druidquest
魔法少女
The fields around the great black spire resembled a storm cloud in the chaos of the battle. Smoke choked the air from the fire, bright lights flashing in the smog from cannonfire and spellwork. Soldiers clashed on open ground, the once vibrant meadow of flowers stomped into mud by boot and claw as the alliance of free races crashed against the humans and mechanical puppet knights of the empire. The air was filled with all manner of beasts and puppet gliders, swarming like angry hornets over the heads of their allies.
Inside the Oblivion Needle itself a very different battle was occurring as the champions of the alliance climbed their way up toward the apex of the tower, the war outside rendered nearly inaudible by the Needle’s glassy black walls. Things were not silent here by any means, however; the mad emperor Constantine had filled their path with his most trusted servants and deadliest automatons, some they had faced before, others never before seen.
None of the adversaries which stood against them could hold them back, however, and so they climbed, ever higher, ever skyward, leaving the mortal earth behind and ascending far, far, far above the clouds until they stood amongst the stars themselves. Upward and upward and upward they climbed, until finally at the top they found him.
Their unifying enemy. The mad emperor, who’s machinations had brought them all together and seen them travel to the furthest ends of the world.
The master of men himself, Victor Constantine.
He turned their way only briefly as they broke their way into the highest sanctum, far too occupied with the work of unraveling the Needle’s secrets to face them directly.
“Good morning,” he greeted amicably. “Or is it evening now? I don’t really have a clock here you see, and-”
He was cut off by an arrow striking the pedestal he leaned over, missing him only by a tilt of his head.
“You know,” he sighed, disappointed. “You really- you really shouldn’t interrupt people while they’re talking. It’s very rude.”
He turned to face them, one hand on the pedestal for balance, and his other hand flew up as the heroes began to charge him.
“Come- come on now. You can’t give an old man the benefit of his last words before killing him? Honestly, this just feels like a formality at this point, right? Assuming you won’t just- just let me surrender? It’s not like I’m a threat to any of you. Look- look at me.”
He gestured to himself, a small, self-deprecating smile on his lips.
“Are- will- will you give me just a moment, perhaps, to greet you all, and soak in this, this…” Constantine twirled his hand limply through the air, searching for words. A few of the heroes stepped toward him, and he let his hand drop.
“No, I suppose not. A pity, really. This is such an- an important… moment, for all of us.” He spread his arms wide toward all those gathered in the sanctum. “You, the noble champions come to represent the world at this… pivotal moment, and me, the- the-”
Constantine’s words trailed off as he did a triple take, hand coming back down to rest on the pedestal. “General Laskaris? What an… odd reunion this is. You’re- you’re with them? I would’ve thought you’d have stabbed them in the back already, but that’s- I suppose that’s just old experience proving my bias. What won you over here? It can’t have been the pay, I-” He turned to look at the other heroes in attendance. “I paid her quite a lot, you know. She really was my- my shining star, before- before- well, I’m sure she’s already shared the… gritty details, since you all seem such good- good friends.”
“Still, I suppose it was for the best. Just- just proved old theories correct, I suppose. Humans really can’t trust anyone but ourselves, isn’t that right, your Majesty? Oh, don’t look at me like that, it’s- it’s so disappointing. Really, you should- you should be over here, on my side, not with these- these- “
“Look- look what you’ve aligned yourself with. Monsters? Animals? This can’t- this can’t be what’s best for your people. For- for our people. Humans should stand with each other, not- not fight each other. Do you really think- when- when this is over, do you really think these other- other… races will grant you any kind of favor? Predators aren’t- predators aren’t kind to prey, dear.”
