Whispers of a Dead Empire

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The figure stepped into the opening, grasping a large silver halberd in one hand, with the tip pointed towards the ground. She wore a purple uniform, much like the praetorians that we fought before, but unlike the others, this one had black trimming on the cuffs and sleeves. It was matched with a black cape that billowed violently in the wind, obscuring another silver weapon that hung from her hip. The radiant golden light from her eyes weakened slightly as she stared at us all. Her silver hair floated wildly behind her as it danced in the air. I didn't need to see her name to know who it was. I was staring at Alessia, the captain of the royal guard. She looked as if she was a specter of war, given life once more.

Apparently, her appearance must have caught the Empress off guard as well, causing her tempo to lapse for a second. An arrow shot through the air and impacted her shoulder with a meaty thump. At that moment, an ear-splitting cry pierced the air. A cry that seemed to lock every joint in my body in a vice.

Apparently, whatever skill she used managed to freeze everyone on the field. "I will have your heads for laying a hand on her." Her eyes were wide with anger, and waves of killing intent radiated from around her. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of the Empress and grabbed her. She pulled Calixa into her arms, uncaring that this was her chance to attack the assassins. The Empress whispered something quietly, and Alessia focused her gaze on me for a split second before she nodded her head and pulled her over to where I was lying.

She carefully helped the Empress down and then bared the tip of the halberd towards my face. "You are lucky that you have her favor. However, if you even so much as gaze upon my lady wrong, your head will roll." The threat was obvious and well-received, though I had no intention of betraying my savior.

Calixa scooted back into the far corner while I still sat there paralyzed. The most that I could do at the moment was just watch.

Alessia stepped in front of the door just as the assassins broke through the status effect. The leader looked around and knew that whatever chance they had was now gone, so they did the logical thing and tried to run. "There will be no escape for you." The whispers rode the air as Alessia slammed the haft of her halberd into the ground. The forest around us came to life, and dozens of figures appeared from the tree line. All of which were clad in the same purple uniform.

One formation used giant round bone shields and marched as one, heading in our direction. Out of habit, I used my analysis skill and saw that the entire group of undead was labeled as hoplites. While I have never heard of the class before, I would assume that it had a heavy focus on unit tactics based on how they moved together. As they crossed the distance between us, even more undead started to appear, boxing us in. Many of the undead that roamed the forest arrived first, and then a lot of the military undead arrived.

Far more than I thought existed in this domain. Seeing no way out, the assassins stood back to back with each other, their weapons drawn and at the ready. They were clearly distraught. However, the undead never made a move forward. Instead, they only seemed to want to keep them boxed in. Alessia seemed content to let them struggle with their fear. Were all the bosses in this domain sadist?

My paralysis faded, allowing me to move once more, and I cast a glance over to Calixa. She sat in the corner, with the arrow still embedded in her shoulder. The stream of red blood was apparent, along with the fact that she was clearly in pain. Wait, she was in pain? Did that mean she was still alive? Against my better judgment, I moved over to her, though I was sure to keep my distance somewhat. "Are you alright?"

"No, this shit fucking hurts. Stupid fucking idiots." She hissed through her teeth, and I couldn't help but laugh. She seemed so human right now and nothing like a god. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted by the sound of stone getting crushed. I threw my head to the side, and I saw Alessia had four large chunks of rock flying up towards her. She spun her halberd gracefully and slammed it into the rocks, sending them hurtling towards her foes. The assassins broke formation, dodging the projectiles.

She crouched down and then teleported in front of the closest one, swinging her halberd around with utmost accuracy and grace. Her target danced around her, trying to escape from the damage, but was failing. Every opening was exploited as Alessia tore him apart. I eventually had to turn my attention away from the bloodshed that was happening.

"Do you need help?" I asked as a wave of weakness affected me once more as the poison ran through my veins.

"No," she replied as she reached up and pulled the arrow from her shoulder. The flow of blood increased slightly, and she hissed in pain as the arrow exited her flesh. I reached down into my bag and pulled out some bandages I kept around for times like this, and tossed them over to her.

She eyed them warily before she took them and wrapped them around her shoulder. As she did that, I glanced over to see how the battle was going. The first assassin had been slain and lay to the side in a broken heap. The second impaled to the ground, and Alessia held the third up by the neck. His hood had been cast to the side, and his face was broken beyond any sense of recognition. She stared at him with a face full of scorn as she tossed him to the side. In her hand was a silver mace coated in blood that dripped to the ground.

"Pathetic," was all she said as she turned and walked towards me once more. She reached out and pulled the halberd from the chest of the other dead assassin giving it a flick, painting the ground with scarlet ichor. All of a sudden, I was back to being a sheep in a wolf's den. Which bothered me. I wasn't weak by any standard, but why was every mob in this domain so fucking strong.

I slid back the best that I could as Alessia walked closer before she eventually closed the distance between us. Her ashen skin seemed to glow softly in the moonlight as she stared at me. The golden power behind her eyes dimmed, leaving behind a golden iris that bore into my soul.

 She stared at me for a moment before she brought her halberd to bear. The spear point rested just a few inches from my face, and I broke out in a cold sweat. "Only you are to blame for this. Give me one reason why I should spare your life." Her voice was soft, but the conviction was there. But to be real, there wasn't a reason to spare my life, but that didn't mean that I wanted to die. But as I opened my mouth to speak, Calixa beat me to it.

"Alessia, that's enough." Her voice was a bit harsh, which caused Alessia to frown as she moved away from me. I released the breath that was caught in my throat and watched as Alessia walked over to Calixa and squatted down.

"My lady, are you alright?" She ran her fingers softly across Calixa's arm as she gazed at her with the utmost worry. A complete reversal of what she was just a few short minutes ago.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," Calixa replied as she gazed upwards at her for a few seconds before she reached her hand out, and Alessia helped her up. Calixa dusted off her strange cloak and walked over to me, and squatted down. "So. How about we retrieve your friends, and we can discuss the terms of our agreement."

"Promise me you won't hurt them," I told her as I lay there. My health pool was slowly dipping back into critical levels as the poison and darkness gnawed away at me.

Another small runic circle appeared below her hand, and another health potion appeared. It must be nice to be able to summon anything you wanted at will. She handed the potion over, but I had to decline it. I knew my body was at its limit for potions, and if I took any more than one, then I risked dying. Though I quickly explain to her why, in part from the fiery gaze that Alessia gave me. The woman was a monster.

"I see, I understand. Anyway, I promise not to harm any of your friends." Calixa stood up and walked onto the field. The assassins' corpses were still there, though a few of the praetorians had already looted them and stood at attention, waiting.

"Kharon, would you gather the other three and meet me in Rikard's office, please." From the tree line, I saw the familiar scarlet eyes of the ferryman.

"Of course, mistress." His voice easily carried across the field before he vanished back into the forest. Calixa stood there with the health potion still in her hand as she swirled the glass tube before she turned away and lifted her mask up. I was curious about what lay behind her mask, but if she was drinking a health potion, she must still be human, right?'

Once she downed the bottle, she glanced at the container before she dropped it to the ground. Another runic circle appeared and consumed the glass. She reached up and pulled her mask down before turning to face me. "Hector, help him up and protect him. There is still one more assassin about."