Arcane Apocalypse ~ 186 (Patreon)

Author's Note: I will be going on a road trip through Tuscany from Sept. 29 till Oct. 5. This will probably mean that there will be a missed chapter on Oct. 5. But knowing myself, I'll probably occupy myself during the late hours writing the next chapter, so maybe this entire note is for nothing. Before that, we still have a full week, though, so we have next Monday's chapter for sure; it's only the one after that that's a bit iffy.

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Mia couldn’t help but notice just how similar Vienna and Graz had become when one walked through the streets. Ruins, rabble, empty streets, abandoned buildings, some groups of distrustful survivors gathering in cliques. There were also the military types, guards and militia, who kept a wary eye on everything, though maybe it just felt like that because they were a group of strangers.

It was depressing. It was post-apocalyptic. Step by step, the idealised image of the city she had in her mind fractured, and by the time their group reached the local government headquarters, it had been reduced to a pile of shattered fragments. 

Somewhere along the way, the morose grief in her heart morphed into a vengeful fury. Mia wanted to murder something. Preferably a monster, but even just some asshole who took advantage of the city’s pitiful state would have sufficed. A raider, burglar, mugger, or some modern version of a bandit. Any of it would have sufficed.

Unfortunately, the world didn’t seem willing to oblige her, or maybe the squad of militia troopers escorting her group scared off any fools who might have shown up. That left Mia to seethe and ferment in her feelings with no outlet in sight. It felt like the monsters were trampling and shitting all over her nostalgia for some of the happiest memories of her childhood. Vienna had been ruined. The city might rebuild, but history couldn’t be rebuilt. It wouldn’t be the same Vienna anymore. The historical buildings that had been built throughout the centuries were gone. 

St. Stephen’s Cathedral had begun construction 800 years ago. The Imperial Palace had been home to the Habsburg Dynasty for centuries. The Austrian Parliament building. The Belvedere Palace. Vienna State Opera. 

All of it: Gone. Either swallowed by the colossal sinkhole that became the Mana Well or brought low by the monsters. From the ruins she was seeing, it was clear at least one of the Rifts that’d opened in Vienna had been populated with monsters capable of demolishing buildings. In Graz at least, only the Evergreen monsters had the capacity to do that at large scale, and they’d been largely under the Werewolf King’s control. Absolute bastard, he might have been, but he still wanted a city to rule by the time he was done. Being the ‘King’ of a pile of rubble and corpses would have been rather pointless.

Mia was still lost in her own head as they walked into the headquarters, blessedly ignorant of the stares they were getting. Her attention only snapped up when she felt a repulsive presence somewhere ahead. It wasn’t miasma; she could tell that in an instant, but it was only slightly less offensive to her sensibilities. 

What’s that, Sparkle? Mia thought, and her trusty sprite partner roused from his nap.

‘Huh? What’s what?’ He replied lazily, and Mia felt him peer through her eyes and tap her senses. ‘Ah. Demonic Taint. Wonderful. That’s probably an Infernalist or something. If you still want to kill something, there’s a guilt-free target.’

What? Why? Mia startled. Does Demonic energy or whatever they have warp their minds the same way miasma does?

‘Errr, a bit? I think?’ Sparkle said in apparent confusion. 

If it’s just ‘a bit,’ then why would they be guilt-free targets? 

‘Trust your instincts; they aren’t lying to you. Demons taint everything they touch. It’s best to stamp out their corruption before it takes hold.’ Sparkle said in a strangely distant and severe tone, then continued with his usual whimsical cheer. ‘At least that’s what I’ve been taught. Never met a demon before in my life, but everything else I’ve been taught held true so far.’

The mental equivalent of a careless shrug flowed through their Bond, leaving Mia with her thoughts. Clearly, Sparkle would have never doubted those teachings, but Mia had some concerns. For one, if this demonic presence was coming from the HQ, it was probably someone important to the local government. Maybe Sparkle’s teachers were just a bit racist against demons? It wouldn’t surprise Mia, considering whenever she focused on that presence with her Spirit Sense, she felt the beginnings of that familiar murderous rage, the one that always struck her when her Halvyr instincts decided it was high time to throw a tantrum. If everyone who shared her bloodline felt that way when they sensed a demon, the reaction would be obvious. 

