Kyle walked back to the Chariot alone, the others already being escorted inside. "Yo people, get moving!" He told the adventurers manning the Mageks that had ridden with them, mostly members of the Adventurer's guild of Barik. All but Seren and Woody who manned the Chariot's griffins.
As he watched the Mageks stomp their way towards the entrance he sensed movement behind him, slowly turning around to find Io staring up at him with enraged eyes. "Greetings Elder, hope the day finds you well?" he asked with a polite smile that brought shivers up her spine.
Io's hands clenched into fists, shaking in her fury as she spoke "This was not what we agreed on!"
Kyle's expression went cold, a blank slate as he gazed down at her "This is what we do."
"This…This is evil." Io hissed, mana severely infusing her voice.
"This is necessary." Kyle corrected.
"Ne…Necessary!?" Io exclaimed in disbelief "You killed innocents who had not-"
"Innocents?" Kyle asked, cutting her off as his Spirit descended upon her. Freezing Io completely "Elder do you know why the Quest allows for several Heroes to be summoned and not one? Because Chaoz is impossible to unite by their standards, several Heroes are necessary to take sides and fight over who leads."
He turned to face the vast tundra, gazing out at it as he spoke "This world has always been at odds, always waging war with one another. There are no fucking innocents on this world, there is no such thing as innocent. Only those who turn a blind eye and do nothing. This world is too full of hate to unite through peace, so I will unite it using that hate. I will use both hands to forcefully aim that hate towards me, I will solely bear it all."
Kyle glanced back at the still terror-stricken Io "No matter how many lives I must take, no matter what I must destroy. No matter how many lies and truths I must invent." He smirked as Io challenged his aura with her own, trying her best to fight it off "I'll tell you something though, Elder."
Kyle leaned down, speaking into her ear in a whisper "I still have my wish at the end, if you want to see all those who have died since the Quest's start come back to life. Stand out of my way." He slowly leaned away, his fanged amusement clear from his wide grin "Our relationship is no longer a two way contract, remember that the next time you think of approaching me Elder. The lives of your people will be the cost you'll pay if we fail."
Kyle turned away, releasing her from his aura "Along with the rest of existence." He ended with, before stepping inside the Chariot. Hearing her sobbing before the doorway suddenly melted closed.
"What's with shorty?" Asked Lilior with a single raised brow as she hovered by the entrance
"Shorty?" repeated Kyle with a sneer.
Lilior's brow lowered "Hmph!"
Kyle chuckled at her reaction "I'm only playing with you, are you ready?"
She nodded with puffed up cheeks, turning to give him her back.
"Sorry, sorry. You're just too adorable not to tease!" Kyle dramatically pleaded with an all too fake smile.
Lilior glanced back, puffing out some air as she held her laugh until she couldn't anymore. Laughing her heart out for a few moments before suddenly spinning in mid-air as her form expanded and changed into slime.
And then Kyle, was staring right at Kyle. Lilior had used [Copy] to take his form and gain some of his abilities, she had levelled this ability along with Steph, Seren and Death's constant lending of their mana and bodies to a point that she could retain her copied form for days at a time. Her mana storage was nothing to laugh at either, competing with Kyle's varying Spirit bar.
"How is it?" Lilior asked with a friendly smile, having learned a thing or two from watching Kyle.
"So good its creepy." Responded Kyle as he walked circles around her, inspecting every detail "Damn I look good."
Lilior snorted "No master, I make it look good." She corrected with an even brighter smile.
Kyle stared at his reflection with raised brows "Touché." He chuckled while taking a core out of his inventory, summoning a small blob of smile around it as he had with the kamikaze golems back on Hasharr. "I'm setting this one to follow your and only your every order, infuse mana into it to change its form. It'll look like you're creating a Golem yourself."
Lilior nodded through as he explained, listening closely as she knew how important her role was. Kyle had made it very apparent to her through constant nagging "Now you know how you're supposed to act right?" he asked after handing her the pre-made golem.
"Yes, keep close to the princess and be kind. Act cool, be helpful and gain her attention but don't get too sticky." Lilior repeated what Kyle had told her several times "Appear in the corner of her eye from time to time but also make sure to be seen by as many as possible."
Kyle couldn't help but grin wickedly "You'll do great."
Lilior copied his grin to perfection "I know I will."
"Okay I'm out, that's just too fucking creepy." Admitted Kyle as he summoned a tentacle of slime and tore open a rift, he found it less bothersome than ripping one open with his claws. "I'll see you when I see you." He told her before stepping through, the rift closing behind him.
Lilior saluted after him "I will not fail you master!" she said before turning to the Chariot's wall as a hole opened up for her to pass. Except it was fairy sized and she slammed face-first into the rest. "Ow…Human size…Human size!" Lilior told herself as she knocked on her own head.
She willed the Chariot to open a larger hole this time and stepped out, descending the few steps outside before closing it behind her. Her fox ears perking up as she found Sion curiously glancing at the Chariot outside.
