The battle rages on. Mateo rises from his rest returning to the battlefield littered with the corpses and severed limbs of felled flesh golems. He summons his void armor and familiars, again ready to press the attack on the enemy. His party members, having also rested, regroup with him.

  “What’s the plan?” Serenity asks.

  “We seek out the necromancers, there can’t be too many of them left, Stitches will take to the sky again, Jade will conjure goblins to survey on the ground, me and Terror will push forward, Serenity I want you to stay back, there’s something we aren’t seeing and I need you in reserve in case this falls through,” Mateo says.

  “Fine, I’ll hang back with Jade, just let me know if you need me,” Serenity replies.

  Stitches spreads her gryphon wings taking to the sky. The elven legion has advanced past the initial attack and is laying waste to the enemy before they can spread past the Slog.

  Mateo and Terror press forward cutting through the front line of the flesh golems with a small contingent of dark elves. The dark elves, like Serenity, are graceful fighters dancing about with twin blades or oversized two handed curved blades they twirl about turning slaughter into a graceful ballet of gore.

  Their advance goes unhindered. Seeming, too easy. The necrowyrms have mostly retreated leaving Rayo with little to do but crush flesh golems under his claws like ants. Terror too seems disappointed at the lack of resistance as they press the enemy near to the Slog.

  Terror crushes one of the flesh golems and something stirs under the water scurrying away from its corpse. His attention is drawn away by a small group of fast-moving flesh golems. He ignores it engaging them. After obliterating them into small mounds of gore he pauses.

  An earth quaking roar shakes the heavens as the kraken succumbs to battle. Too weak to carry on it retreats allowing the cult of the immortal father to continue unabated. Stitches flies lower noticing several mages of a familiar class to her amongst the group of enemies emerging from the Slog.

  Keeliyah: Mateo, retreat!

  Mateo: Stitches what’s wrong?

  Rayo: *dragon noises.

  Yasmina: Mateo get out of there, and order anyone near you to retreat.

  Terror: Terror is unsettled, we are being flanked.

  Mateo: Flanked, flanked by what?

  Keeliyah: Arachnomancers.

  At that moment the flesh golems around Mateo begin to seize violently. Their chests burst open spraying gore into the air as dozens of fist sized spiders emerge from them. Mateo unsummons his familiars and equips his del toro armor increasing his mana pool. He casts a ward as one of the spiders latches onto the spine of an elf taking control of his body. The spiders bounce off his ward as they attempt to latch onto him.

  Mateo: Stitches, what the hell is this bullshit!

  Keeliyah: Arachnomancers, they control spiders, it seems they have acid slinger and puppeteer arachnids.

  Mateo: I’m sorry what? Acid slinging spiders and spiders that take control of your body?

  Keeliyah: Yes.

  Mateo: That’s fucking horrifying.

  Keeliyah: I’ve seen worse.

  Mateo: Yeah, and you don’t sleep at night.

  Keeliyah: … maybe I need a strong protective man to watch over me.

  Serenity: What in the eternal turmoil are these fucking things!

  Mateo: The flesh golems were spider carriers.

  Serenity: I noticed, when they started fucking exploding!

  Keeliyah: Retreat, the elven forces are being decimated, anyone who isn’t being killed is being turned to a puppet.

  Elfdaddy: Everyone except Mateo and Terror fall back to camp.

  Terror: Yes, glorious battle!

  Mateo: What’s the plan?

  Elfdaddy: Desolation.

  Mateo regroups with Calladen and Terror. They are both covered in a violet goo the arachnids excrete when you slaughter them.

  “Terror, activate Berserk, and I will use my calm beast skill allowing you to keep control in your enraged state, Mateo, Terror will toss you into a group where you will activate raging bull, when the effect runs out use lakes of flames, Terror will cut down anything between us and you,” Calladen says.

  “How do you know so much about our group?” Mateo asks.

  “Serenity is my daughter,” he says with a smile.

  “Terror think is good plan, any plan where Terror breaks things is good plan!”

  “Let’s take the battle to them,” Mateo says clenching his fist.

