Kingdom of the Malaise (19)

The Ossuary was a wing of the prisoner's quarters that had been condemned to become a dumping ground for the myriad of bodies that had been piling up since the appearance of the Malaise.

As the bodies had gotten to much to bear the guards who were tasked with overseeing this wing of the prison decided to cull the rising numbers of corpses.

And that was how the Ossuary came to be.

The fires lit from the beginning of the Ossuary still linger as corpse devouring fires that continued to leave their trail of ash and ember behind in their wake.

Now in this time locked kingdom.

The traces of the decision to begin burning the corpses still lingered in the form of the monsters that roamed the Ossuary and the ash that caked the walls.

'Well, that's what this say's

Silently reading a note of this places history I took a look again at the place I was in.

Chains hung from the ceilings holding up their occupants of burnt flesh and melted bone.

Sharp armaments that had been caked in so much blood that they were useless as a proper weapon littered the ground as they had been stabbed into the ash that lay on the ground.

Several corpses that have been stabbed by so many blood caked swords that they looked like porcupines lingered on the ground besides the ash.

Small flames burned in the corpses as the grey smoke lingered in the air like a inescapable fog, carrying the scent of blood, ash and iron.

Grimacing since the smell of burnt flesh was incredibly strong here, I pocketed the small note I had found on top of a corpse that was miraculously still intact.

I considered burning the man's body as a form of appeasement to the man/ woman.

But I realized that his corpse was already catching fire.

'What the Hell!?'

Jumping back in surprise, I belatedly realized that a figure of flames was burning the corpse up as fuel.

'Even more what the hell!?'

Staring at the unknown being made of nothing but blood red flames, it noticed me and immediately stopped burning the corpse and turned to me.

'Woah!'

Bending backwards to dodge the gout of flame heading for my face, I instinctively flipped over backwards with the help of my arm and kicked the monster.

Not that it worked as my feet just went straight through the fiery monster and all I got in return was flame.

'Ack! Thing is immaterial noted!'

Switching my idea of attacking the monster with my weapons to the one where I would just blow it up with everything I had until it worked.

A magnet grenade flew from my hands and landed behind the monster that was calmly walking towards me with deadly purpose.

Only to be pulled back with incredible force by the magnetic waves the magnet grenade created.

"Your made of fire right!? Take a taste of this!"

Pointing my hand towards the monster while steadying my aim with my other arm I fired the Ice shards.

A series of icicles formed all around me before following my will and flying to the monster that was still reeling from the Magnet Grenade.

Landing a hit on the monster, the being made of fire hissed loudly as large portions of it suddenly disappeared.

Grinning as I found out how to kill the monster, my smile quickly disappeared as the fire monster wasn't looking so complacent anymore and was now larger.

Much larger

Much much larger.

Staring at the fire giant that was made of swirling blood red flames, the giant arms the size of pillars reaching to it's sides as the spinning inferno supported it's flaming body.

It did what was the equivalent to a roar and charged at me.

'...Well shit'

---

"How... interesting" 

A cyan skinned man continuously scribbled into a large sheet of parchment, the quill in their hands dancing across the paper.

Staring through a wooden mask, a pair of glowing blue eyes made their way out of the mask as the man stared at a giant glass orb.

"So, this is the Accidental those three were talking about?"

Thinking about the Knight of the Kingdom, The Mutationeer and a few others as he did so, the man continued to scribble on his paper.

Glancing at the paper from time to time as they continued to scribble on the paper, the man stared at the glass orb that was displaying a series of images.

On those images they displayed several scenes.

A father and daughter duo were currently in a pant filled area cutting through the variety of plant monsters that lunged at them.

A beetle like woman with six eyes on their mask was continuously spinning a spear in their hands as a ghostly green flame covered the edge of the blade, killing the myriad of monsters hiding in the darkness.

A giant Chameleon swung their golden hammer onto a large similarly colored anvil, sparks flying through the air as they did so, a smaller chameleon besides the large chameleon, watching the other do their job as the small one tried to copy the other.

A woman swung their broadsword with unparalleled ease as they slaughtered the myriads of monsters wielding blades in a castle made of stone and decorate with the insignia of the kingdom.

