Two dozen soldiers adorned in the crimson and silver steel of the B'halian Empire trekked through the Maalukian Woods riding on the backs of hungry Bhvi’dors. Their helmets concealed their identities, but the gargantuan size of their bodies distinguished them from most of the Mazoku's smaller allies. They were of J'oro descent, and unlike the unit of ambassadors that were deployed to Neovia, these soldiers were fully armored. Each of them were equipped with a myriad of weapons that were either latched onto their hips or sheathed along the holsters of their steeds.
These J'oro soldiers were specifically chosen for their proclivity to track and hunt their prey, regardless of any laws or borders they may have crossed along the way. They adhered exclusively to the Emperor's will. And Akundae only spoke to one of them.
“Ughhhh! Are we there yet?.. these things fucking smell.”
Roared the only rider not covered from head to toe in B'halian Steel. In fact, the man didn't seem adorned in any armor at all. An oddity, considering he was the only one of them who looked mortal, let alone human. He was barely six feet tall, a dwarf compared to the gargantuan J’oro knights riding alongside him. He had wild short hair shaved along the sides and it seemed to burn brighter as the sun set and the shadows lengthened. He wore a skintight long sleeve shirt, a black pair of baggy training pants, with an ivory cloak tied around his waist. And inscribed upon that cloak in crimson ink was the emblem of the Imiqandi, exclusive only to the B’halian Kingsguard.
Despite his age, he too was trained from birth by the Emperor Akundae following the extermination of a clan of fae, that according to B'halian technology, were capable of absorbing ambient thermal radiation and manipulating it on a quantum level. They were originally natives of the Frozen Wastes prior to the Mazoku's invasion, where Akundae deemed the existence of the FrostJack Fae too dangerous for the well-being of Vescrutia nearly three hundred years ago. It was perhaps the most devastating war endured by the Empire, where more than a quarter of pure blooded Mazoku population lost their lives. But in the end, Akundae accomplished what he desired, and managed to salvage one of their infants with plans to cultivate and mold in his own image.
It took nearly a century for the infant to open its eyes on account of some sort of natal cryogenic slumber done by the young to cultivate their abilities. But the instant they did, Akundae conditioned the FrostJack babe under the weight of his fist. By the time he was old enough to enlist in the kingsguard, his skills and abilities differentiated him from any of his peers. His adaptability, creativity, and calculated ingenuity made him the perfect weapon. One refined for any task; be it intelligence, diplomacy, combat or murder. He possessed a specialty in all of them. Akundae named him Jack, and he was perhaps the Imiqandi's deadliest member, and closest thing the Emperor had to a son.
“Wait-- Can't your people communicate with these disgusting creatures? One of you do me a favor and ask them how much further we have to go.."
Jack projected over his shoulder to the multitude of J'oro warriors riding alongside him. This caravan had only traveled for a day's time, but Jack was notorious for his impatience. Despite his calculated demeanor, discipline, and laser focus on the battlefield, he otherwise allowed his immaturity to define his character. Jack was lazy, sometimes to fault, and was often known to lose interest during his missions. After donning the cloak, Jack was known to sleep more than he trained, but that was mostly attributed to the massive gap in strength between him and nearly every warrior in their military. As of late, Akundae only assigned him missions where extermination was the sole objective. He rarely found anything else interesting aside from seeing the scale of his abilities put on full display, whether or not it was an opposing nation he used them on made no difference.
Today, Jack and this brigade of knights of Joro Elvs were instructed to find and terminate a rogue Mazoku traitor. Which was honestly exciting to him, considering the Mazoku were forbidden from domestic combat. Jack had seen what the beastial gorllia elvs were capable of in the thralls of warfare, but only alongside them. He never fought any of them before, not even his Sensei engaged him directly in battle. It was taboo. But today Jack was given the greenlight to prove his strength and wipe one of them off the face of the planet, and he couldn't wait to see what happened.
However, Jack wasn't as talented at hunting scents across the globe as the J’oro. Which was why so many of them were deployed along with him on an assignment Jack knew he was more than capable of completing alone. But Akundae was adamant about the J’oro’s attendance, confident that their Bhvi’dors sensory abilities would pinpoint Okoye’s location no matter where she was.
