Threads of the Soul

Once the leader fell, the rest of the Hemogoblin army was quick to follow. Especially after Cynthia slinked her way behind their lines and assassinated their mages, completely cutting off their near endless supply of troops.

The majority of the Hemogoblins were still following the previous tactic of throwing themselves at the enemy, without a single regard for their lives. However with their respawn suddenly cut off, this tactic quickly turned detrimental and just increased the rate at which the human resistance could cull their once impressive number.

It seemed, however, that some of the Hemogoblins were smarter than the rest, or perhaps simply more cowardly at their core. Once the troops closer to the back line realised their mages had been snuffed out, and seeing the headless corpse of the leader they once thought undefeatable, many of them simply decided to run for the hills.

Some of the more rambunctious warriors still high on their victory, or those boiling with rage at the death of their brothers and sisters in arms, were eager to pursue and slaughter the monsters once and for all. However, Seth had Corvus quickly put a halt to such an idea. For one, there was no way of knowing if they had laid some sort of trap to retreat back into, that would be the smart thing to do after all, and falling for such a trap would sour such a sweet victory.

But he also stopped it for another reason, the smug smile plastered across what remained of the Hobgoblins face. Something about him giving that damned smile, even when faced with his own defeat, sent shivers down Seth's spine. After all, they still hadn't figured out where they had come from.

They knew that the mages made stones that spawned the grunts, but is that how the mages were spawned? What about the big ugly ones like this Hobgoblin? If so, where did the first one come from?

It just didn't add up. Not even close. Perhaps it would end up as nothing more than paranoia, but Seth would rather worry about such an issue and be wrong than ignore it and his suspicion turn out to be right.

So for the time being, he operated under the assumption that there was more out there. Another army with More mages and more Hobgoblins, maybe something even worse.

As for the beasts you ask? Well, they were a mixed bag. When the Hobgoblin was released of the burden of his head, and the life drained from his body with every spurt of blood, the crudely forged metallic bracelet that simply broke in half. Before Seth could even think of getting his grubby little mitts on it, it was clattering to the ground in pieces. Truly a tragedy.

With the bracelet shattering acting as the first domino, the subjugation collars it was bound to soon followed suit. Every beast, living or dead, had their collars snap cleanly off of their necks and fall to the ground with resounding clangs and clunks. What they did next, now that they were free from that foul creatures control, was up to the beasts themselves. Such was the burden of free will.

Some chose to continue their rampage, usually predators that had worked up an appetite and thought they could snatch themselves a snack before leaving. These predators were quickly proven wrong and, if they didn't manage to escape with their lives, were destined to become the snacks themselves.

There were, of course, some prey animals that fought back as well, choosing the former of their fight or flight reflexes, while the rest chose the latter. Such was the fate of the titanic Rhino, who meandered away without a care in the world after concluding its wrestling match, barely a scratch on its towering body, as it wandered off to find some grass to munch on, or whatever it was that Rhinos ate.

Whilst it was heartbreaking watching so much prime meat sauntering away, it was for the best. They were exhausted, with most people running on pure adrenaline. If they crashed out during an unnecessary fight, then it would just be a moronic and easily preventable loss of life. Something Seth was not going to be responsible for in the slightest.

Plus it's not like they were starving for food anymore. If there was one piece of silver lining from this raid, it was the fact that for at least the next month or so, their foot problems were more or less solved. They'd still have to preserve a lot of the meat properly and ration it into reasonably sized portions, but this would definitely last them a good chunk of time.

Meat wasn't the only loot, however. Of course not, with these many beasts and monsters being slain, even the unluckiest fool was bound to receive at least one Requital if he killed enough beasts and Seth had slain more than his fair share. Between his knife, the statues and Corvus himself, he had honestly lost count of how many he had cut down. But whatever his final body count ended up as, he had come out of it like a thief in the night, his pockets filled with loot.

He had gained a half dozen new Requitals from the various beasts, but the one that demanded his attention the most was the Requital he had received from beheading the crimson Hobgoblin. There was a high possibility he would redistribute or donate his other Requitals either to his puppets or to the guards still operating with makeshift equipment, but this one? This one was definitely going to stay with him. Not just for the fact that he had earned it in a duel, but for its practicality.

Heading outside, now that the battle was done, Seth made a small show of 'speaking' to Corvus and being transferred all the Requitals that he had earned. Of course in reality, nothing was transferred at all, it was always with Seth. But the people didn't need to know that, especially with so many eyes, and unknown cameras, on Corvus.

He had positioned himself as Corvus' assistant, with unyielding loyalty due to his life being saved by the crow man. Blowing his identity because he summoned a Requital his 'master' had earned would just be idiotic, but at least this way he could use them freely and simply say it was his masters will.

Summoning his latest Requital, now that the little theatre moment was over, Seth observed the object in his hand with a confused and somewhat incredulous look on his face. Resting in his hand was... another hand.

Yes, his Requital, named by Angel as [Requiem of Blood], had decided to take the form of the Hobgoblins hand, as well as its forearm which cut off just before it would reach the elbow. It wasn't the actual discarded hand, that was still laying on the ground where the wretched beast had thrown it, this was just a newly formed hand. Yet despite the fact it was newly formed, as if to taunt him, it was a left hand. So there was no chance of this Requital acting as a new arm for him.

Clutched in the palm of this indignant hand, was a clear and completely smooth crystalline orb. He didn't have to ponder the purpose of this orb, as the information about the objects enchantments quickly flowed into his mind.

Pushing his energy into the Requital, the orb began to pulsate with a soft azure light. All around him, droplets of blood pulled themselves from the ground and flowed towards the orb in a swirling pattern. The droplets easily passed through the solid, crystalline surface of the orb, as if it wasn't there at all, as it drew in the surrounding blood like a black hole and devoured every drop.

Once the blood in the Requitals range, which seemed to be around 5 metres, had all been slurped up, the pulsating light grew dormant. Whereas before the orb had been utterly clear, now it was filled with an undulating mass of crimson. With a single thought, that stored blood burst from the base of the arm and rapidly solidified into the form of an all too familiar crimson long sword, with the arm acting as the hilt and the clutched orb as the pommel of the sword.

The [Requiem of Blood] was not restricted to that singular form, but it would do for an inspection of its abilities.

The information swimming in his mind also clued him in on an extra secret of goodness with this particular Requital. It was possible for the weapon to take on traits of certain types of blood. For instance, if he came across a creature with acidic blood, then naturally he would have a caustic weapon. He couldn't help but wonder if he could get a shock weapon if he stole a little of Astra's blood... Maybe, but definitely not worth the risk. That woman was terrifying, even with an adorable puppy clinging to her leg.

Dismissing the [Requiem of Blood] Seth cast his gaze over the rest of the corpses littering the battlefield before him, a bloodbath that was like nothing compared to the field of corpses he had seen when he first arrived.

A devious smile danced upon his lips as a wonderfully wicked thought entered his mind.

'Well... I did do most of the work. It's only fair if I get a good chunk of the loot. I'm sure I can get two measly points somewhere. Might as well rack up on bio points too. Now...who want's to be my first meal?'