A Guide to Kingdom Building

"One…two…" Lord Prestonheim counted silently as he tracked the shifting shadow from behind the undead knights.

He wanted to time his evasion against the illusive monster. A few moments ago, Lord Prestonheim had to exert himself with the little exousia he had left to create a light wall in between the bodies of the unconscious faerfolk and the grim monster on the other side of the broken barrier.

The Commander was supposed to help the elf fight off the undead knights. He wanted to support her, so she can attack the puppet master from the back row. But everything did not go as planned and now the old Commander must find a way to save them out of there.

The Obscuros shifted further to the right and extended its ugly appendages towards him.

"…three!" With only a fingerling away from the tentacle, Lord Prestonheim managed to parry it with his broken blade while simultaneously running towards the fallen faerfolk. He tumbled to the ground as he reached them, but otherwise he was alright.

Lord Prestonheim fixed his eyes on the shadows once more. But this time, it was proven to be more difficult than the last. The dark fog crept back, engulfing them once more with that blinding darkness. The Commander felt it again—that sense of dread tingling from his spine. He knew too well what was about to happen next.

Even on this dire circumstance, Lord Prestonheim refused to succumb to his fears. The monster already did that to him earlier and it wasn't pleasant, it was hell. He knew how the Obscuros feed themselves. He got it all figured out and he's not giving it that satisfaction.

The Commander lifted his broken blade skyward and began to chant.

"He who rules the sky, descend your wrath to those who oppress the land." Lord Prestonheim focused his exousia on his blade creating a thin sliver of light that reached the sky.

"Smite, Lord Zaados!"

The sky rumbled and cracked as lightning descended into the blade. The force momentarily made the Commander lose his footing, but he recovered almost instantly and struck the ground in front of him. The powerful lightning let out a roar from his blade and spread on the ground creating veins of light reaching the farthest end of the undead line.

The ground erupted in its tremendous force as light burst out of the scorched earth. In that bright and huge explosion, Lord Prestonheim managed to carry the elf and the dwarf away from danger. Alas, the Commander's body betrayed the sturdy brave old knight. His knees gave out on him and he went plummeting into the ground with the elf and dwarf along with him.

Lord Prestonheim did his best to move his body, but the strain from his exertion made it agonizing for him even to lift a finger. The spell caught up with him, that's why he loathed using it. However, the situation called for it and he prayed that spell should be able to eradicate the remaining Dhampiirs around.

The dust finally settled. Lord Prestonheim pushed himself as hard as he ever can for them to survive. Gritting his teeth, he dragged the faerfolk close to their other two comrades who were safely protected by the runes.

As he looked around, he was relieved to see the devastated ground rid off of the undead and Obscuros, or so he thought.

"AAAKKKKKKAAAAAAAKKKKKKK!" a shrill laughter echoed. "Hiiiiii…naaaayyy"

Out from nowhere, another fog slowly consumed the camp. It was colder and darker than it was before. Floating out from the fog was another batch of the Dhampiirs. But these ones were different compared to the other ones before them. These monsters had horns and crowns on their heads. There five of them ready to wreak havoc and chaos once more.

They made their presences known to the Commander by greeting him with their grotesque smile as they hover across the camp towards them. The creatures were accompanied by loud screams of anguish and pain coming from the fog.

The shrill voices of men and women felt like trumpets signalling their ascension to this world. Lord Prestonheim could feel his skin crawl as they slowly moved towards them. Suddenly, they stopped. The Dhampiir in the middle with a crown made of horns and human hands pointed at him. The Commander despite the crippling pain, did his best to raise his sword, making it known to them that he wasn't afraid.

The Obscuros laughed in its shrill and awful cackle. It smiled at him as it raised its arms. The camp turned into an ethereal green glow. Ghastly apparitions started appearing from the ground. Lord Prestonheim recognized most of them, it was his fallen knights.

The creature just called upon their souls to rally against him. He saw as their pale, contorted faces writhed in anguish as they rose and floated towards the Dhampiir.

"Meeennn…for…ma…tioonnn…" the crowned one mocked. "Al...phhaa…"

The ghost assumed the formation. The same formation Lord Prestonheim ingrained on his knights when they were still alive. His ghastly knights aimed their blades perfectly forward while their shields covered their left.

Lord Prestonheim already sensed their doom, but he wasn't about to give up, not without a fight. He stabbed his broken sword to the ground and gritted his teeth as he spent his exousia and life force for one final spell.

"Bright Light Lunae. Oh, fair goddess that governs the moon. Have mercy on your peo…" His eyesight began to falter. "…ple! Grant me your servant your light to vanquish the darkness that you fought for so long."