“Because that’s- that’s what we are to them. Prey. I mean, come now, they can barely get along with each other. I mean, really, if it weren’t- if it weren’t for me, when- when you think about it, most of you would still be… hiding away, or- or trying to kill each other. I mean, not to toot my own horn, but-”
“Well, me and- and-” Constantine’s mouth gaped like a fish for a moment. “I’m sorry dear, I never caught your name. Arna, was it? Really, I’m- I’m very impressed with what you’ve done here, gathering so many… stalwart allies like this, despite- despite not really being Princess of anything, no- no offense of course. No need to rub salt in- in the wound here, right? I suppose that was… ‘my bad’, in a way. Or- or most ways-”
Constantine ducked left as a curved sword sliced through the air, rebounding off the pedestal. “Oops! I suppose that’s it, then, and just- just in time, too.”
The pedestal lit up as he spoke, energy radiating off it and trailing across the floor. The hand Constantine had been resting upon it glowed nearly as bright as the stars above and below them all, concentric rivers of light running up his arm and across half his face.
“I really- I really must thank you all for letting me talk so long,” he continued, deflecting blow after blow with his empowered arm as the heroes rushed him one after another. “You know, in all my 93 years of being alive nothing quite compares to the understanding of just- how- little- people will respect an old man.”
Black tendrils wrapped themselves around his legs and torso, seeking to restrain him, yet with a snap of his fingers they were all blasted away, sending their conjurer hurting across the floor. Another sought to land an unexpected blow by rising out of his shadow, only for a wave of the emperor’s hand to send the would-be assassin falling from the sky.
“What did you all really expect here? That your little band of misfit lords could go on a grand adventure to save the world? That companionship and strength won through trial would see you through in the end? Are you all fucking children?”
Constantine lashed out with energy, knocking them all away from him.
“Your strength is meaningless. Your allies are meaningless. I am the summit of humankind. To purge the world clean and make it a haven for my people is my calling and my right. I have not committed sins beyond counting,faced enemies beyond your feeble imagining just to be cut down by a little orphan beast and her cadre of demons!”
Constantine thrust his arm skyward, energy blasting out into the space between the stars. “HEARKEN!! I HAVE ASCENDED THE SUMMIT, AND LAID CLAIM TO THE POWER OF GODS!! SEE NOW THE ARMIES OF MY RECKONING, THE GLORIOUS CLEANSING OF A WORLD LONG LEFT TO ROT!! I AM THE EMPEROR OF MAN!! I AM THE LORD OF ALL LANDS!! I!! AM!! CONSTANTINE!!!!”
The energy from Constantine’s hand carved through the space over the Oblivion Needle, blinding and violent, the divine, impossible CRACK of its fissure bringing silence and stillness to the battle waging far below. Like a great eye it opened, gazing down on the top of the tower, and Constantine gazed back.
He gazed long, and he gazed silently.
Until his lips moved again, nearly imperceptible yet echoing across the sanctum.
“What… is that?”
A world. A world unlike any part of the world they knew. Great spires of glass rose from streets of grey stone cut by rivers of black, sailed by metal carriages with nothing to pull them. Crowds, dense crowds with more people then had ever existed in a single city walked through the streets, ignorant to those viewing them from above, and each one, every single face in every crowd on every corner, had one thing in common.
“...Humans? They’re all… humans? An entire world…”
The corner of Constantine’s mouth twitched, just once, and for a moment all remained still.
Until a wide, mad grin carved across the emperor’s face, and he began to laugh. Louder, more exuberantly than he ever had.
“Of course! Of course!!” He shouted his epiphany to the gaze above, his eyes wide and seeming blind to everything else around him.
The heroes saw a chance, and they took it. As one they stood, and as one they launched their assault, knowing that this moment, this one fleeting moment, might be the only one they ever get.
If only they’d truly gotten that one as well.
Constantine’s arm swung out to the side, catching every one of his assailants, all fifteen of the champions who had stood against him and freezing them in place.
“Oh, sweet, beautiful invention,” Constantine purred as the heroes began to lift off the ground, one by one. “Let it never be said nothing was achieved without sacrifice.”
Constantine raised his arm up, bringing his hand in line with the fissure. Deaf to the struggles of his captives, he let out a sweet, blissful sigh, and one by one sent them hurtling into that great eye until fourteen were gone.
