Realm of Monsters-Chapter 709: Regalis

Chapter 709: Regalis

Half an hour earlier…

The ships of ice floated down the river after the frost-mist. The magical fog covered the Sylvan fleet entirely, leaving the foremost ships a mere faint silhouette on the horizon.

The night was young, the moon in full bloom, and the taste of war was on the lips of every Sylvan warrior onboard their ships. The crew of the vanguard ships could see the river gate of Murkton ahead.

Sounds of horns and soldiers echoed across the Murkton walls. The orcs knew they were coming, but it did not matter. War was upon Murkton and there was not a force in all the realms that could deter them. Or so believed the Silver Mother as she watched from the upper as the Warrior and Shaman Elects rallied their soldiers for battle.

“The time has finally come, my lady,” the Silver Mother glanced up at her goddess.

“Yes…” Lunae muttered, her silver eyes distant.

“Mother Moon…? Is something the matter?”

Lunae did not respond.

Goblins all across the ships shouted in unison, cries of war building up their passion and zealotry. Tonight, they would taste the blood of their enemies.

The Warrior Elect climbed the steps to the upper deck and bowed before his goddess. “Our warriors are ready to fight and die for our people, your divine eminence. They await your orders. You need only say the word.”

“Tell the women and men not to attack, Lykos,” Lunae said without glancing at him.

He looked as if he had been slapped. “Pardon?”

“Not yet.” Lunae stepped off the upper deck and floated down past the ship and into the river. Her bare feet touched the water and it froze underneath her every step. She walked past the frost-mist and came to stand alone in front of her fleet.

A figure flew past the river gate’s ramparts on wings of fire and landed in the water only a few paces from the goddess. Bellum hovered slightly over the river, the water underneath her bubbling and faintly turning into steam.

Bellum inclined her head. “Aunt Lunae, thank you for coming. I—”

“You wished to speak, then speak what you came for,” Lunae said curtly.

“I know you’ve wanted to reclaim your home for a very long time. I understand, I do. This was my home as well. I was born here,” Bellum sighed. “But I also know doing it this way isn’t what you truly want. You want to protect your people and bring back the glory of Lunis, yes, but you don’t want to destroy all of Murkton.”

“You’re wrong. I do wish to destroy that which they have built upon the corpses and ruins of my people.”

“Fine, then do so, but spare their lives. No matter how this plays out, many people, orcs and goblins both will die. Do you not care about what happens to them?” Bellum pointed at the fleet behind Lunae.

“My warriors have waited for this day their entire lives. They will gladly die to see Lunis reborn.”

Bellum shook her head. “Then let me at least evacuate the women and children in the city.”

“No.”

“No?” Bellum frowned. “They’ve done nothing to you. Not a single orc in that city has ever even seen a Sylvan goblin, let alone hurt them.”

“Hurt?” Lunae narrowed her eyes. “Just today, they threw a festival in which they tortured and ritually sacrificed nine goblins. Those goblins may never have stepped foot into Vulture Woods, but their ancestors all came from Lunis. A city that now only brings them pain and death.”

“Lunae, I swear I will personally find the ones responsible for such a wretched ritual and kill them myself.”

“Responsibility lies in the people who cheered the sacrificing of those goblins. No, there are no innocents among that city. I will not spare the orcs.”

“I assure you, not everyone in Murkton agrees with what’s been done to goblins. The orcs do not all deserve the horrors you intend to inflict upon them. Many are innocent.”

“So long as the orcs benefit from the crimes of their ancestors by continuing the cycle of harm against my people, then they are no innocents.”

“How have they continued the cycle? What has an orc child done to hurt goblin-kind?”

“Each day that the orcs wake up and live peacefully in ‘their’ city is another day a goblin dies trying to survive in Vulture Woods. The orcs live in our home, enjoy the safety of our walls, and the bounty of rivers, all the while my people die. Then the orcs have the gall to say it is what we deserve? That this city is theirs by rights of their ancestors? The orcs may have forgotten how Murkton came to be, but we have not.”

“Then exile the orcs. Let them leave in peace.”

“No.”

“Can’t you see that if you do this, then all you’re doing is repeating the cycle? If you attack now, who is to say that in 300 years the orcs will not come back and attack Lunis?”

“...You’re right,” Lunae admitted softly.

