THE BLOOD SCOURGE

THE BLOOD SCOURGE

"That magic advancement comes with a price. The price of their lives", Sara told them to their shock and horror.

"So, what are we waiting for now?" Elder Argyriss asked me.

"We wait for the Demon army to show", I replied to them.

"How do you know they will show?" someone else asked me.

"The Demon army didn't do so much to have us all go home safely, wouldn't they?" I explained and asked them.

"With such danger facing our family, why didn't you tell us before?" Elder Likourgoss asked me.

"Because I don't trust you people", I replied to them frankly.

The elders of the family were at a loss for words.

"What should we do now?" Prince Geoffraie asked.

"We slowly retreat back to the Mithridocus fortress under the cover of my chaos magic", I told them.

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Emerging from the crimson pool, the monstrous Blood Fiend loomed before us, its visage eerily resembling that of a human—a revelation that sent a shiver down our spines.

Yet, this grotesque creature bore no resemblance to that infamous Dark Lord, the monster that we know as the Bloodfiend.

"This Bloodfiend is not the Dark Lord," Rinna said to us, her voice tinged with a mix of shock and certainty.

As if to affirm Rinna's words, two more figures materialized from the blood-soaked depths—a man and a woman.

"How can there be two more Bloodfiends?" Cassandra asked us.

These Bloodfiends were not the same as the Bloodfiend that we faced before. These were new emergences.

Soon, we realized the identity of these blood-cursed beings. They were the fallen knights whom I had vanquished in combat, returned now as malevolent Bloodfiends – Vlassis, Nasos and Theoni.

In their demise, the souls of three noble families, the strongest knights in their generations, had been twisted into abominable forms, haunting our world as harbingers of a blood drenched world yet unseen.

The Blood Scourge has begun.

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"Why are there so many Bloodfiends arising now?" Rinna asked.

"I thought only those with a Bloodstone could become a Bloodfiend and there is only one of those left in this world", I replied to them.

"The Blood Queen must have found a way to create new Bloodfiends", Rinna told us worriedly.

"These Bloodfiends are not the same as the Dark Lord. They are new creations, weaker than the original Bloodfiend", Sara told us after she observed the newly emerged Bloodfiends.

"Weaker they may be but dangerous nonetheless", I said to them.

----

The members of the Mithridocus family and my friends quickly rushed back to the Mithridocus Residence, so that we could take refuge inside. This was the ancient bastion of the family and was certain to contain defensive measures of the strongest kind that the family could afford.

After returning home, the elders of the family quickly activated a powerful shield around the premise to protect us.

"Who would have believed the Demon Queen would have this kind of means to curse so many people from the noble families and turn them into Blood fiends?", an elder of the family asked.

"What should we do now, Oriese?" Elder Argyriss asked me.

"We wait for the apostles and the Church to arrive", I replied to them.

"The news of this blood curse will not travel so soon to the Church and besides the Church doesn't usually bother with Maher city even if there is an outbreak of dark magic here", Elder Likourgos said to us disappointedly.

"They will respond to this and they are coming. I've asked them to come in case something bad happened in the city", I told them to their surprise and relief.

"That is good", an elder said to us.

"You have already planned for all this?" Prince Geoffraie asked me.

"This is going according to our script unfortunately", Chash informed him.

"There is another thing", I told them.

"What other thing?" Elder Likourgos asked me.

"There may be moles of the Demon army amongst us who will accuse us of working with the demons. We must root these people out immediately", I told them.

"We are all family here. There are no traitors", Elder Likourgoss protested at the idea.

"These are all our people here, how do we know who is the traitor assuming there are some bad apples among us?" Elder Argyriss asked me.

"The traitor will try to make a report to the Blood Queen if he or she knows of something important in our camp. We can monitor the residence. If someone tries to contact the outside despite our warning to them not to do so, he or she should likely be the traitor", I told them.

After discussing a plan, Elder Argyriss assembled every member of the family in a meeting.

"I have something to announce to every member of our family. I will bring out our family's secret artifact from storage, The Bow of Cataclysm. This secret weapon can destroy the Bloodfiends that emerged to attack our city, provided everyone help to conjure its magic", Elder Argyriss informed all the members of the family.

"No one should contact outside of our residence during this time of strive in case the news of our secret weapon gets out to the demons", Elder Likourgoss added.

"When are we using the Bow of Cataclysm?" someone asked.

"In one hour's time, we shall activate the Bow of Cataclysm. Everybody prepares for it", Elder Likourgoss told everyone.

-----

"You must tell us what the Blood Queen's plans is?" Iras insisted on knowing and asked me.

"With hindsight, the Blood Queen had it all planned. She gave potions of cursed blood magic selectively to the knights and conjurers of almost every major family in the kingdom except the Mithridocus family", I started the explanation.

"It all started with a potion?" Iviar asked.

"Yes", I replied to him.

"You seem to have premonition about this, how did you guess the Demon Quen's plan that she will activate the blood curse here and at this time?" Anitor asked me.