#reincarnation of the suicidal battle god | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

justminawrites · 8 months

Text

Harvesting a Dragon Heart

AO3

Summary: Anna Primrose had only meant to scare the slave. Aria, help her, not fall in love with him. tw: suicidal tendencies; slight swearing.

Anna Primrose had only meant to scare the slave.

She’d found him outside the Department of Human Resources Building, curled into a foetal position as mana dripped from a vial, forming a cobalt-blue pool around his bandaged wrist.

Well, found was a strong word. Anna had tripped over the bastard and gone sprawling across the dusty ground, staining her white skirt, breaking a heel – and was about to cuss him out, in public, before she caught sight of the unmistakable shock of white hair and fell silent.

Scrambling to her knees, Anna took his face in her hands examined it to be sure. Yep, it was him all right. The weirdo who offered to sell his organs to buy a few paltry bottles of recovery water. And it wasn’t just from her, no. She heard the man had been taking out loans right and left, and gotten himself into lifetimes worth of debt in a matter of days – missing interest payments, incurring late penalties – like he’d expected Aria, Goddess of Light, to come down from the sky and bail him out. Or the god of death.

Anna frowned down at his other palm frozen in an obscene gesture at the sky, and gently relaxed the fingers. He didn’t smell like mead, or anything else the tavern offered, so she doubted he’d been drinking his life savings away. It must be a result of hopelessness then. She’d seen it before, though not often – people went slightly insane once the slave mark had been placed on them, a despair like no other setting in. If this continued, not only would he never escape the mine, Anna would be plucking out his organs within the week. And she wanted to avoid that route as much as she could, if only to save herself the guilt of killing another person.

What this punk needed was a good scare, something to snap him out of his suicidal stupor and focus on repaying money to the Temple, before he lost his life as a result of this temporary stupidity. Maybe she’d threaten to cut off a finger; that usually brought them back to reality. Lowering his head back to the ground, Anna rose and dusted herself off.

‘Zephyr’, he’d scribbled onto the form she’d made him sign – no last name. An orphan like her then: (Primrose was the name the Temple gave her when they swore her in).

Anna uttered a silent plea in the back of her mind before she left to gather a few men to carry out her plan.

Get it together, Zephyr, she looked down at his unconscious form, evening light crowning the back of her head like a halo. You deserve to live.

“..white.. rose..”

“WAIT!”

The blade stopped, hovering a hair’s width above his finger. Zephyr gave her a devilish grin, sprawled out on the white sheets a few hours later, one hand cuffed to the bed-frame, almost lounging as he smirked away, her secret tucked between his pearly white teeth.

Anna was glad she shooed her two henchmen away immediately because the next words out of that lunatic’s mouth were ‘monster broker’, either of which would’ve instantly gotten her official priest privileges suspended for a fortnight (her supervisors only cared if she got caught) at least– not to mention confiscating her savings.

But there was something strange about the way Zephyr said it, so full of conviction, like her alias was far more famous than she realised. Though that wasn’t the case– at least not yet. White Rose was a rising star in the black market, yes, largely a result of using her affiliation with the Temple to discretely transport goods across borders but she’d hardly dealt in the larger catches within the Kingdom: Divine armoury, Potions and Dungeon-spoils, in particular, were completely out of her league.

Who the hell was this guy? She wracked her brain to remember if he was one of her old clients or someone she’d briefly run into at the black market, but Anna’s eyes kept drifting back to his snow-white locks– no, she would’ve definitely remembered someone with hair that unusual.

Zephyr kept grinning, knowing he had her in the palm of hand now – and she resisted the urge to smack that expression off his face.

In any other situation, she would appreciate the bitter taste of irony blooming on her tongue; being held hostage by the secret to her financial freedom. Until she figured out who’d run their mouth about her identity, she couldn’t kill him.

Anna pressed her hand into the white-fleece mattress, determined to stare Zephyr down, but his grey eyes only shone gleefully daring her to take up the challenge. So she did.

“I have a better proposal for you,” he said finally.

The predator’s head was huge.

Though it was merely a child of the species, it took up 60% of the room she’d rented. Her anger melted away into awe as she took in the beast’s leathery purple hide, rows and rows of sharp teeth and that hideous red tongue, dull and slimy– leaving a trail of watery blood and spit on the wooden floorboards.

“Well?” Zephyr asked flatly, arms crossed, “Do you like it?”

Did she like it? Anna could practically hear the cha-ching! of gold coins falling into her lap as she eyed the monstrous head. A (no longer) walking gold mine, she could name at least ten separate men who’d be free of the slave-mark if they had half of what this egregious thing was worth.

Not to mention the skills needed to exterminate a predator were.. Anna suddenly had a better idea why she’d found Zephyr passed out in the middle of the street.

