16 The Girls Adventures (Part I)
To the east of the Silent desert, way past the giant plateau outcrop, there lies a vast field of sand covered mountains, with winding trails between them, the seemingly maze like eastern edge of the desert was full of the usual randomly wandering ghosts, however recently unlike usual, the once quiet area was filled with the constant deathly screams and wails of dying ghosts, seemingly being ripped apart, along with the roars of the victorious, chanting one word, a name.
Bell! Bell! Bell!
The roars were constant and shook all who heard it to the core. After setting off from the plateau Bell had started to make her way due east, to follow her orders to amass an army capable of crushing all of her lords enemies, including... no especially those winged demons from before.
Through the many days spent travelling she conquered both land and hearts, the land to the east of the plateau and the hearts of the Minor Ghosts who are impassioned by the sight of her destructive force, when the hammer she wields hits her foe, nothing is left of the corpse other than a puddle. Through her shows of strength she was able to amass a small army of like minded Minor Ghosts who found her war maiden like visage enthralling, choosing to follow and fight for her with all their being.
"FORM UP!" She screamed looking over the now 218 Minor Ghosts who would follow her to hell and back, her red form flickering slightly with a fire seemingly burning in her eyes.
Quickly the Minor Ghosts formed up into orderly lines based on the order that they chose to follow Bell, "I only need to strongest, I need a battalion to fight my lords wars!" She shouted, receiving ridiculously loud and valiant cheers or more precisely groans due to the lack of speech of the ghosts.
After a short pause she continued "However a battalion of mine shall only be one hundred in size, and I need only one battalion right now.. good luck to you all, may the strongest thrive!" She shouted showing a hint of sadness, however it was only for a blink of a second, almost immediately afterward all that could be seen on her face was determination.
...
...
The 218 Minor Ghosts blankly stared for a second or two before their orb like bodies started fluctuating aggressively.
"GGRRAAAUGH!!" The ghosts shouted, viciously starting to tear into their own ranks, devouring their former comrades, only seconds ago they were brothers in arms but for their goddess, they would kill even themselves let alone a simple ally.
Scenes of mayhem spread with multiple ghosts teaming up on lone ones before turning onto the next weakest member of their team, tearing and ripping using their bodily flames to form sharp claws, showing the beginning stages of learning body manipulation. The intense fight for survival pushing all the ghosts to their limits and speeding up their learning process, the remnant mana from the fallen entering the bodies of those still standing, healing them yet prolonging the fight.
Bell floated by the side, passively watching this slaughter with a cold look in her eyes, she felt sorrow for the death she had just caused, but it wasn't unnecessary, her lord required an army, a strong army capable of destroying all that stands in his way. To help him accomplish that Bell would toil tirelessly in her efforts to strengthen her forces.
Thinking back to when she first met her lord, she remembered how she felt in his presence...
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"Let's try over that direction" Azazel said while pointing towards the large rocky outcroppings he saw in the distance, Victor and Mori loyally trailing behind him.
*Thump* *Thump* ...
Suddenly hearing banging sounds nearby he rapidly turned his head to try and find the source, while simultaneously building up his energy in preparation of an attack. Even though all he has found in the world at this moment are Minor Ghosts, that doesn't mean there aren't more dangerous creatures out there.
Looking around a few minutes and following the source of the sound, he comes across a regular looking Minor Ghost, who for some reason is repeatedly smashing themselves against a rock, 'What the hell is it doing?' he thought in confusion. 'Well no point in wasting XP, sorry little ghost.'
Moving closer to the Minor Ghost Azazel gets ready to strike when suddenly it starts and turns to face him, after a few seconds of awkward silence the Minor Ghost shouts and charges towards Azazel, confused by it's behaviour as every other Minor Ghost was too scared of his aura to even attempt to move, Azazel starts to fight while making sure not kill it to see if he can satisfy his curiosity.
"Gahh!" It screamed, lunging towards Azazel's left flank, turning quickly Azazel managed to evade the blow while activating 'Drain' and slamming into the Minor Ghost. Slowly it began to lose it's energy but nonetheless it didn't stop struggling, trying to attack Azazel with all it had.
"Why do you struggle so much little one?" He asked curiously, hoping to see what drives the bizarre self destructive behaviour of the Minor Ghost.
Collapsing to the floor in exhaustion and pain after having it's Mana drained, the Minor Ghost stares blankly into the sky and mutters quietly, "Strength... I.. seek str...ength, I.. need...to win... to live!".
Staring deeply at the Minor Ghost who he could swear was crying despite a lack of tears, Azazel helps them up, "Follow me, I will give you true strength... I promise" He swore, determined to help this little ghost acquire it's lifelong goal of strength, for what it wanted strength for, it didn't matter, all Azazel knew was that he wanted to help it.
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Suddenly the roars and cries of pain ceased, snapping Bell of of her reverie of when she first met her lord and chose to give him her life in exchange for his promise.
Looking around she saw the remnants of a bloody battle, at least it would be if ghosts bled. All that remained of the original healthy 218 Minor Ghosts was 100 faintly flickering ghosts, showing their minimal health and the pain that they've been through.
The silence of the desert now having returned, despite the extra layer of killing intent filling the air, made the area quite peaceful. With the remaining ghosts finally lining up in front of Bell with a 10x10 formation, they all solemnly bowed their bodies, "We... Survived." They whispered simultaneously, barely able to form words with their lacking strength.
"Mm, you've done me proud. Rest up and recover, then I shall lead you all, my Death Battalion, towards the east, where in the name of our lord we shall spread war and bring all lands and beings under our lords dominion!" Bell screamed at the top of her lungs, her very words seemingly healing the wounds of the Death Battalion and raising their morale.
'This is the Woman I shall follow for the rest of my life' They all thought before shouting out with renewed vigour "YES GENERAL!"
Suddenly a blinding light flashed and the Minor Ghosts forms began shifting, growing, forming some sort of substance within their bodies resembling a skeletal structure. they grew out a bone white rib cage resembling crystal from which two shoulders followed by arms grew out, no flesh held their bodies together, instead it was some sort of reddish Mana resembling the colour of Bell.
Finally they formed a Skull above their bodies resulting in a creature known as a Skorst, a rare combination of skeleton and Ghost, maintaining the advantages of both by keeping its ghostly form enabling flight and a higher Mana level, as well as including the new skeleton upper body which provided limbs for wielding weapons and well as a head giving greater perception and teeth to rip out the throats of their enemies.
A Skorst is a creature which makes a natural soldier, born out of the pure will to follow someone to their end, absurdly loyal and will even kill their kin if ordered. It is said the species died out due to them failing to find a worthy leader since the Great War. However under the leadership of Bell with her spartan training methods, they have re-emerged to bring war to the Nether Realm.
"HAHA! Great! Now we don't need to rest, c'mon boys, let's go wreak some havoc!" Bell spoke out while laughing loudly in glee, her army was complete, all she has to do now is continue scouting to the east and then she can return to her lords side. 'I miss you my lord' She thought, before quickly shaking her head and shouting to her troops, "Move out!"
