The tarnished warriors
The warring states of Limgrave were created after the fall of Godrick at the hand of Malenia. Each one of them no larger than a main city and its neighboring towns. Due to the fall of the golden order the gods and their influence ran amok within the land creating chaos wherever they pleased.
Due to this, war was a constant event within Limgrave and even Caelid struggled with weekly uprisings within its cities, something Radahn made sure to squash and deal with the moment it bared its fangs. Liurnia and Leyndell held enough black knifes to squash said chaos before it even began as their black blades struck the traitors down without mercy.
This chaos was something the tarnished took to like fish in water, old and new warriors, men and women, all who chose not to follow Godfrey simply broke off from the main force upon landfall and blended in with the denizens of the land yet their tarnished eyes were a dead giveaway.
Many made their way into Liurnia yet not harm befell them much to their surprise. Some even decided to push their luck and mingle with the citizens, much to their surprise they where treated like any others. Within the first week of their arrival some of them had settled down and even joined the militias and the main legions providing what the tarnished are best known for, might.
The raya lucaria academy recived hundreds of tarnished mages seeking to further their studies after their death outside the lands. Of course there was always the zealots who followed the two fingers as if puppets, they where quickly dealt with, their immortality sealed by the black blades.
Of course, Godfrey still led thousands of warriors with many being his old war buddies as the banished crucible knights followed him back into the lands ready for another war. Godfrey and his generals led the first attacks upon the shattered Limgrave without mercy. Towns were razed and rebuilt into forts of war as the tarnished legion pushed forward. They met fierce retaliation both from the guard forces and the reinforcements of Liurnia and Caelid who arrived first.
Godfrey watched the battle for yet another town unfold before his eyes. On one side stood hundreds of warriors from all types of backgrounds, before them guards and tamed beasts from the alliance born out of necessity in between the Limgrave states. Upon the skies draconic specters floated. Their armor lined in glint stone and steel. Equipped with powerful spears and heavy great shields their very presence terrified the tarnished.
Behind the ground forces stood red maned archers whit great bows drawn ready to decimate the front. An arrow was let loose as it flew accross the field with deadly speed and tore through the head of a tarnished sending his helmet alongside half of his brain flying. The most terrifying thing was the black wisps that came off the arrow and the fact that the tarnished did not immediately disintegrate but instead laid dead upon the floor.
"DEATH POWDERED WEAPONS" a tarnished yelled out immediately as their side turned somber. Still the clash was inevitable, Godfrey watched the bloodbath with a solemn look upon his face. Many of them would never leave this battlefield.
Still what made him more solemn was the presence he felt. He looked towards the enemy side and saw a glint stone dragon, massive in size staring back proudly. Atop it sat a white robed maiden who, judging by the crystalline mana floating around her was a primeval witch. A very dangerous foe, of that he knew for should she enter the fray, many would fall.
He gripped the shaft of the axe firmly before launching himself towards the witch,axe poised to cleave her in two. She watched him disappear and reappear within seconds in front of her, her hand met the axe as her ring finger met the edge. A strong blast sent the first elden lord back slamming onto the earth below him.
He recovered swiftly as Serosh formed and propped him up. He looked up to her with a wicked smile yet the claws of Serosh gripping his shoulder calmed him down. "I am not your foe, first elden lord, your opponent approaches, behind you" she said with a slight smirk. Godfrey dodged to the side nearly avoiding a razor sharp snake like tail.
He looked towards his new opponent warily, for he might die should he not asses the threat. Before him stood, "praetor Rykard?" He asked as he looked towards the tall man wearing regal robes. He wondered as to what attacked him until he saw it, the shimmering being behind him. For but a moment he saw it as it moved to fast for its camouflaging scales to hide.
A giant snake, massive in size rivaling a juvenile elder dragon. Several rows of fangs within its mouth meant to shred whatever fell prey to it, all of which likely poisoned. A sharp tail moving about as if a whip and on its back several retractible spikes likely bone grew. Around its neck he noticed a chain coiling around it leading to the left hand of Rykard who looked at him calmly.
A regal scepter was held within his right hand glowing menacingly as magma dropped down the shaft of the scepter yet Rykard was never burned. "For the chance to reverse my wrongdoings I was reborn, my powers again my own, immortality still coursing throughout my veins, since the day I once again awoke I swore to protect all that I called my own, you threaten that Godfrey, no, Horah Loux, today you fall" he said before flicking his finger sending the snake rushing at him.