“Anyway, let me make sure I get everything right–“

Once she explained the value of the other items he needed, and talked shop, they settled on a second exchange three weeks from now. A buzz of anticipation ran through her veins when they’d finished, the current carrying with it the intoxicating promise of notoriety.

A powerful man like Zephyr was sure to gain fame, despite being a slave, perhaps even because of it, and as everybody knows; fame begets money, lots of it– enough for her to buy her safety a thousand times over. Anna Primrose had just found her ticket out of here.

“But first..” Zephyr’s eyes narrowed wickedly, the crystalline grey clear enough, she imagined, to see through her soul.

“I need another favour.”

That jackass.

Anna swore as the mid-morning heat left her forehead and the back of her drenched with sweat.

Zephyr had taken the bottle of expensive liquor– worth more than the predator by the way– she’d saved especially for her supervisor (who said he’d put in a good word with The Holy One for her) so she had to visit the shops last minute to buy another. Unfortunately, the liquor store had a capacity limit at any given time.

Though no one dared crowd her outside, perks of being an official priest, the wind’s muggy embrace was almost too much for Anna to bear; humidity mixing with the minute particles of sand, coating the service of her neck in an itchy, sticky film. The paper fan in her hand provided no relief from the temperate climate, and she quickly ducked under a nearby blue awning for a blissful second of shade.

“Sister Primrose! I thought that was you!”

“Sister Bettiol!” Anna snapped her fan shut, as a woman with long lilac hair and round glasses came up to her, cloth bag in hand.

“What brings you to the shops so early?”

Angelia Bettiol smiled in her usual secretive manner, and Anna felt her grin twitch a fraction.

Though the woman was one of, if not the best, enchanters in the Temple– Angelia had acquired a reputation for being a ruthless information monger; she could sniff out a dirty secret like a kobold in mating season. It’s why Anna had largely kept out of her way till now.

“I could ask you the same, Sister,” Angelia’s violet eyes flickered with curiosity, “This isn’t usually your scene.”

“Oh you know,” she floundered, scrambling around in her own cloth pouch to produce something to explain herself, “I’m just looking for a few essentials– erm..”

Anna pulled out the parchment with Zephyr’s list, but Angelia plucked it out of her palm instantly.

“Oh my.. blessed enchantments, a Salamander stone, even a miraculous rosary..”

She snatched it back but it was too late; the damage had already been done.

“These are quite essential, Sister Primrose,” the other nun nodded sagely, “To take on a dungeon.”

“A dungeon?” She paled. Could Zephyr be–

“Don’t tell me you’re planning on joining the raid party next month?”

“I’m.. considering it,” Anna lied through gritted teeth, not meeting Angelia’s eyes. If Zephyr really was going to join The Holy One’s raid on The Tomb of the Fallen Princess then he’d need far better armour and weaponry than he’d demanded. That dungeon hadn’t been conquered in ten full years. She definitely had her work cut for her.

“How ..unlike you, Sister,” Angelia gave her a once-over and cryptically smiled again, “Well, if you need help preparing, you know where to find me.”

Anna was about to open her mouth but then Angelia waved over her shoulder cheerily and added,

“But don’t forget– I charge 4000 gold coins per blessed object!”

“Here’s the uniform and entry pass.”

Anna held out the folded robes (largest she could find) and the forged entry pass, up to a bemused Zephyr, with a huff.

They were following the pathway leading out from the Temple, across the picturesque lawns, peppered with trees and shrubs.

She’d been trying to glean any information about why he’d needed any of the items he’d asked her to acquire, for the last twenty minutes, much to no avail. Tight-lipped and frosty as ever, Zephyr mutely let her chatter herself out, while he watched on with something like condescension in his eyes. He was probably still be mad about the whole finger-chopping thing.

“Alchemy equipment is big and hard to move,” She said thoughtfully, “–so I can’t just lend it to you."

As she explained the plan (he could sneak into the Temple and use the alchemy labs after seven o’ clock) she noticed her client relax slightly, his look of disapproval melting into begrudging admiration of her resourcefulness. Before she could capitalise on it, however, they were interrupted.

“There you are, Sister.”

Anna felt a chill overtake her as Ned Stryer’s voice interrupted her, the tone running a cold knife down her spine, pallid skin rippling with goose-pimples under her robes.

She dropped Zephyr’s arm like a hot stone and stepped forward, forcing herself to look the Inquisitor’s agent in the eye, as she covered her client’s hulking torso behind the Temple sigil on her robes. She knew that lot would try something (especially after that nasty business with Sahak) but she applauded the audacity he must have to do it right in front of her, an official priest.

Ned didn’t even bother to acquiesce her eye contact when he invited her out for tea, those burning ochre eyes locked onto his prey with the precise focus of a black steel spider. Zephyr returned his sentiment all too readily, grey eyes hungry for the challenge as he stepped forward but held out a bandaged arm to shield her. The intent was loud and clear: This is between you and me, the action seemed to say, Leave her out of it.

