advised that they needed as many details as possible about where she was, how many people were with her, what her preparations were like. He wasn’t looking for complete blueprints or anything crazy, but anything she had that might help would be appreciated.

Her soft smile returned. “Actually, I can give you an outline,” she said. Taking a couple small steps back from them so they wouldn’t feel threatened by her clearly about to cast some kind of magic, she set her hands before her with her palms toward the ground just slightly higher than her hips. Beneath her fingertips, a magical keyboard appeared, and from it a large screen popped up. Archive magic. Morgaine tapped silently onto the keyboard and the images on the screen shifted as she searched through her files and found the one she wanted. Then, she hit another command and the screen disappeared entirely, the magical particles of light drifting down to the ground and quickly spreading out to fill a space of a couple dozen meters around them.

When it took form again, it had become a three dimensional topographical map of the entirety of Morgate town, large enough in size that all three of them would clearly be able to see the buildings and structures and rubble that filled the entirety of the former city. Stepping away from the keyboard, she moved into the map. “As you know, we are here.” She pressed a finger against the digital representation of the strip mall and the whole structure changed from blue to red to indicate it had been highlighted. Moving more toward the center of the map, she did the same thing to what remained of a skyscraper that had seen as much damage as the rest of the city, but still stood taller than any of the other buildings around it for a couple miles.

“This is where Vriko has set up camp, at the center of the city in the building where the town hall used to be. From here, she has a good vantage point of the rest of the city. I can’t say I know the extent of your soldiers’ abilities to move unnoticed, but generally speaking it would be very difficult for a substantial force to approach the building too closely without being seen. However, she has very little put in place as far as defenses.” Wandering a bit more around the map, she highlighted several pin points of interest that glowed with a yellow light. “She has set up wards in these locations that will alert her of anyone approaching, should they pass through the sensory fields. As you can see, these are set up in a wide circle around most of the city, and then there is a smaller one much closer to the hideout itself.”

“Outside of these wards and a few rather lazy scouts, that’s about where her defenses stop. She is very comfortable here, and does not expect to be confronted in this area. I don’t blame her, and as far as I can tell the rest of the group feels the same way. No one patrols this city, not even the Rune Knights as you’re already aware. The most we get are people brave enough to try looting the area, and usually those people are not strong enough to be a threat to us. Either they are convinced to join the group, or they are killed. But outside of that, there is next to no activity out here for miles. Too many people are concerned about the chemical waste or spooked by the knowledge of how many people died here.”

Morgaine shrugged. It was a pretty simple truth. The bandits were comfortable because there really was nothing to fear. Very few people just wandered into Morgate, so there was no reason for anyone to know that Vriko had gathered her people there and no worries about anyone of consequence simply stumbling upon them. “The only spots that are completely unguarded are the sewer lines below the city,” she added, adjusting the map so that it raised up a little and the labyrinthine tunnels that ran beneath the surface appeared. “But I don’t know that I would recommend that approach unless you’re truly that desperate to catch her. The waste is stronger in the sewers and has been building up for so long that the air is quite toxic, which is why she has not taken the time to set up any defenses down below ground. She believes the atmosphere will kill someone long before they reach the base, and she’s probably not wrong.”

A crude and half measured set up, but roughly effective, Victoria said, finally speaking up for the first time in a while. The seal didn’t sound altogether impressed with Vriko’s defensive strategy, but acknowledged that it appeared to have been working to some extent at least. There is certainly more that she could do to protect herself, but it is smart for her to utilize the local terrain that way. Still, it sounds like she’s confident that no one would find her or come to look for her here, and that kind of arrogance may prove to be her undoing today.

I agree, but let’s see what else this woman knows before we get too presumptuous about success, Serilda told the nephilim academically. The Voidwalker had been slowly pacing the length of the map through the entire interaction so far, taking everything in and looking for exploitable gaps in the warding and trying to weigh the best method of approach. “What about the people working with her? How many does she have, and what do you know about them?”

Morgaine nodded and moved back over to the keyboard, punching in a few codes. Without dismissing the map, several files took form in the air around them. The files included clear pictures of each individual’s face, and details about everything from their biological stats, their known magicks, their personal and criminal histories, and more. In total there were about thirty files showing, not including one for Morgaine herself. The blonde stood and waited patiently for the couple to read through the files, electing to give them the time to take the information in rather than continue to assail them with information while they read.

Serilda had a million questions, not all of which had anything to do with the information being presented to them. She was doing her best to keep her mind fully focused on the task at hand, but couldn’t help the fact that Morgaine’s very existence was nagging her. It was just so bizarre to find a woman with what seemed like a genuinely sweet disposition that was so loyal to an absolutely awful demon. It was an answer she would have to get later, once they were past all of this stuff with Vriko.

