Shadowbane

~Ishar's POV~

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have everyone leave? Who is going to defend this 'shaman' of yours?" Seifer asked.

Euphemia walked past Seifer. "It's fine, let's go. I already made sure that nothing bad will happen to our new Lizard ally. I feel bad saying this with everything else going on, but as far as I'm concerned, he's the most important being in this nation right now." Euphemia stopped, turning towards Ishar. "Hang on, why didn't the broodling prevent me from allowing you to hide it?"

"Because that would be pointless? Your servants here are indeed more powerful than the average person, and while I know nothing of Seifer's potential, none of you could stop us from doing whatever we wanted with the shaman. The broodling would risk exposing itself for nothing."

"... I see," Euphemia said, gritting her teeth.

I'm more worried about whether we can keep the shaman concealed or not. I've never done this with a single shaman before... You normally need at least four, with a preferable amount being somewhere around twelve. A couple of shamans search for the broodling while the others keep their presence concealed. The shaman said it won't be able to do both, so there's no way to prevent the broodling from finding it. What it does after that is anyone's guess. I sure as hell don't know what to expect, and that's why I'm glad everyone is leaving together.

We continued to the wagon area in silence. As we approached the only shed in the area, a butler opened it up, revealing an abnormally large wagon inside. Aresa beamed at Alicia after she saw it.

{This is it! Euphie told me about this, and I've been dying to see it. It looks like the 'limozines' you mentioned before!}

Alicia chuckled. "I'll show you how to spell it properly when we get inside. But yeah, it does look like the medieval version of one."

I don't know what a 'limozine' is, but this is indeed the largest wagon I've ever seen. No wonder why she had it protected inside this shed that was exuding its very own aura. Pays to be a royal huh? It had to be ridiculously expensive to create a small building covered in defensive wards just to house your damned wagon. I'll admit though, much to my surprise, she has been a rather good host. Albeit a little naive, but I'm used to dealing with that. Our little rookie here is still naive about many things after all. She'll get there eventually, but it won't be something that happens overnight.

After everyone climbs inside, I jump in last, laying my spear on the table in the middle as I sit down.

"And I thought Aresa's wagon was amazing. Look at this fucking thing!"

{True. I may need to upgrade it after seeing this...}

Cera cut in, looking at Shana. "That aside, where is Rei right now?"

"Lost her. She followed Tyra into a side door on the fortress."

"West of the main door? The one with two guards in front?" Euphemia asked.

"Yes, that's the one. Know where it goes?"

Euphemia shook her head. "I've only been in there twice, and both of those times I went straight up to Father's living room. It's easier through the main entrance, but I wanted to surprise him, so..." She sighed, then continued. "Anyways, unless they took Tyra to his living room or chambers, then I have no idea of where they would be right now. The fortress is basically a massive maze. If you don't know exactly where you need to go you're going to become lost rather quickly."

"And what of Keith's group? Has he said anything?" Cera asked no one in particular.

Shana replied. "Their village is in chaos. Everyone is up in arms demanding answers, but the retired soldiers who saw the other village disappear in a flash don't have any answers for them. So things are spiraling out of control there."

"I'll take care of it. When the people there see that I have personally arrived to assist them in their time of need, I'll be able to persuade them to calm down. The problem is what comes after that. How fast will this 'Tengu' attack us now that we're moving Lady Aresa to a village close to it?" Euphemia said, making Seifer groan.

Earlier Cera decided it was best to tell the two of them in private why Aresa was here. Seifer was outraged, as he should be, but the princess took it in stride apparently. My best guess is that she doesn't give a shit about the Tengu when a real horror like the broodling is here infesting her soul and mind.

"... Apologies, but I have no way of knowing what the Tengu Lord will do in response to such a bold action on our part. There is a one hundred percent chance it has already located her, and for us to move her so much closer to it, it may come and attack us personally, or use some other tactics against us. If Shana's testimony is correct, then the Lord is aware that we know exactly where it is right now, so at the very least it should be suspicious of our current actions." Cera said.

