RealmofMonsters

Chapter 681: Vengeance

“Mortem is one of the scarlet gods,” Freya explained.

“He is the Blood Sovereign. It is Mortem who blesses the blood of the unborn with the gift of magic,” Ulin added.

“Is that right…?” Stryg replied dryly. The Sylvan said something very similar about Lunae and goblin-kind.

“So what colors did Mortem see fit to bestow upon you?” asked Ulin.

The man was still fishing for information. A mage’s colors said a lot about their fighting capabilities...

Chapter 680: Flirting at the Tavern

Stryg wondered how much longer it would take until Gale and the others were in position. Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on the sound of the river outside, searching for Gale’s voice or any of the others’.

“So how did such a scarlet beauty as yourself end up working on a Goldelm ship?” asked Ulin.

The dock master’s question brought Stryg back to the table and he opened his eyes to find Ulin staring at Tauri with a coy grin. Freya cast a subtle yet worried glan...

Chapter 679: The River Docks

The Dragon’s Hoard floated half a league from a town on the coast and more importantly, the mouth of a river that would lead them into the heart of the Silent Marshes. The river was too small for a ship as large as the Dragon’s Hoard, and so the ship had thrown its anchor, and the crew had prepared a rowboat to meet with the dock master. 

“Are you ready?” Tauri walked over to where Stryg stood next to the ship’s railing.

He gave a simple nod. “I think so. I...

Chapter 678: The Silent Marshes

After leaving the Dire River and entering the wide expanse of the Ebon Sea, the crew of the Dragon’s Hoard had hoped to break free from the conjured ice storm, but to no avail. It moved with their ship, almost as if following them. Belle suspected that the storm was linked to Lunae and rather, it followed the goddess’ power, never straying too far. 

The storm acted as a deterrent to any who would try to follow. Stryg had thought the storm would have dissipated by now. He...

Chapter 677: Sigte

Stryg roared at the storm. It was not the voice of a goblin, nor the defiant scream of a godling. It was primal. And it cut through the winds and crashing waves like the howl of a wolf. The frost-mist answered in return, swirling to life around him, pulsating with newfound power.

The frost-mist called to him, all at once familiar and new. It froze the very wood underneath his feet and the soaked clothes on his body, but when it brushed his skin, the magical chill felt like the mo...

Chapter 676: Dire River Part 2

The storm continued and grew worse the further the Dragon’s Hoard and her crew sailed into the magical mist. Stryg closed his eyes and tried to focus on a feeling, anything that might help.

“Ah, I can’t see shit!” Freya screamed, their shared sense of sight going dark.

“Sorry!” Stryg snapped his eyes open.

The first iceberg was coming up on the Dragon Hoard’s right.

“Freya…” Stryg said, eyes widening.

“I’m on it!” She turned the w...

Chapter 675: Dire River Part 1

Stryg snapped his eyes open and sat up in bed. He was back in the cabin of the Dragon’s Hoard. Tauri was at his side, slapping his cheek lightly. “Oh, thank the gods, he’s awake.”

“Get him up!” Gale said.

“What’s going on?” he asked blearily. He felt disoriented as if dropping into another of his ancestor’s memories.

Gale drew her sword. “We’ve got a problem.” 

Tauri helped Stryg out of bed as he regained his footing. After a few b...

Chapter 674: Winter

The world had shifted in a blur and fallen into darkness, leaving Stryg with nothing but a floating orb of light. The strange sensation was disorientating but Stryg was beginning to get used to the book’s magic.

Seeing his father recall his childhood in a world that had been destroyed and left in nothing but ruin had made Stryg uncertain of all the things Holo and Melantha had warned him about the Calamities. He had seen his father obliterate the ebon lords’ army single-hande...

Chapter 673: The Calamity Children

Stryga Veres held the pressed blue flower close and walked with a spring to her step as she made her way through the campsite that had become the home of Captain Nalindor’s company over the last two years.

Many refugees had come to Vulture Woods after escaping Lunis and its surrounding lands over that time. Some found shelter with their camp, other refugees had joined with the camps made up of the other splintered Lunisian armies, none managed to make it inside Evenfall, which ...

Chapter 672: The Blood Fang Hunters

A scream broke the silence of the forest. Drale and Nalindor glanced at each other, a silent exchange of words. Leaping out of their hiding place among the bushes, they dashed towards the sound of the screams. They slung their bows on their backs and pushed their legs as fast as they could take them.

Where, for a moment, there had been a single scream, now there were several joining in. An ear-splitting roar drowned out the screams and shook the scarlet leaves of the ashen trees ...

