Shadowbane

"Good luck you two, if I'm able to find and kill the monster here, I'll go scout out the Eldritch to see what we're dealing with. Hopefully it's not the type that can see me through my veil. Speaking of which..." I look at Aresa. "You can see me when I'm invisible, can't you?"

{I can... Kind of. You're talking about before we met, in the tent, right? I only felt your presence when you were right behind me. It was this sickly ominous feeling that made me look back. I couldn't see anything so I figured the fatigue and cold were getting to me. At least, that's what I thought until I met you, then I recognized the eerie aura exuding from your soul.}

Sickly ominous... I always wondered if those Eldritch from the past could straight up see me, or only vaguely sensed me. It's nice to have some clarification on the matter. It also raises some more questions as to what Aresa is, but I'll leave that be. Frankly, I'm not sure I even care what she is.

"I see, thank you for telling me."

Aresa smiles and waves at me, following after Godwin as he heads out the door. All of the guild falls in line, leaving one by one till I'm the only one left in here.

Even the guy manning the desk and the cooks on the second floor had left as well. They were all fully equipped... This is a big culture shock for me. Half the people in Xelba just hid in their homes when I began killing everyone. Not that a measly wooden door had stopped me from making sure I ended every single one of them.

The smell of meat from the second floor had intensified since I came down here, they must have made as many meals as they could before leaving, so there would be food waiting for those who had survived.

....... Hmm, should I?

... Yeah, I'll go take a look and only eat enough to keep myself satiated for about a week.

Running upstairs and into the kitchen, I see a mountain of burgers thrown haphazardly onto the main table in the center of the room.

They were clearly in a hurry. The cheese was melted separately and just thrown onto the table as is. It's impressive they managed to do all of this and still have enough stamina to go battle the spawn.

I chomped down on a dozen burgers as fast as I could, then ran downstairs and out the door that had apparently blown open again. Creating a quick string of black blood, I tie the door closed in the hopes it'll hold till this night is over.

Assuming we even live, these people are gonna need warm places to return to.

Looking around the large square where the guild is located, I only see a few people left, who are struggling to even stay upright. The winds are so strong that even I am having a hard time preventing myself from falling over.

Running back towards the temple with the wind on my back, I sadly find myself face planting into the snow several times before reaching my destination.

Holy shit it is hard to run with that much wind pushing you from behind...

Alright, he said six streets past the temple, and from the looks of it I see one long back alley that goes straight for awhile, maybe the entire way if I'm lucky. This should be much easier with buildings on the left guarding me from the wind.

And sure enough, running through the alleys was quite easy. aside from the intersections where I'd be hit with an avalanche of wind and snow again.

The alley ends facing an enormous building with a tall metal fence around it.

Well that's convenient, this must be it.

Wasting no time, I run up to the fence, jumping over it, and immediately punching through the doors lock, destroying it completely.

As I walk inside, a shrill scream echoes out. Near the main counter I see a girl duck and hide beneath it.

So there was someone left huh? That makes this easier actually.

Dashing over to the counter, I jump over it and squat down in front of the girl.

"Calm down beautiful, I'm not here to hurt you, I need your help with something."

"My help...? P-Please leave!! The guards will have heard you smashing the door, they'll be coming to help soon!!"

"No one is coming, you know that. With an Eldritch attacking, a monster in the streets, and this crazy weather, nobody heard a fucking thing. Now stop your whining and calm yourself. I'm trying to track the monster down, so point me to where the records are on the victims of the creature."

"... Huh? What would..."

"I understand your confusion, but I don't have time for this. The monster turned into a human and is somewhere inside of this village, now find the damn papers for me."

Slowly, I could see the confusion on her face dissipate into acceptance, although she didn't look entirely convinced, which is understandable.

"... Okay, um, the Yulsif and Frederickson families, correct? There is also the Cedar family that was killed earlier."

"Perfect, I didn't know the names of the latest victims, they weren't in the guild logs yet."

"Y-Yes, they need a day or two to gather information. I'll go gather their personal information now." She said.

It's obvious she doesn't believe me and is only helping to get me out of here, but that's fine. I'm not here to make friends after all.

A few minutes later she came back from a nearby room, carrying a binder with her.

"Here you go..." She said, placing the binder on the counter, flipping to the page concerning the Yulsifs.

Hmm... Glancing through this, it appears Gregory had a logging business. In that 'sacred forest' there is a grove where trees regrow once a year, and they are dried out within days of being cut down. He had the rights to half of the grove, but there were disputes from the other half, saying they should own the entire thing because of some arbitrary reasons not worth reading.

"Okay, Fredericksons please."

The girl flips a few pages back.