Mythal turned to her part way through the demonstration to speak the codeword of one of the many strategies they had prepared ahead of time, earning him a silent nod of agreement from his fiancee. She had been thinking along the same lines as he was, and even as they took a brief moment to flip through the files Morgaine had on Vriko’s group, she saw nothing that made her think it wasn’t their best approach. Serilda memorized each face as best she could, committing their names and magic to her mind, and to Victoria’s. “I agree,” she told Mythal when he reaffirmed his choice for Skylight. “Let’s make it happen.”

There was no time to waste. They did all the preparation that could be done, or at least what was reasonable. Time was more important, and if they dawdled too long all that did was give Vriko more time to notice them. Mythal dismissed Morgaine and promptly moved along, giving Dakvid the all clear to move Reaper Squad in. While he focused on that, Serilda got to work on  her end. “Pack up your magic. You’re going to come with me.”

“As you command, my lady.”

Serilda shivered in disgust for a moment, knowing that the deference was because of her placement with Ozorith more than anything else, the reality sickening her to a point. But, she couldn’t dwell on it. She exchanged a glance with Mythal when he spoke up to confirm that he was taking off to do his part. “Be careful. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” While his job was to lead the charge to secure Vriko as quickly as possible, hers was to mobilize the rest of the troops and give them further instructions based on what they’d learned from Morgaine. Once the blonde mage had wrapped up her archive magic, Serilda created a portal and motioned for Morgaine to move through it with her.

Once on the other side, they joined up with one of the many squads that had been posted around the outskirts of the city. It was a smaller squad made up of members of the engineering and combat departments, serving as a communications hub in a makeshift tent. While they noted Serilda’s arrival, they did not move to greet or salute her, knowing she would consider their work more important. Most of them were already focused on monitoring Reaper Squad and Mythal, keeping in contact with them through the new private communication devices that Kyra Forte had put together for them a while back at Serilda’s request.

She turned to Morgaine. “You are to stay here until our mission is complete. Most likely we will want you to help us verify if we caught everyone or not. Do not interfere in the squad’s work, but if you have important information that may pertain to what is going on, voice it to them. Lieutenant.” Serilda’s attention moved swiftly along, and a man bearing the insignia of the rank she’d called stood at attention before her.

“Ma’am.”

“This is Morgaine, our contact. She will be staying with you for now. I’m going to be moving on to get the forward squads further into the city. There are a number of wards around the perimeter of the city. Have the squads contacted and tell them to prepare for my arrival. I will move them past these wards without triggering them. Morgaine can show you the layout of the wards, the city, information on Vriko’s thugs, and I imagine anything else you may need to know.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He motioned for Morgaine to join him in the tent and got to work relaying Serilda’s message to the outlying squads, his voice sounding in her earpiece.

The Voidwalker opened another portal. “Xiuhcoatl. Hael.” The wolf wuffed quietly and followed her through. One by one, she visited each of the squads around the city and used her magic to teleport them past the wards, where they could start to move in without being detected as early. With any luck, they would be able to camp up much closer to the target building before anyone noticed them, and to start taking down any stragglers or anyone looking to make a run for it. She alerted each of them to the secondary set of wards closer to the town hall, as well as notified them of the sewer lines. She highly doubted anyone would be bold or stupid enough to try those, but better for them to be aware of the slim possibility than not.

All things considered, it wouldn’t take long for Serilda to get the troops past the wards; only a couple minutes. However, on a battlefield a couple of minutes may as well have been entire lifetimes. Each second counted in a fight, and a lot could happen in the two or three minutes that it took for her to get each squad around the city past their closest wards and moving forward. As she got to each of them, she gave them all further instructions on what to look out for. At some point during the mission, one of the contacts from the communications hub spoke gently into the Rune Knight earpieces to inform everyone that they were sending information to the soldiers through the army’s communicators. Serilda stopped briefly to check the device and see if it was anything critical, and instead found a compilation of some of the information that Morgaine had shown her and Mythal already, which was mainly the list of bandits to look out for. The woman must have worked with the Engineers to get the data on Rune Knight channels so they could pass it out to everyone.

Having already seen most of this information, she pocketed the device again and wrapped up what she was working on, already hearing the sounds of battle ahead. Mythal had his darkness canons roaring an attack at the central building, shaking it up and doing everything in his power to lure his sister out. Meanwhile, the outer troops pushed inward, their quarry unaware that backup was on the way for the small, elite squad that had initiated the combat.

Once everyone that needed to be past the wards was inside the battle zone, Serilda took a moment while she was alone to stop and concentrate. Her senses spread out across the city, covering the areas that were warded and more. She expanded her awareness high into the air, far above the darkness canons in the sky, as well as deep into the earth where she could sense the tunnels that reeked with muck and waste, until she had her focus shaped into a globe that encompassed the entire area both above and below ground. Tapping into the emptiness that separated all the particles of matter around the globe, she altered them until an invisible sphere of solid matter formed, trapping everyone inside of it, including the Rune Knights. Only those with the ability to teleport might be able to pass by its perimeter, but she did not recall Vriko or any of her bandits having such abilities. With any luck, it would be enough to keep both the battle and the people in it contained.

