The Cult of Amaymon Part 9

The sound of battle slowly subsided as day came and the beasts retreated. Gray was about to climb out of the hole -using Tesse’s sword to latch onto the edges- when a ray of sunlight fell on the beast. The beast’s flesh began sizzling causing it to scream out in pain, its pink flesh burning to charred coal as even more sunlight fell on it.

“Don’t let it die!” ordered Gray as a few of the officers came to see what all the noise was about.

“Is that a demon?”

“They captured one.”

Tesse began healing the beast on Gray’s orders, however every time she healed it the sun would undo any progress she had made. And though the wounds seemed to do minimal damage at first, the higher the sun rose, the more exposed the beast became, meaning that she would have to exert herself even more during the healing process. In a matter of minutes, she would pass out if Gray didn’t think of something.

“The corpses!” exclaimed Gray, noticing a body lying nearby. At first, he was just going to remove its clothing and use that to craft a makeshift tarp, however, there simply wasn’t enough time. Instead, he threw the entire corpse into the hole, covering a portion of the beast.

“You snake! What in Seldarine's name do you think you are doing?! Those are our comrades, you will not disgrace their bodies by using them as a shield for that… that thing!” shouted one of the soldiers, voicing what so many of them were conveying with hatred-filled glares.

Gray let out a soft chuckle as he dragged yet another corpse towards the hole. For some reason, he couldn't help but find the statement funny. Perhaps after killing people as frequently as he did, he lost any sense of worth that the dead might have apart from as a source of power.

“Your friends are gone, and all that’s left are useless skin bags that will soon rot either way. Now help me cover it up before it dies, I’m not letting Tesse pass out because you were all too weak to do your jobs.”

The officers remained silent at that, watching Gray as he dragged even more of their fallen comrades into the pit.

“Soldiers of Elden? I wonder how a nation survives with an army of cowards who won’t even do this much to complete their mission,” laughed Gray. Though he didn’t have to say anything more, he quite liked the look that they had on their faces. Their conflicted expressions were enough to tingle something within him.

{The frailty of the moral mind,} he commented inwardly before carrying on. Though after a while, a few officers began to help him, and a few minutes after that even more joined in, before he knew it, most of the officers present were tossing their own comrades into the pit as well. Gray was a bit annoyed that they had caved in, he was hoping to see them in that state for a little longer, though work had to be done so his playtime could wait.

After the officers completely covered the beast, a few of them returned to base to get transport for the creature. As Gray and the remaining officers waited, he noticed a group of buildings much further ahead right next to the western walls.

“Why are there houses outside the city?”

“The shanty districts, the poor can't afford the land inside so they build their houses here,” replied one of the officers.

“Away from the protection of the city guards? How are the buildings still standing? Kind of suspicious if you ask me. Has anyone investigated them yet?” asked Gray, a ponderous look on his face as he stared at the district.

“Above our pay grade… sir.”

“Hmm. And the areas where the demonic beasts attack, are they always the same?”

“There are several spots around town, but they are always the same areas yes,” replied the officer.

“They’ve arrived,” announced another officer as the sound of horses approached the group. The officers who had gone to get transport had come back with a tarp, a carriage, and chains. After carefully placing the tarp over the pit, a few officers jumped down to remove the dead bodies from the top of the beast, before letting the tarp fall directly on it.

After chaining the beast up, they linked the chains to several horses and used them to pull it out of the pit. Loading it up took a similar effort, but after an hour or so, the company was back on its way to home base. When they returned to base a group of officers come to help unload the beast. Though it was chained up, due to the fact that Gray had removed the [Vampiric Greatsword], it was back to full strength and would require at least 20 men to hold down.

Gray could’ve simply impaled the beast with his sword once again, however, he wanted to study the rune inscriptions on the blade, and he doubted that they would let him keep it if they found out that it had such an effect on the beast.

***

*Knock* *Knock*

Gray let out a low groan as the sound interrupted him from his study. He quickly hid the [Vampiric Greatsword] under his bed before answering the door.

“Captain Ailre wishes to speak with you,” reported the officer at the door, before gesturing for him to follow.

Gray was led to an underground section of the base, it seemed to be a dungeon or prison of sorts as there were jail cells lined along the sides of the corridors. At the end of the corridor, Ailre and Gazef were standing looking into one of the cells.

“Captain Ailre, I’ve called him,” announced the officer before retreating back to the higher sections of the base.

“Congratulations on capturing this… this specimen,” said Ailre breaking the silence as he admired the beast's humongous stature.

“I’ve slain bigger,” commented Gazef, looking into the jail cell with a bored expression. The beast was tightly chained to the floors of the jail cell, in fact, its head was on the ground along with the rest of its body. It was a wonder how it didn’t suffocate, but perhaps it didn’t need to breathe anyways.

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[System Information]

Seldarine

An elven deity worshipped by much of the major elf tribes and the patron god of Elden. She symbolizes the spirit of prosperity and is said to be one of the eldest children of the world tree [Yggdrasil].

For more information read [Elven gods and their origins].

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