Still. Sparkle was also right: her instincts hadn’t led her astray so far. Monsters were very much deserving of her murderous hatred. Maybe demons were as well. 

Her knowledge about Demonkind and their home, the Demon Realm, was … lacking. Her studies had mostly been focused on actionable or useful information, not knowledge about the other Realms presently locked away from her. She would never have to worry about any of the other Realms if she failed to survive until the Realm Barrier fell. 

Maybe that had been a mistake. Then again, Gabe, Camie and Nikki would likely have their own much more educated opinions. Taking a cue from their reactions to the demonic taint was probably for the best.

 “So, hypothetically," Mia started, prompting some turned heads and raised eyebrows from her team. “If I were to say I’m feeling someone with real heavy Demonic Taint up ahead. What would we do?”

“How hypothetical are we talking?” Gabe asked. 

Mia just glared back at him, all but certain he’d sensed the presence before her. He may not have had Spirit Sense, but he had … Mana Sense? Or was it Mana Sight? Something like that. The point was, it could do most of what Spirit Sense could do, and he should have detected the demonic presence long before her.

He hadn’t said a thing, though. Why? 

Gabe glanced away from her glare, answering in a wry tone, “The Marshal decided it was worth the risk to keep the Demonologist around, even after my warnings. Apparently, he’d ended up on a Plane much more ambivalent towards demon summoning than Starhaven.”

Nikki didn’t say a word, not that Mia expected her to with Gabe around, but the expression of pure revulsion on her face spoke of her thoughts well enough. With the face she was making, you’d be forgiven for thinking someone had just suggested they bring cannibalism back into fashion or something. That scowl called the yet-to-be-seen Marshal a primitive, ignorant moron in ways no words ever could. 

Mia turned an inquisitive gaze toward Carmilla, who was giving Nikki a strange look. The redhead looked like she wanted to say something, but instead just bit her bottom lip and kept her thoughts to herself. Mia stepped closer to her and nudged her with an elbow. When Camie glanced at her in askance, she just raised an inquisitive eyebrow in response. 

“I just got reminded of that one ancestor I had who kept a succubus as a mistress,” Camie whispered under her breath, her voice low enough that only Mia and maybe Anna could make out the words. “That’s the only bloodline memory I have concerning demons. All my ancestors preferred thralls and necromancy over demonology for minions. They all thought it too troublesome. Demons apparently always stab you in the back if you give them even the smallest of openings … supposedly. I wouldn’t trust their opinion on it, though; they only ever treated those they summoned as slaves. Of course, the demons betrayed them at the first opportunity.”

Mia gave a noncommittal hum. Well, all that had been decidedly unhelpful in helping her make a final decision … actually, why was she even thinking about this? From what Gabe said, it seemed the Demonologist was in the Marshal’s employ. It wasn’t like Mia could just stroll up to him and kill him, even if the man was deserving of it, which she still wasn’t anywhere near sure he was.

It was true that her Halvyr instincts hadn’t led her astray so far, but she wasn’t an animal; she was more than her instincts. She refused to be led around by the nose by some nebulous instincts. They were just guidance. 

Yes. Guidance. The Demonologist might not be an immediate danger to her life like monsters were, but he would be dangerous. More dangerous than regular people if he could truly summon fully sapient creatures eager to betray him and spread destruction. 

She had to be wary of that danger so she wouldn’t be caught off guard when, or if it was realised.

Mia took a few moments to refocus. They weren’t here to hunt down demons, or even to help the local forces fight off Rifts and monsters. They were here so Gabe could talk to the Marshal and his inner circle about the Quest, how he might be going on lengthy trips to Spain, Romania, and the Sahara, and to introduce the two groups. Gabe wanted the Marshal and his people to know their faces, so if there was a problem and he wasn’t around, Mia and her team wouldn’t just get told to pound sand by the higher-ups when they came to them for help. 

Considering Gabe was the only one in Austria who could actually fight Marshal Reinhardt and probably win, they would likely want to stay in his good graces. It was nepotism, plain and simple. It wasn’t ‘ethical’, but who cared about that when it might one day save their lives? Mia most certainly didn’t. Corruption and nepotism were only bad until they benefited her. 

