Unbound-Chapter Eight Hundred And Forty Eight – 848

It took less than five minutes of flying to get everyone to the crumbled ruins at the center of the poison fields. Harn, Archie, Beef, Hollow, Fafnir, and of course, Pit were there with Felix as he walked the perimeter of the small rocky island. Archie and Beef had given him a bit more rundown of the fight they had at this place. That conversation had continued as Felix walked to the edge of the small island where the viscous waters slopped against the rocks.

"So they've been using some herbs grown in these fields to incubate inside prisoners and then they turn them into essence drafts in these giant jars," Archie shuddered. "Epic ones, they said. Like they were justifying how they did it.”

“That’s awful,” Pit said, his tone dipping into sadness.

"The Wyrmkin have been taking care of most of the survivors," Beef added, "the ones that don't have family in Morva or the other nearby towns."

The sun glinted off of an oily sheen on the water and Felix curled his lip. "Where are the Wyrmkin now?"

"Back at their secret hideout, they've been preparing to go save the Kobolds."

Felix frowned, "They know where they are?"

"No, they're just over eager.”

“They're reckless and violent, but they'd be a help if we're planning on taking Amaranth," Harn said. "They take orders well enough, though not without some convincing.”

“If we tell them we're going to go save those boys, they'll line up for the opportunity." Archie kicked a rock over the ledge and it plunked thickly into the poison. "I've seen their type before. They're crazy, but they're loyal."

"Where's the Seal?" Pit asked, before jerking his head to look into the ruined fortress. "Oh, never mind. That's so weird."

Felix glanced back over his shoulder. "Can you feel it now?"

"Yeah, I didn't before, even from the air, but now that we're so close, it's like a bonfire buried underground." Pit took a step closer before Felix's voice stopped him.

"I'll take this one, Pit," he said with a smile. "You already got the last one."

His Companion froze before sitting back in his haunches, tongue lolling in a doggy grin. "Oh, right."

Archie looked between the two of them, and the impatience rolled off his spirit like pale smoke. "I’m not exactly looking forward to assaulting the Hierophant in her own house, but I thought we were in a hurry. What's the holdup?"

"I'm checking something," Felix said. He reached out a hand, tangling it through pale blue lines that flickered in his vision. He could feel something resonate with his crown, something other than the Seal a hundred yards behind him. "There's an artifact under this muck. It's made of Crescian Bronze."

His Crown had a feature that resonated with items made of the metal, which had drawn his attention in the first place. Mostly though, he found it curious. Instead of some large object buried beneath the swamp, he felt hundreds of smaller pieces, as if they'd been sprinkled across the earth.

Something exploded. He could visualize the arc of the metal pieces deep beneath the surface. They were scattered from a singular point located almost directly beneath their little island. "The poison. It's leaking from something beneath the earth.”

"Huh?" Beef clomped over and looked into the sludge. "From what?"

“I don’t know yet.” Felix clenched his fist. Empyrean Embrace.

The bubbling field of knee-deep poison rippled all at once. Waves rose up, twisting into the air as if dragged up in the wake of some invisible creature, only to congeal into spiraling tendrils that arced inward, toward Felix. In an instant, a hundred thousand gallons turned into smoke, and then into nothing at all as they were consumed entirely.

"Yyero's hairy ass," Harn grunted, "never seen you do that before."

Beef gaped all around them. The shallow lakebed was bare now, nothing more than piles of mud and scraggly trees. "You ate the whole lake?"

Felix winced as the power spiked through him before alighting on his divine tree. The feeling passed quickly, however. "I've eaten bigger things before."

"By volume? I doubt it," Archie said with a breathy laugh. "That's insane."

Felix huffed a short breath through his nose. "You should have seen the last guy." He cracked his neck before walking into the ruins. "Wait here, but be ready for anything."

"What's that mean?" Archie called after him, but Felix didn't bother to answer.