  Terror activates Berserk tossing Mateo into a large group of arachnids and flesh golems then Calladen calms him. Mateo activates raging bull charging headfirst through a necrowyrm fragmenting its fragile rotting flesh into pieces before skewering a necromancer with his ethereal horns. Mateo stands extending Drako’s Razor as the bleeding necromancer crawls away from him.

  “Why are you here!” Mateo demands.

  The necromancer continues to crawl ignoring him.

  “What is your purpose?”

  The necromancer ignores him continuing to crawl away. Mateo shoves his blade through the back of the necromancer’s skull, and he expires. A large swarm of spiders descends on him.

  Ability activated: Lakes of flames.

  The slog around him becomes fire lighting the prickly skinned arachnids ablaze. The creatures let off horrible screeches as they burn alive. When the flames settle down Mateo steps through the scorched carcasses of hundreds of spiders floating in ankle deep marsh.

  He approaches a hooded enemy their cloak beholden of a strange form. The tip of his dagger pulls back the hood of the creature revealing a face with female attributes.

  “What are you, creature?” Mateo asks.

  “Please, I mean you no harm, I am but a simple orb weaver,” she says raising her hands to reveal her wrists bound by strange shackles.

  Her black carapace melds into a brilliant yellow almost unseen under her cloak. Pitch black eyes peer down at Mateo beholden of a dark sorrow.

  “Again, what are you?” He asks his voice tense with malice.

  “Arachnid, the necros refer to me as a child of the spawn, they breed me to make more arachnids.”

  “They breed you?” Mateo asks.

  “I’m young and supple, they say, a large number of the arachnids around us were spawned by me near an hour ago, it is why I am on the field and not in the farm,” she replies seeming distressed.

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  “How do I know you aren’t lying to me, trying to get me to pity you so you can strike when my defenses are down?” Mateo questions.

  She raises her cuffed hands to a collar around her neck. It’s of obsidian construction with a crimson gem.

  “A monster collar, it keeps me subordinate,” she lowers her eyes to the blood-soaked marsh. “I can aid you in some ways, but if you won’t have me,” she pauses gritting her mandibles. “Please kill me.”

  Natalia appears on Mateo’s shoulder munching on some apple berry snack that smells of cinnamon.

  “She’s pretty big, you could mount her,” Natalia says chewing.

  “I think she’s tired of being mounted,” Mateo replies.

  “Not like that you pervert, and Arachnids love to be ridden, they are a lonely race that receives very little attention, also arachnids are attuned to the void, and she would look super cute in a maid outfit cleaning your void palace,” Natalia says.

  “You have a void palace?” The Arachnid woman asks her sorrowful eyes displaying slight curiosity.

  “Yes, why don’t you give me your name, since you aren’t hostile, I suppose I could find a way to remove that collar from your neck,” Mateo says with a sigh.

  “Removing me from the field of battle would render a fourth of the arachnids inert, in which case they would flee,” she states.

  “That’s great to know, however, if I am to accept you into my void domain then I need to know your name, my name is Mateo Ryusane,” Mateo replies.

  “There was a wood elf who called me Olivia, I was fond of the name, it was far more appealing than spider bitch or eight-legged whore.”

  “Fine, there is a seductive slime in my void palace, she’ll make sure you are taken care of,” Mateo replies.

  “A seductive slime?” Olivia questions.

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “I’ll take your word for it Lord Ryusane.”

  Mateo opens a portal transferring Olivia to his void domain. A fourth of the spiders on the field become erratic, either fleeing from battle or avoiding it. The elves under their control break free wandering about in a daze. Moments later a weakened Amelia emerges from the slog approaching Mateo.

  “Amelia?” Mateo asks.

  “Help me,” she says collapsing into his arms.

  Mateo lifts Amelia holding her in an embrace as Natalia appears above him.

  “We should take her to Calladen, the elves can help her, we stunted the arachnids, so the hellbent will need to regroup,” Natalia states.

  “You’re right, let’s retreat for now.”

  Mateo places Amelia at Calladen’s feet and he falls to one knee examining her. He waves over two of his best healers remaining at her side.