... This, is honestly surprising. While I had hoped there would be a connection, I can't say I had much hope there actually would be one.

"So the Fredericksons owned the other half of the grove huh..."

The girl tilts her head, then looks down at the binder to read the families background. After she's done, she flips back to the Yulsifs, skimming the info before looking up at me with the same confused face as earlier.

"I don't understand... I see the connection, but how could any of this be related to a monster? I've never heard of people turning into monsters before..."

"I have never met one before now either, there's a first for everything though. Now flip to the Cedar's page please."

A massive explosion rings out in the distance, shaking the entire building. The girl immediately screams and hides under the table, cradling her head as she rocks back and forth. I grab the girl, dragging her onto the chair and pushing her up to the counter.

"Look, I get it, you appear to be very young so everything going on is probably terrifying you to your core, but I need you to focus! There is going to be way more explosions than just that one over the next twelve or so hours, so you're going to have to get used to it. With that said, please find me the Cedar families papers so I can at the very least deal with the monster that's already inside of the village."

The girl meekly nods with tears in the corner of her eyes, then flips the binder to the very last page.

... And there it is, the Cedar family was the new 'owner' of the grove. They are also a new resident that somehow got the rights to the grove within one week of moving in...?

"Is it normal for new citizens to own very lucrative resource areas that the rest of the town would kill to have?"

"No... Outsiders would be killed for doing such a thing. I-It's just that... This is all very strange. I've only worked here six months, but I've never heard of this 'grove'? All business goes through this hall. My mom is the main attendant, and she also never once mentioned trees that grow to their full size in one year."

Strange indeed. Magical trees is something people would openly brag about their village having the rights to, and yet...

"Thanks for the help girl, I have what I need. I'd ask where this grove is, but since you didn't even know it existed till now, I assume you also don't know how I could find it."

"I might? Just because the attendants don't know of it, doesn't mean it isn't in the files somewhere. I would need time to find it though."

"Time I don't have sadly. Thanks for the offer though, now go hide in the basement if there is one, there's no telling how this night is going to end."

The girl nods, then runs off towards one of the side doors, which I assume leads downstairs.

... Okay then, it may end up being a waste of time checking out this grove, but I need to see it first to know for sure. I just need to find the prints of the loggers and it'll be easy to locate from there.

Running back outside, I turn and dash off towards the forest, doing my best not to face plant again.

Upon passing the treeline, I feel the strange sensation of passing through to another realm.

"So the domain ends at the treeline? Looks like it even protects against Eldritch."

It's also much colder outside of the Eldritch's domain. He must be heating up the area around him to match its own climate.

Right... They are cold-blooded. The Eldritch must be burning through ether right now just keeping the spawn warm and alive.

A few minutes later I finally find a massive procession of tracks heading deeper into the forest. Activating my aura and enhancing my legs, I dash in the same direction the tracks are moving.

Eventually I find the grove, and also something else that wasn't mentioned in the papers. At the center of the grove there is the remnants of a village. I say remnants because what was here, is now completely charred. Here and there I see skeletons littering the ground with most of them having bones broken in different locations.

Not hard to figure out what happened here... Also, the skulls have two little protrusions on the cranium that human skulls don't have.

"Kitsune again... They really can't catch a break."

Hmm... A monster in the shape of a wolf huh? Kitsune are hybrids from an Eldritch, so it wouldn't surprise me if they had a few secrets that only they know. I never thought about it before now, but I never did hear what the Kitsune's Lords were. A 'massive wolf' sounds like it would... No wait, that's not right at all. The Kitsune are foxes in nature, not wolves. However, I think they would have the same skull pattern for their ears, so could this be...?

Looking around the village, I can't tell much more besides the fact that this village was self-sustaining. It probably housed about a thousand people, who are now scattered around the village as corpses that were picked clean a long time ago. I see a few skeletons that are hugging a much smaller one, trying to defend it with their own body.

Well... If the 'monster' is merely out for revenge and nothing more, then I see no reason to stop him. The monster ran away once the daughter of the Frederickson's witnessed them eating her parents. He could've easily killed her too, but he didn't. So that gives me hope that I won't have to fight him. The sooner I can help with the Eldritch, the better.

I cut little slits along the top of my hands, clenching them into fists as blood slowly oozes out.

Gradually the blood hardens around my hand, forming a thin layer of blackened armor.

Perfect. These gauntlets channel mana well, so I should have enough strength to damage the creature. At max enhancement, I can probably throw out two or three punches before I need to hide. Half a minute should be enough to regain my mana, but that's a long time with an enemy that fast. Fortunately, the torches are out in town and the crystal lights are high up on the homes, so I shouldn't have too many problems light-wise anymore.