He strode into the ring of broken masonry, where once there had been a new tower of brick and salvaged stone. It was broken now, burst during the fight against the Overlord. Felix could still smell traces of Divinity in the air, like metal lacing the back of every breeze. The ground was torn apart, rent in crumbling furrows that revealed a wet stone where the poison fields had begun to leak inward. Chunks of rock mingled with pools of thick mud where the poison water settled, and in the middle, at the bottom of a half-blasted hole, was the Seal.

Felix couldn't see it, not with his naked eyes, but he could feel the gathering of dormant Authority. Even without the Crown, it was a solid presence. The moment he focused through the Regalia, however, it blazed like a downed sun.

He hopped into the hole, and as his feet touched down, the ground splashed into a burst of gold and silver light, and bells began to ring in a joyous refrain.

Do You Wish To Establish Your Authority?

Y/N

Yes.

Authority Recognized!

Unbound Detected!

Superior Primordial Detected!

WARNING! Authority Cannot—

Just like in Levantier, pressure skittered across him, only to fade away immediately. His sword buzzed, scattering the pressure in all directions.

Inheritor Status Recognized!

Inheritor Status Supersedes All Bloodlines!

Authority Granted!

All Hail The Inheritor, Felix Nevarre!

A connection formed between Felix and the Seat and Seal, and it gleamed, his sigil etching itself across. Scratch that. And it gleamed, burning away the dirt and muck all around him until a circle of complicated sigildry was revealed. It was huge. At least sixty feet wide, with several pieces extending off of it, its center was blank where someone’s claim once held tight. Now gold and silver lines etched themselves into the earth, forming the glyph of House Navarre.

On the final stroke, a presence settled upon Felix's back. A cloak of Authority that mingled with the rest of what he held, expanding an ephemeral part of him that he still didn’t fully understand…and weighed him down like a mountain.

Felix Nevarre.

This Territory Has Been Lost!

What Is Your Choice?

Forsake Or Unite?

Unite.

Within him, Unite the Lost unspooled, its pattern vibrating with refined energies as significance, Mana, and Essence fed into its complicated arrangement. Power pulled from him, aching as it moved through his core space and channels, but it was the familiar ache of a well-worn muscle, one he'd been using all too often of late.

It was nothing he couldn't handle.

Until the land itself buckled as the Grand Harmony played against the fabric of reality.

"Whoa, hold on!" Pit leaped forward, grasping Harn and Beef by the shoulders while Fafnir leapt aboard his back. Archie slid through the bucking earth, diving across solid structures like an Olympic swimmer before hopping atop a rock that sailed across shifting mud and roots.

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"What's going on?" he cried out.

Felix gritted his teeth against the rush of power as it left him, scouring against his channels like sandpaper. Significance fled him, leaving him feeling a touch more empty than before, even as the world changed beneath him.

"Get on, Pit," he cried out. "Trust me!"

He didn't have time to see if Archie listened. Felix gasped, another streamer of significance tearing from him before burying itself into the earth. Beneath him, a pillar of ancient Crescian Bronze rose up out of the muck, reassembling before his eyes even as it lifted him high into the air. Pieces of those scattered fragments reunited into nine hexagonal posts that raised up three separate masses of gold-veined black stone. They were not true circles, or even really discs, more like irregularly shaped slabs that contained heaps of swamp muck, soil, and the remnants of gnarled trees. Yet from each of those rose walls made of bone-white stone and deep golden tones that fed off of Felix's power and the hidden might that had remained dormant within the Seat and Seal for Ages. Each slab was swiftly connected by armored bridges to the others, but Felix lost track of the details. He was preoccupied by the fact that all three slabs rose high above the swamp’s surface until they’d formed a three tiered mountain of ancient design. All around him, the interior filled with buildings and streets and towers that climbed up into the blue sky.

Felix fell back, his power still rolling through him as the city rose, until he stopped out to where his friends had fled. There, Pit perched, his friends on his back, while behind Felix the final pieces of Crescian Bronze reassembled, forming a gate into the city.

