Shadow of the Abyss

They all stank.

The men, women, and children clinging to their mother's withered tit smelt as if they had bathed themselves in the dead. It wasn't a scent any sort of human would find pleasant. Altair had never seen anything like it, not even in Yarwin during the final days where demons pillaged and raped all that caught their eye.

He covered his nose. "Why do they all smell like a rotten corpse."

"To hide from the dead," one of the Spearmen said. He looked embarrassed but still spoke. "The undead tend to ignore us when they perceive us as one of their own."

Altair glanced at the children, who were as thin as dried leaves, ravaged by diseases. There wasn't one present whose skin hadn't been inflamed by undead blood.

It looked painful.

"We don't need your judgment!" A gaunt woman said, holding her infant tighter. "We do it to survive! You will, too!"

"So we have to take in another!"

"We already took in that woman!"

Angry voice punctuated here and there before a man who carried the bearing of a lordling stepped out. Head held high, as not to hide his nobile linage, sauntered forward. Unlike the others, his flesh was healthy: pudgy with water and a good set of meat on his bones.

"Who are you, stranger?" he asked, though his gaze never left Tasha's.

"Altair Blackwood," Altair said, unsure why he'd accented his name like a High Imperial of Genisis. But it came naturally to him as the arrogance ingrained in his blood sought to leave its cage.

Tasha seemed to notice and smiled.

Ravel looked stunned, trying to maintain his appearance, but beneath Blackwood's stare, he instinctively bowed as if before his Lord Father, the Barron of Evank. He was a barrons son, born out of illegitimacy, to a common wench who'd picked up whoring as a means to support her five children when her husband fell to the plague.

She'd fallen for the Barron, only for her head and her five children to be placed on a spike out of shame of having bedded and impregnated a whore.

None of the Ravels brothers were sure why their Lord Father had allowed his life and not spiked him as he did the whore and her five bastards, but they often mocked him.

Even now, beneath Altair's haunty gaze, stripping him bare, Ravel did not look disturbed. He was used to such stares. More than accustomed to them.

"What Kingdom do you hail from?" Altair inquired, studying the man. He didn't understand why he appeared so much more healthy than the others.

"The Kingdom of Orvat," said Ravel. "My father was a Barron."

The angry voice faded at Ravel's overly polite voice. They'd never heard him take that tone with anyone.

'So not the heir but the second born or a bastard. No way a Barron would send the heir of their house to the Tower.' Altair figured. And he said, "You're a strong man. Five Circles, by the looks of it. Do you know where the Lich King is?"

The whisperers returned in full, ravaged by fear and dread.

"My Lord," said Tasha. "Most of these people are trapped."

"Trapped?" Altair asked.

"Hmm~ They've all been here for generations. It's not that they don't know where the Ascension Gates are located. It's just that it's inaccessible."

Altair brows beetled. And Ravel said," It's as she says. Even as a Fifth Circle, I am powerless before hundreds of thousands of undead around the Fourth Circle guarding the Ascension Gate."

The Emperor lifted a brow. "Interesting. I wasn't aware that was allowed."

"There isn't a rule against it, Lord Blackwood," said Ravel calmly. He hesitated, adding, "They even say he possesses an undead dragon.

"Strange. I know quite a few people who've ascended past this floor." Altair folded his arms, glancing at Tasha. "What do you know?"

"Only that those that do usually pay a tribute to the Lich King. The kind of Tribute you'd never agree to."

Altair scuffed. "As if I'd ever pay Tribute to anyone. What type of foolishness is going on here? What is he asking for?"

"Depends on who you are," Ravel said. "Sometimes he'll ask for your blood; other times, he'll ask for a favor, treasure, or your first or secondborn. Sometimes it is small, other times, so enormous one simply has to refuse."

"Then the people here? Was the price too large?"

"No. It wasn't that the price was too high. It's just that we are too weak to approach his army without being slaughtered in a few seconds."

Altair grinned. "What a curious thing. Are you saying that the Lich King can match a ninth Circle? I'm sure hundreds pass through each day."

