-War Campaign: Renault, Part 6-

Renault's attention seemed to be solely focused on me, and none of his shackled puppets moved an inch.

"You planning to stay up on that throne forever?" I taunted, "All our actors are in place to finish this awful production you started. Come on down."

Renault remained standing at his throne.

"I've always despised your family." he sneered down at me, "Born into a world that offered them unlimited potential. A lofty title and crown handed to them—an empire that spread from sea to sea, ripe and fertile lands which yielded abundant grain. In contrast, we had nothing. Yet your family pushed to take more and more. Crushing us under heel for hundreds of years."

What is he on about…?

Before I had a chance to cut in on his rant, he lifted his arms up and began to shout.

"The Empire's mismanagement led to our demise! Demons swarmed in from the Strifelands… those damned creatures that tore us out from our homes, forcing us into the hands of you imperial scum. And what did those lowborn do? Mandatory conscription. My people were forced to march out and meet death under the war banners of our enemies."

Renault leveled his gaze back at me. His eyes flashed unnaturally with an empurpled glow as a wave of magicka surged around him.

"The hopes of reviving Rena died upon the battlefield, along with her people." He continued, "That is, until I took the hand of a greater being—a God. A real one. Not those false idols preached by your foul church. A God that will save humanity!"

"You're the betrayer of humanity, Renault." I spat.

His brow furrowed.

"Hah ha! Heh, isn't that wrong though?" He cackled in an uneven tone, "The last remnants of humanity know Airis Vanixi and her traitorous family as the ones who betrayed this city."

I could tell my companions were shifting around behind me. A handful of spells had been readied by our casters—a thick blanket of Aethermist was settling around the room.

Renault's expression slipped, revealing a sinister grin that didn't seem to fit his face.

"Soooo much effort~" he teased, "All for what? Sure, you've managed to disrupt my operations moderately, but that's all it's been worth. I have thousands of weapons left at my command, being prepared at this very moment. You won't be leaving these hallowed halls of mine, rest assured. I'll finally achieve the peace Rena deserves. A world without the filth of imperial dogs and their overlords."

Julius stepped ahead of me, shield at the ready, blocking Renault's view, "If your idea of peace is our erasure, I'll have to decline your hospitality. We have quite a few things to do once we've taken care of you."

"Renault, you talk too much." I added, beginning to cast my area buff spells from the safety of Julius' back, "As if words could've solved any of this."

I finished my spell-cast, and we were washed in a silver-glow opalescent light.

A flash of purple magicka erupted next to me, and I recoiled. Initially, I thought Renault had gotten the jump on us, but I glanced over to find Hikita with her swords at the ready.

"You'll never know peace, bastard." She spat.

Renault exploded in rage, "You dare wield that half-breed thing against me!? Baaah, what difference could that knife-eared mongrel—"

I let loose a CHAOS BOLT toward Renault's face. It impacted against some kind of barrier, shattering into fragments and striking the floor around the throne.

Renault kept on talking, as if nothing had happened, "That thing is nothing without me! It's just a doll to be used as I wish. Nothing but a disgusting puppet. I control the strings. Me!"

His voice echoed through the hall as he shouted.

He turned his attention to Hikita, "You will be made to obey me again. My power is absolute!"

Hikita was gritting her teeth, "You're the disgusting one! I'll never follow your sick orders again."

She leveled both of her blades at Renault. Her expression twisted in a tormented scowl.

"In your rush for vengeance," Renault laughed, "did you assume there could ever be meaning behind your actions. How preposterous! You dare be so brash!?"

Renault let out a maniacal cackle, "Ha! Ahaha! AHAHAA!"

His sickening grin warped his face further as he pointed a finger at Hikita, "I could crush your insignificant spirit with—"

"You're a raving lunatic, Renault!" I shouted, cutting him off, "You underestimated my people and our power at every turn. Hikita is no different. Who are you to stand in our way?"

