The Imperial Crusade of Badlands: Interlude of Ehri-Ra (1)

3rd POV

Army Group Beta, Free Companies Detachment, Free Company of Horus Guard

The Grand Province of Munn was a rather hostile place to live due to the deserts and inhospitable environment of the entire Grand Province. It was primarily filled with dunes and hostile Dangers Beasts that were far more powerful than the native population.

Due to that, the area was known just as the Munn Region before the unification of the Imperium; it was the poorest and also the least populated region of the Lands of the Ancient Lords.

In the far past, though, even before Lord Gwyn walked among the mortals of the Lordran, the Munn Region was probably the most prosperous region of the entire Lands of the Ancient Lords, with very advanced civilization and Empire that spanned outside the of the Region of Munn.

Their ancient Dynasty of Nehekhara was one of the most advanced civilizations, with the capital, Memphis, being the jewel of the civilization and the pinnacle of their very own advancement and achievements. 

But in all of their unbridled arrogance and unrestricted pursuit of Magic and Divinity, they called a calamity on their very own people in the form of something that could almost translated as the Divine Punishment from the Gods, if nothing more or less.

Overnight, their once mighty Dynasty of Nehekhara was left in rubble, and their crown jewel of Memphis was razed to the ground, with not even stones and ash remaining from once the biggest city on the Lordran.

They were almost entirely slaughtered by the Tomb Kings, causing damage and loss, which was never recovered, even after the danger of the Tom Kings was destroyed by the Lord Gwyn after establishing his court in the Anor Londo.

Nowadays, in the Age of the Old Blood, or how it was also called the Age of the Imperium, the descendants of the Nehekhara Dynasties survived scattered in a small tribal settlement and mostly in poor conditions.

It was clear to everyone that their very own culture was already on the verge of death and that their Tribes were becoming part of the history. More and more of their people fell to the dangers of the deserts and dunes or the Dangers Beasts that ruled the sands of the Munn.

Only a tiny portion of them chose to leave their tribes for the wider Imperium to search for the betterment of their people, who were either too reclusive or too prideful to do so.

One of such people was Ehri-Ra Thoth.

Bearer of two Divine Names of power of the long-forgotten civilization.

Born in the Grand Province of Munn, near the Capital, the City of Starlight, in a rural village to a Tribe of the native people of the deserts of the Munn, Khemenu Tribe. The Tribe itself were descendants of the citizens of the Hermopolis, one of the major cities of the ancient Nekhehara Dynasty.

Today, the Khemunians are very reclusive Trbie, normally not leaving their small territory, as their numbers were gradually falling into obscurity, like the rest of the descendants of the natives of the Nekhehara Dynasties.

After the Khemenu Tribe was included in the wider Imperium during the incorporation of the entire Grand Province of Munn, their faith slowly shifted to that of the Great Ones of the Healing Church and their traditions and origins were slowly becoming part of the history. 

One peculiar thing about the Khemenu Tribe was that they were often believed to be Divine Descendants of the native Gods that were long ago worshipped within the Grand Province of Munn before the Age of Ancient could officially begin.

Ehri-Ra Thoth was the leader of the Free Mercenary Company called Horus Guards, which was also participated in the Imperial Crusade against the Children of Bul-Khatos. Horus Guards were not any kind of big or famous Free Mercenary Company, but it was still a relatively powerful one.

Most commonly created from the warriors that were part of the Nehekhara Descended Tribes and wanted to change their people before they would be overcome by the destruction and become the passage of time itself.

Ehri-Ra Thoth was relatively tall, standing around 1,8 meters in height, with lustrous raven black hair, that were reaching up to her shoulders. The color of her black hair was deeper than the darkest night, which was contrasting with her rather pale skin and sharp gaze. 

Her eyes had a unique color of amber, brownish amber, but there was a small twinkle of gold in them, hiding the cunningness behind the mask of calmness and tranquility. She had smooth skin, a bit pale, which was relatively unusual among the people of the Khemenu Tribe. 

Ehri-Ra was wearing pitch-black armor, with red linings, that was made from metal plates and covered certain parts of her body, mostly to provide enough movement space for her, as she was an oriented fighter.