Sion noticed 'Kyle' step out of the Chariot, her shoulders flinching as he turned to walk towards her. She cleared her throat "Your comrades have really taken the lead…they even shooed me away as they took command…I thought I didn't see yo-No-Not that I was looking for you!" she suddenly exclaimed, her pale cheeks blushing a light tinge of pink.
Lilior gave her a knock-out smile "Just locking up the Chariot and grabbing a few things." She gestured with the blob of slime surrounding a core.
Sion's eyes widened "Oh…Oh uhm…and…" she clenched her hands pulling herself out of her brief daze as her face flushed pinker before she asked "I-I didn't know madam Io was close to anyone…l-like you."
"Io?" asked Lilior with a raised brow, confused at her statement.
The princess was basically just pink at this point "I s-s-saw you lean down to h-her and…"
"That's a misunderstanding." Lilior immediately stated, Kyle had made sure to hammer this phrase into her memory.
"Oh…Ah! apologise I didn't mean to pry!" Sion suddenly exclaimed before turning around to give 'Kyle' her back "L-let's be on our way!"
"Yes, let's." Lilior followed after Sion closely ("Stupid Spirit sensing! I can sense her emotions stinking up the entire continent!") Lilior inwardly gagged ("Master this is pointless! She's already twisted herself around your finger!") Lilior then inwardly cried.
Lilior spent the next hours trying to follow the plan, but Sion never once left 'Kyle's' side.
Spirit Realm
Tera
Caelum
Two hours later
Kyle appeared alongside Durin, now standing within the perfect replica of the Esfeltian Dominion's old capital city.
"The massive human capital, Caelum." Said Durin as he stepped forth, his feet echoing through the empty streets made of gleaming marble. The citadel spanned to either direction, long straight roads that seemed to go for kilometres and onward. Massive was an understatement.
Kyle glanced around, the empty roads with empty houses lining them "Nobody, not a single soul?"
Durin shook his head "Beings like humans who tend to live short lives, tend to stick to the physical plane for so much longer. Most of the time they dissipate into hollows before even considering the Spirit Realm. You'll maybe find a dozen human Spirits roaming this city, but you'll find thousands of Elven outside these walls."
"Won't that just make it all the easier though? If most of them are still phantoms in the physical plane, the mana cost should be so much less." Mused Kyle as he studied the beautiful city, marble roads with paths breaking off and towards the buildings. The houses, shops and other structures all made of marble or white wood. Covering the rest of the ground were blue roses, millions over millions of blue roses growing on either side of the roads, giving way only for the paths and buildings.
"Yes but…" Durin sighed "I'll ask you once more my child, are you sure of this?"
Kyle glanced at Durin, he was already wearing his mask and outfit but his excited grin was widely apparent "I've already told you Durin, I'm sure." He turned to look down the city's main road, taking up to the large white castle far off in the distance "I'm a Yako, Dark magic is my bread and butter is it not?"
Durin sighed once more "If you believe so, I won't stop you. Dread effects one's soul and body with decay but for a creature like you who's absorbed and processed so much negative Spirit, and for someone like you who's body can heal like a slime's…Dread will do very little but…Listen closely son. Power of life and death changes a person, no matter who they are or think they've become." Durin stood next to Kyle, also staring up at the glorious structure of marble "What is it that those shortlived humans say…Ah…"
"I'd be giving up my humanity." Said Kyle, knowing exactly what Durin meant "It means I'd have no morals but Durin you forget something…" he chuckled coldly "I'm not human, barely even a Spirit Beast anymore." He glanced down at his own hand as it switched to slime, the blue goo flowing like liquid at one moment before solidifying into a wyvern's claw "I'm more akin to a monster."
Durin glanced to his side and down at Kyle's shapeshifted hand "There are two kinds of monsters Kyle. The grotesque beasts of nature are the most common and it is a misconception to think of them the same as the second type."
"I'm afraid I'm the second type then, Ancestor." Kyle mused as he slashed his claw through reality, tearing open a rift "Cause I'm a cold-blooded killer, a moral-less monster." He stepped through "And I'll stop to nothing, drop as low as I can…to accomplish my goal."
Durin watched even after the rift closed, his gaze dropping to the white tiled floor before letting out another, more silent sigh "Then let us hope that, a monster is truly what Chaoz needs."
Author: Nightmare~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zci2ilhf4UE
Physical Realm
Il'tel
Caelum Ruins
Kyle stepped out of the rift, shrouded by the thick mist that filled this place. He glanced about, the city was in ruins. The marble roads overgrown by grass and weeds, the roses replaced by wilder flowers and plants, the structures covered in vines and moss.
Kyle took a deep breath, sensing the thick Dread that filled the air. Smiling coldly he concentrated his Spirit into his voice "Clear out" his voice boomed out with power, suddenly expelling the mist away and revealing several meters of the ruined capital.