So 'anything could happen' is her answer. I'd love to judge her for such a useless response, but I have the same damned useless answer when it comes to the broodling. If the Tengu directly attacks us, the broodling will use that opportunity to do something, there is no doubt about that. What it does though is anyone's guess.

For the love of fucking god, why does these caves continue to look the same? I've been keeping those knights at a specific distance for over an hour now, but the damned tunnels and caves continue to be the same size while also keeping to the same level of lighting. Normally time means nothing to me, and I can easily stay awake longer than the men behind me, leading to an easy victory on my side if they plan on following me to the point where they will need to rest. But I'm in a hurry to get back to the surface right now... And that's apparently not the only problem, I'm seeing a new one pop up right now.

A group of four-foot-tall green creatures with much pointier ears than me are sitting around a small fire, cooking a large rat-like monster over it.

The last time I saw these things was that one time we advanced deep into the ground under Xelba. If they're also underground here, they must be spread out over a large part of Urza.

Moving to the other side of the cave, I sneak past the group, heading straight for the next tunnel. Right before I reach it I stop, placing the rifle on top of a nearby rock, aimed at the other side of the cave.

I should've done this earlier, but after checking the gun and only finding ten bullets, I decided to keep it for emergencies. I was hoping I could find another tunnel out of here. One going up, not down... Instead, all I managed to do was waste an hour moving away from where I needed to be.

A few minutes later the creatures went to divvy up the rat they just cooked. But before they can enjoy their banquet, their heads turn towards the tunnel I came in through earlier, listening intently for anything out of place. Soon after that, the green creatures grabbed their weapons and quickly got into position for whatever was approaching.

I still can't hear the knights at all. These little creatures must have some crazy good hearing.

Eventually, the stomping of boots on the cave floor reached even me. Upon hearing this, the creatures duck low into their hiding spots. The two spear users are in front, with one in the back using a bow, and the last one holding a staff.

What is it with the Tengu and these creatures using staffs? I've never seen anyone else use one for magic.

The first thing that entered the cave wasn't a knight, but a small ball of light. It shot straight out of the tunnel, sticking to the wall opposite it. At first I thought it was 'just a light source', but that was immediately debunked. The ball began pulsing, sending out waves of something that I could feel radiating off of my aura. When it hit the greenlings, they instantly stood up and ran into the tunnel behind me.

That must have been a probe... And surprisingly, the little green men are smarter than I remember. Back in Xelba they ran straight at us as if they had a death wish.

Shouldering the rifle, I ran into the tunnel, following the greenlings. As I ran down the tunnel, I attempted to formulate a new plan, but upon exiting into the next part of the cave, I realized I no longer needed one. A much larger cavern opened up before me, revealing hundreds of greenlings, all preparing to meet the knights. Much to my shock, there were even a few ballistas on the far side of the cavern, elevated up enough to get a clear shot of anything exiting this tunnel.

Even a knight gifted in defense will struggle to defend against that...

One by one the weird jelly-like lamps around the cavern were doused, leaving the whole area rather dark. Seeing this, I ran towards one of the elevated wooden platforms and climbed up the shabby ladder, taking my place in between a few greenlings ducking below the wooden palisade.

It wasn't long before the same ball of light made its appearance again, pulsing over the front of the cavern. However, I could tell it was only reaching the front one-third of the greenlings here. Nobody on this platform was pinged by the thing. All of the greenlings stilled, waiting with their weapons drawn for the battle to come. However, ten minutes went by and nothing else happened. The two greenlings to my left began whispering to each other in an unknown tongue. While I didn't understand the words, their confusion was evident. When the older greenling to their left looked at them, they both froze up and pretended they were never talking. As the minutes rolled by, I began to wonder if the knights found the situation too dangerous and called off the chase. But then a grey medium-sized sphere shot into the room, much like the ball from earlier, except this was a spell I recognized.

They even have that spell? Only our best units in Xelba used it. And it looks like the greenlings don't recognize it, seeing as how they're all keeping their attention on the tunnel instead of the sphere.

