The Great Warlock War - Bakugo x OC Femreader

Chapter 40: Lies and Deceit

Dabi was walking around the ice kingdom's castle ruins, he didn't particularly have any objective in doing so, he just didn't want to be around all those weirdos any longer than he had to be.

He, Toga and Spinner had been given dusty old rooms to sleep in; everything was damp and cold here, and it all looked too familiar, reminding him of a past he thought he'd buried long ago. He hated it and had taken to wandering around at night instead of sleeping.

Yesterday Shigaraki had sent them back to the mainland using that demon, Kurogiri's portals to transport them to strategic locations, recruiting more allies. Shigaraki himself hadn't accompanied them, he said he trusted Dabi and the others to convince people to join the cause. By which he was sure he meant, to lie to them and make promises they had no intention of keeping.

Their first stop had been the base of the mountains in the south of the mainland. The six of them had stepped out of the portal into the barren lands of the north of the giant territory. The barbaric savages that dwelled there were sporting wounds and burns from a recent battle; they snarled and crowded around the intruders that had appeared in their midst, raising their clubs and forming a threatening circle around the small group to block them in.

Dabi emitted blue flames from his hands and sent them swirling around in a protective barrier, warning the giants to stay back. The hordes had stopped their advancement, having only recently encountered the fire of dragons, they had no intention of getting burned again so soon. They began backing off as the booming sound of huge footsteps approached. Gigantomachia was twice the size of the rest of these giants, and he towered over all of them like a goliath. He stopped in front of the tiny humans at his feet and bent down on one knee to address them.

"What brings you puny humans to our lands? Have you come to drive us off the edge of the earth too?" His voice was deep and filled with anger, it reverberated through the parched ground around them.

Dabi let his flames die out as Mr. Compress stepped forward to speak to the leader towering over them.

"My good sir, quite the opposite. We have heard of your strife with the other giants to the south and the disrespect the king's men have shown you. We hail from the northern Island and represent the warlock king. He has asked us to offer you and your kinsfolk an alliance. If you agree to help fight in a war soon to come, he will guarantee you more land to expand your territory and promises to eradicate the opposing giants led by Mount Lady. What say you?"

Dabi wasn't surprised the Giant hadn't taken much convincing, he agreed to join, and he would begin marching north the next day. After the giants, they had parleyed with various groups of ogres and wild beast people throughout the Forest. Some had taken more convincing than others, some had outright refused resulting in his, Toga and Spinners involvement to silence them permanently.

Mr. Compress had asked Dabi not to cremate too many of them and sent the more intact corpses through a portal back to the ice kingdom. He wasn't sure why until they had returned from their recruitment drive to find Shigaraki standing over them. He leaned down, touching each of the bodies with his index finger to their forehead, and chanted a spell. After the incantation, each corpse twitched and crawled back to life, climbing to its feet to stand emotionless in a row before him. Men, women, even some children, he didn't discriminate. Each one had become his puppet. Dabi had never seen necromancy used before; it was an impressive yet horrifying power. The warlock king he had chosen to serve was indeed formidable, he would have to be careful around him.

Shigaraki ordered the corpses to guard the castle and attack anyone who approached the boarders, not that Dabi expected anyone to be able to accost the frozen castle, it was already difficult to access with only the thin bridge to the gate. However, the dead now surrounded the castle perimeter, impervious to the cold outside, standing motionless in the snow.

Dabi moved away from the window where he had stopped to look down at the figures below and continued his perusal of the corridors in the castle. It was once a great palace, much like the one on the mainland, with blue and white banners hung from the cold empty sconces on the walls. Each sporting the crest of the ice dragons, a white dragon stood on its hind legs surrounded by snowflakes on a pale blue fabric.

Keeping a constant cerulean flame spiraling in his hand to light the way, Dabi walked by statues and paintings, each gradually being illuminated by his flames before falling back into the shadowy abyss as he passed, unit he reached a portrait that caught his eye and made him stop in his tracks.

He turned to face the woman in the painting, although she was still quite young in this depiction, he recognized her, her strangely warm grey eyes, and long flowing silvery hair. She stood in a dark blue dress with a silver crown atop her head next to the king who had his large hand on her shoulder, his stoic expression partially masked by a long silver beard and those same grey eyes.

Dabi studied the picture in front of him for a moment, before setting it ablaze. The canvas crinkled and pulled away from the frame as the paint melted. Those warm grey eyes seemed to hold his as if saddened by his actions but not angry at him for it. He looked away until the flames died out and the ashen remains were scattered on the floor.

He walked away trying to ignore the strange sensation that had tugged at his heart for a moment. That was all in the past.