The huge brawl that had caused panic for the past few minutes in Storm Veil Castle was finally over.
The huge blue clouds laden with mana had dispersed from the skies, while the clashes that had previously caused the earth to tremble had subsided, managing to calm the tense nerves of the inhabitants of Stormy Veil.
"Nothing really flashy."
Looking at the throne that glows golden and remains the only thing of note in the room, Aldrich expresses himself sarcastically.
"What can I say, I deserve it, I'm awesome and I'm not going to deny it."
Throwing the axes he carried in his hands, Nepheli watches as they stick in the wall and waves his arm in a clear sign of victory.
Now already with a smile on his swarthy face from such a throw he deems perfect, Nepheli walks over to the golden throne and plops down on it.
"Good shot, Nepheli."
"Thank you, thank you, I teach you... Kenneth?"
Eyes widening in surprise, Nepheli remains on the throne and shifts his body forward, as if to get a better look at the newcomer.
Her gaze sweeps over Kenneth before she loses interest, he was the first one she saw, but she doesn't give up and after a few seconds she sees what she was looking for.
"Finley, what kind of treachery is this!"
"Treachery, what are you talking about, I keep seeing My Lord in perfect condition and standing there!"
Pointing a glance at Aldrich, as well as giving him a wave, since he did it first, Finley keeps smiling peacefully.
"Tsss, and here I was thinking we were battle sisters. Now I'm going to start hesitating to leave my back in your care."
"Kenneth gives me a bottle of wine every time he ratted you out, the good kind, that one we had last time."
Basically what Finley is saying is:I sacrifice myself for the good of the team, don't you get it?".
"Well, that's understandable, I would do the same with you, but there have to be limits of..."
"We go 50/50 on the rewards."
"If you need me to put myself in bad situations, just tell me and I'll do it... Anything to make something real."
Licking her red lips with a hungry look filling her eyes, Nepheli brings up saliva and lets out a hot sigh.
...Aldrich pov....
Finally after the game between Nepheli and Finley, we moved to a more suitable room to make plans. The one chosen was the one where the Veil of Imitator is located, the one with an outlaw horse with a halberd.
If there is one thing to note, it is that the room looks much better than it did before, when Godrick was in power, as Nepheli seems to have deigned to at least repair the castle.
"As a newcomer, I would like to get an overview of the situation in Necrolimbo. Nepheli?"
"Ah, yes, Kenneth tells him what he wants to know."
Raising an eyebrow at the obvious disinterest he shows of Nepheli, he stopped looking at her and guided my eyes further down the long table stretched out in front of me.
"Kenneth Haight, at your service, Lord of the Circle."
"I remember you, Kenneth. You and your gift dagger."
Putting on a small smile at the memory of that little detail, he waved his hand and summoned the dagger before making it disappear again.
This was a small gesture to increase the cordiality between us, as I don't think those present here would like to see me sticking a Seductive Branch into Kenneth, so it'll be the old fashioned way.
"The current situation in Necrolimbo is... Complicated. The entire strip comprising the northern part of Necrolimbo and bordering Caelid has been overrun by the monstrosities."
"We certainly had the pleasure of seeing them."
Ignoring the surprise appearing on Kenneth's face, he waved his hand to make him forget that and keep talking.
"Ahem, I'll go on. The only thing still standing in the north is Fort Haigh, under the command of Godrick's rebel troops. But they were dependent on resources brought in from the Weeping Peninsula... So who knows how they are now?"
"We were there too, not to intrude, simply the portal to Leyndell is in a tower there."
Finishing my words and giving Nepheli a dry look, due to her laughing at Kenneth's pale face and even hitting the table with her palm, I let him continue speaking.
"I'll go on, in the south, where the Weeping Peninsula is located, the Frenzied Flame has spread out of control. The inhabitants have gone mad, the animals have gone mad and even the fauna has mutated under the influence of the God of the Frenzied Flame."
"God of the Frenzied Flame, so you know?"
I may have been talking about gods, ancient history, dragon customs and many other things, but much of all of that is pretty hard knowledge to come by.
I mean it's not possible for them to normally know about the God of the Frenzied Flame, so someone or something had to make them aware of its existence and connection to the disease.
"It wasn't too hard to tie up ends when those madmen went from moving without order or grace, to an exercise in fanatical worshippers shouting about the descent of the Great Shabriri, an emissary of their god."
"Shabriri, that liar who condemned the nomadic vendors and whose eyes were gouged out... Weird, if so, he couldn't be on Ranni's mission, since he'd be with Hyetta."
Giving little heed to Finley's concern, who is the one who had just spoken, he grabbed my head and tried to put various thoughts in order.
I'm not crazy, it's just all getting weird. It's almost as if all the endings have combined, leaving Shabriri on the loose, the marriage to Ranni in effect, maybe Fortissax is out of Fia's dream and the Zampaheces is on the loose.
Heck, maybe there are even enemies that only appear once back alive, such as the first swamp dragon or that one with the flashing key.
"My lord?"
"Tsk, how quickly you switch sides, Kenneth. Just kidding, he's my lord, so he's yours too. I just wanted to leave this depressing atmosphere."
"You're appreciated... I think."
Sighing at Nepheli's bright smile, which exposes her white teeth, I thank her and she responds with a thumbs up. God, she has too much energy and confidence.
"Excuse her, I've tried everything, but she's still like this... Uncontrollable."
"Easy, Kenneth, that attitude has its charm."
"You see, Kenneth, etiquette classes and extravagant costumes must be put aside, what would you do if you destroyed the charm that the Lord of the Circle likes?"
"Just ignore her, my lord. She can go on like this all day if necessary, now it would be better to hear the report on Liurnia's troops from Kenneth."
Terrifying, the charisma Nepheli has is amazing and even more so because she knows she has it. She has a weapon, she knows how to use it and she seems to like to put it to use... A born leader, her charisma even made me forget the central theme for a few moments.
Luckily Finley cut him off, otherwise I'm sure we'd still be talking about his etiquette and dress lessons.
"The situation with the Liurnian troops is strange, we went from high intensity fighting to total silence the last few weeks, giving us a break from this front."
"It can't be just that, we're talking about Ranni... The witch."
"Certainly there are other minor issues, sending supplies to the rebels, be it weapons, food, puppets and even magical support... But it's been going on to a lesser extent than before"
Well, their actions are understandable. Just as Leyndell is surrounded by the Peaks of the Giants, Liurnia and Mount Gelmir, she is surrounded by the Altus Plateau and Necrolimbo.
Basically she wants to get out of the encirclement, at worst, weaken one side of the encirclement to make it quite useless in a real battle.
"What's going on here, why didn't they warn us!"
"How dare they leave us out, they forget who's keeping them!"
"Get out, you damned peasants!"
Escaping from my thoughts about Ranni's ideas, I guide my eyes to the entrance gate that has just been kicked in and watch as about five pigs enter through it.
They're obviously not pigs, at least I don't think so, they have two arms and legs... Yeah, they're just fat old fucks to the hilt.