The sphere flashed out of existence, replacing itself with seven of the knights who were chasing me. As soon as they appeared, they launched a myriad of spells that they clearly had been channeling before the warp took place. A wall of fire appeared behind one of the greenling's barricades, frying all those who were hiding behind it, while a hail of earth shards began raining down on the platforms opposite of the side I was currently on. Despite the ambush, the greenlings responded in kind almost instantly. Both the ballistas sadly hit the same target, but at least one of them was dead.

One of the knights turned and yelled at the tunnel, "BALLISTA!!"

Eight more knights charged out of the tunnel. This time only half of the knights were casting offensive spells, while two of them did their best to prevent the hail of arrows from killing their comrades. The remaining two were snipers, who promptly began picking off the greenlings in the back who were currently placing another arrow into both ballista. Seeing this, I removed my aura, taking aim at the closest sniper. The greenlings around me freaked out, looking to the old veteran on the left for guidance, who watched me intently as I shot the sniper right through his throat. The veteran then turned back around, continuing to shoot his bow at the knights below. That was good enough for the others apparently, as they immediately lost interest in me.

I was aiming for that knight's forehead... Thank god I still managed to kill him. I trained with guns in my soul realm sometimes for entertainment, but shooting one in the real world is completely different. The ones I made in my soul realm were perfect, too perfect. It didn't account for the durability of the weapon, quality of the bullets, wind... Basically nothing thanks to my lack of knowledge concerning guns.

"She's on a platform over here, helping the Goblins!" A knight nearby yelled.

Goblins is their name? Rather fitting honestly.

While the knight's magic(or abilities) were rather impressive, the goblins aren't as weak as I was expecting. Putting aside how they weren't prepared for that warp ambush, all the goblins I can see have proper ability barriers surrounding them, with the goblin casters creating a bunch of different visual effects over the only large goblin I've seen thus far. This one is about seven feet tall and covered in more scars than I can count. No armor or clothes on the top half of his body, with only a tight pair of leather shorts on his bottom half.

As soon as the goblin mage finished channeling her last spell onto the goblin, she collapsed straight onto the ground. Upon seeing that, the large goblin bent down and entered a sprinting position, except its fingers were digging deep into the ground. One of the knights casting a directed frost spell saw the creature bend down. He canceled his spell, choosing to grab his kite shield strapped to his back instead. The second he readied the shield, the large goblin launched itself at the knight so fast I didn't even see what happened. One second he was there, and the next the knight was crashing into the wall behind him. His nearby comrades didn't panic in the least, instead they retaliated on the creature with a barrage of single-target spells and bullets. The bullets proved useless though. They were harmlessly destroyed right before they reached the goblin's body. The yellow lightning streaking across its body was striking down any bullets that came near him, while all the spells were failing to penetrate his strangely green barrier. If anything, I swear it looked like it was getting stronger the more they hit it?

The knights realized this as well, as they quickly stopped casting magic at the creature, choosing to draw their weapons instead. The sniper returned to firing at the ballista while a friend of his reinforced his party as he used his own body to prevent me from hitting the sniper. The large goblin barreled towards another knight, smashing him into the ground. He began punching his shield so hard that the knight's body was cratering into the ground little by little.

But his comrades weren't just idly watching. One of the knights did a standard overhead swing attack at the goblin, which made the goblin laugh as he raised his arm to block it. However, much to the goblin's surprise, his arm promptly fell off as the sword cleanly went through it. While the bullets couldn't be enhanced, their weapons could. The mage must've enhanced the goblin's physical strength beyond his limits while doing nothing for his defenses outside of that fancy yet limited ranged attack nullifier.

A little strange that the large goblin didn't seem to know about that though...

The goblin tried jumping back, but a rope made of light whipped out from one of the knights, catching the creature in the air, causing him to fall straight onto the ground. Before he could recover, the knights were upon him, ending his life with little fanfare.