Chapter 671: A Story for the Bards

“May I enter?” asked Lily with a knock on the doorway.

Holo glanced up from her desk and waved her in. “Ah, Lilandria, come in. How is Loh?”

Lily walked into the study and closed the door behind her before answering. “She’ll recover, but her wounds are extensive. She needs rest.”

“Yes, I can only imagine. Being possessed by a wraith puts great strain on the body and judging from Unalla’s account of events, you pushed Loh far beyond her limits.”

Chapter 670: A Dwarf & A Friend

“Boat approaching off port side!” called out a sailor.

Stryg leaned over the edge of the Dragon’s Hoard to get a better look. It was dark, but his eyes easily caught Belle standing atop the bow of a small rowboat. She was channeling Blue and making the water propel the rowboat forward.

“Am I late?” Belle grinned up at them.

“Just on time,” Stryg reached his hand down.

Belle tossed a leather sack over her shoulder, and kicked off, sending the front ...

Chapter 669: Ship & Crew

Freya Goldelm leaned back in the chair, propped her feet on the desk, and steepled her fingers, and stared at her guests sitting across from her. “So, you want my Dragon’s Hoard?”

Gale and Evelyn Katag glanced at each other. “Um, we want a ship…?” Gale hazarded.

“We require the fastest seafaring vessel not frozen in a block of ice in the port. My contacts inform me that your House has recently managed to excavate such a ship from the ice,” Evelyn explained.<...

Chapter 668: Headaches

Stryg rummaged under his bed and pulled out a couple of cloaks.

“Is that what I think those are?” Tauri said, eyes wide.

Stryg nodded. “I had Gale go back and retrieve them from the assassins we killed.”

“What are you planning to do with them?” Tauri asked suspiciously.

“I’m not letting you go to Murkton alone.”

Tauri frowned. “What? But you said—”

“I know what I said.”

“Then why?”

“That’s the same thin...

Chapter 667: A Meeting of Titans

Una knocked on the door with a soft rasp. When there was no response, she slowly pushed the door open just a tad. “Lily, the meeting is about to start.”

Lily sat next to Loh’s bed. The latter was thankfully unconscious. Kaitlin, the lead white mage of the Singing Willow Troupe, had administered a sedative elixir to spare Loh the pain. The backlash of the wraith merging had been exacerbated by the use of spells and lifeforce skills too advanced for her body. 

Now,...

Chapter 666: Trap

The window exploded in a burst of golden flames as Belle grabbed one of the assailants by the arm and tumbled down. For once, the man opened his mouth, only to scream as he plummeted to his death. Belle held him tight, her body covered in flames as she landed on top of him. His body splattered with a wet crunch into the hard cobblestone of the courtyard.

Belle heaved her shoulders, her breath ragged, and pushed herself to her feet. It had been a nightmare trying to catch the litt...

Chapter 665: Holoson

The sun had set and the last rays of light bathed the sky in a deep orange as Atlas made his way through the Commoner District. The farther he walked, the worse his surroundings became. This close to the wall, the damage the Valley Tribes had dealt was evident. Ruined homes were all Atlas saw, if they could even be considered homes anymore.

Many of the houses in the Commoner District had been built with wood in a time when Undergrowth and Hollow Shade were still on good terms and...

Chapter 664: Attack in the Trade District

People screamed and ran as arrows shot out from the rooftops of the trade street. Some were merchants, a few even nobles. Their guards raised shields to protect their charges. A few arrows slipped past and sank into their limbs or chest. The guards cried out in pain as the arrow sizzled in their flesh. Their bodies seized up and they collapsed as their veins turned a sickly green.

“What is that…?” Stryg muttered from behind a stall. He cycled through various alchemical poti...

Chapter 663: Abomination

Brown mana surged through Unalla’s fist as she punched one of her assailants, or at least she tried. Her fist went right through the rippling cloak, only hitting darkness. She leaped back just in time to evade the slash of a sword, though the blade managed to nick her sleeve.

She glanced at the sleeve and saw the blue fabric turn a sickly brown as it began to sizzle. Without a second thought, she tore the entire sleeve off and tossed it on the ground. Orange mana flowed into he...

Chapter 662: Lilandria, Last of the First

Loh ran through the burning halls of the Noir manor. Except, it wasn’t her in control, but Lily. Loh could still feel her legs as they kicked off the ground in a sprint and the wind passing through her hair, but she couldn’t control any of it. She was paralyzed and yet moving all the same, the sensation was disorientating.

How are you doing this? Loh asked, her voice resounding only between their minds.

“Our bond allows us to become one temporarily. I’m simply the...