But it had been nearly two dozen hours of them just searching and searching… most of them spent practically trapped in this endless forest. He was bored.. so bored he nearly forgot why he accepted this mission in the first place.
“.. The Bhvi’dors are growing more restless.. The smell they are releasing are pheromones they secrete when they near their prey.”
Mentioned one of the soldiers. His deep voice boomed through the slots of his helmet. He sounded generations older than Jack looked, and voiced a bit of irritation from the constant complaining of someone delegated the title Imiqandi.
“..As you grow older, you will learn not to be so bothered by trivialities. But we are close, Commander. I believe we should ready ourselves for any sort of ambush or resistance. Intel on our target lacked substance for appropriate countermeasures, so we don't know how dangerous they really are. They can be anticipating our -
“You sound afraid, general.. Scared, maybe of having to face off against a superior race?”
Jack said, turning his head to acknowledge this nameless voice. His tone was playful, as was his lengthy smile but the icy blue daggers in his eyes felt like they could have frozen the blood in J’oro soldier's heart if he wished.
“Well don’t be.. that’s why you brought me. When we find the target, you and your siblings or whatever you are to one another, can just head back to B’halia, yeah? You can dirty up your armor, maybe dent up your swords a little and tell the Emperor you put up a good fight. But you’ll simply be in my–
Then, suddenly, the Bhvi’dor Jack was riding on began thrashing and bucking, causing the herd of them to reflect its aggressions upon all of its riders. It was as if something startled them.
“Whoa, what–?! D’yma!! D’yma!! Calm down you smelly bastards!”
Jack belted, pressing his hand along the hide of his steed; freezing its insides and slowing its heart rate to a crawl. This caused the massive creature to slowly tumble over onto the ground, but not before Jack elegantly flipped off of it and landed on his feet. It was then he noticed what stirred the herd of smelly beasts into an uproar; there was a mysterious figure standing a few dozen yards away within a clearing, just beyond the arching trees. He couldn't make out any distinguishable features at this distance, but Jack could tell they were human from their aroma alone.
”Is that a human? I think your dogs may have gotten turned around, general..”
The J'oro general dismounted his steed after he managed to gain control of it, and began to approach Jack's flank.
”Do not insult them. The B'hvidors know for a fact our target lies beyond this clearing. Their scent is strongest in that direction..”
”Yeah? Why did they stop then? Don't tell me they're afraid of some human. It smells like it's dying anyway..”
”It matters not..”
The general said before brushing passed Jack's shoulder and proceeding forward on foot. He brandished his mighty broadsword from its sheath and dragged its edge through the soil as he approached the figure impeding their path. He was large for a human, but he smelled of rot. The general could smell the decay in his blood and cringed. A Disease perhaps? Whatever the case, it made him less of a threat and more of a nuisance.
”Heed these words human. We have come on behalf of the B'halian Empire in pursuit of a highly dangerous fugitive. They have broken Mazoku law and have chosen to damn you and your people by seeking shelter in your home, but there is no hiding from B'halian Justice."
The General halted his menacing gait. He was close enough now to smell the fear along the old man's skin. Eliios’ shoulders were squared and his thick arms hung down at his sides at the ready. He took no formal stance, but there was a purple blade jammed vertically into the soil in front of him.
“..there will be no glory in your death. No sport.. So I give you a decision to make.. you can hand over the fugitive and return your home unharmed, or you can pick up your weapon in resistance and slick my blade in your failure.”
Jack watched from afar with arms folded while the garrison of soldiers mobilized to reinforce their General. Jack thought it was a bit overkill. How much of a fight did they expect from a single human man? Jack could have done this himself.. In fact, he was ready to just flash freeze the entire ecosystem and return to B'halia. But the Emperor demanded proof of the kill, so Jack would have to wait until he laid eyes on the target before he nuked the Forest.. it would be a waste if they had already escaped.
“There is no one here other than myself.”
Ellios replied to the mountains of metal and muscle slowly rumbling toward him. His arms were folded across his broad chest. Unmoving and undaunted. The General groaned softly through the slots of his helmet as he rested his enormous weapon along his shoulder.
“..Do you spurn my mercy, mortal?"
“...”
“So be it.. know that you die in vain.”