On this end, the fight wasn't going very well. As this was the area that was hurt the most by the ambush, the remaining goblins were struggling against the five remaining knights. After the ballista killed one, the other died as it tried hiding behind its shield. The goblins were focusing on him, keeping him pinned down until the ballista was reloaded. A massive bolt shot straight through the knight's shield, pinning him to the ground as blood gushed out of his mouth. Unfortunately, it looked like that was all the help we were going to get from the ballista, as the last sniper had managed to kill the rest of the crew in the back.

As I and the goblins nearby were shooting at one of the knights approaching our position, another knight jumped onto the platform from behind. He had his sword in his right hand already pulled back to his left shoulder as he landed. Upon landing he swung it backwards at me as a bright blue aura surrounded the blade. I dashed forward enough to grab his wrist with both hands, attempting to pull him to the ground as I kicked at his shins, but this man was a rock, he wasn't moving at all.

Damnit... It's not even a physical barrier, he's just purely that much more powerful than I am right now.

As the knight pulled his left hand back to punch me, the two goblins nearby who were whispering earlier began stabbing at his face. In one swift motion, the knight closed his visor with his left hand and then headbutted the short swords, smashing them entirely. The slight aura around his armor shattered, suggesting its mana had been depleted, but it didn't help in overpowering his enhanced strength at all.

To my surprise, the goblins laughed upon seeing their short swords shattered. They leaped back towards the veteran, picked up another set of bows, and began firing down below again. The knight looked back at me, seeming just as confused as I was for a second before I felt him shake a little. The strength in his arm began to fade as the knight began coughing.

"Fucking... Goblins...!!" He choked out, moments before he crumpled to the ground.

Between the joints on the side of his knees, I could see a long needle poking out.

Ahh, the veteran must've slipped in a needle laced with toxins. How he pierced through the knight's enhanced body without alerting him is one hell of a mystery though.

An explosion rang out from the other side of the field. I had no time to look though, as more knights were preparing to jump onto our platform. As I was preparing to flee, another idea came to me. The knight directly below the veteran bent down and enhanced his legs, preparing to jump. As he flew into the air, I leaped over with my legs fully enhanced and brought both my feet down onto the knight's open-faced helmet. While his face had survived thanks to his enhancements, the speed at which he dropped was too much for his remaining mana. The man screamed in pain as both his armor and legs shattered. One of his comrades tried rushing over to help him, but the goblins began using a fire ability in unison, completely covering the fallen knight in fire.

Far in the back, goblin reinforcements arrived, including two large goblins already infused with all their magical enhancements. Upon seeing that the commander whipped some kind of magic onto the ground that created a loud-sounding horn, which resulted in the remaining knights fleeing. The goblins began cheering and dancing at the sight of that. One of the large goblins even went over to the tunnel and bent over in front of it, smacking his ass at the exit. The goblins roared with laughter upon seeing that.

The veteran nearby walked up to me, holding his hand out in a 'halt' sign. I nodded, sitting down. The veteran smiled as I complied.

With all the lights out I can get away from here easily, but hopefully I'm able to converse with them a little. I'd love to know an easier way out of here if there is one.

A few minutes later one of the new arrivals climbed the ladder, a female goblin with a staff and robe. This one however was the first goblin I've seen with ornaments like jewelry.

"Hello... Human?" She said, puzzled at the sight of me.

"An Elf, but close enough. You can speak the common tongue?"

"Yes. We used to have allies on the surface. Not anymore, but Teifas such as myself must continue to pass it down. You never know when we might need it. For example..." The girl smiles, motioning towards me.

"Heh, true... I'll tell you straight out, I'm the reason those knights came here. They were chasing me."

The girl turns to the veteran, speaking something in their own tongue. He shrugs, saying only a few words in response.

"He says 'That was obvious'. Humans, Fox-things, Wolf-things, Crotia, none of them come down here anymore. They have their vile Merman assault us in their stead."

"I had the pleasure of meeting them earlier... They smell like sewage mixed with literal shit."

The girl put a hand up to her mouth, holding in a laugh before apparently telling the others what I said. The two goblin archers laughed while the veteran nodded.

"It is true~! They do smell like 'shit' as you put it. Now can you tell us why those men were chasing you?"