From there, it was time to move on to the next step. With the troops moving in closer toward ground zero, and Reaper Squad already shaking things up inside with Mythal, Serilda’s next goal was to do what she could to help keep the bandits distracted as long as possible before the rest of the army moved in, as well as to look for anything that her allies might be too caught up in chaos to notice. The encroaching soldiers would hit the second wall of wards soon enough, and then the bandits would know they were surrounded. Opening up another portal, Serilda deposited herself and Xiuh inside the skyscraper up toward the top, where the upper floors had already been evacuated in the attack. There, she drew her swords and the two of them started making their way down, checking each floor for anything of interest.

The first floor or two didn’t have much of anything. The rooms here were almost completely exposed to the outside elements, leaving no secure location to sleep or even gather, particularly since the top of the structure appeared to be the most unstable. However, once she got three levels down from where she’d started, her eye caught on a large room emitting a glow. Sensing no one inside, she silently stepped in to find a large computer system that appeared to have power running to it. The room was still a bit of a wreck, but it had been cleaned up enough to use, and clearly someone had gotten the device working again. From the looks of some left over food on a table in the corner, Serilda got the feeling that someone had probably been monitoring this room before the attack hit.

Looking up at the monitors, she quickly realized that these computers were surveilling the warded perimeters. She wandered over to the console and started trying to navigate it. You think this will turn the wards off? Victoria asked her.

Either turn them off or silence them, the Voidwalker replied, working quickly but carefully to make sure she didn’t accidentally set anything off. If I can do one of those, then the troops can get all the more closer before Vriko’s crew realizes it’s more than just us here. I’m not worried about them putting up too much of a fight but I’d rather be safe than sorry. A quick minute was all it took to silence the wards, which Serilda felt was the safer option as turning them off would be a huge red flag to anyone that might be paying attention remotely.

When she turned around to leave, Serilda stopped as she noticed Xiuh. The wolf was sniffing at the air, clearly having picked up a scent. “What did you find, girl?” the Voidwalker asked her quietly. She gave Xiuh the hand signal and the wolf took off at a trot in the direction of whatever she was smelling. It must have been a scent unique to the wolf, as Serilda didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, even with her Slayer senses. She followed Xiuhcoatl down a hallway where she stopped at a spot that appeared to be a wall to her eyes, but Serilda’s senses knew better. There was an illusion in place covering a doorway that lead to another room. “Good girl,” she said, using her Voidsense to find the handle of the door and push it open.

The two walked in and beyond was what had to be the spot Vriko had marked as her own. There was a rough work station set up on a table that had all sorts of papers and images laying about. A lot of it had to do with Mythal, and some of it even Serilda. But that wasn’t what caught her eyes. Beneath a bunch of other items was something that looked to be a hand drawn map. Serilda took it out and looked it over. Her next target? she asked, frowning at the document. I don’t recognize this place. It’s nowhere in Fiore, and none of these markings look like they resemble any of the other countries on Ishgar..

That’s because it’s not on Ishgar. That’s Kingdom Darkness.

Wait, what? She took a closer look, her eyes practically glued to the paper.

The area to the southwest, there. That’s where you found Mythal. The door you went through is right next to it. You didn’t venture very deep into the Kingdom, so it’s no surprise you don’t recognize it, but there’s no doubt in my mind. And look at the magical markings on the map. I think she’s planning an assault.

It did very much look like Vriko had been trying to find a way to break back into the Kingdom. Glowing runes were focused on what looked like key important areas, with notes in a language she couldn’t read, but Victoria could. But, she didn’t have the time to sit and wait. She’d found what she was looking for, even though it wasn’t what she had been expecting. Looking over it in detail would have to wait until later. Alright, I’m just going to take all of this and deal with sorting it out later. We need to get to Mythal. Vriko is the only real threat here and while I’m confident he can take her, I’m not confident she won’t call Serethar or someone else to help her out.

Setting the map down on the table, Serilda placed her hand on the surface and the entire collection of table and paperwork disappeared into a temporary pocket of Void where it would be safe until she had the time to look at it later. On her way down through the rest of the building, the only things of interest that she came across were the results of Reaper Squad’s attack. Unconscious and captive bodies were strewn about the place, and she passed a couple of the members wrapping up their current bounties. After only a brief pause to make sure they didn’t need her, she was off again, working her way outside in the direction where she felt the unmistakable form of Gren perched on a building near where two people that could only be Mythal and Vriko were fighting.

Serilda didn’t make it to her destination as quickly as she wanted to. Along the way she came across several of Vriko’s bandits that tried to get in her way. They didn’t last very long. It hardly took more than one solid blow to drive most of them to their knees, but unfortunately she needed to take the time to make sure each criminal was properly apprehended before continuing on. The last thing she needed was to leave them unsecured where they could get back up and cause damage somewhere else later. So she stopped each time, using her magic to make sure each bandit was properly bound up and left to wait for justice.