Some of the most notable features about her was a pair of red crystal earrings that she was wearing, that went well with the red lining across the armor she had donned. The armor she was wearing, there were several Hieroglyphs inscribed, all of them connected to the inheritance of the Nehekhara Dynasties.

She was born in the sign of the Thoth, the ancient patron deity of the Khemenu Tribe, and with several Runes inscribed on her body upon her birth. Due to this, she was able to achieve high mastery over the Lore of Light and Lore of Heaven while also obtaining the lost ancient Bloodline Ability of the Khemenu Law Scribe.

"How long are we from reaching our target?"

Due to the decree that the Free Mercenary Companies could not be a direct part of the Army Groups that consisted of the Imperial Forces, the Mercenaries had a different role in the Imperial Crusade.

While the Army Groups of the Imperium targetted the biggest cities and fortifications, the Generals from the HighCom decided to send the Free Mercenary Companies after the smaller ones or the small Tribes that could present any level of threat to the Crusading Force.

Such mission was also assigned to the Horus Guard who were led by the direct descendant of the Khemenu Tribe and Nehekhara Dynasties, Ehri-Ra Thoth.

They were given a mission to destroy the small legion of the Barbarians that were harassing the supply lines of the Army Group Beta. Somehow, they managed to slip through when the Quarabrand was still standing and, right now, The Unclean Tribe.

The Unclean lives to this day, hunting in the ruins of Sescheron, killing any outsider on sight. Years of isolation and constant murder made them fearsome warriors, such that even Danger Beasts and other Barbarians of the surrounding lands did not dare attack them.

"One hour... The Unclean are congregating in a camp within the hills when they notice us; it is highly probable that they would meet us on plains..."

She didn't know that why she was given the task because this was out of the capabilities of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company, as the Flesh Eater Tribe of Barbarians were powerful, but at the same time, she was eager for the task.

The Uncleans, apparently, have some gruesome traditions that make even other Barbarians feel disgusted, so even among the Badlands, they were ignored, and nobody really wanted to have something with them.

They often pained their faces and clothes with blood; the Uncleans often adorn themselves with human skulls, ears, tongues, and other body parts. The Unclean filed their teeth to sharp points, which only affirmed their appearance as cannibals. 

One of the things that made their Tribe dangerous were the war wolves that they bred for war. The hierarchy of their tribe was similar to that of the other Barbarian Tribes, with Chieftains and Elders that were the strongest of the Tribe.

They sometimes traded with other tribes, yet usually took body parts in payment, but that was only in a few cases, as other tribes averted them as much as possible.

"It would be a very hard fight against the Flesh Eaters..."

The leader of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company muttered as she looked at the plains of the Badlans, heading towards the smaller hills that were in the far distance. 

"Yes... even though they are the most stigmatized Tribe of the Children of Bul-Khatos and have one of the smallest numbers, they are no denial of their combat capabilities, which are already top-notch among them."

The Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company had only around something of five hundred members, but despite its small size, all of their mercenaries were top-notch that she collected across the tribes with the descent of the Nekhehara Dynasties.

"Fighting The Unclean would be hard on the plains... not to mention we are lacking firepower of the heavy artillery or machines of war."

While Ehri-Ra Thoth managed to create a rather powerful Free Mercenary Company, that was far from the biggest Free Mercenary Companies that operated within the territory of the Holy Arcadia Empire.

Her own one didn't even have a lot of siege equipment, and because her aim in creating the Free Mercenary Company was to help the people of the Nehekhara Dynasties, she was saving money for that.

But there was still one thing in which the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company had a tremendous advantage.

The people who were descended from the lineage of the Nehekhara Dynasties were exceptionally talented in the areas of Magic. Ehri-Ra herself was a very talented Sorcerer and Battle Wizard in the Lore of Light and Lore of Heaven.

And she wasn't alone because, within the Horus Guards, there were many powerful Battle Mages, especially those that practiced the Lore of Heaven due to their lineage and affinity for the celestial bodies.

Fortunately enough, they had enough Battle Wizards that would be able to act even more effectively than any piece of the war machinery that was developed by the dwarves and gnomes in the Khaz-Modan.