"Now that's a tough question... I'm honestly not sure? I came here with a crew from another city after Kellog had requested their help in dealing with a crisis they are currently dealing with. Villages of people are disappearing completely, while other villages are burning down in an instant. I was investigating that when they jailed one of their own who was assisting me, and while I was breaking her out they attacked us. We got separated as we fled, and well... Here I am."

The girl nods, relaying my words to the veteran. At some point during her speech, all three of the goblins look shocked. After she finished speaking, the veteran said something in return.

"He wants to know if it's true that they also have villages being burned to the ground. I admit, I also would like to know. We are plagued by the same problem. The village sentries don't see or hear anything. They attempt to return home after their shift is over, and instead find the whole village is gone. Most of the time we never find the sentries either..."

Now that was surprising to hear. Assuming she's telling the truth that is.

"The goblins are having the same problem huh... Yes, it is true that the nation of Kellog is being assaulted by the same phenomenon. Also, I have to ask, would you happen to know why entire villages are disappearing?"

The girl scoffed. "No idea, but it's the best news I've heard in a while. I'll tell the elders later and they'll throw a party for the whole 'kingdom'. We never go above, not anymore. We used to when the Crotia were still here, they were our allies, our friends... But they're gone now. We learned so much from them, our elders still mourn their loss."

Oh, so that's why she called them 'Crotia' instead of 'alligator-things' like the other races. Surprisingly, she also knew about the werewolves... Did they used to come down here? I'm curious but I have more pressing concerns.

"One last question. Do you happen to know a better way to the surface? I need to rush back, the others need to know that the Kellog is apparently planning to sacrifice us to those 'Merman'."

The girl relayed my question to the veteran, who rubbed his chin in thought for a while before nodding. He waved for me to follow him as he descended the ladder.

"Ahem, it appears he plans on showing you himself. Nice meeting you miss... Elf? He'll guide you to the surface now." The girl bowed.

"Nice to meet you too 'miss Goblin'. Oh, uh, are you planning on doing anything with the souls of those knights?"

"No? They'll disappear on their own soon enough, or they should? Not sure, there's been something weird going on lately. Normally we need to rush to preserve our kin's souls since we have our own rites involving their passing. Lately, their souls just sit there." The girl sighed, then continued. "Anyways, as far as the humans are concerned... I'll use a phrase I was told to never use diplomatically. 'Fuck them'." The girl chuckled.

Now this is perfect... I can only imagine the abilities they're going to have. Looks like I won't be so useless against the Tengu after all.

I smiled and said my goodbyes to the female goblin, jumping off the platform and rushing over to the dead knights. One by one I ripped their souls out, feeding them to my core.

I'd love to check these out before leaving, but the goblins around me appear to be extremely disgusted by what I just did. I can't really blame them. It probably is disgusting seeing a human-like creature eating souls like an Eldritch would.

Running over to the veteran, he immediately turns around and runs off towards a side tunnel that's nowhere near where the goblin's reinforcements came in from. As I follow after him, I probe the nine souls inside of me. Six begin to activate, with the remaining three staying dormant. They either had no abilities, or they had abilities related to barriers. Earlier, Tyra had a rather normal reaction to my lack of a barrier. I'm not sure why either, but whatever I am doesn't allow me to create one, even through stolen abilities. Which is why I was so damn happy when I found this artifact armor. Having something that can negate damage is a godsend for me.

We ran through multiple caverns for about an hour. On the way, we passed by several goblin regiments who were shocked to see one of their higher-ups leading a 'human ' around. Eventually, we went down a long slope for a few hundred meters before a decent-sized village came into view. Probably big enough to house three hundred goblins.

"Elf." The veteran said.

Looking at him I see him holding his hand out, waiting for me to shake it. I smile, reaching out and grabbing his hand. He let go moments later, pointing towards a tunnel nearby, saying only one word. "Kellog."

"I see. Thank you for guiding me!"

Unsure of whether he understood me, the veteran nodded and turned around, heading straight for the village. However, as I was turning to leave, something strange happened. The veteran literally disappeared.