By the time Serilda caught up to Mythal and Vriko, the fight was at a standstill. Vriko was looking pretty worse for wear, tho not necessarily down for the count just yet. She had certainly taken a beating already but Serilda had no doubt that growing up in Kingdom Darkness around Faera and Archimedes meant that Mythal’s sister had quite a bit of battle stamina. Serilda slowed her gait a bit, not wanting to come in too hot if Mythal was on the verge of getting through to the woman, somehow, which was what he seemed to be trying to do.

Unfortunately, criminals were rarely interested in chances to turn their lives around. Vriko let out a chuckle and withdrew another sword that glowed with a bright, holy light. Serilda braced herself, ready to jump in once the fighting started up again. Thankfully, she wasn’t altogether surprised or caught off guard that the attack was sent toward her rather than toward Mythal. Serilda was constantly aware that she might be utilized like some kind of weak spot for the darkness slayer, and she was more than prepared to show his sister just how futile the tactic was.

Tapping into the Void, she adjusted the space between the molecules of her body and allowed the beam of magic to hit her. Or rather, go through her. Using the brightness of the beam to mask her movements, Serilda shot forward straight through the beam, which was far too bright for anyone to see into with the naked eye, and in a blink she was up on Vriko. The white blade was caught in Serilda’s bare hand, cutting off the flow of magic. She’d altered her hand so that it was as dense as a diamond, the blade practically bending in her grip and certainly not coming anywhere close to cutting her.

With little more than inches between their faces, Serilda stared down at her with a calm and stoic expression. “I’m sorry, did you think I was going to be the easier target?” she asked. Tapping into her God Slaying magic, an aura of black frost and snow built up around her, the freezing particles sticking to Vriko’s own body and growing rapidly along her limbs. With any luck, she inherited enough blood from Archimedes that the specialized magic would pack a little extra punch. “I kicked your father’s arrogant, obnoxious backside from here to kingdom come and sent him crawling back to Faera stripped of his divinity in a whimpering, broken heap. You are only half of him. I suggest you sit down before you get yourself hurt.”

As if to emphasize the suggestion, Serilda tightened her grip and crushed the blade, snapping it into useless pieces. In the same breath, she utilized her Voidwalking to break the straps that kept the woman’s sword case fastened to her hip, ripping the extra large sheath from her and tossing it up by Gren, where the oversized wolf could watch over it for the time being. After that, she continued to stare down at the woman with stern patience, even going so far as to stand casually at ease with her hands clasped loosely behind her back in a way that betrayed she did not consider Vriko much of a threat.

“This battle is already over, Vriko. Most of your men have already been apprehended, and those that are left are fleeing right into the waiting arms of the surrounding Rune Knights that I snuck past your wards some time ago. You have nowhere to run, and no one to back you up. Continue to fight us if you wish. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’ve been looking forward to the chance to repay you for the kindnesses you extended to us in Kingdom Darkness and Vintermyr. But, my hope is that you are smarter than your father.” Vriko would have had a hard enough time against Mythal or Serilda alone, but fighting them together would be like throwing paper darts at a brick wall.

Did she expect Vriko to comply? Not in the least bit, but it was always worth a shot in trying. More than anyone else, Mythal and Serilda understood that Vriko was only a product of her despicable parents, a woman that had been led astray and conditioned to have a violent and vicious nature. The two of them wanted Vriko to answer for what she’d done, and she would be held accountable for the crimes that she committed of her own choice and volition. But that didn’t mean that they wanted to just lock her up and forget about her.

“You don’t have to like it, but it’s in your best interest to stop and let us help you. Or did you really think that you were going to be able to break into Kingdom Darkness and take Faera down all by yourself?”

Vriko was quite shook over how useless her attack had been. She had likely thought that she’d landed a direct hit at full power of the blast she’d unleashed, and in all fairness to her that wasn’t entirely incorrect. However, it was very difficult to actually land a blow on a woman who had such meticulous control over her body that she could rearrange it on an atomic level to avoid being hit. The black haired woman stared up at her in disbelief and fruitlessly attempted to wrest her weapon out of Serilda’s grip, to get some space between them, but Serilda’s magic had already started taking effect. When the sword was destroyed, Vriko swiftly tried to arm herself with another only to find her sheath being tossed up in the air where Gren caught it in his mouth.

Serilda stated the facts plain and simple: Vriko had lost, and continuing to fight would only delay the inevitable. She expressed her hope that the other woman would be smarter than her father, and was met with a quick, venomous reply disowning the former archangel and claiming to be more intelligent than him. Impressively, she seemed to mean it. Despite her hands balling into fists and staring up at her future sister-in-law with utmost hatred and spite, Vriko made no more moves to continue fighting her. Was it compliance? Or was she simply stalling? Time would tell, and Serilda had no intention of pushing for further aggression until Vriko gave her a reason to. Mythal’s sister had a lot to answer for, but it was still important to try and sow some seeds for the future. Mythal had very little family, and as tense as things were with Vriko right now if he could find a way to actually connect with her and make things work, well.. They needed to do everything they could to at least try.

