God of Nothing

Rayse's jaw dropped as the battle finished as soon as it began. He watched Brandon as he triumphantly slung his sword over his shoulder and walked towards the fortress. His blade was literally smoking, steam coming off the blade as it came into contact with the chilly afternoon air. He whistled a tune, uncaring at the destruction in his wake. Several dozens of bodies littered the ground before them, spread outwards from their position. Rayse could even see deep gouges on the fortress wall where Brandon's attack reached.

What the hell was that!?

"You guys coming?" He asked, apparently noticing that no one was following him, before continuing on. They learned their new equipment side by side, but this was something different. 

"Good work, Brandon." Aleph said, before joining his disciple. Lacey and Rayse just looked at each other after that, equally awed and baffled.

"...Did you know he could do that?" Lacey asked.

"Nah. All he did was practice his swordsmanship with me. I didn't know he could…" Rayse just shrugged, annoyed at how strong his friend was getting. He could do something similar, but the amount of force Brandon managed to pull off seemingly without preparation was beyond what Rayse could just pull out even when he could use magic.

The pair briefly went to tend to the horses, two of which were shakily getting up, and led them to their owners.

They walked up to a closed gate, just as Brandon was shouting at somebody from the top of the wall.

"Heyyyy! Let us innnnn!"

The guards busily obliged. By the time Rayse had fully caught up with them, the gate was already swinging open. Beyond it lay a beaming Vaynard, arms wide in welcome.

"You owe me a wall, Aleph." He said warmly.

Aleph did that thing where he tugged at the air again. Something small flew from one of the horses' backs into his hand. It looked like a bundle of rags, as big as Rayse's balled up fist. He presented it to the prince, giving him a warm smile of his own.

"I hope this will suffice, my friend. If not, I will let you borrow Brandon to, ah, temper his enthusiasm."

"Sorry, your majesty." He said sheepishly. "I'll get on that right away."

Vaynard took a peek at the bundle of rags and smiled even wider before tucking it away.

"No, no, you've only just arrived! Take a rest. Iona," She stepped out from behind him as he called. Iona seemed well, aside from maybe looking far less amused than the prince.

"Take them to their quarters. Since your squad is familiar with them, they can stay with you. Oh, and have one of the guys fix our eastern wall, will you?"

"Yes, your highness." Iona bowed, before speaking softly into her collar.

He saw Rayse looking, which finally prompted a smile from her. She adjusted her collar, showing them a nondescript metal stud. It had a harbinger's crystal on it, shining bright red.

"One of Jodi's newest devices. Came weeks before you guys did."

"Ohh." Aleph said, nodding in approval. It looked similar to their brooches, but looked more practical and less like a piece of jewelry. They started to follow her into her squad's section, before Vaynard stopped them.

"Aleph. A word, please?"

"Of course, your majesty." Aleph bowed, accepting the prince's invitation. He turned to his disciples and added, "Go on ahead, children. There is much to be done, so go get your rest."

They parted ways after that. Rayse and his friends were led by Iona through what she affectionately called the fortress city of Mui. It was the structure that stands between the kingdom and the invaders, after all. In a country surrounded on almost all sides by the sea, this mountain pass that used to be one of their only links to outside countries was now all that stood between them and the invaders.

Iona told them its glorious history, but Rayse tuned her out to look at the surroundings. There were a lot more civilians than he thought. Bakers, fruit stand vendors, and even traders were plentiful. He saw some farmers, too, but had no idea that this area even had irrigated land. The scenery stayed like that until they arrived at a larger, more imposing wall. Iona spoke through her communications stud once again, and the gates swung open even before they had arrived.

The wall was thick, far more impressive than the other one they had just walked through. Rayse had been thinking that that previous wall wasn't much. It was barely bigger than the one Hios had.

A city within a city? Confused, he decided to listen into whatever Iona was saying.

"–they could level the mountain to get to us, but they'll be wiped out by nature itself before they step foot in Mios! Hahahaha!" she boasted.

She spouted some nationalistic nonsense after that, so Rayse went right back to ignoring her. Some time later, something caught his eye. He broke off from the group to go towards it.

"And this is– Hey, where are you going?" He heard her say behind her, but he kept going. He saw a large wooden board, every inch of which was carved. It looked fascinating, but that wasn't why he left them. He left because he saw a familiar figure.

"Hey, Luke. Whatcha doin?" Rayse grinned as he found the large man hunched over the board, as if inspecting its carvings.

He straightened up and turned to him, smiled, and pointed at the board.

"Ah, you're finally here. Wanna go see your parents?"

__________________________________

Vaynard and his procession led Aleph to a circuitous route around the fortress, the very same one this city was named after. It loomed large, as if it had always been here as part of the land. Next to it, the residential area that surrounded it felt tacked on, added after the fact. If any serious battle were to occur, much of these 'residences' would be sheep to a slaughter.

Vaynard, who was walking half a step ahead, noticed where he was looking and said, "I don't approve of it, but you know how it is. Our land actually stretches beyond this fort, but repeated losses and, well, these people had nowhere to go…"

Such a setup fascinated Aleph, recalling something similar in his previous world. When the battle lines stabilized, people tend to gather around where the battle was closest, even when it's putting them in even more danger. Five years of war, and it looked like these people had made new lives for themselves right on its edge.

Aleph uttered a spell he had picked up recently, eager to get to business.