I lifted Dáinsleif to join Hikita's dark blades, its luminous flames roared hungrily, squaring up to his accusatory finger.

Hikita's voice resounded through the hall, "I've walked the very realms of the dead. Peered into the endless ebon void that stands guard over the souls of the damned. There is not a thing you could say or do that would frighten me anymore."

"No more secrets. No more games, Renault!" I cried out, "Now, you will face judgment for the suffering you've spread. All divisions, fire volley!"

Flashes of all kinds of magicka flew through the air. Fireballs, spears of ice, and blinding streaks of lightning assaulted Renault and his minions.

"Your struggles mean nothing!" Renault's voice cracked, hushed beneath the thunderous crashing of spells. "The power of a God is at my command, behold!"

A building storm of void-magicks engulfed his position atop the throne, and a moment later it came hurtling toward us.

I steadied my resolve and focused a surge of magicka through my mana circuits. Together with a fiery barrier, multi-colored light covered our position, splitting the sea of void energy away from us harmlessly.

My spell continued to move through the room, washing everything aglow.

Renault snarled like a wild beast as my divine-imbued magick reached him.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

He began a new rant, sounding crazed as he referred to himself in plural, "Our will is our own! We control the powers of the Void. We alone will redeem this world! We will save it from the grasp of evil—from witches like you!"

The maddened king brought down his great-staff against the marble staircase with incredible force. Fragments of the obsidian jewel in its headpiece exploded out in a nova.

Impossibly, they froze in place a few yards out from Renault and began to glow an unsettling violet hue.

One by one the shards retracted, piercing the King's body. With each shard, more dark energy swirled around him. By the final shard, he wasn't even visible anymore behind the vortex of void magick.

I called out to my companions, "We've not come this far to falter now! Whatever dark powers he aims to bring, we'll overcome."

From within the swirling storm of void magick, Renault's amplified voice called out, his pitch twisted and strange, "Our birthright is to be king. Ones who sits above all others. We are the king of mankind. The true heir to humanity is Us!"

"Then you shall be a king in name alone," I imbued my voice with sound-amplifying magick for all to hear, "A hack sat atop a ruined throne. The only heir to humanity is me!"

I roared in defiance as Renault's spell reached its apex, unleashing a spherical burst of magicka through the hall. The wave of power drove cracks through the marble floor. Supporting pillars buckled under the weight of the gaudy décor and the roof began to rain down on us—without discriminating between my soldiers and Renault's puppet army.

An unsettling darkness crept in. And soon, I was engulfed in an unsettling mist that restricted my sight. Dáinsleif's flicker illuminated a short radius around it no more than a few feet.

Discomfort spread through my body, as if I'd been beaten and worn to exhaustion.

Then, screaming out of the dark, a heavily armored knight rushed at me. A glint of steel, caught by my blade's iridescent flames, was coming toward my head.

I managed to raise my blade in time to parry the attack, deflecting its path away from my throat.

The knight's weapon, a greatsword seemingly made of intangible void, glanced across my shoulderplates. A thick, gooey remnant was left behind.

» YOU ARE AFFLICTED WITH CURSE OF THE VOID RULER (SUCCUMBED DUE TO LOW WILLPOWER)

The notification flashed urgently in the center of my vision and I immediately felt my grasp over my weapon loosen.

My knees felt weak, and my shoulders heavy.

I collapsed on the ground as my breath caught.

Shit, what in the Aether is this? How can I—

Before I could finish my thought, I found myself standing in an empty black space. My weapon, armor, and clothing… were missing.

Staring at me with glowing red eyes was a shadowy doppelgänger of myself. The copy was dyed a dark-crimson color, like a hue split between the orange of chaos magick and a bloody red.

My doppel remained quiet, though her eyes seemed to be slowly studying me over.

The oppressive scent of void magicka was completely gone from the space we were in, and I could feel that this was a place tied to me—not some falsity created by the void-knight's curse.