"We will use our Battle Wizards to maximum advantage and give them hell, even before the battle can start. Afterward, we should head toward the Chieftain and slay him and the Elders of the Tribe; rest will fall apart."

It was a simple plan but a relatively good one because of its simplicity. Due to the stratified society of the Children of Bul-Khatos, once the Chieftain was killed, their entire hierarchy would crumble as fast as it was created. 

Unless the Elders of the Tribe took up the control, but that was something that she would also take care of, so with nobody up for the leadership, the rest of the Flesh Eaters would be hunted down by the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company one by one.

"That would be a good plan... we can use their mindless state against them..."

Setesh was one of the oldest members of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company and was from the same tribe, the Khemenu Tribe, as Ehri-Ra. Within the Free Mercenary Company, he acted as "manager" or in their own terminology; he was like an Elder of the Tribe.

Just for the Mercenary Company.

Aside from that, he was also someone who realized how much drastic change was needed for his people unless they really wanted to die out. But he also knew that most of the Tribes that were descended from the Nehekhara Dynasties were too prideful or traditional or worse, both to admit anything else.

They would rather die with their traditions and pride than change and assimilate into the wider Imperium.

Probably their only luck or whatever, was that nobody really cared about the Lineages of the Nehekhara, or else the Elector Count Allander would be already knocking on their doors a long time ago, but nothing like that happened.

For most of the time, they were ignored by the rest of the Imperium, even though they were nominally part of the Holy Arcadia Empire. 

***

Plains of Sinia

It didn't take long for the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company to reach the plains, which were located in front of the small hills where The Unclean had their camp. For the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company, their movement speed was relatively fast, also thanks to the factor of their equipment, which was mostly light armor.

As the majority of the members of the Free Mercenary Company came from the Tribes and Lineage of the Nehekhara Dynasties, so they also adopted more or like, traditional clothing, armor and even combat style.

Not that far from the plains of the Sinia, the barbarians of the Flesh Eater Tribe started gathering their forces because it didn't take long for them to realize that somebody was attacking them on their turf. 

So, they quickly called all of their forces on the offensive against the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company. From a distance, this was also noticed by the scouts of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company and relayed to Ehri-Ra Thoth, the leader of the Mercenaries. 

"How many are there once again?"

She asked the scout as he returned to the main party of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company with almost disbelief in her voice.

"Something around two and a half thousand, Captain."

That was way above what they had initially anticipated; right now, the forces of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company were outnumbered by a ratio of 1:5, which was a lot and that wasn't even counting their war wolves or other monstrosities that they may have brought with them from the dunes of the Badlands.

Ehri-Ra looked a bit nervous as she observed the incoming Flesh Eater Barbarians because the numbers were terrible for them.

"Immediately tell the Battle Wizard to activate the War Magic and start releasing the most powerful War Magic on the Barbarians... we need to cut down their numbers as much as possible."

Ehri-Ra gave the first orders to the officers of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company before she, too started casting the War Magic by herself.

As someone who was born in the sight of the Thoth, the God of the Moon, Wisdom, Knowledge, Writing, Hieroglyphs, Science, Magic, Art and Judgment. 

The specifics of the Nehekharian War Magic were right now showing themselves in full power because while their civilization had long ago perished, many of their advancements in the area of Magic survived to this day.

In a split of a moment, several huge Hieroglyps appeared high above the sky over the battlefield as the dark clouds started congregating around the shining symbols in the sky.

Not even a mere moment later, huge thunderbolts started striking down at the ground before they turned their attention to the incoming army of the Flesh Eater Tribe. With each thunderbolt strike that landed down at the Flesh Eaters, it took the lives of several tens of them. 

Unfortunately, the War Magic usually had tremendous upkeep on Mana, so it couldn't be maintained for a prolonged amount of time, even in this case. However in the case of the Hieroglyph, that stemmed from the War Magic cast by Ehri-Ra was a bit different. 

Her own, shined in the color of the radiant moon, reminiscent of her very own beauty, shot concentrated rays of pure energy toward the Flesh Eaters, obliterating them from existence with one mere contact. 

