Shadow slave: The Prince of Death

In a desolate land of crimson coral and struggling life

Stood a spire once pristine white,

Now made crimson by bloodshed and coral growth.

To the fools who invaded it, it brought death and destruction forth.

Eventually a shadow desired to meet his love again, an incarnation of fire.

So it regressed back in time,

A change occured in history, and the spire's owner grew to desire.

More and more, upon the universe it would dine.

---

Inside the spire's top floor, was a grotesque sphere of flesh drifting through the darkness, its glistening hide slick with unnatural moisture. A single, bulbous eye, larger than a man's head, dominated its face, the iris contracting in a pulsing rhythm as it scanned the battlefield. A thousand smaller eyes were embedded on the creature, unmoving, they were close for now.

The nameless sun was patiently looking through the eyes of one of it's servants.

Hundreds of carapace scavengers were trying to climb the walls of the dark city, led by a dozen carapace centurions and two carapace tribunes.

At the middle of the raiding army was an Awakened devil, a carapace dux.

It was observing the battle, and giving orders through its mind, using its devil power.

It was far past noon, and in some time the sun would set.

The dark sea would rise.

Strangely enough the humans were hopeful that it did.

Eventually the carapace dux found itself fighting a dormant human.

The devil looked like a carapace centurion, only an inch or two larger, it's overall structure was same too, except it was made of the same metallic substance that the carapace tribunes had.

It's head was nearly human, with fangs protruding out of its mouth. It had two lance like limbs and two hands...human like hands.

It had successfully climbed the wall along with some of its subordinates and had met the defending forces of the native humans.

But something was wrong... utterly wrong.

'Mother said I would conquer the lair of the vile abominations. So why doesn't this human die?'

The dux stabbed the human adversary in the heart, but instead of dying, the human slashed back at the devil.

It was caught off guard, and was exhausted from hours of fighting.

'Mother...mother....save me...please don't leave me...'

The devil was just a tool.

So it died without an answer.

[You have killed an Awakened devil: Carapace dux.]

[You have recieved a memory.]

Gemma had finally gained a weapon to replace his previous one, which had barely held against the repetitive attacks by the carapace army.

He would have grinned to the point his molars were exposed, but he could not, for he collapsed out of exhaustion the next moment.

The sun had set, and the dark sea Rose, forcing the carapace army to retreat.

The nameless sun watched as it's minion died...and shifted to the eyes of another one, unbothered by the pleading of it's own child.

It's thousand eyes opened too, moving erratically now, as if observing from the eyes of a thousand creatures.

---

"And then Gemma killed the devil. He reported that he has gained a weapon memory from it too.

Both the tribunes are dead, aswell as most of the scavengers."

A middle aged man sat on a brilliant throne, he wore a golden armour all over him and a crimson red khopesh was gripped in his right hand, resting on his lap.

A golden chalice was held in his left hand, a red liquid filling it to half length. The liquid never seemed to decrease somehow.

"And what about the survivors, Harus? I can accept the survival of some scavengers, but did any centurion make it?"

Harus looked down, he replied in a stifled voice. "My lord, three centurions escaped us."

Slam!!

Gunlaug threw the chalice at the floor.

"Amazing!! Now there's three centurions for the spire guardian to evolve, three who already know how to lay a siege at us, so what will you do when there's three tribunes or, God forbid, three duxes invading us?

Three of them who know what they are doing!? Incompetent! All of you!"

"Forgive me my lord, it is just that I saw a spire messenger fly into the crimson spire, so I was distracted for a moment."

"A....a spire messenger!? Did that terror finally kill that foreign dragon!? Is that why it can afford to gather spire messengers now!?"

"My lord...your flaw is rising again, take a deep breathe, you cannot grow paranoid at this mome-"

"SILENCE!!"

Gunlaug rose from his throne in anger. Then with a weak sigh, he walked away from it, turning his back to harus, he looked towards the direction of the crimson spire.

Ofcourse, he couldn't actually see it, the bright castle did not have a single window afterall.

But humans liked to do mundane things that kept them human, no matter how vile they actually were.

Especially in a world that wanted them all to die.

"But you are right, I must not become paranoid, it is not the time...gather the 13 fingers tomorrow, we need to prepare.

The spire guardian sent us around three hundred scavengers...hardly a proper force.

But larger than a typical training drill it runs on us to train it's army.

It's attacks are going to grow stronger and stronger again. Just like when it first became aware...

Eventually it's going to attack us with heavy numbers, to try and topple the dark city...we must be ready when it does, contact penthesilea too...

Rebel or not, we need the second seeker's support to survive this."

"Yes my lord."

Gunlaug sighed with thoughts of despair.

"I wish it's just getting ready to fight the voidscale tyrant...or the crimson devourer."

Harus gulped inwards, and spoke with apprehension.

"That isn't likely my lord... The voidscale tyrant and the spire guardian exist very far away from each other.

Their fallen servants only fight in the sky because the drakelings keep trying to steal from the territory of the spire guardian.

And the soul devourer tree is just a fallen terror-"

Gunlaug raised his arm, signalling him to shut up.

"I know, I know...and the spire guardian is a corrupted terror.

...but a man can wish. If only the tides could be turned against the nightmare creatures...

That damned spell is SHIT AT IT'S JOB!"

As if to distract himself, gunlaug turned around and questioned.

"What's the name of the memory Gemma recieved anyways?"

Harus grew a little pale, he felt as if he was delivering a message from the spell itself.

"Be careful what you wish for."