  “Thank you for bringing her, after the kraken retreated, I was worried she might be,” the faintest glimmer of a tear sneaks from his left eye, “never mind that, we will return Amelia to full health, you don’t know what bringing her here means to me,” Calladen says running his fingers over the wood sprite’s cheek.

  “She means a lot to you?” Mateo asks.

  “My children loved her, Aureullius loved her, before she was transformed I thought her a good candidate for queen, she was strong and caring, after she was transformed I saw the sorrow in her eyes, she knew she would never achieve her goals and decided to protect the kingdom anyway, though my son never married her, I still think of her as my daughter.”

  The beckoning screech of a massive arachnid rings across the battlefield. The remaining arachnids gather in front of it forming a terrifying wave of scuttling furry legs.

  “King Calladen, retreat with Amelia and your forces, post the remaining archers at our flank do not let any of those spiders make it to Beatrice,” Mateo says turning toward the large creature.

  “You mean the sex crazed Merigold woman?” Calladen asks.

  “Uh, yeah,” Mateo replies unsure of what a Merigold is.

  Mateo: Serenity, Terror, we are charging through them. I’ll use lakes of flames again hopefully decimating the smaller arachnids. Beatrice, I need you to show me the best a howitzermage has to offer.

  Beatrice: I’ll need five minutes to charge the spell, keep them off me until then.

  Mateo: The elven archers will be guarding you. Let me know when your spell is charged so we can retreat.

  Beatrice: Yes sir, Lord Ryusane.

  Mateo: Don’t call me that.

  Beatrice: Ok papi.

  Mateo: I don’t know why I try.

  Mateo charges toward the large arachnid void stepping through bolts of acid that the smaller spiders launch. Serenity shadow jumps around the battlefield skewering them with her twin daggers as she avoids their attacks. Terror marches through the outer edges of the slog with a small group of Jade’s goblins. Since Jade has fallen back to camp with Calladen and his forces, once the goblins expire, they will not be replenished. The goblins take the brunt of the acid attacks as Terror crushes the spiders into a gooey paste under his twin hammers.

  After a few minutes a small detachment of flesh golems arrives from the slog. When they do Stitches finds the target she’s been looking for. One of the Arachnomancers.

  Keeliyah: Mateo, there’s an arachnomancer directly behind that arachnid titan.

  Mateo: Don’t engage until after Beatrice weakens it.

  Keeliyah: Ok, the harvester of gore is on a full charge.

  Mateo: Beatrice, how is that spell coming?

  Beatrice: Thirty-seven seconds left, if you can last that long

  Mateo: That’s an inside joke that you’re going to have to explain to the group.

  Beatrice: Get a room alone with me after this battle and I’ll show you how pleasant thirty-seven seconds can be.

  Mateo: I’m not falling for that.

  Beatrice: Suit yourself sweetie, my bed is always open to you.

  Mateo: Noted, but we should probably kill the giant horrifying spider instead of flirting.

  Mateo charges the massive arachnid. He casts a ward chanting an incantation.

  “Heavens darken above us as we fall through the world into the land beneath, the underworld where water is fire, I summon the power of that world to this one, bring forth unto my foe, Lakes of flames.”

  Ability activated: Lakes of Flames.

  Mateo can cast spells without chanting the incantation, but he has found they are less effective. This doesn’t pose a problem for spells that consume low amounts of mana but becomes a waste for higher level spells. Chanting the incantation increases the power of the spell while still consuming less mana than quick casting does.

  The slog turns to a raging torrent of fire and the smaller arachnids are turned to ash. The flesh golems are charred, but otherwise unfazed. The arachnid titan takes little damage but seems to become enraged, pissed at seeing the smaller arachnids burned away. Mateo stares through the fire curiously as the many eyes of the seemingly rabid beast fill with hatred at the loss of its lessers.

  In the final stages of her spell Balli Ballista the howitzermage chants the incantation for her most powerful spell.

  “Lord of war grant me the element of destruction and obliterate my enemies, let hell rain from the heavens and tear open the earth scorching flesh from bone one-hundred and fifty-five-millimeter napalm volley.”

  Ability activated: Howitzer Volley.