"What the...?"

Staring at the village, I attempt to understand what had just happened. The whole village looks lively. Families are out and about working while the children play. By the river, I can see dozens of female goblins cleaning clothes. Near them, a blacksmith hammers away at a weapon he's crafting, while in a small field to my right there are children creating flower crowns.

I don't understand... What did I just witness? The guards sitting about twenty meters in front of me didn't react at all to the veteran blinking out of existence... Is that normal here? How could that be norm---

A ten-foot-tall monster surrounded in flames appears directly in front of me mid-leap. Enhancing my legs I jump far off to the right, immediately activating my aura as I leave the ground. As I land in the 'field' that was here moments ago with several children playing in it, I now notice it's been completely burned to ashes.

"Where?! Where did she go?! Did she leave...? No. Nobody would leave us... They need us!!" The monster yelled.

What the hell is this thing?!

... Wait, it's not just that. The whole village is on fire. This... This has to be the creature we've been looking for. Can it project its soul realm onto the real world? How the hell else would it be able to make it look like the whole village was fine until now?

The tunnel we came in through and the one leading to the surface both burst into flames, cutting off my retreat. The monster stalks around looking for me, before putting its hands over its face and crying.

"She won't come out... She won't come out... Why? Why do they always hide? We just... We just... Want to cook you a little!"

The monster laughs maniacally before breaking into a fit of coughing.

"... Something else... Something here? In our head... It should be burned!! Need to find it. Like the fishies... Annoying little fishies... Delicious when cooked!!"

... It's clearly gone mad. It has the head of a lizard covered in brown fur, with a gorilla body and hawk-like feet. The whole thing makes me fucking sick. I don't think I've ever seen anything this revolting before, and that includes the other realm...

Behind a building, I can see the veteran crawling out from underneath it as the fire blazes on above him.

He survived?! Shit, can I somehow save him from this thing?

The monster walks away from me towards some more goblin bodies, scorching them till there is nothing left.

"Can feel her! She's here... Yet not here?" The monster torches another goblin home. "Why does she hide...? Ungrateful bitch!! Where would she be without us?! She needs us... Just like they did! They all needed us!! Yet she hides... Why, why, WHY?!"

The monster leaps into the center of the village. A bright aura flares up around it soon after, growing in intensity with each passing second. Off to the side, I see that both the fires on the tunnels have disappeared.

"We'll find her... Oh yes, yes we will!!"

Immediately I turn and run for the tunnel. On the way there a large wave of heat blasts outwards from the creature, washing over me completely as the smell of sulfur infuses the air. While the heat had hurt me a little, that wasn't the most worrying part. It had completely destroyed my aura, which is going to need time to repair.

The worst of all though is I felt the fucking monster try to place a cursed mark on me. It probably tagged the veteran and he doesn't even know it.

"There you are!! Clever little cunt... Think you're smart, do you?! A little fire ought to fix her..." The monster said, sprinting directly towards me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the veteran goblin running towards the tunnel we first came in from. Before he reaches it, he turns to me and points at the monster, making a throat-cutting motion with his finger, then points towards the tunnel I'm running into as I lose sight of him.

Is he going to bring goblins back to kill it? I hope he means it because I feel like I might be completely fucked here. That purge is a real problem too... The only bright side is that it didn't hurt at all when it purged my aura. So whatever it just did was closer to an enhancement purge, like what Arkaios hit me with before.

As I enter the tunnel I'm forced to jump over dozens of charcoaled bodies of all different sizes.

Dear god...

"NO, NO, NOOOOO!!! DON'T RUN, DON'T GO!! DON'T LEAVE US HERE!!!" The monster screams as it enters the tunnel, slowly gaining ground on me.

I really am going to need a miracle. It may be time to just start throwing out abilities that I stole from the knights. Hopefully one of them can stall this monster long enough that I'm able to escape the underground. I'll definitely be able to get away from this abomination in the pitch black darkness topside. It's just a matter of whether I can get that far...