And several others were doing a variety of actions on the glass orb.

However, the one that the man with giant bone white horns on their forehead was interested was not any of the people on the orb.

"I already record their every action so it's getting boring now, but..."

The man had a glint in their glowing eyes as they continuously scribbled on the piece of parchment with fluid movements.

The image that the orb displayed was one that contained the Ossuary.

"I must say, it is a shame that the Night of the Bloody Riots led to the creation of the Ossuary and those Inferno Spirits, but I must say I'm enjoying the show"

A certain man with literally blazing black hair continuously danced around a giant blood red fire giant that was throwing punched everywhere.

Magnet grenades pulled the monster off its balance, a myriad of blades cut through the monster without substance and ice took out parts of the monster.

"Oh! So he has the ability to charge"

Watching as the man dodged a inescapable attack as an unknown force dragged them across the ground, the man continued to write with furious strokes into the paper.

Sitting on top of several scrolls that were so many in number that they formed a small hill that the man was sitting on currently.

The piece of parchment that the man was writing in soon was going to join the innumerable number of scrolls detailing everything that there was to know on this island.

Ranging from the myriad of weapons, armors, potions, magic spells, grenades.

Everything.

Staring at the orb and at the image it was displaying his glowing eyes turned crescent as they stared at the image.

As if trying to see through the orb and unveiling every secret that Slade had in his body.

"Heh, I swear I'll record your entire life! Or I can't call myself the Scribe!"

Jubilantly shouting, they quickly returned to writing with the feather quill, periodically dipping it in an inkpot hanging off their bag.

Slade was currently having the time of his life.

And it wasn't a good time.

---

"Are the preparations ready?"

A figure in a red coat spoke to another robed figure kneeling on the ground, wearing a patchwork of skin on their back.

"Yes miss, soon the long time wish of the Crimson Eye will be fulfilled once we find a few more key ingredients."

The woman nodded as she sat on top of a throne made of the flesh of other beings that used to tread these lands.

"What about our enemies? The Purification Paladins? Are they going to insist on interfering until one of is left standing?"

"..."

"Hmm... I guess that they would still do so if they have already gone so far as to get rid of the branches in the Border Fortress"

The woman continued to spin a brutal looking dagger in her hands that looked like it was made up of a myriad of fleshy tentacles.

Glancing down at the Devotee, with a mocking voice that came out from underneath the red mask, her red eyes glinted playfully with a hint of arrogance.

"Also, if you are going to kneel so bravely in front of me, you might as well surrender to me Rachel"

The Crimson Devotee looked up at her with a confused look on their face as they stared at the woman on the throne, their confusion being made evident from underneath their eye mask.

"I'm sorry Miss Crimson?"

"Don't play games with me Rachel, tell me" The woman on the throne of flesh shifted as they stared at the eyes of the devotee with a burning gaze.

"How long have you been hiding amongst us?"

The Devotee sighed as they got up from their kneeling position and dusted themselves off.

"When did you find out?"

Unbothered by the question the woman continued to stare at the Devotee.

"Hah... I guess you're not gong to answer me, but to answer you... Don't you know how long already?"

Crimson fell silent at that fact as they indeed recalled that the devotee that was now standing in front of her without any reverence had been with them for a few years now.

Growling loudly, the devotee undeterred, laughed.

"I guess this is my win than?"

The only answer that the devotee got was a series of fleshy spikes that stabbed up from the ground and held up their body.

The Devotee coughed blood as they laughed. "Hahaha I guess it's my win than"

As their body fell forwards the Devotee breathed their last breath, not that Crimson was happy that she had killed Rachel.

'She still has those annoying avatars of Hers'

Clenching her fist the woman grit her teeth.

She was the Crimson Cultist and the leader of the Crimson Eye.

And their goal was to bring forwards the descent of their idol and lord of the Crimson.

'Just Endure it Crimson, when our plan succeeds, she won't be laughing like that anymore.'

A blazing fury appeared in her eyes as she sunk back onto the throne, the room being filled with silence as the blood continued to drip off the corpse and onto the fleshy spikes.

'Soon...'

+++

I spent six hours and a half for two days on mock exams.

I am extremely tired.

Fuck you Exams.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Tree