The Voidwalker brought up Faera and the quick bits she’d seen of Vriko’s plans. The darker haired woman looked confused for a moment before a smirk curled upon her lips and she informed Serilda that she had no idea what was being planned. The noblewoman continued to look unimpressed, both by the lure of supposed mystery and by the name calling. “For now.” It wasn’t a threat of any kind, simply an acknowledgement that Vriko was correct. Serilda had not taken the time to dig through all the paperwork and plans that Vriko had, but once the woman was incarcerated they would have much more time to do so. And while it certainly wasn’t ideal, it would be quite easy to glean that information from Vriko herself with a little bit of her blood, if worse came too. Ideally, that would not be the case.

She felt the approach of a body before hearing it crash through any buildings, turning to focus her attention in its direction. Then, her eyes opened wide in surprise. Serilda had been expecting Serethar to show up again. In fact, she had been counting on it. He was another individual that the two of them had a bone to pick with after Vintermyr. However, this was not the manner in which she had expected him to arrive. He skid along the ground, leaving a deep trench in his wake, until he came to a stop not far in front of them. His body was mangled and bleeding as though he was a breath away from dying. “W-what..?” she stammered, just as visibly confused as everyone else. They hadn’t sent anyone to find Serethar. Hell, none of their men were strong enough to fight him outside of Serilda and Mythal, and the Rune Knights had explicit orders to leave Vriko and Serethar to the marshal and director. Who could have possibly done this?

Serilda was so taken by surprise by his state and his command for Vriko to run that she didn’t have enough time to erect a barrier around him before a large sword dropped down from the sky and pierced him through. Vriko screamed as his body crumbled before their eyes and made to run to him but was stopped by the flat of Mythal’s blade as well as Serilda’s arm as they tried to keep her back. Serilda’s attention, much like Mythal’s, was laser focused on the smoke drifting through the hole of the building that Serethar had been tossed through. Her senses, the ones that she’d inherited from Ozorith’s magic, were screaming at her, sending the hair on her arms and the back of the neck straight up.

Even before Mythal said it, she had come to the same conclusion: She felt the same weight of energy as that she’d gotten during her fight with Archimedes. Beyond the smoke she could sense two beings approaching them, one of whom spoke up to inform the three of them that they were not the archangel of Despair. As if Mythal and Serilda hadn’t already assumed that. But, rather than get sassy, the two Rune Knights stayed silent and kept their eyes on the approaching pair until they came into view. One was a man with more muscle than height, with a big mustache and even bigger hands. He had dark skin, slanted eyes, and had a strange symbol growing on his chest. The other was a woman with light skin and a tight fitting dress that left little of her body to the imagination. Bright, teal colored hair fell from her head in long tresses, and she presented more human than her companion did. She shot Gren a kiss from the distance between them, taking the time even now to greet him amidst the tension.

Vriko practically shrieked at them about what they’d done to Serethar, and was promptly advised by the male figure that he had been dealt with as all enemies of Kingdom Darkness were. It was a fate that they intended to befall Vriko as well, however it seemed they had been sufficiently distracted from completing said task by the presence of Mythal. Or at least, distracted for now. Serilda listened in silently during the exchange as they acknowledged Mythal by the “Darkness King” moniker he could not seem to escape, and introduced themselves as Ruman and Izrael, the Trumpets of Triumph and Punishment respectively.

You got anything for me here?

No. I know the Trumpets, of course, but I am not familiar with either of these two specifically. Faera has swapped out her Archangels from time to time over the millenia. Whoever these ones are, I have never met them.

I take it you can’t really give me any clues to what kind of abilities they might have as Trumpets or anything?

Victoria didn’t have to have her own body for Serilda to feel the older woman shaking her head. No two Trumpets are ever the same. I know you want to keep me a secret for now, and I respect and agree with your reasons for doing so, but are you sure you won’t need my help in this?

Serilda gave it some serious consideration, not answering right away. She had beaten Archimedes, yes, but it had not been an easy fight. Then again, the noblewoman had only grown more powerful since that battle. Mythal, too. I think I will be fine. But stand by and be ready to go in case I change my mind. Izrael didn’t seem to think too much of them, commenting rather flippantly that Mythal, Serilda, and Vriko together couldn’t hold a candle to the Immortal Thirteen, let alone the two of them. The noblewoman thought about remarking on her battle with Archimedes in some form, but elected not to. They knew who she was, and surely knew about that battle and its outcome already. Besides, one could only mention a victorious battle so many times before it became gloating, and she couldn’t abide that sort of thing.

A long silence passed as the inquiry hung in the air: Would Mythal and Serilda entertain them in a fight? “We have no interest in testing either of your strengths,” she finally informed the two archangels plainly, her tone about as unimpressed with either of them as she had been with Vriko. “Nor will we be baited by such a pedestrian notion. The desire to test one’s strength against another is the motivation of the weak, childish, and insecure, and we are none of those things.” She fixed both of them, particularly Ruman, with a poignant look.