Before Anna could read too much into that, the mana force-field began crackling on the surface of her skin. It was like two live wires had collided into one another with an unmatchable ferocity, restless-red versus an impulsive-blue, the leftover magic skidding this way and that; charged with electricity sharp enough that it drilled into her flesh, into her bone.

The trees around them began to sway with the influx of energy, birds hastily taking flight leaving their nests behind in fear of the electric storm. Even the air became heavy with the unmistakably metallic taste of blood.

She had to do something.

"Get on your knees, both of you.”

An unmistakable shiver of pleasure shot through Anna like adrenaline as the two men bowed to the Temple’s power, their twin slave marks glowing in response to her command.

Before Ned could gather his wits, or even realise what she was doing; Anna walked up to Zephyr, grabbed her client by the scruff of his brown collar, summoned every bit of fear and anger into her the flat of her palm and slapped him– hard.

“If you lay a finger on him, I’ll kill you.”

Anna steadied her shaking hands against her knees.

She couldn’t imagine what had possessed her to lie so brashly, but her final confrontation with the red-haired assassin replayed over and over in her head, leaving her insides knotted with anxiety.

They’d managed to evade Ned because of her milking the charade, loudly announcing to no one in particular how much she was going to discipline Zephyr – who, to his credit, looked more confused than hurt (by the slap) – the second they returned to the Temple.

Anna let go of his collar the moment they turned a corner and collapsed onto the stone steps out of sheer relief, not caring how discoloured her skirt would get. Zephyr leaned against a wall instead, looking more like a put out child than someone safe from certain danger, his eyes clouded with memories of somewhere or someone far away.

The sight irritated her so much she began to scold him, just how many more times would she need to save this ungrateful bastard? Not just Sahak and the Inquisitors, he’d had to go pick a fight with someone infamous for beating his enemies so thoroughly, all that was left were their corpses. It was a miracle Zephyr hadn’t died of his own accord yet– a miracle, or a desperate bargain he’d struck with fate.

Anna promptly rose and walked up to his place by the wall. The only acknowledgement she received in return was her client’s eyes clearing back to grey.

“I swear if you don’t pay back your debt, I’ll kill you myself!” She chided half-heartedly, the anger finally draining out of her in one fell swoop to make room for dread. Surely Ned wouldn’t attack her just for using the slave mark to break up a fight– surely the Temple would keep her safe.

Anna recalled the night-dark chill she’d felt in her heart when the assassin had first said her name. No, the Temple couldn’t protect her from anything. But Zephyr.. Zephyr had tried.

Warmth surged into her face when she recalled the vaguely defensive stance he’d taken when the fight seemed to be on the verge of breaking out– his arm poised to shove her behind him at the first sign of attack. The same arm she’d threatened to mutilate.

Anna sighed, eyeing the smarting mark on his cheek with a mix of shame and gratitude herself, and reached out to gently take the side of his face in her hand. It must have stung, but her panic in that moment hadn’t allowed her to do anything else. She’d have to find him some kind of balm for that later– potions weren’t her forte, though she could try.

Zephyr went taught at the unexpected caress but stayed still, eyes laser-focused on her next move. The words left her mouth before she could even make sense of them.

“Try to be more careful,” she said softly, “I can’t protect you outside the temple.”

A part of her was glad he brushed her hand away from his face then (though another part was mortified), and waved away her worry with some nonsense about how if Ned wanted to fight, neither hell nor high water could keep him from it.

This time, Anna could almost pinpoint the second when Zephyr’s clouded over with that far off responsibility and he turned from her, slinging the uniform she’d given him, over his back. He had an urgent matter he needed to carry out and the Alchemy labs couldn’t wait.

She watched him go with pursed lips, determined not to let the embarrassment overrun her cheeks until he was a safe distance away, when she was sure he couldn’t see her.

What was she thinking? Protect him?! This incorrigible, idiotic, reckless asshole–

“Also..” he stopped to flash her another insufferable grin over his shoulder, and Anna swore her heart hiccuped in her chest.

“You wouldn’t mind doing me one more favour?”

That damn Jackass.

Anna hurriedly kicked the soiled rag under her bed frame as a group of nuns walked by her open door, peeking in to see a spotless room and a neat, blue carpet. The carpet was new, she’d bought it especially to cover up the trapdoor that led down to the abbey’s liquor cellar (where she usually did her dealings). She didn’t know exactly why Zephyr needed her room but she wasn’t about to give him any ideas.

He said he needed to remain uninterrupted for the evening but that was such a vague explanation that he could have said nothing at all and she would’ve had a better idea of his plan. And how could she refuse when he’d so cleverly thrown her words back in her face– c’mon White Rose, you said you’d protect me as long as I’m in the Temple, didn’t ya?