The crowned Dhampiir shrieked. A strong violent wind blew towards him, it wouldn't let him finish the spell. The wind almost blew him off the spot but held on tight. The wind slashed his skin, tearing him apart in the process, but the old Commander persevered.

"Lunae… Mother Lunae! Come…forth and…embrace us…with your protec…tion." The area around him slowly lit up and swirls and lines suddenly appeared into the ground.

The Dhampiir noticing this, pointed his finger to the Commander once more signaling the enslaved souls to attack. As they rushed towards him, Lord Prestonheim felt a warm hand tapping his shoulder.

"Lord Prestonheim…don't do it."

He looked around to see a man with a glowing pair of eyes looking at him. The Commander startled at the sight of him.

"W-who…are…you?" He asked as his mind slowly drifted while activating the spell.

The mystery person didn't answer. The man took the Commander's hand off the blade. Lord Prestonheim he wanted to insist on continuing the spell, but he was too weak already. The light slowly faded, and the swirls slowly disappeared on the ground.

The man held Lord Prestonheim's broken sword. "Bright Light Oyue!"

The ground lit up brighter than before and the glowing swirls and circles merrily danced around them. Lord Prestonheim sat there in wonder as he saw how the stranger activated using a different command. The exhausted Commander looked around in his last-ditch effort to identify who it was.

"…you?!" The Commander exclaimed. "H-how?"

"Later, my Lord…" The man said, "After I bring them all down."

The man walked out of the circle while raising his right hand. As the horde of ghosts went on for the charge, a swirling disc of light came cutting the ranks in front. It swerved for another round, cutting some of the ghosts and vaporizing them out of the plane, before the crowned Dhampiir finally signaled them to retreat.

The glowing disc finally made its way to the man's raised hand.

"That gladius!" Lord Prestonheim shouted. "You're going to drain yourself, 132-X!"

132-X smiled at him, "It's alright. I can handle this."

He immediately rushed towards the crowned Dhampiir, vaporizing ghosts along the way. His inhuman speed made it impossible for the Commander to track the awakened slave. As far as he could comprehend, there was only a long white light bending fast, tearing the hordes apart.

The Commander noticed how the fog slowly backed away from the camp. The Dhampiirs began to panic as the rushing light decimated their undead army. Two of the Dhampiirs stepped in to stop the rushing light.

Lord Prestonheim saw how the monsters shifted themselves into grotesque tentacle-filled blobs, blocking 132-X from their leader. But they were no match for him. The light simply danced around the tentacles before cutting them off to pieces. Thunderous shrieks echoed throughout as 132-X continued decimating them.

Then soon after, the other two Dhampiirs merged and became a dark horrific anomaly with a humanoid body, bat-like wings, and an octopus-like head. It screamed at the rushing light hoping its power could stop its momentum, but it failed.

The light seared past through it and ultimately decapitating it in the process. A huge explosion of black smoke covered the area. But the light was still visible from where Lord Prestonheim was. Without warning, something came crashing down near their new barrier.

The crowned Dhampiir laid on a crater in the ground it created upon impact. It tried to stand up, but its limbs were cut-off cleanly. It shrieked in pain, but this time the shriek no longer held the sinister power it had. Lord Prestonheim couldn't take his eyes away from the scene.

From the dark smoke emerged 132-X carrying his glowing sword over his shoulder, his glowing white eyes, transfixed on the fallen monster. The monster tried its best to hurt him. It tried to open its mouth and flicked a tentacle over the barrier, hoping it would break it and hurt the Commander and his friends inside—but that didn't work.

The barrier simply vaporized one of its tentacles.

With a blink of an eye, 132-X was already in front of the defeated monster, holding it by its horn. He looked into the monster eyes before smashing it to the ground, breaking the horns and crown in the impact.

"You weren't strong!" 132-X said as he lowered down his blade and pointed it at the creature. "I will tell HIM that myself when I see him down there!"

For the first time Lord Prestonheim saw the terror in the creature's eyes as 132-X swung the sword and decapitate its head.

It was a sight to behold for a number of reasons. Firstly, the monster who feeds on fear finally got a taste of its own medicine. And secondly, because the one who gave it to the creature no longer looked human.

To Lord Prestonheim he wasn't looking at a risen slave, not even close to that! He was looking at the rise of a hero. The same hero he's great grand uncle had talked to him long before. The man who became a god among men.

"ADALOUN…" He blurted out of awe and wonder.

"Yes, my Lord? Did you call my name?"