For a moment it would seem that was where she was going to leave the response. The refusal was spoken with such conviction and disinterest that there was no sense of an impending ‘but’. She seemed rather content to deny the request with no further consideration as though they were little more than a dirty transient on the side of the road begging for loose change. “That being said, however, the two of you have interfered with a Rune Knight operation. You have committed murder in our presence, killing one of the wanted individuals that we came to apprehend, and have made your intent of further manslaughter clear. Therefore..”

She calmly withdrew both of her swords, Moonlight gleaming and Malice as dull and dark as the Void she controlled. While the weapon that emanated a most holy aura would not add any extra damage to its attacks against these two, its metal could still cut them like any other flesh. Meanwhile, Malice practically quivered with unholy power, thirsting for the blood of the two archangels before them.

“You are under arrest. And I will be utilizing my legal right to execute capital punishment.”

A pink, impenetrable bubble appeared around Vriko, all at once protecting her from harm and keeping her from running off anywhere. In a blink, she disappeared and reappeared right in front of Ruman, the tip of her darkened scimitar streaking straight toward his heart for an intended killing blow. She tapped into her Voidwalking to perform her Vital Touch spell, using it to allow Malice to easily be able to slip past any defenses he might have up, as well as past his outer flesh, to hone straight in on the vital organ. Serilda had not had the ability to teleport through the Void in her last battle with an archangel, so with any luck her skill in it now would give her enough of an edge to catch him by surprise. Not banking on being able to finish this off in one blow, however, she immediately followed with a secondary strike, taking another step forward and swinging Moonlight up in a quick arc from navel to collar.

Both strikes were dealt before a full second had even passed. Looking to capitalize as much as she could on any advantage she might have gained from her initial charge, Serilda roared with all the fury of the dragon’s blood that ran within her veins. Rather than unleashing her breath weapon, however, a thick and powerful shockwave burst from her body. It was dark as the emptiness of space, glittering with clouds of stardust, and shot out to envelope the entire surrounding area for several hundred meters. As cold and merciless as the vast vacuum of outer space, its intent was to suck both life and power from both foes.

So this is what it felt like to fight herself.

Serilda did her best not to let her powers and abilities get to her head. She was confident in herself, to be certain, but all it took was a dash too much confidence before one found themselves on the receiving end of a skewering. Aster had drilled discipline into her hard, harder even than she’d already been taught to be by her parents, and for the most part Serilda felt that she did that training proud. However, it wasn’t every day that she had her own trick turned back on her. In fact, it had never happened before. Her swords passed right through Ruman’s body like he wasn’t even standing there. A grin spread upon his face, though the expression seemed more out of sincere, almost studious interest rather than any sort of menace. Not that that meant much to Serilda at the moment.

She recovered quickly, sending out a burst of Void space to fill the surrounding area, her mind racing to deduce his own abilities. Either he also controlled something similar to Void, or was somehow able to copy her own abilities. Testing would be required, but first it was time to deal with a retaliatory attack. Ruman praised her Voidwalking skills, vocalizing that he was impressed and that he would actually have to put forth effort. Serilda resisted the urge to roll her eyes, if barely. She had little respect for warriors that thought it prudent to stroke their own egos by making it sound like some kind of honor if they had to work up more than a light sweat in a fight.

A loud booming sound emitted from him, despite the emptiness in the area, and a purple aura came to life around him. Ruman shot an array of similarly colored blasts in her direction, aiming each in a different spot around her in an attempt to divvy up her attention. Much like Vriko’s attack, the energy appeared to do nothing, exploding around her in close enough proximity that it should have hit her but only managing to phase through her body without leaving so much as a scratch. This was going to be a long battle unless one of them could find a way to actually inflict damage on the other.

Well, he did say he wanted a fight with the Sword of Wrath. It seemed as appropriate a time as any to wield her unholy magic against the angel. With little more than a mental flex, she summoned a large black rune beneath the man. It began to churn at a rapid rate, releasing a spray of black frost that seemed to hone in on his body, looking to cover him from head to toe in a coat of black ice. The ice was so freezing that it would almost burn to the touch, and would immediately send him into a fit of hypothermia if it managed to get a hold of him.

As that spell unleashed upon him, a second much larger rune would manifest in the sky overhead, filling the entire area. From it fell thousands of chunks of black hail, some as small as golf balls and others as large as boulders. The dense ice smacked relentlessly into anything not agile enough to get out of its way, destroying the buildings in the area even more than they already had been. If Ruman, or Izrael, was hit by any of the frozen rocks, they quickly fight the cold and weight of impact enough to slow their movement and mobility. Bracing herself where she stood, Serilda held one scimitar in front of her with the other behind, flipped in her grip so that the blade ran up along her forearm, ready in a flawless defensive stance to see how the large man reacted.