Like comets burning through the night sky, like small pinpricks of light sailing through the void, the heroes left their world behind, falling, falling, falling down to a vast new world below.[/i][/i]
Inside the Oblivion Needle itself a very different battle was occurring as the champions of the alliance climbed their way up toward the apex of the tower, the war outside rendered nearly inaudible by the Needle’s glassy black walls. Things were not silent here by any means, however; the mad emperor Constantine had filled their path with his most trusted servants and deadliest automatons, some they had faced before, others never before seen.
None of the adversaries which stood against them could hold them back, however, and so they climbed, ever higher, ever skyward, leaving the mortal earth behind and ascending far, far, far above the clouds until they stood amongst the stars themselves. Upward and upward and upward they climbed, until finally at the top they found him.
Their unifying enemy. The mad emperor, who’s machinations had brought them all together and seen them travel to the furthest ends of the world.
The master of men himself, Victor Constantine.
He turned their way only briefly as they broke their way into the highest sanctum, far too occupied with the work of unraveling the Needle’s secrets to face them directly.
“Good morning,” he greeted amicably. “Or is it evening now? I don’t really have a clock here you see, and-”
He was cut off by an arrow striking the pedestal he leaned over, missing him only by a tilt of his head.
“You know,” he sighed, disappointed. “You really- you really shouldn’t interrupt people while they’re talking. It’s very rude.”
He turned to face them, one hand on the pedestal for balance, and his other hand flew up as the heroes began to charge him.
“Come- come on now. You can’t give an old man the benefit of his last words before killing him? Honestly, this just feels like a formality at this point, right? Assuming you won’t just- just let me surrender? It’s not like I’m a threat to any of you. Look- look at me.”
He gestured to himself, a small, self-deprecating smile on his lips.
“Are- will- will you give me just a moment, perhaps, to greet you all, and soak in this, this…” Constantine twirled his hand limply through the air, searching for words. A few of the heroes stepped toward him, and he let his hand drop.
“No, I suppose not. A pity, really. This is such an- an important… moment, for all of us.” He spread his arms wide toward all those gathered in the sanctum. “You, the noble champions come to represent the world at this… pivotal moment, and me, the- the-”
Constantine’s words trailed off as he did a triple take, hand coming back down to rest on the pedestal. “General Laskaris? What an… odd reunion this is. You’re- you’re with them? I would’ve thought you’d have stabbed them in the back already, but that’s- I suppose that’s just old experience proving my bias. What won you over here? It can’t have been the pay, I-” He turned to look at the other heroes in attendance. “I paid her quite a lot, you know. She really was my- my shining star, before- before- well, I’m sure she’s already shared the… gritty details, since you all seem such good- good friends.”
“Still, I suppose it was for the best. Just- just proved old theories correct, I suppose. Humans really can’t trust anyone but ourselves, isn’t that right, your Majesty? Oh, don’t look at me like that, it’s- it’s so disappointing. Really, you should- you should be over here, on my side, not with these- these- “
“Look- look what you’ve aligned yourself with. Monsters? Animals? This can’t- this can’t be what’s best for your people. For- for our people. Humans should stand with each other, not- not fight each other. Do you really think- when- when this is over, do you really think these other- other… races will grant you any kind of favor? Predators aren’t- predators aren’t kind to prey, dear.”
“Because that’s- that’s what we are to them. Prey. I mean, come now, they can barely get along with each other. I mean, really, if it weren’t- if it weren’t for me, when- when you think about it, most of you would still be… hiding away, or- or trying to kill each other. I mean, not to toot my own horn, but-”
“Well, me and- and-” Constantine’s mouth gaped like a fish for a moment. “I’m sorry dear, I never caught your name. Arna, was it? Really, I’m- I’m very impressed with what you’ve done here, gathering so many… stalwart allies like this, despite- despite not really being Princess of anything, no- no offense of course. No need to rub salt in- in the wound here, right? I suppose that was… ‘my bad’, in a way. Or- or most ways-”
Constantine ducked left as a curved sword sliced through the air, rebounding off the pedestal. “Oops! I suppose that’s it, then, and just- just in time, too.”