Wow. The Gate was at least fifty feet high and its bronze surface was covered in complicated geometric designs and Nymean stars.

A deep, resonant drum crashed against his senses and everyone there was forced back several steps as the city completed itself.

Hevaan!

The Sword Of The South!

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Lost No More!

All Hail The Inheritor, Blade of Hevaan, Felix Nevarre!

Quest Completed!

Empire Of The Fiend!You have passed the first mile marker on the path of empire, yet your climb is far from over. Claim the Seat and Seal of at least seven Territories to establish your realm.

Rewards:

+Increased Defensive And Offensive Capabilities In Claimed Territories

+Increased Resources In Claimed Territories

+Title

+XP

+Varies

Territories Claimed: 7/7

Defensive And Offensive Capabilities Are Increased Across All Claimed Territories!

Felix's Authority screen opened itself highlighting the tabs available for Hevaan. Most were grayed out, especially things like population and resources, but there were tabs listing defensive and offensive arrays, basic things like the Field of Infernal Heat and Monsoon Tides, which seemed to play into the nature of the jungle around them.

The Gates, however, were listed as a special feature for defense and they gained a certain glow as the reward propagated across Felix's claimed Territories. He knew without even delving into them that their power rose far higher and extended far deeper than the physical barrier itself did.

All Resources Have Increased By A Factor Of Seven In All Claimed Territories!

The tab for resources flickered, its information expanding as people fell into the range of his new city and the city itself commanded Authority over the entire territory. The gray vanished on both resources and population tabs and suddenly Felix was inundated with detailed information on the demographics of the area as well as their major crops, imports, and exports. It was a little dizzying to be in, if he were entirely honest, and he closed it.

New Title!

Blade of Hevaan (Legendary)!

Called the Sword of the South, the Gates of Hevaan were the final bastion for all members of the Golden Empire as they traveled into the Continent’s Interior. It stood tall during the Seige of the Gondarii, unmoved by the Wasting Travelers, and untouched by the Night of Burning Rivers. All fell before the Chthonic Host, unable to breach the Gates and unable to defend against the Blade That Burned. The Sword of the South is bared once more, ready to defend the Empire of the Fiend!

+200 STR, END, VIT

+Increased Authority Within Jaast

+Access To The Gates Of Hevaan

New Title!

First Of His Name (Legendary)!

You have reached the next step in the path of empire! You have claimed seven Seats and Seals to establish your realm and united a vast array of peoples under your banner. You have ascended the steps to the throne, Felix Nevarre. What shall you do now?

+Leader’s Charisma - All Positive Relations With Allies Increases By 25%

+Regional Lock Removed - All Offensive And Defensive Arrays Can Be Used Across All Claimed Territories

+Emperor’s Aura - Increases allies' damage output and defensive capabilities by 10% when within the same Territory as the Emperor. Adds a chance of inflicting an instance of Regal Dominance, reducing their Will and Perception.

+Song Rearrangement Now Available!

A feeling of pressure gathered behind Felix's eyes as if a thought were being born in the darkness between his brain and skull. Music swelled, the grand harmony rousing into a strange spiraling crescendo that skittered with dissonance. All at once it leapt forward, bursting from within his mind to join with the songs resonating all around him.

A notification window appeared and it was clear that everyone saw it. It was blue-white, edged in gold, and the glyph of House Navarre was set into the top like a burning, watchful eye.

All Hail Emperor Felix Nevarre, First Of His Name!

Let This Be The First Day Of The Empire Of The Fiend!

A glyph etched itself into the sky above the center of Hevaan, visible even from outside the walls. It gleamed red-gold, forming an eye surrounded by a crown, while the center burned blue-white. His glyph.

And then it was done, and Felix took a deep, steadying breath.

"Blind gods," Harn swore. "That notification went out to everyone."

"Like everyone, everyone?" Beef asked.

"I'm sure people even in the Southern Interior got that notice. Same as the one where you killed Siva." Harn ground his teeth together. "Folks will take notice. The Hierophant especially."