As expected, the God Slaying magic had a little more weight to it. Either Ruman didn’t catch the Rune beneath his feet in time to avoid the attack or he had decided to take it, either out of some desire to continue testing her strength or because he was confident it wouldn’t affect him. The latter was the least likely in her mind. By now every creature in Kingdom Darkness knew her name and knew that she had acquired the magic necessary to defeat god and angels alike. Yet, he seemed almost shocked when the hypothermia began to set in and actually caused him pain, the ice encasing his body in an agonizing shell. He found a way to break through it soon enough, of course, but Serilda had been prepared for that. After all, only rookies dealt one attack without following it up with another, and as he sought to recover from the temporary encasing he was struck by a large sphere of hail from above, drawing his attention to the second, larger storm.

He praised her and once again marked her as impressive, commentary that Serilda once again refused to remark upon. She was not here to chit chat with him, but even if she had been more open to verbal banter at the time, Ruman would not give her that chance. He shot across the space between them so quickly he might as well have teleported, despite his otherwise cumbersome size. One of his massive fists was cocked back for a punch that would surely leave quite the mark were it to hit. Not being one to simply assume that her defenses were impenetrable -- despite the fact that they were -- Serilda reacted without thinking, raising both of her swords up in an attempt to block the strike in such a way that he would hopefully cut himself on her blades at the same time. And while it kept his fist from hitting her directly, the sheer weight behind the attack still sent her flying back several meters.

Serilda rolled along the ground twice before using her momentum to right herself up on her feet, her heels digging into the ground to slow herself to a stop even as he came at her once more, this time wielding the very sword he had used to kill Serethar. Despite the fact that her arms were burning from the ache of tanking his attack, feeling pain she very much was not used to, she grit her teeth and wasted no effort in launching herself forward to meet him. She parried his first swing with Moonlight, the sword that was currently being held backward in her grip more like a tonfa than anything else, and now that she had an idea of how hard he could swing she was much more prepared to brace herself for the blow. His sword ricocheted off the weapon and he recovered quickly, following up with a secondary swing that aimed to cleave her in two longways down her torso. It was a quick and easy shift to move Moonlight from her side to above her head, using the motion to not just block the attack but push it to the side, hoping to throw his center off just enough that she could snake Malice in for a quick slice under his arm.

Once more he spoke up, commending her strength and admitting that Faera was not taking Serilda for as much of a threat as she truly was. According to him, she deserved much more respect. Why did he continue to keep saying these things? And with such sincerity? Serilda continued to perceive no notes of mockery or condescension from him, yet she could not fathom any other reason for him to be speaking to her as he was. There was certainly no question, at least in her mind, that they were enemies. The only thing she could conclude was that he simply had an unbiased passion for fighting, to the point where he could set aside his pride for the sake of honoring a worthy foe. She’d certainly fought her fair share of such individuals in the past, but it would not be enough to convince her that he and his companion either wanted to kill or kidnap them both.

Brace yourself,[/color] Victoria warned, the seal having noticed the glowing mark on his chest getting brighter and brighter as though swelling with magical pressure. Serilda jumped backward, getting just a smidge of space between them before the mark exploded, hurling a wave of black flames at her. They filled the entire spanse leaving her nowhere to run, but she had no intentions of doing so. She stood her ground even as flames consumed her and she momentarily disappeared within their hot embrace, and for a moment it seemed as though Ruman had managed to overwhelm her. But then the direction of the flames changed and began to converge on the spot where she was as if being sucked into a vacuum.

It took a second or two before she was visible again through the flames, but the cause of the pull on the attack likely wasn’t what Ruman would be expecting. He knew she controlled the Void, which meant that he could likely assume she was capable of manifesting black holes to suck energy out of existence. Likewise, he knew that she was a slayer, and she could only assume after her fight with Archimedes that everyone in Kingdom Darkness was aware her god fighting powers were focused on elements of coldness. It might be a shock, then, for him to see her swallowing down his flames as easily as ice or snow, looking replenished and unshaken. “She will continue to underestimate me,” Serilda told him with unflappable confidence, “And when she is dead, the only one she will have to blame for her defeat is herself.”

It was Faera and her agents that had pushed Serilda to this level of power, who backed her into a corner and forced her hand to take on levels of strength that she never asked for and never wanted. If Faera and Archimedes had left Mythal alone, they would not have provoked Serilda into becoming an unyielding force of nature, a tempest of phenomenal proportions. As far as the noblewoman was concerned, the goddess had sealed her fate the moment she’d tried taking Mythal away from her, to steal his life and hollow him out like some shell meant to be filled.

Her eyes flicked briefly away as Mythal and Izrael suddenly disappeared from view. She had only moderately been observing the fight, having the fullness in faith that Mythal would be able to handle the brattier Trumpet. What was weird, however, was that she could still feel their bodies as they shifted through the pockets of Void in the air. Not dumb enough to keep her eyes off of Ruman for too long, the glance was brief. However, her mind was still churning trying to figure out why she could still feel their forms when they weren’t there, an anger starting to bubble and broil within her much like it had when Mythal had been snatched away before.