The hope of not having to fight the creature dwindled rather fast as I neared the treeline. Off in the distance I can hear screaming, along with a long hairy arm raising high above the homes blocking my vision.

As I run through the domains veil, the change in temperature hits me instantly.

Oh my god, it's already warm in here?! It takes years for an Eldritch's domain to alter the landscape, how the hell is it changing so fast? I can already see little mushrooms growing here and there on the ground...

Another scream rings out, one I recognize. Running in the direction of the scream, it doesn't take me long to see the girl I was talking to earlier. She's on the ground pushing herself away from something down a street I have no vision of yet.

Reaching the intersection, I finally catch sight of the creature plaguing the village. A twenty foot tall bipedal wolf, with arms bent at the joints that are so long they're nearly touching the ground. It's surrounded by a few dozen town guards, with another ten already dead on the ground.

The wolf bends down with one arm out to its side, it launches forward in my direction at an unbelievable speed, blitzing through thirty yards in a second. Behind him the six guards in the path of its outstretched arm fall to the ground. Blood spews out from their torsos as they split in half. The remaining guards go into a panic, looking around at each other for guidance on what to do next.

The wolf, which is now a mere six feet in front of me, turns around to face the guards again. Seeing this, I sneak up behind its right leg. As I deactivate my aura to pump mana into my right gauntlet, I see the ears on the wolf perk up in surprise as it spins its upper torso around to see what has it spooked, but it's too late. I smash a full force blow into its Achilles heel, making the monster yelp as its right leg flies forward, causing the monster to fall flat on its back.

Despite the injury, the wolf flips around onto its stomach almost immediately, trying to discern what had harmed it. However, I'm already invisible again, ducking down to the ground eight feet to its side.

Slowly it scans the area around it, watching and listening for anything out of place. Behind it the guards are now together as one unit discussing something.

I wouldn't be surprised if they plan on fleeing. It might be for the best, I don't know what they could possibly do to help me besides act as disposable meat shields.

The wolf locks its eyes onto the attendant. "WHERE?"

"I-I don't know! I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." The girl said, nearing tears again.

She's probably expecting to be killed, which I will do my best to stop if I can. The girl is not lying either, she really doesn't know where I am since I activated my aura directly after the punch landed. Why is she here though? I thought she went to hide earlier?

Slowly the wolf pushes itself up, standing on its left leg only. It looks down at its right leg, growling in frustration.

I felt the crunch of bone on that punch, so it should be hobbled for awhile. Monsters are generally good at healing themselves though, so I can't drag this out.

"ARE YOU BETRAYING ME, GREYSON?!" The wolf yells.

... What? Does the wolf think someone else attacked it?

"No... It was a girl with white hair." Said a voice from above.

Looking up, I see another wolf on the roof of a nearby home. However, this one looks to be about six to seven feet tall, and wearing a dark green hooded cloak. Its white eyes shine brightly through the hood.

While the appearance of a second one surprised me, that also means he knows about my invisibility. I feel like this is the only chance I'll get to talk to them, so...

I deactivate my aura and stand up.

"Oh? So my eyes did not deceive me, you truly did disappear. Fascinating..." Greyson said.

The large wolf begins growling, entering a pouncing stance.

"Calm yourself fool. She willingly showed herself, clearly wishing for dialogue. If you cannot contain yourself, then I will abandon you." Greyson said, then continued. "Well girl? What is it you wish to discuss?"

"I found your village in the 'grove', so I understand why the other wolf here killed those who were responsible. I was hoping to find him so I could ask him if he planned on killing others, or just those related to the grove. If it was only the grove, I planned on leaving him be so I could help fight off the Eldritch."

"GRRR SPINELESS GREYSON SAID IT WAS ONLY TO BE THOSE RESPONSIBLE, BUT THIS STUPID GIRL SHOWED UP AT MY HOME WITH A REGIMENT OF ARMED MEN!!" The wolf continued. "FOUND ME OUT HAD YOU?! THOUGHT YOURSELF CLEVER?! YOU WILL NOW DIE FOR YOUR REWARD!!"

"Eh?! No! No no no!! M-Me and the white haired girl there realized the ones who bought that grove were the people dying. So I decided to see if someone else had bought it after Mr.Cedar died... I found a sale from yesterday, so I rushed there with the town guard to warn them, but you came charging out of the home instead..."

"Hmm..." Greyson said, rubbing his chin.

"WARN? WARN..."

A large explosion occurs on the wolf's back, blasting it forward into the ground.

"Who the fuck cares about any of that?! The beast just killed my brother and several of my friends!!" One guard yells, grabbing another glass bottle from a crate. The other guards also pick up their own bottles, throwing them out towards the downed wolf. One explosion after another rings out as they land.