  Several large ghostly turrets appear at either side of Beatrice sending the elves into a state of confusion. They fire vibrating the air violently and forcing some of the elves to their knees holding their ears as blood runs from them.

  Mateo, Serenity, and Terror retreat as a loud whistling noise cuts through the air. Stitches floats high above the battlefield watching as massive projectiles cut through the air raining down on the arachnid titan. Beatrice smiles watching the volley of projectiles rain down on her target. The attack drains all of her mana and stamina rendering her immobile.

  The hellish screech that follows is drowned out by thunderous explosions. The entire Twilight Everglades quake in the aftershock of her attack. The smell of burnt flesh belows from the wounded spider titan that has been horribly mutilated by the high explosive attack.

  Keeliyah: He’s about to flee.

  Mateo: End that mother fucker.

  Ability activated: Instant Death.

  Stitches swoops down on the arachnomancer and spins like a blender grinding him into a mound of ground meat and bones. Her target puréed by the Harvester of Gore, she falls back to Beatrice healing her. Rayo and Charlotte slam down on the wounded arachnid titan tearing it apart mercilessly as it’s screeches of agony pierce the heavens.

  The hellbent send in more units and the elves return to the battlefield. Arrows and spells careen through the air as swords clank against shields and spells burst against wards. Having overcome the Kraken of the Slog the Hellbent send in innumerable forces. After several more days of fighting and rotating forces Mateo and the elves are spent. Nothing short of a miracle can save them from the overwhelming hellbent force that lies before them. Battered and torn Mateo turns to Serenity grabbing her in an embrace and kissing her passionately.

  “We aren’t done yet,” she says starring into his eyes.

  “To the last breath,” Mateo says with a tired broken smile.

  “Terror agrees, to the last breath,” he says wrapping them both in his large green muscular arms.

  Jade steps up to them wrapping her arms around whoever she can, which is Serenity and partly Terror, gripping them with all her might.

  “To the last breath.”

  They all separate and Jade stares up at Mateo holding out her hand. He hands her his rune tablet.

  Jade: Azul, I have a confession to make.

  Azul: What’s up babe?

  Jade: I really look up to you, you inspire me.

  Azul: I know, that’s why I’m here.

  Jade: Wait, you’re here?

  Percussive waves wash over the air vibrating it and stunning the encroaching hellbent forces. The Harmony Casters appear over the horizon on a large parade like float with a detachment of soldiers from Hera’s army playing ‘The Hand That Feeds’ by ‘Nine Inch Nails’. Shadow constructs in the form of large worms rise from the ground biting at the hellbent and undead ripping them apart with their large toothy maws. Mateo turns toward them.

  The enemy is beat back long enough for them to converse shortly. Azul steps up to Jade wrapping her in an embrace.

  “I was worried about you,” Azul says.

  Jade holds her tightly without saying a word.

  Ruby steps up to Terror peering at him playfully.

  “I heard you weren’t opposed to the company of Ruksha women, perhaps you can spare a night or two with this lonely maiden?”

  “Terror loves all women,” he sweeps her off her feet cradling her in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck with a smirk.

  “What about the battle?” She asks.

  “Terror bored with battle, hunger for food, you dine with Terror in kingdom of elves, is romance and maybe, Terror share pleasure with you.”

  “Oh my, you’re so straight forward,” she says placing her hand over her scaled breasts.

  “Terror only goes forward, we dine, and if you find Terror pleasant, he shares pleasure with you.”

  “Take me away then,” Ruby says waving at her friends as Terror carries her to the nearest tavern.

  The battlefield seems quite for a few moments until a ghostly voice echos over it.

  “Silence.”

  Mateo can no longer access his mana, and neither can anyone else on the battlefield. The flesh golems fall apart, and the remaining arachnids flee. A single man steps forward adorned in robes of crimson and gold. His presence exudes an unsettling power. He raises an exquisite staff clanking it against the ground as he approaches.

  The sky darkens turning to a swirling mass of impending doom.

  “Who the hell are you?” Mateo asks.

  “I am an apostle of Yahweh, the Immortal Father.”