Ravel looked disturbed. "I have no answer, Lord Blackwood. I'm not a ninth Circle, so I cannot say."

"Then…" The Black Knight approached. "What do you all do for food?"

The question turned the crowd silent, none of them daring to look the other in the eye.

The answer to such a question didn't matter to Altair, for he asked, once more, "Where is the Lich King?"

"A-A-At the heart of the city, Lord Blackwood." Ravel stammered, looking queerly at Altair. He reached out to grab him, but Tasha slapped his hand away with such shattering force he paled, feeling his arm nearly torn off its shoulder.

Tasha sneered, "Do not touch my Master with your filthy hand."

"Now-Now," said Altair, patting Tasha on the bottom, listening to her purr like a cat. "No need for violence. Let's go. I've gotten what I wanted."

"Wait!" The Black Knight, outstretching her arm to grab Altair. This time, it was Therion who barred her access to his lord.

A sphere of pure black mana pulsating from his fingertip pointed at the Black Knight.

She hadn't even the words to speak before Therion unleashed a spell that seemed to suck the color from their surroundings.

Enma, he invoked.

The Black Knight hadn't even seen what had occurred before the ancient armor that ordained her body ignited with ancient runes, and a beam of black energy struck her, flinging her body into a nearby building.

Altair frowned. "Enough. There wasn't a need for that Therion."

Tasha seemed to think otherwise. "My Lord, we are here to protect you. We cannot simply allow those that have yet to be vetted by members of your court to simply touch you, much less address you."

"I am you're Emperor," Altair declared.

"That is precisely why no matter how much you punish us, we will make the same mistake over and over again," Tasha said. "Such is our love for you."

Altair grimaced, suddenly recalling the words of Tenebrae. "A King is not without rules set by the people they govern, Art. As you protect them, so too shall they protect you."

'She was right.'

Presently, Altair lifted his eyes towards the Black Knight, who was falling from the building that she had crashed into. He was impressed by the way the armor absorbed so much of Therion's spell that it managed to kill demons of the Hells.

"That armor…" Tasha muttered. "Those runes are Enochian."

"Far from it," Altair said, glancing at the runes. He spoke the language well enough to see that whatever runes hung on the Black Knights's body were not Enochian.

"What I mean," Tasha rephrased, "Is that its Broken Enochian? There was a lot of that during the Age of Mist. Mortals who hear the language of the angels try to write it down, only for it to mistakenly be inscribed due to their limited minds."

The Black Knight, who'd fallen from the building, toppled to her knees, coughing up a mouthful of blood through the visor of her helm.

"You can use that armor!" Tasha suddenly exclaimed. "Armor like that should be able to match the size of its master. All we have to do is kill that girl."

Altair thought about it, almost allowing himself to smile. He sauntered over to the Black Knight, still on her knees.

'She survived a Fourth Circle Spell but fell to Enma a second level. Is it because Therion's mana and my own are the same?' he wondered, keeping his eye on the black knight reaching for her sword. 'No, that is not the case. Perhaps it's because I'm so much weaker now that I'm sealed.

Presently, he said, "Draw your blade, and I'll take your head."

The black knight froze, biting her lip.

"Actions and their consequences. Had you built a relationship instead of acting all haunty, none of this would have happened. Therion might not have attacked you. Oh well. The question now is… should I kill you? Armor from the Age of Mist can surely do me good.

It could even save my life. Tell me, stranger… Should I kill you?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I…" she went silent, keeping her head down.

"Master…" Tasha suddenly exclaimed. "If you're hesitant about whether to kill her. Why not just use her as bait?"

"Bait?"

Tasha smiled, a smile as cruel as the Hells. "Oh yes. The armor is quite sturdy. If we starve her for a few days, then toss her to hoards of undead. We can have fewer enemies to face against the Lich King. Not to mention, I'm sure her armor will keep her alive.

So when you return triumphantly, we can simply kill her later and take all of her for all that she is worth. Who knows. Perhaps she is really pretty underneath that armor."