The General then lifted his sword over his head and brought the edge of the two ton weapon scything down with unimaginable force. The likes of which quaked splinters into the ground and split the air into a crescent torrent of barreling winds. It carved nearly a dozen feet into the skies and even deeper into the soil as it screamed toward Ellios’ position, however it dispersed barely three feet before it contacted the oldman.
“...”
The General stood in silent bewilderment, but his fury stalled only for a moment. He lifted his blade to deliver three more crescent slashes to follow his first, each of them leagues stronger than the last, but all of them failed in similar fashion. This nearly sent the General into a rage. This technique of his was tempered to perfection by centuries of diligence and hard work; he learned to sharpen the wind itself until it tore through heaven and earth at his command, yet for some reason it couldn't scratch this withering human. It was as if there stood a wall he could not see. An oddity that caused a whisper of confusion to stir the B'halian infantry.. even Jack looked on with a quirked brow. Had they encountered a sorcerer? Or a shapeshifter perhaps? Not that it should have mattered..
”This is embarrassing..”
Jack said with his face palmed in shame. Not only was he getting bored, he now had to watch as a delegated sentinel of the Empire he represented get utterly humiliated by the weakest species on the planet. He had enough.
”Alright, I've seen enough General.. This is your cue to book it back to B'halia. I'll take it from here.”
He said as he lifted his finger toward Ellios, generating an iridescent sphere of azure energies along the very tip of his nail that forced a terminal drop in temperature. Frost began to form along the tips of the soldiers' armor. Trees began to crack from the sudden, deathly chill. Eliios could feel his veins freezing solid, as did the Joro warriors. But before Jack could finish doing whatever he planned to do behind that menacing expression, Ellios performed a series of handsigns that caused the purple blade he jammed into the ground in front of him to radiate a brilliant ebony glow.
“Demon Art: Seal of The Iron God!!”
An enormous runic symbol formed along the surface of the forest, wide enough to encompass everyone within two hundred yards of Ellios and his sword. It trapped The General, Jack, and the two dozen soldiers within an invisible barrier.
“Now Tiny Emperor, we must go! This will not hold them for long!”
He called to Okoye, hidden just out of sight within the branches of a canopy tree. She too, could feel the blister of Jack's ecological attack and was uncertain how they were going to survive his wrath. She knew his legend well.. The Embodiment of Frost was a ghost of death on the battlefield. A terrifying sight, despite his delicate features. On Eliios signal, Okoye ran as quickly as she could. She leapt from tree to tree, but truly didn't know if she could escape with her life. Eliios was trailing behind her, but she knew he intended to give his life for her safety. She didn't want that.. but she was too afraid to refute him. He told her that they would lead them as far away from the temple as they could before he stopped, and made sure they couldn't follow her. Strapped along her back was a scroll that was nearly taller than her, containing a wellspring of information necessary for the next phase of her training. Eliios told her to seek another human man hidden within the heart of the Forest of Resonance. A wizard so powerful, not even the Mazoku dare tread on his territory. Should she make it there, he would teach her the depths of spiritual power.. but only if she could survive long enough to find him.
----
Okoye had been dashing through the trees for nearly an hour now. The Forest of Resonance seemed more like an endless maze. Ellios had managed to catch up to her, but neither of them slowed down their pace. Even if it did seem they managed to escape the immediate threat, letting their guard down could mean certain death. The sun was setting upon an eerily frigid night, and it was only getting colder.
”I-I cant see them anymore.. Do you sense them, Ellios?"
She asked telepathically, settling on a nearby branch as she gazed over her shoulder. Ellios landed next to her soon after, out of breath but driven with urgency.
"How strong was that spell? Was it enough to kill them? "
"Do not stop moving, my friend. We shouldn't look back until we've reached the Astral Kingdom. We should be safe there–”
Just as he finished his words, Ellios’ heavy breathing was silenced by a serrated javelin of ice that flashed through the shadows like a bolt of lightning. Each of them heard it before they saw it; ripping through tree bark and whining through the darkness. But it was moving too fast. They barely had enough time to share a glance before the razored prong flew right past Okoye's face and impaled Ellios through his chest, pinning him to the tree that supported them. His agony echoed throughout the darkness of the woods. Okoye quickly moved to support him.