As she was a Divine Descendant of the Nehekharian Deities, bearer of the Divine Blood of the Ancient Deity of their civilization, Thoth, her Moon War Magic was much stronger and more potent than any other War Magic.

"There are still many of them remaining even after withstanding one round of the War Magic..."

Ehri-Ra Thoth looked at the incoming The Unclean Tribesmen with a grim expression, but she knew that with this round of the War Magic, they managed to kill several hundred of the Barbarians.

"Using the Sun Hieroglyph would be dangerous even for us, but they are still outnumbering us in the ratio of 1:3..."

In the end, she still had one trump card that could be called Army Destroyer Magic, but in this case, she wasn't sure if she wanted to use it. While the Khemeru Tribe were the descendants of the Ancient Deity Thoth, she had even one more peculiarity about her Bloodline. 

"Unless I want to use my trump card right now..."

Ehri-Ra was contemplating about what to do because she still had one certain War Magic in her arsenal, but that would be basically using her last trump card even before the clash between Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company and The Unclean Tribe fully started. 

'I would still be left with the Ignition and Law Scribe Ability...'

In the end, she decided to use her strongest trump card to reduce the number of the Flesh Eaters as much as possible, because if not, then the losses that the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company would suffer...

It would be very severe.

She then closed her eyes as her entire body was enveloped by a mixture of Golden and Silver light that was stemming from her back. The light itself then started taking the shape of two dragons that were interviewed with each other...

On her back, she had an engraved Runic Tattoo, made from several runes, that of two Dragons that were intertwined with each other. Each of the Dragons symbolized a different aspect of her powers and the Lineage of the Nehekhara. 

The Silver Dragon represented the Apophis, the Devourer of the Sun and Lord of the Disorder, while the Golden Dragon Represented Ra, the God of the Sun and Lord; the Contradiction of the Rune was the origin of its strength.

Her entire back was shining from the Runic Tattoo on her back, as the entire area started getting more and more dangerous when the intertwined dragons appeared in the sky and everyone could swear that a True Dragon's Roar was heard through the battlefield.

"Divine Punishment Solar Flare: Chaos Revelation!"

She raised her sword, aiming at the intertwined Dragons that appeared in the sky. 

Instantly, the projection of the Runic Tattoo of two Dragons shined in even more bright and blinding light as they grew in size and power several times over in a span of mere moments.

At the same time, an enormous Solar Flare erupted from the projection and scorched down hundreds of Flesh Eaters in one mere moment before the projection crumbled apart into thousands of crystalline-like shards.

"Create the shield wall and assume the formation!"

She supported herself with the sword she was holding, albeit barely right now, as she was tired from the usage of her trump card, as it consumed a lot of her very own reserves. But she instantly issued several orders to prepare for the clash between the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company and the Unclean Tribe.

The numbers of the Flesh Eater barbarians were cut down to approximately 750 to 800, which was way better than what it was before because now, the numbers were a bit more equal, and her own forces were not so heavily outnumbered. 

"Also, order the Battle Wizards to start preparing another wave of surprises for guests, and some of them should start on the Battlefield Control."

Ehri-Ra then took out the specifically prepared Old Blood Concoction that was used for healing and recuperation as she injected the vial's content into her veins while she was getting better at a visible rate. 

Even despite the scorching heat and raging inferno that was left on the battlefield by Ehri-Ra's War Magic of Twin Dragons of Sun and Chaos, the Barbarians of the Flesh Eaters didn't stop.

On the contrary, they charged at their target with newfound ferocity and brutality, as many of them even entered the Blood Rage state, which made the situation even worse from a certain point of view.

Meanwhile, the warriors of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company assumed the shield positions, as they created an elementary shield wall, ready to make their stand. The ones using the long-distance weapons stood behind the infantry, readying their heavy crossbows and guns, waiting for the order to fire.

Only the Battle Wizards were probably most relaxed about the entire endeavor as they were farthest from the battlefield, hiding in their spots and casting spells as much as they could either to kill as many of their enemies or to support their allies.

