Nightmare Crusade

Chapter 18 - World Without End

Mobs of the undead stagger hungrily into Nelvernia-Vil, groaning and moving their rotted bodies through the silent streets. One of the necrotics sniffs the air and lifts its attention to one of the nearby houses. It begins pounding and scratching the door until an annoyed resident opens up.

"What?" the cranky woman yells, shortly before being grabbed and yanked down to the cobblestone and having her face devoured by the monster.

Her screams of anguish grab the attention of other villagers, who leave their houses to investigate the commotion. In almost perfect synchronicity, they re-enter their houses and return wielding various household weapons, such as pitchforks, kitchen knives, and chairs.

The necrotics hiss at them in response while lumbering towards them. Without the knights to aide them, the villagers do everything in their power to defend their homeland, fighting like hell through the hordes of the undead...

Meanwhile, Fenter continues his chanting.

"Lord of the Abyss and Channeler of Sinister Will, await my command! Topple the false idols of this world and drive your nails into their hearts! Slay their followers and upheave your merciless microcosm of total, unrelenting chaos!"

His eyes roll into the back of his head as the Revenantial Blade glows with a crimson aura.

"Your name has power, your symbol spreads fear. Lord of the Abyss, I evoke your unholy presence to this mortal plain."

The earthquake continues to assault the building, but Fenter remains steadfast to complete the necromantic ritual. Alissa seizes the opportunity by taking her axe and chopping down on his right arm holding the sword. He shrieks and drops it, with his arm now fractured and leaking blood.

Fenter hunches over, holding his wounded arm. He faces Alissa with a demonic look in his eyes and begins slowly walking towards her. She raises the axe defensively and steps backward. Fenter lets out an inhuman hissing sound from beneath his mask, causing Alissa to stagger back in disbelief and knock over a candle stand.

In a flash, Fenter grabs the sword and leaps through the glass window, shattering straight through it. After sliding her bow around her torso, Alissa runs to the broken window and looks down. Being that the tower he jumped out of is at least four stories above the main roof, she stifles a gasp when she sees no sign of him at the bottom. The fire from the fallen candle ignites the bookshelf behind her. She rips herself away from the window, grabs the Necronomicon, and begins quickly descending the spiral staircase as the flames continue to overtake the room.

Outside the cathedral, the three knights hold Jack still. The Abyss Lord howls once more as dozens of armored demon warriors emerge from the black trench. Their bones nearly jut out of their thin, pale skin. Twisted horns protrude out of their skulls and bulbous eyeballs fill their sockets. They clack their mandibles and hold their weapons and shields out in front of themselves. They immediately start tearing through town toward the Nelvernian cavalry.

The knight major turns to Jack's captors. "Stay with the prisoner and make sure he doesn't try anything." He gazes back at the oncoming battalion and barks, "Alright, men! Let's show these bad boners how we do things in Nelvernia! Charge!!!"

Fenter scampers across the treacherous, ice-covered roof of the cathedral as the two armies clash in the streets. Alissa nearly slips off the slanted roof but fixes her footing. She catches a glimpse of the crippled wizard from around the tower. She then looks to her right and sees the battle raging below. Knights and skeleton warriors brutally massacre each other in a seemingly even-matched fight. Alissa inches her way along the icy roof until she spots Jack at the edge of the crowd.