”Ellios!! Shit! Don't move, I got it–”
She said as she tried to remove the steaming javelin of crystal, but her hands were frostbitten on contact. It was so deadly cold she could see the skin on her palms turning blue. As was Ellios and the tree he was bound to.
”Ah fuck– I-I can't touch it!!”
“Ngh.. then you must go.. run.. I will hold them off.”
He whispered weakly through a font of blood. He attempted to remove the spear from his chest, but he couldn't feel the muscles in his arms anymore. Half of his torso was darkened by necrotic tissue, frozen solid from the inside out. But the pain didn't seem to register as Ellios never dropped his smile.
”..you think I'm leaving you?!..”
She rebelled, pressing her blackened palms unto the crystal spear once again in a defiant attempt to remove it. She gritted her teeth in pain. She could feel her bones getting brittle the longer she touched it. The skin on her arms were turning black now, too. And her heart rate was spiking dramatically. But she never gave up, and she never would. With that frenzied look in her eyes, Eliios could tell was willing to die before abandoning someone she cared for.. But before he could open his mouth to beg her to flee, Okoye's abdomen was suddenly impaled from behind by an elongated blade of ice.
“Aw, please don't go.. I've been just dying to meet you.”
Whispered the stealthy assailant, who somehow appeared directly behind Okoye while she was distracted. Jack was using the magical properties of his body to morph his forearm into a razored slab of ice, large enough to suspend her a few inches from the tree branch they stood on. Eliios was dumbfounded. How did he not sense him before he got so close? Was it his speed? Teleportation? How did he even escape the seal? Eliios’ was losing consciousness rapidly, but the sight of his friend getting nearly split in half ignited what remained of his fury.
“NOO!”
Eliios belted with his body erupting with the fleeting embers of his life force. It caused his muscles to swell thick and bulbous with enough Naten for him to pull the crystal javelin from his chest. Then, he lunged at Jack with primed to rip the white haired Fae to shreds. But the Fae barely didn't acknowledge him as a threat at all. More of a fly. Jack glanced at him, and Ellios frozen solid before he took a single step closer.
”Ya’ know, you really do look like them.”
Jack said, referring to Okoye's mortal appearance as she dangled on the edge of his blade. She looked nothing like what he expected a traitorous Mazoku warrior to look like, but he could smell the blood in her veins. There was no mistake that she was their target. Still, he couldn't help but doubt his competition as they bled out on his weapon.
With a swing of his arm/sword, Jack flung Okoye's body toward the soil where she hit every branch on the way down for twenty feet before crashing onto the ground.
”.. What are you, a mutant?”
He asked as he appeared in a flurry of diamond dust. He was crouched down next to her, examining her bruised body. She had a tail, but everything else about her was human. Soft. Fleshy. Jack came expecting a half decent fight, but Okoye was unresponsive after the first attack he hit her with. She didn't even seem to be breathing from his perspective.
”..fuuuuck, are you dead already?”
He asked with an abashed smile on his face.
”..I was looking forward to fighting you but.. well, so much for that..”
Jack's smile was more disappointed than triumphant. This mission was less eventful than anticipated. He wanted something more from someone given such high priority from the Emperor. He couldn't remember the last time he broke a sweat outside of his own personal training sessions. Today was supposed to be the day Jack proved that he was as strong as anyone on the planet.. Even Akundae would've had to respect his power if he succeeded at killing a pure blooded Mazoku warrior. But Okoye was not who he thought she was. He heaved a heavy sigh before standing straight up and pointing his finger at Okoye's lifeless body. Ice had already begun to collect near the sight of her wound. He could have left right now and her organs would have been frozen solid within the hour, but this assignment required proof of death. His finger morphed into a crystal blade longer than his arm.
”Honestly.. you may as well have been human. This was boring as hell.”
He lamented to himself before dealing the lethal blow, but Okoye's eyes snapped open just in time. And in that moment she spoke as loud as she could given her current injuries, but the power of her Anthem unleashed pandemonium upon this Forest unlike anything seen before. All Mazoku were considered highly volatile WMDs for this ability alone. Their voices are capable of disrupting interactions between ambient electrons, resulting in catastrophic shockwaves oscillating on a quantum level.