Meanwhile, the warriors of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company were already prepared for the combat and awaited the orders of their communing officers; Ehri-Ra herself was skimming the entire area for the Chieftain of the Unclean Tribe.

Aletur of the Howling Storm was the Chieftain of the Unclean Tribe and one of the more powerful Barbarians within the Badlands. His physical prowess was enough to put him on the high end of Level 5 in terms of the physical prowess. 

He was a huge, more than two meters tall barbarian warrior with a bald head, and around his entire face and body, he had tribal symbols painted with the blood of other Barbarians or humanoid beings that he killed and ate.

Unfortunately for him right now, he was one of the unlucky ones who were hit by the Ehri-Ra's Chaos Solar Flare, which burned a large part of their army and even he himself suffered grievous injuries.

But at the same time, due to his literarily frightening vitality and regeneration factor, he was already healing at a visible rate. However, this still considerably lowered his combat capabilities because a large part of his entire being was focused on healing.

In a span of several seconds, Ehri-Ra Thoth located her target, which was the Chieftain of the Unclean Tribe. She raised her sword, which started shining in an ominous-looking crimson-red color, reminiscing that of blood and flaming with a small shadow of flames. 

Bloodviolet was its name, and it was also one of the Divine Heritage Items of the civilization long gone. 

But the power within the sword itself remain, as when it was Ignited, it became somehow alive. Bloodviolet was an Artifact from the Age of Fire, but nobody really knew when it was created or by whom. 

The only thing that was known about the sword was that it was found in the ancient Necropolis and was associated with the Seven Star Infernal Fiend and it was the weapon of Death and Blood.

Now that Ehri-Ra had recovered enough, she Ignited the Bloodviolet to its limits, as an enormous baleful aura exploíded from the sword itself, giving off the shape of flaming fire as she dashed towards the Chieftain of the Flesh Eater Aletur.

In a mere moment, she appeared before Aletur, decapitating two of the guards that were closest to him; as their heads were freed from their bodies and blood splattered high in the air, she aimed the tip of the Bloodviolet at Aletur's unprotected neck in the aim of the same result.

Even though the Chieftain of The Unclean Tribe was injured and rather gravely at that, he still reacted almost instantaneously, as he raised his two enormous blades that were made from Orichalcum and blocked the strike in rather an effortless manner.

Not only that but by the moment of collision, he pushed the blades in the x-shape forward, as he managed to throw Ehri-Ra backward relatively effortlessly due to the enormous disparity in physical strength.

Though for the warrior woman of the Khemetu, this wasn't any problem because she struck the sword on the ground as she was sent flying, and in one nimble movement, she landed gracefully on the ground as she locked her beautiful amber eyes at the enemy.

'Even despite all of the injuries that he suffered from the Chaos Solar Flare, his power is still frightening... I need to find a moment of opportunity to use the Law Scribe to create Domain and kill him for good.'

In an almost instantaneous moment, Ehri-Ra formulated a plan in her head on how to deal with the Chieftain of the Unclean Tribe. At the same time, the forces of the Horus Guards Free Mercenary Company already clashed with that of the Flesh Eaters.

Gunfire was heard through the battlefield, together with the Spells that were being cast by the Battle Wizards of the Horus Guards and unleashed hell on the Barbarians of the Unclean, as the warriors of Horus Guards held the line and counterattacked against the raging barbarians.

Getting up together once more, she again rushed at the Aletur; this time though, she only dodged the huge blades as he repeated her motion and decided to lead the offensive against her. 

She dashed below the trajectory of the blades and, using the window of the opportunity, she slashed with the Bloodviolet at the Aletur's tendons at his legs, causing the huge barbarians to scream out of pain, but contrary to her expectation; it wasn't a crippling blow. 

But at the same time, this provided her the window of opportunity that she needed to activate the Law Scribe Bloodline Ability.

"Law Creation: Domain of the Moon and Sun. Scribe: Descing Down from the Stars above, punish the enemy for the transgression towards the Divine Grace of Thoth and Ra and damnation of the Apophis."

The very moment she said that, the entire area around them changed as if they were transported into an entirely different world.