The secondary objective was seeing whether there were any good candidates for the remaining five empty spots in their party. A calculated gesture Zeigler had suggested, to show the Vienna government that we were willing to cooperate and prop each other up when the opportunity presented itself. Mia wondered in the privacy of her own mind whether the Mayor just didn’t want ten of his best fighters to leave. If Reinhard's people filled the last five spots, that was five fewer people Zeigler would have to give up temporarily. 

Thankfully, there were no time-wasting power plays like Mia had somewhat feared. The man in charge of their escort walked forward, exchanged a whispered word with the two guards standing outside the door. One of the guards slipped inside and, less than half a minute later, opened the door, gesturing for them to enter while stepping aside. 

Mia’s eyes snapped to the source of the repulsive presence the moment she stepped through the door behind Gabe, landing on an unassuming man maybe a year or two older than her. He wore a telltale ‘customer service’ smile, but nothing else stood out about him except the demonic stench clinging to him. 

“Welcome,” an authoritative male voice rang out, and Mia’s gaze snapped back to the man who’d just risen from his seat. His presence had the same intensity as Gabe’s, so he had to be the Marshal. “Gabriel, we weren’t expecting you.”

“Sebastian,” Gabe replied with a respectful nod towards the older man. “I don’t like to waste time, so let’s get on with it. My sister here got her hands on a very profitable Quest that can be shared with ten people. We have five more open spots to fill. On the same topic, I will have to spend time away from Austria ferrying them around. The Quest has objectives that need doing in Spain, the Ural Mountains, Transylvania, and down in the Sahara.”

Mia took a second to fully take in the man leading the Faction Graz now belonged to. Sebastian Reinhardt gave her the same serious, no-nonsense vibe as Zeigler, so he was probably a military type. He had short black hair peppered with hints of grey, a neatly trimmed beard with the same colouring and a face that lent itself well to severe frowns and glares. Oh, and he also had a pair of fluffy bunny ears atop his head that Mia was trying very hard not to stare at. 

Hold on a second. Why was that asshole Eisenfaust so much of a twat to beastkin if his boss has bunny ears? Mia wondered, only halfheartedly paying attention as the two Rank 3s talked quickly about the Quest. Whatever. He’s dead, so I guess it doesn’t matter. Maybe the Marshal hid it at first?

Thankfully, Reinhardt was fully on board with helping them along once Gabe mentioned the rewards, so there was no dithering and arguing about that. The main problem was that if Mia’s team had Gabe ferrying them around like a magical taxi service, then he wouldn’t be there to hold down the fort in Graz.

Gabe was apparently far more mobile than the other Rank 3s with his wings and flight, so Austria would be losing not only a heavy hitter, but one who could solve nearly any monster problem anywhere in the country if given a few hours. It would be a temporary loss, but still a loss. 

Gabe was the Faction’s quick-response problem solver. He could nip problems that could lay waste to cities in the bud faster than even the Marshal, who was apparently some kind of melee fighter. From what Mia had overheard, he could run fast, but nowhere near as fast as Gabe’s flight, especially with Austria’s mountainous landscape making ground travel more complicated than it needed to be.

Risks and rewards. It always came down to that, didn’t it? Risks and rewards. Nothing worthwhile was ever risk-free. 

The other people in the room quickly got involved, suggesting ideas, floating concerns and all that. Most of them were military-types, but a few were harder to place; given that the Demonologist was sitting among them, Mia guessed they were representatives of newer sub-factions, other smaller groups, or hired advisors. Only two were of such a low Level that they were probably civilian representatives. The rest were somewhere around Rank 1. 

“Trustworthiness and reliability are more important than raw power or combat utility,” Gabe said, and Mia made an effort to focus on the actual conversation rather than on people-watching. Gabe tapped a finger on the first folder that had been put in front of him. “This one is out. I’m not letting a brat like that anywhere near them, much less trust him to behave in a place I can’t see.”

They have folders on people. Of course they do. Mia thought with a frown. Why wouldn’t they want to catalogue what powers and personalities superpowered civvies have? They probably have countermeasures and threat ratings too. 