Everywhere he looked Kyle saw the same two scenes, ruins and overgrowth or…skeletons and overgrowth. Remains turned bone were scattered throughout the roads, paths and gardens. Barely visible underneath the grass and vines, covered in moss and other plant life. Only noticeable by their golden plate armour, sticking out like sore thumbs within the greenery.
Kyle watched as the grey mist began to slowly flow back in, the physical manifestation of all the death that plagued this place. "Yeah, this will do nicely." He mused before closing his eyes and focusing. Just as Durin had taught him minutes ago, Kyle reached out to the mist with his Spirit. Blue tendrils of ethereal energy grew out of his body, growing like roots inside the grey mist.
He expanded his mana and Spirit to form the tendrils, this was only for a sole purpose. Kyle truly had to concentrate now as unlike Abysmal mana, Spirit could not easily drain other mana types without processing them into more Spirit. Kyle didn't need more Spirit, what Kyle wanted right now…was pure Dread.
"Relax…" Kyle told himself, clearing his mind of all thoughts, his chest suddenly turning cold as he shut off his emotions "Do not process…Only absorb…" he mumbled calmly…raising his hands to shoulder height before suddenly pushing out his entire mana stores, the tendrils elongating, separating and twisting. Reaching out further than he could see, reaching out as far as he could sense.
Then he began, as the mist started to move and turn. Being sucked into the blue roots of Spirit. The tendrils began to expand, growing thicker by the minute as minutes went on. From time to time a burst of light would flash nearby a tendril, also being sucked into the system of roots and lay there as a pulsating bulge…like a heartbeat, as if alive.
More and more mist formed around the tendrils, its movement growing turbulent, as if a storm was passing through while the tendrils sucked it all in. More and more lights flashed, bursting into existence before being pulled into the Spirit and held inside.
As time went on, the tendrils had grown thicker and thicker, the bulges of pulsating light hanging by a thread whilst more and more mist was sucked inside. Slowly the Spirit grew thinner and thinner, as the Dread filled in the rest. The blue slowly being replaced by grey.
Until finally the mist cleared out, in its place and overlooking the massive city…Like a tree with dark grey branches, grey mist hanging about it like leaves and pulsating spheres of light hanging down like ripe fruit. Kyle's Spirit spanned almost half of Caelum's ruins.
He took another long, deep breath before clearing his throat and speaking aloud with what mana he had remaining and regenerating "Lost and forgotten you once were, defeated and disdained. Dishonoured and disrespected, dead you once were. Souls of the fallen, I offer you closure. I offer you justice…I…Offer you revenge."
The pulsating fruits began to pulse faster, brighter than before as Kyle continued his chant "I offer you new life! I offer you escape from death! Rise!" suddenly the tendrils lowered, gently setting the dangling lights onto the floor. They bent and twisted, aligning the lights with the skeletal remains "I offer you Undeath. Rise fallen! Rise deceased! Rise Undead!"
The Spirit encasing the lights morphed down into the remains, attaching itself to the bones and armour as the souls flowed inside, followed by massive amounts of Dread. As the souls all flowed in, as the dread emptied out into the skeletal remains it was followed by Kyle's Spirit. The tendrils tearing apart, pieces of them flowing into the remains before suddenly each corpse shook with blue static energy.
"Rise." Kyle commanded and the army of Skeletons tore away their natural bindings, ripping off roots and upheaving earth as they rose. Hundreds of thousands of them spanned the ruined roads, their eyesockets filled with a blue-grey light that sparked with dark energy.
Several notifications followed for Kyle.
Through strict mentoring you have learned the skill [Rise Undead]!
You have created {Undead} minions! (x666,423)
{Basic} minion has been named [Skeletal Warrior] (x400,212)
{Elite} minion has been named [Skeletal Berserker] (x266,209)
{Boss} minion has been named [Skeletal Titan] ({Bob})
{Boss} minion has been named [Skeletal Titan] ({Steven})
Through practicing successfully with the dark necrotic arts you have gained the title [Necromancer]!
You have unlocked enough requirements for a new class!
Please check in with an obelisk to switch sub-class!
You have accomplished a disastrous feat!
Title [Master of Undeath] acquired!
Congratulations you mad fool!
Kyle smiled widely as he stared off at the rising undead, sword and shield for the most part with several heavy weapon wielders. All but two massive skeletal forms that slowly pulled themselves out of the ground…
Bob was a large skeletal cyclopes while Steven was a just as massive serpent that had died entangled around Bob. Kyle guessed the two had killed each other long ago, how else were their bodies so entangled that the serpent was literally connected through Bob's ribcage?
He cleared the notifications out of the way, he had no interest in a necromancer title or class. He wouldn't take the risk of switching his sub-class in case he does encounter someone or something worth his full power. And he couldn't use his Frostfire or Darkfire without his holder title, seemingly a way to weaken his already insane kit.
But Kyle didn't mind, he did have a legion of 666,423 undead under his command…He thought before a stone wall unsettled by Bob's rise fell onto three skeletons.
Your minion has been slain! (x3)
You have (666,420) minions remaining!
Kyle would of laughed if he hadn't just lost three minions.