The Lord Forgotten

Andreas stood alone in a fifty-meter puddle of dark liquid. Past the edge of the black puddle sat Kaelin and Rico watching him with cautious eyes.

Opposite to them was Lilith, with fire on her hands that paled in comparison to the bonfire near her. Her breathing was heavy and she was sweating profusely.

"Miss Lilith, please stop."

The fire in Lilith's hands disappeared. She held her chest and began to breathe in an uncontrolled manner.

Several black tentacles sprouted from the puddle, and they move and twist as if searching the air. Andreas held one of these tentacles and it turned grey as he moved his fingers across the tentacle.

"This liquid's like tar, it's dense and pliable but only until it turns grey, then it's as hard as steel."

"Andreas, you should also stop."

Hearing Kaelin's words. Andreas let the tentacles and dark puddle disappear in a pale, white mist. He turned to look at Kaelin and Lilith.

Right, Lilith is safe now. What should I do, will some events happen naturally or should I actively look for the adventures myself... no let's not think about that...

Yeah, let's think about how some of the soldiers muttered our name. That is... concerning. Why would they know my name? Did the transmigration change who this body once was? Or... do we share the same name?

He glanced past Lilith, to where Vance stood some distance away beneath the crooked silhouette of a shattered wall. He was deep in conversation with a weary-looking soldier, both of them gesturing occasionally toward Andreas. Their voices were too low to carry, but Vance's expression was unmistakable—tense, strained, as if he were bracing for bad news that hadn't yet arrived.

Beyond them, at the far edge of the encampment, something strange caught Andreas's eye.

Golden strips of light cut through the morning haze, flickering and weaving high above the treetops like living ribbons. A shape darted between them, too fast to track properly. For a moment he thought it might be a bird, but as it collided with some large invisible mountain-sized creature, he heard a distant, echoing shriek.

Andreas's pulse quickened, as the smell of rotten flesh overwhelmed his nose.

He turned just as the crowd broke apart in panic.

Standing at the center of piles of dead soldiers was something tall and black, its silhouette warped and wrong against the morning light. The creature's skin, or what remained of it hung in strips of dark decay that fluttered as it moved. It was three times his height, its limbs grotesquely elongated. Its arms alone looked long enough to scoop up a horse.

As Andreas locked eyes with it, he felt a shiver crawl up his spine. The thing's gaze was nothing like a beast's. It felt deliberate and aware.

"..."

Andreas felt his breath catch in his throat.

He didn't want to move—his mind screamed to flee, to put any distance between himself and that towering husk. But the terror only hardened into something colder, something resolute.

That thing looks like it could easily kill.

He stepped forward into the black puddle's remnants, clenching his fists as his heart hammered against his ribs.

Then I should kill it, before it kills me.

The creature lurched, its hollow gaze snapping toward Rico as the big man charged with a roar. Blue sparks danced across Rico's armored gauntlets, and he swung with both fists, driving them into the monster's abdomen. The impact thundered across the clearing—rotten flesh burst apart in black smears, but the thing hardly staggered.

Kaelin raised both hands, his eyes flickering pale blue. A jagged bolt of lightning cracked across the distance and struck the creature's left shoulder. The stench of scorched meat spread in a choking wave, but still it came on, a single massive arm sweeping low to crush Rico.

Andreas sprang forward. Power coiled through his legs, gathering at his heel. The world blurred around him as he launched himself forward —and kicked.

The strike landed clean against the creature's head. There was a deafening crack, like a thunderclap right beside his ear. The monster's neck bent backward at an impossible angle, vertebrae splitting open in a spray of black fluid. For a heartbeat, it hung there, spine ruined, arms limp.

Andreas felt a grim surge of relief until a massive hand shot up and seized him around the waist.

The creature's neck realigned with a wet crunch. The head lifted slowly, leveling its empty sockets at him. Close enough to smell its breath, he realized its grin was worse than any scream—stretched skin, no teeth, nothing but that obscene, toothless smile. As countless maggots stormed into its throat.

A rush of horror choked him.

Before he could wrench free, the monster slammed him down. He hit the ground so hard his vision exploded white. A split second later, Rico charged in again, gauntlets blazing with fiery blue sparks. He drove a punch square into the monster's side, knocking it sideways.

Kaelin grabbed Andreas's collar and dragged him back, boots skidding across the dirt.

But the creature wasted no time. With one fluid motion, it punched Rico far to the side and lunged forward, impossibly fast. Its huge hands shot out and clamped down on both Andreas and Kaelin.

And then it slammed their heads into the earth with enough force to leave the ground ringing.

Andreas struggled to lift his head, the creature's grip tightening around his skull like an iron vice.

"You've grown stronger Andreas, Could Ruthwood be the cause, but that holds no meaning now, you are a chosen vessel, —and a good choice you are."

Rico's roar tore through the clearing, ragged and primal. His body blurred, limbs thickening, bones creaking as they swelled. Coarse tawny fur exploded from his skin, his face elongating into a muzzle lined with white fangs. Where his eyes had been, now burned twin points of cobalt flame.

The lion-man seized the creature's wrist with claws large enough to shred plate armor. Blue fire erupted across his hands, coursing up the monster's arm in a rushing blaze. With a savage bellow, Rico twisted his grip and swung a flaming fist directly into the creature's head.