Anna’s face burned with the memory and she had the inexplicable urge to hide her face in her hands like a smitten schoolgirl.

Slumping back onto the bed, she felt the tension in her shoulders release temporarily as she massaged the back of her neck– this man would be the death of her.

“A little spring cleaning, Sister?”

Anna looked up to see Angelia gracefully standing by the open doorframe, scripture in hand, a wooden rosary dangling from of its pages.

“I’m.. expecting a guest,” Anna replied, sensing that a white lie would be the only way to placate her fellow nun, “By the way, have you given any thought to what I mentioned before?"

“Oh yes,” the lavender-eyed woman nodded, “It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“But–“ she began, about to defend her point; Angelia held up a silencing hand.

“3000 gold coins for five full enchantments? Why, it’s like you’re trying to rob me in broad daylight!”

“They’re hardly complex–“ Anna refuted but the other nun only rolled her eyes.

“Complexity has nothing to do with it!” Angelia shot back, “–it’s just business, Sister Primrose. Surely you know that better than anyone.”

She fell quiet at that. The lilac-haired nun wasn’t wrong, 3000 gold coins for five enchantments from even the weakest sorcerer was a surefire highway robbery but she doubted Zephyr could afford much more. He hadn’t brought in a single catch since the black-steel spiders, too busy getting himself involved with the Inquisitors and their subordinates– but if he was to stand a fighting chance in The Tomb of the Fallen Princess, only Angelia was skilled enough to make it happen.

Not for the first time, Anna wondered if she should just pay the lot of it off and add it back to Zephyr’s debt, now declining at an even slower pace than before. But at that rate, he’d be in debt to the Temple of Light forever; though much good that would do her if he simply died in the dungeon as a result of subpar equipment.

Angelia narrowed her eyes as Anna argued back-and-forth with herself internally; shutting her book with a gentle thud! to pull the younger girl out of her reverie.

“Well..” Angelia broke the silence, finally getting her blonde friend’s attention, “–I’m not heartless, you know. I could be persuaded to offer a little discount.”

Anna perked up, “And I do mean little discount,” the purple-eyed woman repeated sternly, “If.. you tell me who your mystery guest is to you.”

“O-oh..” Anna looked away, unable to meet her shrewd gaze.

It wasn’t the lack of a lie that made her pause; far from it, in fact, she could probably spin three separate, carefully detailed stories about Zephyr’s identity on the spot, with just enough to gossip to satiate her friend’s appetite. No, it was the fact that the question itself seemed like a double-edged sword. Angelia had asked her who the guest was, but had implied something else– who is your mystery guest.. to you?

Who was Zephyr.. to her. That was an answer Anna wasn’t sure she wanted to discover. He was her client– a client who knew a little bit more about this world than anyone his age had the business of knowing. A client who drove her insane with his antics. A client who had a mouth so foul she’d ought to make him eat soap for the rest of his life. A client who sent her heart fluttering.

Anna had forgotten her heart could flutter like that.

As she absentmindedly touched her cheek (recalling the fateful slap), Angelia remarked dryly, “So it’s a man.”

“No!” Her dissent was too high-pitched, too squeaky, to be the truth; Angelia picked up on it just as quickly.

“Uh huh,” the nun shook her head in disbelief, “You know, I never pegged you for the romantic type.”

“I- I beg your pardon?” Anna replied, irritation creeping into her tone– had Angelia gone mad? Her, a romantic? And for him of all people?!

Anna pictured those damned grey eyes, fixing her with a look that was both a challenge and a plea, the eyes of a desperate man constantly on the verge of taking a step too far into the darkness. She recognised the expression all too well, she’d worn it often enough back when she still had something left to lose.

“I wonder what kind of man he must be,” Angelia teased as she left, pulling the room door shut with finality, “–to fluster the great Anna Primrose.”

“Are you ready, White Rose?”

Anna sucked in a breath as Zephyr’s croaky voice urged her to stick the poisoned needle into the centre of his scalp. It was supposed to be easy, a standard procedure where he was from, he’d assured her (though he omitted where exactly that was), as long as she did not, under any circumstances, panic.

She wasn’t panicking, she wasn’t panicking. Anna’s fingers trembled as she imagined the needle slipping out of her grasp and clinking onto the wooden floorboards. She definitely was not panicking.

“Now,” he said, not waiting for her answer, the muscles in his shoulders tensing, bracing for impact. She took a breath and stuck it in.

The effect was electric– more so than the forty others he’d stuck along the length of his arms– Zephyr’s face drained of colour so fast it matched his hair, purple veins forming a sickly, protruding web across his countenance, as his bloodshot eyes shuttered.

He swayed slightly, and Anna dropped to her knees to catch him, one hand going straight to his face, as the other supported his torso.

“Hey listen,” She tapped the side of his cheek, faithfully repeating what he’d asked her to say, “You need to use your mana-flow. Circulate the poison throughout your body.”