“There’s nothing I can do about that,” Felix said, trying to banish his own worries. “We just have to be ready for her.”

Harn grunted in agreement.

“Uh, congrats on becoming an emperor, I guess,” Archie said.

Beef laughed. “This is crazy. Everything you do is flippin’ nuts! You pulled a city of gold from the earth, man!”

Archie reached out toward the massive gates before pulling his arm back without touching them. “Oh man, those are vibrating like nothing I’ve seen before. That’s Crescian Bronze right? Do you have any idea how much this thing is worth? The bounty on Crescian Bronze half this size is enough to buy all the Rimefang Mountain Holds together.”

Fafnir sniffed at the Gates before snorting and clawing at it. Her black claws struck sparks.

“Hey, stop that!” Beef reached down and scooped the little monster up. “Sorry Felix.”

“How do we get in?” Hallow asked.

Pit shrugged. “Could just fly over.”

“The Gates won’t let you,” Felix warned. “But this place isn’t our enemy.”

He reached out and put his hand back on the Gates. It felt warm, nearly hot, as if they’d been baking in the sun for hours. There was a great deal of significance woven into them—so much so that it practically made the earth beneath his feet feel ephemeral.

What could have broken these apart?

He pressed gently, and the Gates swung open.

Inside, the city of Hevaan was empty. Despite being filled with wide plazas, tall buildings, and lanterns at regular intervals along the streets, it was devoid of life. The nearest structures could have been shop fronts or homes. Many had steep roofs, while just as many boasted golden domes that topped them. The place looked like a mix between a temple and some ancient lost civilization. Felix supposed it was.

Huge stepped wells were dug into each plaza, their pathways spiraling down into the discs that the first section of the cities were built into. The glint of fresh water reflected onto the white and gold structures in rippling lines. Towers were strewn about, some no more than a few stories above the others. A handful soared high above the skyline, piercing the blue with gold-capped domes. Some connected the large black rock foundations of each city structure, or each city district, as they rose in ascending tiers.

Bridges were set at the end of pathways, connecting these places to one another. At the very top, hidden by elevation and the glare of the sun, Felix could make out some sort of palace.

"Look at this," Pit said, walking to the nearest well.

Set along many of the pathways and around each well that Felix could see were enormous statues made of dark black rock. They were masterful creations, seeming almost alive, and depicted large cats standing proudly or lounging indolently. They weren't just cats, however. They looked like panthers, but had the distinct hindquarters of lizards and a segmented barbed tail.

"Harnoqs," Pit warbled in joy. "A’zek will be pleased to see this."

That made Felix smile.

“We need to get the people of Morva moved in here. It’ll provide some protection in the days to come.”

“I can get the Wyrmkin to reach out, and the militia will mobilize pretty fast,” Beef said. “What about the other towns nearby?”

“Invite them too. There’s space enough for everyone.”

Archie raised his eyebrows. “You know they’ll fight for the best spots, right?”

“No they won’t.” He reached into the list of his Songs of Authority. His title had said “rearrangement” was now available, and Felix had a feeling he knew exactly what that meant. He selected the Song of Restriction and a new option populated.

You Have Selected The Song Of Restriction!

Do You Wish To Rearrange This Melody?

Rearrangements Include Targeting, Exceptions, And Conditional Statements.

Felix fiddled with his options, but it was entirely based off his Intent. He didn’t need to word it perfectly, he simply needed to hold the Intent firm in his Mind while enacting his Authority.

“Give them all fair warning. If anyone tries to jockey for position or fight over freely given resources, then they’ll be restricted and kicked out of the city.” Felix let the new arrangement fall into place, and his Authority hummed, easily accepting it.

Archie tilted his head, clearly listening to the music that swirled around them. “You can do that?”

“I can now.”

“Damn.”

“What next, then?” Harn asked.

Felix fished a Seed of Remembered Light out of his pocket. “Find me a place to plant this.”