The impact split the air like a cannon blast. A full half of the monster's face vanished, vaporized in a spray of black ichor and writhing white larvae. What remained sagged, flesh already trying to knit back over the exposed bone. But for the first time, the thing recoiled, its massive form shuddering.

Rico pressed the advantage, raining blows that cracked the ruined face further, driving the monster back step by ponderous step. Each punch burst fresh gouts of foul black fluid and sent bone fragments spinning into the ground.

Andreas forced himself upright, the edges of his vision still swimming. He felt Kaelin beside him, dragging in ragged breaths.

He staggered forward, black liquid seeping from his palms, coiling into dense grey strands that hardened along his forearms.

The creature reeled sideways under Rico's assault, one arm dangling uselessly where bone had shattered. But then, it lashed out. A massive clawed hand caught Rico by the throat. With a sickening heave, it lifted the lion-man into the air and hurled his body into a crumbled section of wall. Stone exploded in a hail of dust and splinters. Rico slumped, motionless, the fire dimming in his hands.

The monster ran towards Rico, its ruined face twisting around in that obscene, toothless grin. As it raised its colossal foot to crush Rico's chest, Andreas arrived. He pivoted, planted his heel, and drove his fist into the thing's bent knee with every ounce of force he could muster.

The impact rang through his bones.

Something inside the creature snapped, a brittle, unmistakable break. Its knee inverted grotesquely, bone splitting the decayed skin.

It staggered, momentarily off-balance.

Andreas sucked in a shaking breath, bracing to strike again, but the monster recovered faster than he could react. The huge hand whipped across in a blurring arc. A fist the size of a barrel smashed into his ribs.

The world lurched and dimmed.

Another punch, this time straight into his chest. He felt something crack, breath leaving his lungs in a single strangled gasp.

He barely registered the third strike, an overhead hammering blow that slammed the crown of his head. His legs gave out. The ground rushed up in a riot of pain and darkness.

Andreas lay on his side, choking, the taste of copper filling his mouth. He could see the creature looming above, its broken leg dragging uselessly.

"One sibling fled the rot. The other became it. Surely you know which one you are, Andreas?"

The creature held out its hand inches from Andreas's face. It stopped and its eyes widened.

"..."

"You are not... who are you false one?"

Andreas slapped the creature's hand away. His palm struck the rotten flesh with a wet crack, and pale worms tumbled free across the trampled earth. He forced himself upright, legs trembling beneath him. Every ragged breath felt like swallowing broken glass.

"I don't know what your problem is," he rasped, black liquid streaming from his knuckles as he lifted his fists. "Or how you know me. But you should kill me while you have the chance."

The creature hesitated, its empty gaze locked to him in puzzled revulsion. That flicker of confusion was all the opening Andreas needed.

Black liquid burst from his feet in a violent surge. The swirling tar coalesced into five spear-tipped tentacles, each one shimmering with a dull metallic sheen. They arched over his shoulders like the limbs of some monstrous insect.

The tentacles lashed at it as one, driving into the creature's torso and abdomen. Wet crunches and splintering bone echoed as grey tips punched clean through rotten flesh, erupting from its back in fountains of black ichor and writhing larvae.

The monster's arms flailed. One massive hand swung toward his head, but Andreas pivoted sideways and smashed his fist into the ruined shoulder joint.

The impact split the joint open in a gout of sludge and splinters. The limb flopped limply, severed tendons dangling like snapped ropes.

Before the creature could shift its weight, Andreas turned, gathered every last shred of strength in his battered legs, and stomped down onto its good knee.

The rotten bone caved in with a brittle crack. The creature sagged forward on its ruined legs, bringing its warped face inches from his. Maggots boiled from the crater of its missing eye.

Andreas didn't retreat.

He grabbed its slack throat in one hand and drew back the other in a trembling fist.

Then he began to punch.

Again and again.

Each blow landed with the dull crunch of knuckles smashing wet timber. Black liquid sprayed across his face and chest. Chunks of bone dislodged and tumbled free.

The creature spasmed, trying to rise, but the grey-tipped tentacles drove deeper, pinning it in place like a writhing insect on a skewer.

Andreas struck harder.

Again.

The skin of its head split in ragged seams. The obscene grin slackened, jaw unhinging in a low, reedy moan.

Again. And just one more to end it.

At last, his vision began to waver. His arms felt like iron bars sagging under their weight. Each ragged breath tasted of ashes and blood.

His final punch landed with a hollow, exhausted thud, driving the last vestige of motion from the creature's shattered skull.

Andreas swayed over it, his chest heaving. The tentacles fell limp, dissolving back into black puddles that steamed in the dawn light.

The monster did not rise again.

He staggered back a step, nearly losing his footing on the churned, foul earth. The world tilted and swam at the edges of his sight.

But he kept standing.

Behind him, Kaelin had slumped to his knees, eyes wide and uncomprehending.

Rico groaned from the rubble, the fading cobalt glow returning to his human eyes.

There was silence

Andreas dragged in one last, broken breath. He lifted his head to the stars above and he closed his eyes, laughing quietly enough that Kaelin could not hear him.