Chapter 48: Wretched King Returns.
The crate jolted violently before coming to an abrupt stop.
Damien remained perfectly still.
Heavy footsteps echoed from outside as the two Eidolons let out exhausted grunts, followed by several loud thuds as more wooden crates were unloaded nearby.
A few moments later, the footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Damien waited another few breaths, only then did he slowly push the lid open.
His head cautiously emerged from the crate as his eyes swept across the surrounding area.
Without wasting another second, Damien quietly climbed out before crouching behind the stack of crates. He finally had a proper look at the enormous construct.
From a distance, it looked impressive, up close, It was simply ridiculous.
The entire structure stretched dozens of meters into the distance, its dark metallic body held together by massive circular bands engraved with countless runes.
Thick grooves ran along its surface, each one glowing faintly as streams of pale energy flowed toward the gigantic barrel at the very front. Even standing beneath it made Damien feel unusually small.
He glanced around.
The Eidolons had already returned to preparing for the march, leaving only a handful guarding the area below to tend to the catapults and siege crossbows.
His eyes drifted upward.
"Since I’m already here".
Damien quietly climbed onto the nearest crate before grabbing hold of one of the protruding metal bands. Pulling himself up, he carefully made his way higher, using the engraved rings and uneven sections of the weapon as footholds.
Fortunately, the construct was so massive that a human sized figure was surprisingly difficult to notice from below. After several minutes of climbing, Damien finally reached the upper section.
From there, almost the entire Eidolon camp came into view. Hundreds of Eidolons moved about below, preparing supplies and assembling into formation while the enormous weapon remained pointed toward the frozen ground.
Only now did Damien turn his attention to the runes surrounding him.
Some were carved so deeply into the metal they looked more like channels than inscriptions, they pulsed with pale light, feeding streams of energy toward the front of the weapon.
Damien crouched beside one of the larger inscriptions and stared at it for a long while.
"..."
"These runes look nothing like the ones on my axe, they should be like conductors of some kind... the energy should travel towards the barrel, and expel from the opening... so it’s an energy gun then?".
Damien exhaled slowly, the weapon wasn’t really complicated, he just didn’t understand it, it’s like with a kid that’s never seen a mobile phone, naturally he will be confused by all the apps.
Damien was confused by the lines, so he felt like it wasn’t quite the same, this one was much more complicated.
...
The Chief strode through the camp with heavy footsteps, its growls echoing throughout the frozen wasteland.
The army had already begun assembling into formation while dozens of Eidolons hurried back and forth, carrying supplies and loading the remaining crates.
"Hurry!".
Its roar shook the camp.
The sluggish Eidolons immediately picked up the pace, practically tripping over one another as they scrambled to obey.
The Priest quickly caught up from behind.
"Chief... I believe we should proceed with greater caution. If the humans possess an ancient weapon as well, they may already be waiting for us, an ambush isn’t impossible."
The Chief remained silent, encouraged. The Priest continued.
"The scouting parties disappearing one after another. Perhaps it was all meant to lure us into."
"Enough."
The single word instantly silenced the Priest.
The Chief slowly turned around, its crimson eyes burning with fury.
"For seven days, all you’ve offered me are guesses... You’ve wasted my time, You’ve wasted my patience. My army grows hungrier with every passing hour, yet you continue to feed me uncertainty."
The Priest lowered its head as the chief continued.
"If you cannot produce results".
The Chief suddenly stopped speaking.
Its gaze slowly drifted upward.
The Priest frowned before instinctively following its line of sight.
High above them. A lone human stood atop the colossal weapon, an axe in hand, preparing to hack off a section of the weapon.
Damien blinked.
"Huh, I’ve been spotted."
Damien immediately put the axe away and raised both hands.
"Hey Chiefty, I know what it looks like, but I’m just doing a job here, it’s nothing personal".
"HUMAN!"
The Chief’s furious roar erupted across the camp.
"GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
Hundreds of heads immediately turned, the entire camp fell silent for the briefest moment.
Then chaos erupted.
Every nearby Eidolon roared before charging toward the weapon, some immediately began climbing the massive structure while others gathered beneath it, reaching upward with furious growls despite being nowhere near tall enough.
Damien watched the commotion below before rubbing the back of his head.
"I appreciating the enthusiasm. I realise its been a while since we’ve met chiefty, and by the way. Apprentice Priest, thanks for all the support you’ve given me over the last week, being a master of undead without my own legion was starting to get embarrassing for me".
The Chief glared darkly at his priest, before his gaze returned to Damien.
"Wretched King, come down and we can talk, if you want supplies I can even give you some, and I promise, no one will attack you even after you leave. NO, no one will attack you ever, just come down and we can talk things out".
Damien on the other hand was pretty composed for a lone human, stranded in the middle of an Eidolon army.
He even took the time to glance around one last time, the countless glowing runes still made absolutely no sense.
"DON’T TOUCH THAT!".
The Chief’s roar fell on deaf ears as Damien’s fingers brushed across one of the engraved mechanisms protruding from the side of the weapon.
"Oh... What does this do?"
Click
Damien tilted his head.
"Huh"
A deep mechanical hum suddenly echoed throughout the entire camp, every rune carved into the enormous weapon burst into brilliant light, streams of concentrated energy surged through the glowing channels, racing toward the gigantic barrel at its front.
The Chief’s eyes widened, for the first time in countless years absolute terror gripped its face.