Chapter 10 Vael
Darius snarled in fury as hundreds of skeletal hands erupted from the grave and clamped around his legs and torso, dragging him deeper into the mass of decaying bodies. The bony fingers dug in with desperate, unnatural strength, pulling him down into the cold, rotting embrace of thousands of forgotten dead.
“Get off me!” he roared, swinging his clawed hands in wide arcs. He tore through several arms, black ichor spraying across the dirt, but more hands immediately burst from the earth to take their place. The entire pit had come alive, thousands of trapped souls raging against the one who dared disturb their endless rest.
Rhen fought fiercely beside him, ripping away the hands that tried to pull his commander completely under. “They’re too many! Commander, the System is going wild inside my head too!”
\[Warning: Soul overload detected. Domination protocol unstable.\]
The messages flashed rapidly through Darius’s mind. Sharp pain mixed with overwhelming power crashed through his reformed body. The souls in this pit were furious, centuries of betrayal, needless sacrifice, and silent suffering fueling their violent resistance. His Hollow Commander form trembled under the strain as the dead tried to claim him.
From the center of the massive grave, the bodies began to move with horrifying purpose. Corpses shifted and fused together with wet, sickening sounds of snapping bones and stretching flesh. A towering abomination slowly rose from the pit, a fused corpse giant made of dozens, perhaps hundreds of bodies melded into one monstrous form. It possessed four thick arms, a misshapen head covered with multiple screaming faces, and eyes that burned with the same sickly green light as Darius’s own empty sockets.
The giant let out a deafening roar, a sound composed of hundreds of overlapping, tormented voices. It swung one massive arm at Darius, forcing him to leap aside at the last moment. The blow smashed into the ground, sending bones and dirt exploding outward.
“This thing is their creation too,” Darius growled, dodging another crushing strike. “All these dead… sacrificed and dumped here like nothing but waste.”
He leaped onto the giant’s thick leg and drove his claws deep into its fused flesh. The creature howled in rage and tried to shake him off like an insect. Darius held on tightly, climbing higher while Rhen attacked relentlessly from below, tearing at the giant’s lower limbs with raw strength.
The System screamed warnings inside his skull.
\[Soul storm detected. Risk of System collapse.\]
Darius felt his control slipping dangerously. The raging souls flooded into him, drowning his thoughts with flashes of unbearable pain, terror, and bitter betrayal. Faces of dead soldiers, villagers, and innocent children flashed violently before his glowing sockets. For several terrifying moments, he nearly lost himself completely in the chaotic storm.
“No!” he shouted, voice booming with necrotic power. “I will not be ruled by you!”
Instead of continuing to fight for destruction, Darius changed his approach. He slammed both clawed hands firmly onto the giant’s broad chest and pushed his will outward through the Necromancer System with everything he had.
“Submit!” he commanded, the order ringing out across the grave pit. “You belong to me now!”
The fused monster thrashed wildly, nearly throwing him off into the sea of bodies. Darius poured more and more power into the command, forcing the countless angry souls inside the abomination to bend to his will. His own body shook violently from the effort as he fought for total domination.
Rhen continued tearing at the giant’s legs without pause. “Keep going, Commander! I can feel it starting to weaken!”
The fused giant roared one final, earth-shaking cry before its many overlapping voices began to grow quieter. Its wild movements gradually slowed. The glowing eyes dimmed, then refocused with eerie clarity solely on Darius.
With a heavy, ground-shaking thud, the massive creature knelt before him in the middle of the grave pit.
The countless bodies that had formed its monstrous shape began to separate and collapse back into the pit. Most returned to the earth, but one large, incredibly powerful frame remained standing. A massive brute of a man rose to his full height. He stood even taller than Darius’s evolved form, built like a living siege engine, broad shoulders, thick arms corded with hardened muscle and bone, and skin that looked like gray, leathery armor. His eyes burned with steady green light, and his face carried an expression of silent, absolute loyalty.
The System announced in a calm, resonant tone:
\[Second thrall successfully bound.\]
\[Name designation: Vael.\]
Vael looked down at his own enormous hands for a moment, then turned his gaze to Darius. He spoke in a deep, rumbling voice that sounded like grinding stones. “Commander.”
Darius stared at the silent giant, feeling the strong new bond settle into place. “You were one of the fallen here. A soldier… perhaps something more. From this moment on, you fight for me. We will build something new from all this death and betrayal.”
Vael simply nodded once. No long speeches. No questions. His loyalty felt absolute and unshakable, like an immovable mountain.
Rhen approached carefully, wiping thick corpse fluid from his hands. “He’s strong. Really strong. Perfect for smashing through their lines when the time comes.”
As the dust and dark energy settled around them, Darius noticed something metallic glinting among the scattered bones at his feet. He reached down and pulled out a piece of armor half-buried in the grave. Royal insignia. The official seal of the Holy Crown, stamped clearly into the metal plating. This was no ordinary battlefield burial pit.
It was a deliberate, intentional dumping ground.
“They did this on purpose,” Darius said, his voice cold and filled with burning fury. He crushed the insignia slowly in his powerful clawed fist until the metal bent and cracked. “The kingdom created this grave. They sacrificed their own people to hide their crimes and feed whatever darkness they serve.”
He looked at Rhen, then at the massive, silent Vael standing loyally beside him.
“I will bury them all.”