So that's where they went... I saw the guards run off a minute ago, it looks like they were procuring some alchemical bombs. I don't know if it's different now, but those were very expensive to create the last time I was alive, so seeing a full crate of them has me thinking back to Godwin talking about the corruption in this town. It must run deep if they have bombs like that just laying around.

I enhance my legs and gauntlets, waiting for the barrage to end. The first one hurt the wolf bad, but it enhanced itself after that. Now they're just pissing it off and draining its mana. Which is helpful, except they're all dead the second they run out of bombs. Fortunately, I don't need to worry about the female attendant, Greyson had brought her onto the roof.

"Greyson! Is he going to stop at killing the guards, or keep going from there?!" I yell out, hoping he can hear me over the sound of all these explosions.

"ALL OF YOU!! NO MORE, I AM DONE!!" The wolf replies instead. Up on the roof I can see Greyson shaking his head.

Great... Looks like there's no avoiding it at this point.

When the last bomb is thrown out, I charge towards the downed wolf who is currently curled up into a ball. As I'm punching towards the monsters unguarded back, it flips over and chomps down on me sideways in one swift move, doing so in less than a second.

Knowing I won't be able to dash away in time, I pull my fist back and punch sideways with both gauntlets. Right before its teeth pierce me, the sides of my fists connect with the insides of the wolf's mouth, hitting with such force the air ripples around the contact point.

While the wolf had enhanced its mouth, the impact had blown its mouth open far too much, dislodging it in the process. The left punch had also rattled the wolf's brain. In a panic the wolf pushes itself backwards, sliding along the ground for a few meters. It then tries in vain to stand up, as its vision is still blurred, spinning all over the place.

After spending the mana on those punches with both hands, I'm down to twenty-five percent left. Just enough to create one of those and finish this.

Holding my right gauntlet out palm up, a small fleshy purple ball appears above it. As it grows in size I dash towards the wolf who is still struggling to get off the ground. Once I reach him, I throw the bomb into the wolf's perpetually open mouth. Diving backwards, I just barely escape the blast emanating from the beasts throat, resulting in a large spray of blood and meat bombarding the entire area.

The guards began cheering immediately, but I looked up at Greyson, worried I'd have another fight on my hands. However, Greyson jumps down with the girl in his arms and lets her down gently next to me.

Greyson motions towards the other wolf's corpse. "Can you believe he used to be a farmer? Just a simple man with a family I grew up with in that village. I returned from an extended trip to another world to find the village burned down, and Charles, the werewolf there you killed, was barely alive in the basement of his home."

"You saved him I assume?"

"Yes, I healed him, and gave him the power to transform to enact his revenge. It hurt seeing such a simple man I had grown up with in so much pain... I thought revenge would help, but it was obvious after the second kill that the man I knew was long gone. He couldn't bring himself to kill the little girl, so I thought there was still hope for him, but then he killed the Cedar family. I brought them in for the purposes of owning the grove on paper, while Charles would be the real owner. The fool killed em to 'teach them a lesson' for daring to put their name on his home. At that point I had given up and was planning to secretly leave tonight."

"I see... I'm sorry about your friend."

"He died long ago. You merely ended his ghost." Greyson said, looking down at his friend.

The sounds of horns and drums can be heard approaching the North side of the village.

"Where are those drums coming from?"

"You don't know? That's the Ifrit Legion marching this way, they must be your reinforcements. Sounds like they're still a few miles off, but unless there is three hundred or more of them, you'll never beat an Eldritch god that size. Look at how fast it's expanding its domain... It truly is astonishing."

I can't deny that. I really don't know what Godwin plans on doing, but a single highly concentrated fireball won't be anywhere near enough this time.

"Well, I rested up enough, I need to go assist my... Travel companions?"

I'm not even sure what to consider them. I suppose they're allies, but I don't think I'll be sticking around long after I find a way out of here. I have no intentions of dying for this moon again if I can help it.

"Heh, you the odd one out? You sure look like you'd be. For me, I'm going to head North and see if the Northerners will let me use the portal. No way in hell I'm going south west to check out the old Kitsune portal. God only knows what is down there right now with all this madness going on."

"Not a bad plan. I'll probably be heading to that portal too when I'm ready. With that said, I doubt we'll meet again. Goodbye Greyson."

"Indeed."

I wave to him and the girl as I begin running towards the sounds of battle in the distance.

The first thing I want to do is get a close look at this Eldritch to see what we're dealing with. That's assuming the battle is going well enough that they aren't on the verge of losing already.

Still though, I feel like it all depends on how strong this Ifrit Legion is. At the first sign of loss, I'm going to grab Aresa and run. There's a good chance that's exactly how it's will end up, but I guess we'll see soon enough...