“Can you hear me?” Zephyr looked up at her in confusion, his grey eyes clouded over with a purple haze. Shit, shit, shit, this wasn’t supposed to happen.

Don’t let me close my eyes, he’d made her promise before handing her the needle, if I fall asleep..

There was a good chance he wouldn’t wake up.

“Hey, Sir,” Anna’s voice was level despite her rising panic, “Sir, you need to stay awake.”

“Althaoirrth–” he slurred, trying to prop himself up, but his head lolled back uncooperatively. She shifted his weight against the bed frame instead, to better hold him up, and keep those eyes from closing.

“Althairrrshhhwrrfuckoff–”

“Zephyr,” Anna hissed, shaking him by his bare shoulders as his head swayed back and forth and back and forth, “Zephyr, get it together.”

It was useless. The fearsome warrior (fearsome idiot, more like)– was completely incapacitated by the poison. How could she have thought this was good idea? Now her greatest source of income was going to die on the floor of her own room, and the temple acolytes were going to fillet him for his organs without a second thought.

Switching tactics, Anna extricated herself from his body and frantically began to pull open the draws on her bedside table. Her hands closed around a wooden healing rosary she’d tossed in there for emergencies. She hurriedly turned around to find Zephyr lying on his back now, his breathing shallow, as beads of sweat began to trickle down his temples.

Anna swept his drenched bangs off his forehead and pressed the rosary in its place, muttering a simple enchantment under her breath. The spell couldn’t do anything to remove the poison, but it would jumpstart for Zephyr’s heart and his mana circulation– she hoped that’d be enough to bring him back to his senses too.

Golden light glowed where the wood met skin: Zephyr’s breaths slowly got deeper, his chest rising and falling as his body built up immunity to the poison. After a few excruciatingly long seconds, he reached up and weakly plucked the needle out of his head, eyes still closed, letting it drop to the floorboards with a soft clink!

“Thank Aria,” She sighed in relief, slumping forwards as her shoulders fell – all the terror leaving her at once, “You gave me a real scare there, jerk.”

Zephyr blinked up at her slowly, the purple still tinting his gaze, and stretched out his calloused fingers to gently, gently tuck a lock of Anna’s hair behind her ear.

Her breath caught in her throat when he tilted his head and whispered “Altair?”

Anna scrambled backwards, her back to the bed-frame, as Zephyr painfully propped himself up.

“Altair,” he said again, the ache in his voice plain as day, “–it’s me. Do you remember?”

Anna didn’t know what to do. She’d meant for the rosary to reboot his brain but not this drastically. Maybe the poison was messing with his perception of reality? She figured it must be doing something, since Zephyr was looking at her like she was someone else all of a sudden; the stoic facade cracking open to reveal a wounded deer within.

“No,” she said more calmly than she felt, “I’m not.. uhm..”

Her voice rose in pitch as he leaned closer, face (lips) inches from hers as he examined her own, unable to tear his gaze away from her emerald green eyes, sparkling with desire.

Blood rushed into Anna’s head so fast, her vision blurred with spots. Somewhere in the corner of her mind, Anna realised her nun’s habit had slipped off her head, leaving her feeling strangely vulnerable.

Zephyr’s gaze, normally blade-like and sharp enough to slice through glass, was feather soft now; filled with so much raw emotion that she felt like he was marking her skin with only his eyes – leaving a trail from her eyelashes, down her cheeks, hovering at the crook of her neck, where the gold lining of her collar chafed into the pale, freckled flesh.

Moonlight spilled into the room, illuminating his moonshine hair with an otherworldly luminescence. In this light Anna could almost think him a god– immortal beauty, immortal pain etched into his features like a birthright. For the first time she wondered what could’ve happened to this man to leave him so (empty wasn’t the right word, more like) incomplete; missing an essential piece of himself.

Like he wanted to be human so badly but couldn’t quite remember how.

Zephyr exhaled a little, the warm breath eliciting goosebumps in places Anna hadn’t ever felt before, and the tiny pinpricks of want suddenly fanned into a burning, scalding passion in her; a live drakōn writhing under her breast, setting her heart aglow.

“Alt–“ He began to say, until she pressed her index finger to his bottom lip to shush him.

“Anna,” she corrected hoarsely, her voice little more than a whisper.

He raised an eyebrow but leaned into the touch, pulled by a magnetic force, as though he was testing how far they’d go – how far she’d let him go. The candle on her nightstand blew out.

“Anna,” Zephyr’s voice rumbled with approval as she moved her hands from his face to around his neck, leaving a hair’s with of space between their lips as her body succumbed to that same force field– wanting, no, needing to press up against him, her nails piercing the scarred flesh of his back.

All of a sudden, Anna had to draw blood– deep, crimson blood to prove it: Zephyr wasn’t a god, he wasn’t a monster, he was just a man.