Bellum sighed in relief. “Then—”

“Which is why I cannot take such a risk. I will end the cycle. Not a man, woman, or child in that city will survive. I will decimate Murkton so thoroughly that not even in a thousand years will the orcs forget what happened here tonight. Not a single one of them will ever dare lay a finger on my city.”

Bellum looked at her aunt with a broken heart and pleaded with her gaze, searching for some change of heart within Lunae, but there was none she could see. “What you’re doing is monstrous.”

“You weren’t there. I still see them in my dreams, Bellum. I witnessed all of it the night my city burned. When orc soldiers rushed into the bedrooms of children and murdered them. When the orcs raped the women and tortured the men.”

“Those orcs are all dead, Lunae.”

“How easy it is for them to hide behind the passing of years and claim no guilt for their ancestors, all the while reaping the rewards of their ancestors' crimes.” Lunae floated into the sky and glared at the city in the distance. “Kill them all,” her voice echoed across the frozen fleet.

The roars of thousands replied in unison and the ships began to sail straight towards the gate.

“So be it,” Bellum whispered. She drew her sword and shield, and shot into the sky, a comet wreathed in golden flames.

Lunae barely had a moment to react before she was struck from below. Her touch of ice was ineffective against the blazing flames of the sun and vice versa. Bellum knew it to be true and did not hesitate; she slammed Lunae’s arm away with her orichalcum shield and stabbed her sword into her aunt’s chest.

Lunae escaped just enough to avoid being impaled, though the orichalcum blade still scored her ribs. She flew back and made space between them. “You’d side with them?” Lunae grimaced and held her wound, dark ichor flowing out between her fingers.

“Forgive me, but I cannot stand aside and watch you commit genocide.” Bellum raised her sword high. Golden flames condensed around the blade and turned black. She swung her sword down and a wave of fire rained down upon the frozen fleet’s vanguard.

The waters of the river came up to meet the flames and formed a canopy of ice. The fire battered against the magical ice, but the cold overwhelmed it and doused the flames into smoke.

“You may be fast with the sword, but you are only a minor goddess of the sun. And I am still the goddess of the moon. Your magic will not prevail against mine.” Lunae lowered her bloodied hand and revealed unblemished silver skin where her deep cut had only just been.

“I may be a minor goddess of the sun, but I am still the goddess of war and I am faster than you,” Bellum pointed her sword at Lunae.

“Yes, your divine gifts are more favourable in close combat than mine own. But do you think that will stop me under a full moon?” Lunae’s eyes flared a bright silver.

“No matter how strong you are, orichalcum steel will still penetrate a titan’s flesh.” Bellum banged her blade against her shield. “I wield my shield and my father’s sword. Let us see if your claws can match them.”

Lunae stared at the orichalcum weapons. One was dangerous enough, but two placed her at a significant disadvantage. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Heed my call, Regalis.”

“No.” Bellum’s eyes widened at her words. She charged at Lunae as fast as she could, denying her time.

~~~

Deep in the heart of Morrigan’s castle, a hidden chest stirred. A metallic black shape ripped open the hinges and drilled a hole through the wall where it lay. It flew down the halls and punched straight through a window.

The dark shape flapped in the wind and curled around itself, forming the loose shape of a javelin.

Bellum and Lunae fought above the city. The latter hurled bolts of ice against the former, but Bellum blocked them aside with her shield and stayed on top of Lunae, refusing to let up.

With a slash of her sword, Bellum cut through Lunae’s defense and swung her sword down on Lunae’s exposed waist. Time seemed to almost slow down as a black javelin cut in between titans and met Bellum’s flaming sword.

The javelin crumpled against the weight of the blade, but instead of shattering, the javelin expanded and transformed into a large blanket that wrapped around the blade and tossed it to the side.

Bellum grunted and with a bout of strength, managed to rip her sword out. She turned and flew backwards, eyeing the shimmering blanket warily. “It was lost.”

“It was hidden,” Lunae corrected. The blanket wrapped around her and the fabric melted over her body, transforming into a dress of liquid steel, its threads white under the moonlight.

“You knew where Regalis was all along.” Bellum silently cursed her own luck.

“My village’s elders carried Queen Selyndra’s raiment for thousands of years, it was one of their most precious artifacts. Did you think when I bonded to Regalis, that I would ever lose it?” Lunae stretched out her hand and the white threads of the dress extended and formed a lattice blade. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

“One could hope,” Bellum muttered.