The scepter glowed intensely as a glowing red barrier erected itself around them sealing them off from the outside world yet the god devouring snake did not seem to be impeded by it as it dived into and out of the barrier as it approached Godfrey. "I will release my hold over you Horah, fight with a calm mind for I will be by your side in this battle" Sarosh said as he pulled himself away from him materializing fully at his side.
A warelion and an elden lord against a god devouring serpent and a master of magic, truly a battle of gods. Sarosh rushed forwards And met Eiglay in the middle as tail clashed with claws. He tried to dig into the scales only to find them to be extremely resistant to damage as he barely scratched them. Eiglay returned the favor as magma began to pool out of his scales as it sloshed around it forcing Sarosh to retreat and glare at his foe.
Godfrey was having a difficult time getting anywhere near Rykard as ghostly skulls pursued him and magma made it difficult to approach. Rykard seemed cool as a cucumber watching the first elden lord struggle against his light assault. Truthfully a mage is usually weak against a warrior but that only applies if said warrior could reach the mage.
Normally the warrior waits for the inevitable exhaustion of mana but in his case he was immortal and since mana was tied to the soul of which his was immortal he would never grow tired. Mana was generated passively or actively by stimulating ones soul forcing it to become more active than usual which would release mana.
The soul could produce an infinite amount of it but it would grow tired as it went forward which would lead to mana exhaustion. This was solved with the creation of cerulean flasks, a tool of the fingers and their forces. The flask acted as nourishment and rejuvenation for the soul allowing it to produce more mana and in turn more spells of abilities requiring it.
Most mages hold three or more of said flask which aid them in their spell craft but when one reaches immortality the soul never tires which allows for infinite energy. Something Rykard was putting to good use as spell after spell struck Godfrey. The area within the arena was beginning to flood in magma as both Eiglay and Rykard kept on producing more and more of it.
Sarosh was beginning to feel the stress as he continued to loose more and more land to tread on as the battle dragged on. Mistakes were beginning to happen as fur was singed and skin was Burnt from the high heat. The area itself was heating up to a considerable degree as Godfrey breathed harder and harder finding it extremely hard to find breathable oxygen.
Sarosh knew that this could not go on further he turned to godfrey only to find an axe lodged into his head as he dropped to his knees. "You will chain me no longer beast" Godfrey said through labored breaths. He gripped his armor and ripped it off with savagery before turning to the two. "I've given thee curtesy enough, now I fight as Horah loux" he said as he breathed in deeply before slamming the ground fiercely sending most of the magma outside of the barrier killing many a warrior.
"WARRIOR" he yelled out as he rushed towards Eiglay and delivered a devastating punch cracking scale and bone as Eiglay slammed onto a hill nearby. Rykard yet seemed unfazed by this display of might as he simply slammed his staff down. From the magma dozens of warriors arose, each different, some Leyndell champions, some the generals of the late godrick, all were devoured by him some time ago.
They gave out a war cry and rushed towards the first elden lord as blades clashed against fists. All while Rykard sent out spell after spell constantly bleeding Horah as flesh was singed and ripped off. One by one the warriors fell yet more joined the live ones in battle. Each one leaving behind a wound upon the chief of the badlands.
Blades cut flesh, metal was bent and contorted with raw strength. Rykard watched stoically as the oxygen left the space weakening him more and more until the first elden lord fell upon his knees. Around him stood warriors long devoured, weapons drawn as they awaited the orders of their lord. You will be judged your crimes in attacking the realm Horah Loux, the fate shall be decided by each lord of this fractured land" Rykard said as magma whips wrapped around the elden lord cauterizing his wounds stopping the bleeding and holding him firmly.
The barrier fell as Eiglay returned to his side, the sky shimmered before cracking revealing several figures descending from the fissure. "So you do know how to open a portal, and yet you did not wish to speed up the battle, why is that brother?" Leonel asked the young golden haired boy beside him.
"I ripped a hole within space itself, you think I can do that whenever I wish?" Miquella shot back. Leonel stared at him blankly in return before a dainty blue hand slapped him on the shoulder. "Focus please" A floating Ranni said as she shook her head. "Right, first elden lord Godfrey, chief of the badlands Horah Loux the warrior, you attacked the lands between, more specifically the allied warring kingdoms of Limgrave, many a family died at your hands, the hands of your men and women, what do you have to say for yourself?" He asked as he slammed down before Horah.
"I came for an audience with queen Marika as tarnished, all at the behest of the two fingers, in order for my rule to be solid war was inevitable" he said as he stared into the eyes of the young lion pointedly.