A man who wanted... who wanted..

“Who’s Altair?”

Zephyr looked up from the bed to give her a pointed glare Anna was too busy scuffing the floorboards, to see.

She had a hard time meeting his eyes after the ‘Incident’; even though it happened over a week and a half ago. The madness Zephyr had been under because of the poison, disappeared the moment her nails broke through skin, his roulette wheel of memory clicking to a stop when she’d hesitated instead of kissing him.

“White Rose?” He’d said then, the lust in his tone replaced by dry bemusement– and in a fit of thoughtlessness, Anna shoved him away and fled her own room, panickedly slamming the door after her to hide her embarrassment.

Zephyr hadn’t asked what all of that was about for weeks, and Anna hadn’t volunteered any information on her end either.. until now.

“No one,” He replied finally, twisting the gold ring she’d given him. The curse-breaking ‘Ring of Purification’ was Anna’s trump card, one of the best deals she’d ever made but hadn’t found a worthy enough investment to trade against. The Tomb of the Fallen Princess, however, looked hellish enough to warrant a change in mindset.

And it was almost worth it to see Zephyr’s face break into a rare, warm smile, when she’d ambushed him in his room.

“You said her name when you were poisoned,” Anna leaned against the bedpost, hands behind her back, faking nonchalance as she scrutinised the exact way Zephyr’s back muscles tensed when he leaned forward.

“She must’ve been someone important.”

“She wa– is. She is,” he corrected, pinching the bridge of his nose, “She’s the most important woman in my life.”

“Oh,” Anna coughed, “Is she the one who taught you to brew those poisons?”

“What? No– listen White Rose–“

“Shh!” She hissed, shooting a glance at the closed wooden door, “Are you trying to announce my identity to everyone in this building?”

“It’s Anna.”

“Listen Anna–“ Zephyr raked his hands through his hair in frustration, “–what exactly did I do when I was under the influence of the poison?”

Anna fought the blush that lingered in the back of her cheeks, “N-nothing.”

“Why, what do you remember?”

“Nothing,” he sighed, “It’s like a blank slate. And you left so suddenly–“

“That’s because you were fine–“ she deflected, “The procedure worked.”

“You’ve been avoiding me since,” he said indifferently, “–and you show up out of nowhere with this gift– how did you know where I live–“

“Th-that’s not important–“ Anna felt herself get more flustered with each statement, “I’m an underworld broker, I have my sources.”

This time Zephyr’s pointed look hit her full force, grey eyes narrowed with disbelief.

Anna crossed her arms stubbornly, willing to call another one of his bluffs, her greed temporarily overshadowing her nun’s sense of decorum.

“Was Alt– was she in Persephone with you?” She pressed.

“The Assassin guild?”

“C’mon, you don’t have to play coy with me,” Anna cupped her face conspiratorially, like she was letting him in on a secret, “I know.”

“Uh.. huh. You know that..”

“That you’re an assassin, silly.” She winked, “Why else would you be so freakishly strong or have all these poisons no one’s ever heard of?”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Zephyr began, but she steamrolled right through his protests.

“Tell me truth, you’ve got some kind of love potion in there too, haven’t ya? I caught wind of its side-effects the other day. Pretty potent stuff, you could make quite the killing on the black market with that.”

“I’ve got– what–“

“Alright, play hardball,” she huffed, her bangs fluttering away from her face, “I’ll get it out of you one of these days, just watch.”

“I’m truly not sure what the hell you’re talking about,” he said plainly as Anna shrugged and made to leave.

“Yeah, yeah,” the blonde rolled her eyes, pulling open the wooden door, “Take care of that ring, you hear me? It cost me a lot you ungrateful bastard.”

The door shut brusquely, and Zephyr was left staring blankly at the place Anna was as the last traces of floral perfume diffused through the wood with her.

“Wait, Anna!”

Anna turned around to see Angelia puffing as she struggled to catch up with her cheery strides.

“What’s got you in such a great mood?” The purple-haired woman demanded, noticing the uncharacteristically sunny disposition Anna had been flaunting the past few days.

“Nothing that would interest you,” Anna said slyly, “I just heard a rumour recently that was very.. dull.”

“Oh?” Angelia wheezed, wiping her glasses on her satin skirt, “Is that so.”

“Yes, but it’s hardly your cup of tea, Sister,” She tutted, one hand to her chin, “after all, it’s about..”

Anna knew she had her friend, hook, line and sinker when mouthing the word “poisons” was enough for Angelia to jerk back, as if stung by a wasp. The information monger and notorious temple gossip knew the right data could sell for thousands– possibly millions– of gold coins and Anna had built up a reputation for being reliable when it came to knowledge. And Angelia Bettiol had connections running deep within the nobility, as Anna had come to find.