"You don't seem like Atë." I said, narrowing my eyes at the shadow figure, "So, which ego are you?"

PONOS.

The bloody-tinged shadow me's voice was a lot different compared to what I was used to with Atë. Ponos' tone was languid, as if she were recovering from a bout of exhaustion.

"I vaguely remember Atë relaying your thoughts before. So, what's all this? Why am I… here, right now?"

ARE YOU TIRED?

"I am, actually. But—"

THEN WHY NOT REST?

JUST FOR A MOMENT.

LET US TAKE THE REINS.

"...I'm more afraid of what could happen if I agree."

Ponos tilted her head. In a split-second, she closed the distance between us. She leaned in… and sniffed at me.

HMMM.

FEARFUL INDEED.

HASN'T STOPPED YOU YET.

HESITANT FOR WHAT REASON?

CERTAINLY NOT BECAUSE OF US.

YOU HESITATE BECAUSE OF YOU.

AND YOU ALONE.

"That doesn't make sense." I bemoaned, waving a hand dismissively. "You're me and I'm you, right? That's what Atë has been preaching."

WE ALL MAY BE ONE IN THE SAME. YET, EACH ONE IS ALSO THEIR OWN.

I AM BUT ONE FACET OF YOU, THIS IS FACT.

The shade ran her crimson fingers across my skin, leaving a streak of red that seemed to paint my body like a canvas.

CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT TRUTH:

IN TURN YOU ARE BUT ONE FACET OF ME—MANY FACETS OF US ALL.

OF THE MANY-SIDED FACES OF THIS JEWEL WE Call us, WHICH IS THE ONE YOU FEAR THE MOST?

THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE, IT'S YOUR OWN.

"I don't…"

JUST SIT.

REST THAT WEARY HEAD.

CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR BUT A MOMENT.

WHEN YOU AWAKE, I'LL HAVE HANDLED EVERYTHING FOR YOU.

As Ponos' words drawled on, I found my eyelids feeling increasingly heavy. I tried to fight it, but the drowsiness won out and sleep eventually overcame me, no matter how hard I fought.

TIME TO WAKE UP~

A sing-song voice resound in my skull.

"Atë…?" I grumbled, my mind clouded in a fog.

THE ONE AND ONLY.

"What in the Aether happened?"

Memories were slowly coming into focus.

Renault cast some sort of spell… and then a knight leapt out of the void and attacked me.

Then I…

Then… I…?

What did I do?

Flashes of conflicting memories rushed into my head.

One where I took a blow to the shoulder and fainted under the effects of the curse. I succumbed to the void and the outcome was uncertain.

And the other where I took that same blow, but pressed into the attack and fought a fierce battle with the knight. I saw myself drenched in blood at the end, standing over my enemy's corpse.

The memory was interrupted as a chunk of debris crumbled down from the roof above, landing nearby. My eyes followed it down, catching on an ever-growing puddle of blood on the ground.

The streak of red ran down the marble stones, coming back toward me.

My eyes darted down, and I found myself standing over a mangled corpse of twisted metal and slimy, void-colored goo.

"Y-You're… a… monster…."

The figure beneath my foot struggled to speak.

WELL, WHAT ARE YOU HESITATING FOR? FINISH IT OFF. WE PUT IN QUITE A BIT OF EFFORT TO DELIVER THIS TO YOU.

I was gripping onto Dáinsleif with my left hand, my grasp was so tight that feeling in my fingers had begun to go staticky.

As if guided by another's hand, my blade slowly sank down. It pierced the void-knight's neck.

A final gurgling breath cursed at me from underfoot.

My vision shifted, and I was overcome by that discomforting feeling from before.

My companions came back into view. They also looked uneasy, as if they'd experienced a similar sensation.

Atop the throne, Renault's figure had returned as well.

His dry voice stung at my ears, "Oh, for the—won't anyone rid us of this meddlesome girl?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.