Chapter 661: Wraith

The scent of smoke filled the air. The windows were shattered by the explosion and a sharp ringing resounded in her ears.

“—ohnoir… El… oir… Elohnoir!”

Loh groaned and opened her blue eyes. 

“Oh, thank gods, she’s awake,” Ismene sighed in relief.

Loh blinked repeatedly, her vision was blurred, and when she tried to sit up, the world swayed. “Ugh, my head.”

“I’ve got you.” Lily grabbed her shoulders and carefully helped Loh ...

Chapter 660: Deviating Paths

“Dad? What’s wrong?” Unalla asked, raising her head, but refusing to sit up from the sofa. The two had been resting in the solar room next to the fireplace when her father had suddenly stiffened in his chair and frowned. 

“Something’s wrong with my mother,” Atlas said, his expression darkening.

“Grandma? Is it Caligo?” 

“No, I would have sensed a battle of chaos nearby if it were. The problem is I can’t sense anything.”

“And tha...

Chapter 659: Ambush

“Here, have some,” Stryg offered Tauri a whole roasted chicken on a spit. The stall in front of them would roast a dozen chickens at a time until they were nice and juicy. Then he’d sell pieces of them to customers walking by. This was one of the few instances Stryg was happy to have money to spend. He could buy as many whole chickens as he wanted. Back in the Blood Fang village, such a luxury was unheard of.

Tauri, however, did not appreciate the marvel of easy to come by ...

Chapter 658: The Pit

“Our souls are connected to Mortem…?” Lysaila asked. The lamia’s and Rhian’s expressions had grown darker with every word Stryg had spoken to them. He really didn’t want to say anything more, but he owed it to them.

“Technically, you don’t have a soul.” Stryg winced. “Only the World Soul is capable of creating souls. What my father and sister accomplished was to create an organic shell. Then my father used his own connection with the World Soul to impart a sli...

Chapter 657: A Miracle

A week had passed since the Lunar Elects met with the Seven Ruling Houses in the High Chamber. The Sylvan armies had gathered their belongings and once again mobilized for war. Lord Katag Krall had ordered a retinue of soldiers to be stationed throughout the entire path, from the Commoner District to the city gates, in order to prevent any disgruntled Hollow Shade resident from trying to ‘interfere’ with the goblins marching down the streets. The last thing the city needed was for ...

Chapter 656: A Trace of Hope

The air was cold enough that Holo could see her own breath as white whisps. The temperature had to be almost freezing down in the underground chamber to prevent the bodies from decaying. Her assistants couldn’t stand to be down here for too long before heading back up to the manor Holo had built as a headquarters for the Singing Willow Troupe.

As for Holo, she didn’t mind the cold. She had swum in the deepest waters of the Hoarfrost Bay, where the sun did not reach, and even ...

Chapter 655: The Council & The Elects

Gian followed close behind Aurelia as she strode into the room, each step purposeful, her gaze strong, unbothered. The scarlet laurel wreath she usually wore sat atop her brow, but where once it signified a First mother, now it seemed more like a crown upon the head of the realm’s most powerful arch mage.

“Mom?” Stryg mumbled, wide-eyed.

Aurelia spared him a glance but nothing more. She joined the two Elects, and they sat down on the three chairs that had been prepare...

Chapter 654: The High Chamber

The Central District was home to the High Chamber of Hollow Shade, where the Ebon Lords of old gathered and ruled over the city. A long, rectangular table made of black stone sat at the center of the circular chamber. Ashen wood chairs lined the table, one for each of the great Ebon Lords.

Yet in time, the Ebon Lords began to fall, one at a time. Many were slain during the war against Lunis. Some passed from the after-effects of the creation of the Shade Wall, while others were f...

Chapter 653: Comfortable Silence

A servant of House Azol quietly entered the parlor and placed a tray of hot tea on the table, bowed to Nora, and left. Nora grabbed a cup and handed it to Kithina, “Here, I guarantee you’ll like it.”

Kithina sipped the cup with a tentative expression. “...It’s good.”

Nora smiled. “I knew you’d like it.”

“Thank you… not just for the tea. For everything.”

“That’s what friends are for. I’ll always be here to listen, Kitty, whenever you...

Chapter 652: Morrigan Interrogation

“Meet Gale VIII, my Shadow, and the person I trust the most in this world. She also doesn’t trust you, don’t take it personally,” said Stryg.

“Ah, the legendary Shield of Veres. I should have guessed,” Beatrix said flatly.

“Alright, now tell me about your father.”

“I still have more questions.”

“You get one, then it’s my turn,” Stryg replied impatiently.

“What is that strange energy lurking in your body?” Beatrix pointed at hi...