“How much do you want?” Angelia said immediately, not beating around the bush. She reached within the sleeve of her robes to pull out a satchel of gold.

“It’s not money I’m interested in, dear sister Bettiol,” Anna put on an affected air, though her heart jumped with glee, “Remember my little favour?”

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

Anna couldn’t suppress the thin undercurrent of pride in her tone as she watched Zephyr take in all the armour and weaponry she’d procured for his raid.

He said little, but his eyes widened when he reached over to unsheathe the ‘Twilight Longsword’ from its place in the wall with a gentle hiss. Anna had known him long enough to know that was how he expressed gratefulness. Gratefulness and relief; the ever mysterious burden he carried easing it’s weight on his back, just a little.

“Sorry I’m late!” Anna turned to see Angelia knock on the door, carrying a brown muslin bag for her enchantments.

“My name is Angelia– I work as an enchanter for the lab,” she introduced herself, gently plopping her the bag down on the floor as she shot Zephyr a cryptic smile.

“You must be the client Anna told me about.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” he crossed his arms.

“Likewise,” the purple-haired woman looked back and forth between them, “You’re quite the interesting man.”

Zephyr raised his eyebrow at the subtle jab (no doubt meant for her), as Anna huffed and snatched the sword from his hands to hand over to the other nun.

“Let’s get on with it, then.”

As Angelia enchanted the five essential weapons, Anna felt the weight of Zephyr’s grey eyes hover over her skin like lead– was it suspicion? Curiosity? Could he somehow tell that she’d traded away information about him being an assassin in exchange for Angelia’s reduced charges?

Maybe it was awe, she thought to herself; maybe he harboured a greater fondness for her now. Not as much as Altair but maybe, maybe just a little. The idea made her smile, even if it felt cursed to think.

“Oh, Mother of Glory..”

Zephyr’s heavy gaze shifted to Angelia as her spell casting grew louder, and Anna fought the urge to look up at him then, training her gaze to the needle-scars on his forearms instead, and the unmistakable gold band looped around his left index finger.

He wasn’t hers, and he wouldn’t be. Not now, not ever– but for the first time, in the safety of the Temple with the warm evening glow enveloping the room like a loving embrace, Anna allowed herself to wonder what it would be like if he was.

CRASH!

Angelia sighed as the younger girl’s fingers trembled over the remnants of yet another smashed porcelain set.

“Really, Sister Primrose,” the purple-haired nun sighed, kneeling to look her blonde friend in the eye, “Do you hate my tea that much?”

Anna didn’t even bother to lift her head, gaze fixed on a broken teacup shard that was gently swaying back and forth, wondering again of the man that had left her months ago.

The Holy One had returned, the parish had been cleansed of Tartarus worshipers, and Zephyr had set off on yet another adventure, his slave-mark removed, his debts fulfilled, to join the Blue Dragon raid in the city of the Elves.

Everything had seemingly changed overnight, and even though weeks had passed, Anna was still finding it hard to get used to the forcefield around the Temple and the hordes of angry warriors at the gates. Brokering was out of the question, especially since The Holy One was cracking down on any and every form of illegal activity he could sniff out within the mile; so Anna busied her days with praying and taking tea to his wife– the nuns had set a routine to keep themselves occupied, though many like Anna were bordering on stir crazy due to the isolation of it all.

“Sister? Are you listening?”

“Hm?” Anna looked up to see Angelia’s purple brows knitted with worry, and gave her a weak half-smile.

“How clumsy of me, Sister,” she forced cheer into her voice, “All this rest is making me lazy, isn’t it?”

Angelia looked unconvinced.

“Have you been eating, Anna?” The older woman asked, placing a well-manicured palm on the flat of her forehead, “You look unwell.”

Anna let out a mumble of dissent but couldn’t bring herself to completely lie to her friend. She wasn’t trying to starve, it was just the food had become so tasteless within the first few weeks of confinement that she’d just replaced her meals with a dry river of wine instead. All the thoughts she’d been carrying throughout the day disappeared when the first sip hit the back of her throat, and lulled her to bed– it was basically medicinal.

Sure, her cheeks hollowed and her hands shook quite a bit now but Anna was hardly the only one going through a crisis. Most of the Temple nuns had been part of the bustling underworld of the town, and now, cut off from all their resources, it seemed that many of them were rethinking their choices to remain in service to Aria.

“Is there any news about–“ Anna asked instead, swallowing the rest of her sentence when she watched Angelia’s face fall.

“We don’t know anything about the Blue Dragon Raid yet, except that it’s underway,” Angelia sighed, “–and that Princess Altair is betting everything she has on it.”

“Oh.”

Oh.

Anna caught her breath– surely this wasn’t– she wasn’t– Princess?

‘The most important woman in my life,’ Zephyr had said. That damn bastard, Anna cursed in her head half-heartedly; he’d been in love with the crown princess.