Domains were the most peculiar things that were often regarded as the pinnacle of Magic, a personalized space that was cast by the owner, the creator of the Domain, who was basically a God within the said Domain.

And even within the Holy Arcadia Empire, there were actually not many people aside from those within the higher echelons of the Byrgenwerth, Healing Church, a few Magical Enclaves and Imperial House and their most loyal, who could cast Domain.

Ironically, though, Ehri-Ra Thoth was one of them due to her special Bloodline that was of the Divine Descent of the Ra and Thoth, giving her an affinity for the Moon and Sun, for the Stars out there and for the Law and Scribing.

The last ones were probably the most important because it meant that she could achieve a certain degree of limited reality warping to create her Domain, which was the most impressive feat. 

The very moment the Domain was created, they appeared to be on the wasteland of a celestial body, where the only things that could be seen and felt was the light from the Sun in the sky and the shining of the Moon from the Moon that was opposite to the Sun.

But for the Chieftain Aletur, the change of environment didn't represent any problem, as he looked at his opponent before he clashed his twin blades against each other until they started creating sparks and kicked off the ground, rushing at her. 

'Indeed... not known for their intelligence or the brain usage overall.'

Ehri-Ra scoffed when she saw that the Chieftain of the Flesh Eaters was mindlessly charging at her like some brute, but that was just playing into her cards, as he soon fell into her trap.

In a split of a second, her entire body was enveloped by the Moon's light, which was accelerating her healing rate by a ridiculous degree and also regenerating her Magic reserves almost immediately.

At the same time, the light that was descending down from the Sun started congregating on the tip of the Bloodviolet before it spread towards the entire sword and, soon enough, toward her entire body, as she was feeling much stronger than before.

She grinned at the cannibal Child of the Bul-Khatos as she went to meet the enemy head-on with a sword in her hand because it was time to end this entire charade and slay the beast.

The Bloodviolet trembled in excitement as it got a boost in power from the Sun of Ra, as it released a tremendous explosion when it clashed with the twin blades of the Barbarian Chieftain.

The intent heat from the Sun of Ra burned through the flesh and bones of the Barbarian Chieftain, this time, in an even more intense way, that even the fabled regeneration of the Barbarians was taking some time to heal it. 

But Ehri-Ra wasn't giving Aletur any time, as she appeared in front of the Barbarian, who was thrown away several tens of meters by the explosion, and started furiously attacking the Barbarian, together with subtle manipulation of the Sun of Ra, which began shooting condensed rays of light at him.

She knew that maintaining the Domain was a major drain on her reserves, but fortunately, due to her Domain being very special, as it was originating from the Bloodline Ability Law Scribe, she still had a few minutes until the Domain would collapse.

So she needed to finish the fight before the Domain collapsed because now she had a tremendous advantage over the Chieftain and could kill him fast without wasting a lot of energy, something that she was going to realize. 

As the attacks from the Sun of Ra, which was shooting scorching hot rays of condensed light, were too fast and too powerful, it was clear that the injuries over the Aletur were accommodating too fast and his agility was still significantly lowered as his tenods were still in the process of healing.

When Ehri-Ra cut through the tendons at his legs, she also inserted there some nasty old curses that greatly hindered the healing.

Noticing that the Chieftain was getting slower and his reaction speed was getting longer, so she made use of it as she was attacking even more and more.

She was always aiming at the weak spots of the Aletur until she heard the roar of the Barbarian that entered the Blood Rage state, losing every bit of sanity as his combat prowess was getting out of the charts at the price of his very own life.

Ehri-Ra didn't waste any moment, as she appeared behind Aletur before he could do anything and pierced through his neck with the Sun-empowered sword Bloodviolet, though, at the same time, she probably underestimated a bit the power of the Barbarian in the Blood Rage as she received kick by Aletur, that sent her flying several tens of meters, as she crashed in the ground.

She managed to stand up, as she coughed up a bit of blood, but beneath her bloodied smile, she grinned at the Aletur; with a wave of her hand, a small talisman with Hieroglyph for the "Horus Eye" exploded in a violent supernova, annihilating the Barbarian Chieftain from the face of the Known World.