"Silent corridor."

He didn't cast it onto their entire path, but made it so the effect followed the pair as they walked side by side. Vaynard looked at him and smiled.

"So we're doing this here, then?"

"With the enemy revealing themselves to be embedded in the capital, we can never be too certain."

That wiped the smirk off his face. Vaynard looked ahead seriously as all levity had vanished from his demeanor. Aleph hardly ever saw him this intense before. Even when he fought, it looked like he wasn't serious, but in matters of state, his dependable side shone through.

"So, what do you know of the current invasion?" He started.

Aleph pondered that. "Not a lot." was his immediate response, but he decided to take a jab at it anyway.

"Two spires of Erebos descended upon this world, one earlier, maybe seven or eight years ago, and one as recently as last year."

They walked under the thick walls of the fortress, then a series of sectioned, maze like walls that looked like a headache to capture. In a fortress this massive, every inch of land would be paid for in blood. Aleph tried not to let his awe get in the way of his recounting of events.

"Judging from how his army used to operate, I would guess that he had waged war with the entire continent as soon as he arrived, spreading from where the spire had descended to the very edges of the world.

"Mios was mostly spared until a few years into their campaign, when they started encroaching on your territory. I would guess that due to the magnitude of their goals, your army never fought more than a single herald at a time, but were nevertheless steadily beaten back until you finally thought to take care of one of their commanders."

He heard Vaynard sigh beside him.

"Well, that's mostly correct. We usually lose ground whenever more than one herald appears, and after one particularly painful defeat, we would just flat out retreat whenever the demon king and his dragon came."

Vaynard was about to enter through one of the buildings, when Aleph instead directed him towards the training grounds. Soldiers were currently drilling there, but the chaotic shouting and grunting was lost in the spell. Aleph shut it off for a moment, to give Vaynard the chance to address his troops, letting them know that he will be watching over them. He was met with thunderous approval, before the training resumed with gusto. 

Then, once they had the pretense to stay here set up, Aleph restarted the spell.

"The rest are as it happened. Continue." Vaynard said without missing a beat.

"Hmm. I think the following events were pretty well documented. Some time last year, you were captured by the full might of the first and second spire. You were taken prisoner, I assume, because Marduk had blessed your line with the power to stand against them. They coveted it, and meant to turn you over to their side somehow. Judging from their actions at the capital, I had assumed that Erosion was part of it, but I had no idea they could control someone like they did your father until recently…"

They stood silently for a while after that. Vaynard stood tall, but Aleph could tell that even more than being kept at an inch before death in Agony's dungeon, the prince had a much torturous experience watching his father be manipulated that way. Aleph waited until what he felt an appropriate time had elapsed before concluding his musings.

"Our escape had coincided with the enemy's ambush, where we found out the reason so many heralds had been staying in the spire on that day. They had erected several warp zones throughout the world, where they had schemed to ambush as many human settlements as they could. We then used one of those same portals to escape.

"Fortunately, we had discovered these portals months in advance. I assumed that Iona and Carrack had warned the other countries in similar fashion, but am not privvy to the extent of the damage beyond our walls."

Vaynard nodded, seeing that it was finally his turn to speak.

"They fared a lot worse than us, Aleph. Most countries, even at the peak of their preparations, were simply ill prepared for the enemy's advance. The handful of known mages that can rival me in strength are barely numbered in the tens, and as of this week, I am unable to contact a single one of them."

He let that sink in for a moment. Aleph was most surprised to learn of other mages that are on Vaynard's level. His abilities were troublesome for sure, but even on earth he doubted there half as many that could be his equal. He was beginning to understand why Erebos wanted a second spire to descend upon this planet to begin with.

The death of these experts were unfortunate, but the implications of their deaths were immense.

"Any news from the outside world? Do any resistance efforts still remain?" He asked.

Vaynard shook his head."Not enough, I'm afraid. Our agents abroad had told us that our friend the dragon rider had been keeping busy the past few months, calling for surrender to the last pockets of resistance that they hadn't yet trampled under their feet. These agents hadn't reported in a while, so I assume them to be traitors or cowards. With all that is against us, I can't even blame them." A rare smile had forced itself out of the prince once again, but it was a lonely, resigned one.

"Any dignitaries I send out receive the same message regardless of the direction I send them. The message reads: Submit, or be vanquished.

"They're browbeaten into submission, Aleph. For all we know, we're the last free country yet standing."

"...Then we cannot rely on support from the outside now." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Regardless of support or information, what we do have is far graver." Vaynard handed Aleph a scouting report, detailing the enemy's movements.

A dragon, seen in the skies over the mountain at various times of day. 

An army on the march, led by an infirm looking being that floated along. 

An entire forest, whose location had been steadily decreasing every time the scouts returned. 

An unseen hunter that roamed the wilds, making sport of the brave scouts whose numbers dwindled by the day. 

The mountain face, riddled with a multitude of holes, filled with the skittering sounds of madness. 

A raving lunatic that seemed to bring this sick, hostile land wherever he went. 

And an evil star that shone black, spotted over the coast, leaving a trail of dead sea creatures in its wake.

The sweat off of Aleph's back seemed to magnify as he read each report. He had openly mocked Erebos' and his army's waning strength, but the generals that led his campaign on this planet were no laughing matter.

"The heralds are coming, Aleph. All of them, from all sides."