The pedestal lit up as he spoke, energy radiating off it and trailing across the floor. The hand Constantine had been resting upon it glowed nearly as bright as the stars above and below them all, concentric rivers of light running up his arm and across half his face.
“I really- I really must thank you all for letting me talk so long,” he continued, deflecting blow after blow with his empowered arm as the heroes rushed him one after another. “You know, in all my 93 years of being alive nothing quite compares to the understanding of just- how- little- people will respect an old man.”
Black tendrils wrapped themselves around his legs and torso, seeking to restrain him, yet with a snap of his fingers they were all blasted away, sending their conjurer hurting across the floor. Another sought to land an unexpected blow by rising out of his shadow, only for a wave of the emperor’s hand to send the would-be assassin falling from the sky.
“What did you all really expect here? That your little band of misfit lords could go on a grand adventure to save the world? That companionship and strength won through trial would see you through in the end? Are you all fucking children?”
Constantine lashed out with energy, knocking them all away from him.
“Your strength is meaningless. Your allies are meaningless. I am the summit of humankind. To purge the world clean and make it a haven for my people is my calling and my right. I have not committed sins beyond counting,faced enemies beyond your feeble imagining just to be cut down by a little orphan beast and her cadre of demons!”
Constantine thrust his arm skyward, energy blasting out into the space between the stars. “HEARKEN!! I HAVE ASCENDED THE SUMMIT, AND LAID CLAIM TO THE POWER OF GODS!! SEE NOW THE ARMIES OF MY RECKONING, THE GLORIOUS CLEANSING OF A WORLD LONG LEFT TO ROT!! I AM THE EMPEROR OF MAN!! I AM THE LORD OF ALL LANDS!! I!! AM!! CONSTANTINE!!!!”
The energy from Constantine’s hand carved through the space over the Oblivion Needle, blinding and violent, the divine, impossible CRACK of its fissure bringing silence and stillness to the battle waging far below. Like a great eye it opened, gazing down on the top of the tower, and Constantine gazed back.
He gazed long, and he gazed silently.
Until his lips moved again, nearly imperceptible yet echoing across the sanctum.
“What… is that?”
A world. A world unlike any part of the world they knew. Great spires of glass rose from streets of grey stone cut by rivers of black, sailed by metal carriages with nothing to pull them. Crowds, dense crowds with more people then had ever existed in a single city walked through the streets, ignorant to those viewing them from above, and each one, every single face in every crowd on every corner, had one thing in common.
“...Humans? They’re all… humans? An entire world…”
The corner of Constantine’s mouth twitched, just once, and for a moment all remained still.
Until a wide, mad grin carved across the emperor’s face, and he began to laugh. Louder, more exuberantly than he ever had.
“Of course! Of course!!” He shouted his epiphany to the gaze above, his eyes wide and seeming blind to everything else around him.
The heroes saw a chance, and they took it. As one they stood, and as one they launched their assault, knowing that this moment, this one fleeting moment, might be the only one they ever get.
If only they’d truly gotten that one as well.
Constantine’s arm swung out to the side, catching every one of his assailants, all fifteen of the champions who had stood against him and freezing them in place.
“Oh, sweet, beautiful invention,” Constantine purred as the heroes began to lift off the ground, one by one. “Let it never be said nothing was achieved without sacrifice.”
Constantine raised his arm up, bringing his hand in line with the fissure. Deaf to the struggles of his captives, he let out a sweet, blissful sigh, and one by one sent them hurtling into that great eye until fourteen were gone.
Like comets burning through the night sky, like small pinpricks of light sailing through the void, the heroes left their world behind, falling, falling, falling down to a vast new world below.[/i][/i]
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