Do not lose yourself,[/color] Victoria commented, her voice stern but supportive. It is merely an illusion that she has trapped him in. Not a very impressive one, either. Lux’s are far more convincing. He will find his way out soon enough.[/color]

I will take your word for it, Serilda replied, trusting the older woman’s expertise on the matter and staying focused on her own fight. With a bit of her slayer magic, she sheathed both of her scimitars in a coating a black ice to give them a little more umph than the last time she’d used them against him. Then, in a flash, she charged the larger man, deftly swinging her swords at him in quick succession without let up. Her strikes were focused more on speed than anything else as she sought to overwhelm him with attacks that would not really do much of any damage. But, in this instance, inflicting him with great injury was not her goal. All she wanted was a little bit of insurance in the form of whatever served him as blood, even to the point of sacrificing some of her own defenses to draw him in close enough to nick him. If she could succeed in getting even a droplet from him, then she could prepare herself to do much greater damage to him later.

This man was starting to test even her endless patience as he continued to compliment her and attempt to make almost friendly conversation during this very real fight. Hell, he even openly stated that seeing Faera’s face as she realized Serilda was far stronger than the goddess gave her credit for would be a sight he’d find amusing. It was an odd thing for a loyal lap dog to claim, but Serilda never pretended to fully understand the designs of anyone who called Kingdom Darkness home. The noblewoman maintained her disciplined expression, not giving the large man even a hint as to what she was making of his commentary.

That discipline remained in effect as Izrael cast her spell that was supposed to make it look like they’d been moved to a new location. Unfortunately, whatever hopes they had that Serilda would lose her cool over the disappearance were utterly dashed by the fact that no illusion was ever going to trick her Void Sense to know what was really there. As it was, the spell was only a high enough intricacy to merit a slight confusion for the Voidwalker, but Victoria was quick to put the rest of the puzzle together for her and leave her free to once more engage Ruman without needing to be distracted about Mythal’s well being.

She came at him hard and fast, moving in swift and deft precision that kept the Trumpet on the defensive. In truth, Serilda wasn’t even trying to litter him with a built up array of injuries. All she wanted was one sure strike, just some little bit of blood that she could use against him later. However, Ruman continued to be faster than his muscular bulk suggested, his large key shaped sword blocking and redirecting the strikes of both of her weapons successfully, if not easily. He should have been concerned, but all he continued to do was smile and look excited like a kid at Christmas.

Serilda was getting ready to step up her game and start drawing on some of her more powerful spells when Mythal managed to successfully blow up the illusion Izrael had tried to put him under. Quite literally in fact. The female Trumpet was tossed back onto her ass, drawing a look of concern from her companion. Now, Serilda thought, seeing her opening and moving to strike while he was distracted. But, Ruman was quicker to the punch, unleashing a thoughtless but powerful burst of darkness toward her. She quickly crossed her weapons in front of her and snapped a defensive wall of black wind around her, using it to block the wave and force it to split a seam around where she stood her ground.

Recovering quickly, she rushed to close the distance again, unafraid to engage Ruman while he was standing over his fallen ally, but before she could get there Izrael erected a defensive bubble around them both that wasn’t unlike the one Serilda had put around Vriko. Her gait slowed to a stop a couple feet away, next to Mythal. There, her ice colored eyes stayed locked on the two Trumpets and she paced slowly back and forth before them like a wolf waiting patiently for its cornered prey to pop its head out of its burrow. She twisted and turned her swords casually as she practically stalked the battleground before them, keeping her arms and body limber and ready to move.

But it seemed, that was to be all that would happen between them today. Izrael stated she was fine but was tired of the current interaction. Ruman elected to appease her and his sword disappeared, and in the same motion the woman waved behind her and created a door that could only lead to Kingdom Darkness. Serilda stopped pacing then, understanding that the battle was over and for now there was nothing she could do, despite the fact that her eyes narrowed in annoyance and suspicion. Ruman complimented her directly one last time before admitting that neither of them wished to kill Mythal, despite their opposing sides. He requested that Mythal and Serilda not try to hunt them down and therefore force them into having to backtrack on that stance.

“Don’t count on it,” Serilda told him with simple resolution. Mythal informed them that the threat wasn’t so bad considering how easily the two mortals had clearly held their own against the archangels, drawing a small chuckle from the mustached man. Ruman agreed, stating that the four of them going toe to toe in a full battle could leave with either side the victor. Then, he gave him his well wishes, giving both of them an individual nod before the Trumpets were gone through the door and out of sight.

Serilda growled low, slipping her swords back in their respective sheaths and rubbing her temple as though developing a headache. That had been the last thing they needed. With a quick glance at Mythal to make sure he was okay, she looked back where Vriko was to ensure the woman was indeed still in place, safe and secured. “I think we’re done here. Why don’t you go ahead and get her ready to march out. I’ll check in with the squads and find a way to transport Serethar’s body without it crumbling into dust.”