It left a sour taste in her mouth to imagine that somewhere in those drawers, there very likely existed a folder bearing her name. A folder which probably contained half a dozen hypothetical plans for how to kill her most effectively, or how to control her if she turned belligerent … or maybe she was just being paranoid. Those sorts of things only happened in comic books, right? Yeah, no. 

I’ll just have to make sure whatever folder they make of me has ‘don’t fuck with her and pray you don’t offend her’ written where countermeasures were supposed to go.

Getting strong enough to become untouchable had always been the end goal; this was just more proof she was on the right path. Her goal was necessary if she wanted to be safe and live without fearing for her life as long as she lived.

“Arnold’s party is five members strong, and it’s currently the most battle-tested and capable group of ‘adventurers’ I wouldn’t mind parting with,” Reinhardt said mildly, but Gabe just scoffed and put the folder aside. 

Mia grimaced at the sound of that name as always, but shook it off. Unfortunate name. Just a coincidence.

“I bet you wouldn’t,” Gabe grumbled. “A dragonoid brat going through draconic puberty, on a power trip. Keep him leashed; I know how they get when they smell rare, high-purity bloodlines.”

Unfortunate personality too.

Reinhardt’s eyes swept over their group, lingering on Helene, Carmilla and Mia. He grunted. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“It’s on you if he commits assisted suicide by attempting to do something stupid to my family,” Gabe said casually, not even looking up from his reading material. Mia swallowed nervously, did Gabe really just say that to their faces without a single change in his expression? What the hell? “Mia? Want to check these over? It seems like there are some possible gems among these duds.”

Mia glanced warily at the Marshal, then at the others, all of whom were suddenly staring at her. She kinda hated Gabe for drawing attention to her like that, but he had always been a bit oblivious about her aversion to crowds and overt attention. She stepped up next to him, trying to distract herself and hoping it would keep her from making a fool of herself. 

“Pick ten, just to be safe,” Gabe muttered. “Some of them probably won’t want to go gallivanting around the world with a group of strangers, even with the hefty rewards at stake. Earth doesn’t have an entrenched adventurer culture like most places in the other Realms do.”

Mia picked out ten folders after quickly skimming the top thirty, miffed at being put on the spot and made to choose while an entire room full of important people stared at her. Gabe got into a discussion about something, asking about an update on what’s happening in the wider world, which blessedly took most of the attention off Mia, but she still probably made her choices a bit too quickly. Preferably, she would have liked to have a few hours to read through the files, but whatever. It wasn’t like she had to accept any of these people into her party. If none of these ten ended up being good fits, she could just keep looking. They had all agreed to Level Up once or twice more before they attempted the Quest.

Honestly, of the ten, Mia really only wanted one in her party: a man named Herman, who had gotten a Druid Class and could function as a melee fighter, a ranged caster and even a healer if needed. According to the file on him, the man was calm, polite and respectful, but mostly kept to himself.

For the other nine? For some of them, Mia chose them because they caught her eye for being odd or interesting. A kobold — a toddler-sized humanoid lizard species — sapper, a man whose entire body was made up of acidic slime which he could manipulate like an elementalist, a would-be swordsmaster, a weird boxer who could conjure floating arms, an arcane elementalist focusing on telekinetic skills, a Light-Affinity swordsman, a Wind-Affinity archer and finally, a pure Ki-using ex-amateur MMA fighter who could apparently out-punch orcs.

Healers and more utility-focused combatants were largely absent from the pile of files, which Mia noted just in case she stumbled upon one ‘out in the wild’. Recruiting a proper healer for her team would be ideal, if a bit far-fetched. Anyone with a good healing Class would be getting their boots licked or stuffed in a vault. The higher-ups probably didn’t want to risk them in a dangerous Quest.

Which was why Mia really wanted that Druid to accept. Even though his healing was underwhelming compared to fully dedicated healing Classes, it could still be immensely useful in a Rift or a Dungeon. 

All that’s left is to go meet them and see whether they want to tag along … or if I even want them to tag along once I’ve got an idea of their personalities. Maybe I should invite some of them along for Rift delves? I think I noticed one or two regions we passed above where there was enough ambient miasma to indicate a Rift hidden somewhere beneath the canopy.