“May Aria be with them,” she mumbled softly, as Angelia helped her to her feet.

“I hope so,” Angelia continued, oblivious to her friend’s face paling at each word, “It’s hard to recover from a loss like this one. If the Princess fails, she might never regain the trust of her country again.”

“Is she.. pretty?” Anna hated the words as soon as they came out of her mouth, “You know, I’ve never actually met her in person–“

Angelia narrowed her eyes, “Yes, a great beauty from what I’ve heard.”

“‘Raven-dark hair, lily-white skin and eyes of sea-glass green,’ I think the minstrels put it.”

“Oh,” she said again, recalling the fateful night of Zephyr’s poisoning, how he couldn’t look away from Anna’s own green eyes.. That’s why he thought..

“Right. She must be gorgeous. She’s a princess after all.”

“What’s this about?“ Angelia asked, putting a comforting hadn’t on Anna’s shoulder, “Is it Ze–“

“No! No–“ Anna replied quickly, shrugging her hand off, “Nothing to do with that dumb jerk. He’s so crazy he’s probably going to get eaten by the Blue Dragon itself this time.

Anyway, I should– I should clean this up. I’ll see you around Sister Bettiol.”

As Anna turned heel and hastened her way to the Temple cellar (where the cleaning supplies were kept) she desperately hoped Angelia hadn’t seen the tears lining the corner of her eyes, before she rubbed them away.

She took the left corridor and hurried down a flight of stone stairs, back to the alcove where she’d first traded away the predator head and black-steel spiders Zephyr had got her. Crossing the fateful place, Anna held her breath, like she was afraid the memory of that day would slip into her lungs and take root in the poisoned remains of her dying affection.

Throwing open an inconspicuous door built into the wall, Anna found herself facing vials of cleaning liquid, and a single mop. Before she could pick either of them up however, the imperceptible shiiing sound of an unsheathed blade hit her ears, just as she felt a bead of blood slide down her neck and stain her white collar.

A man was standing behind her (how had she not seen him?), dagger to her throat, his breathy whisper in her ear.

“Hello, WhiteRose.” He said. Anna looked at him out of the corner of her eye and almost gasped in surprise. Half of his face was covered in bands of scarred, sun-beaten flesh.

“I believe you have something of mine.”

His other hand swooped up to reveal the two vials of poison Zephyr had entrusted to her, the ones she’d safely locked away in her room.

“Want to tell me where you got these?” The man growled.

Anna looked into his amber eyes, crackling with anger, and gulped.

______________________________________________________________

A/N: Sooo Doom Breaker has taken over my body mind and soul and Anna Primrose AKA Whiterose is one of the best characters IN THE COMIC. Don't get me wrong i like Altair n stuff but a morally grey nun who's also a top monster broker???? Cmon female characters are never half as interesting as that TITLE alone like yes tell me more.

Plus her dynamic with Zephyr is just refreshing bc it's NEW for him too like he didn't have some kind of already existing relationship with her it's fun it's good it's entertaining I PRAY Fade doesn't kill her in like the first 10 minutes.

1 note · View note

super-saiyan-rose · 1 year

Text

Called it, it was so weird that Ned was missing during the blue dragon raid, he had to be guarding the elf queen. Also how strong is Ned cause he's starting to look like the 2nd strongest there.

#reincarnation of a suicidal battle god

2 notes · View notes

orecana · 4 months

Text

Goodbye my love

Lee sohee x male reader

Hello Everyone! Orecana back with another fic for you guys! I've decided to write about riize because i like this group at the moment. i hope you guys enjoy my fics and thank you to everyone who have supported me so far. Happy Reading!

Warning! the following story contains

heavy angst

major character death (angst)

Reincarnation

suicide

blood/gore

Toxicity

(disclaimer: if you don't like the following and boys love/bl, please..... get the fuck out!)

Two kids were playing together in a playground. One of them was playing with their toy car while one was playing on a mini piano.

(imagine the following in a kid voice, please don't mind the full words. i don't know how to write kid speaking)

"it sounds so nice y/n!"

"thanks, sohee-hyung!. your car is so cool. *giggle*"

that's where their story started. it had grown from then to when they go to the same school to when they go into battle together.

Why battle? because the witch was an ancient evil that has awakened and it threatened the entire world. Every male on the planet must come together to combat this evil. (this was from that century where only male could fight so i'm sorry to females. pls forgive me!)

Today was the day they head into battle against the witch.

"Hey! how about we have a bet? whoever kills the witch gets to make the other do whatever they want."

"come on y/n. this is an ancient evil for god sake. you're trying to make a bet now!?"

"hmph! just admit you're too weak to fight it"

Sohee glared at y/n who only rolled his eyes at his friend.

"I'll see you beg for mercy when i'm done with that witch."

"oh really? (rolls eyes) i kinda want to see you beg instead though."

sohee only sighs as the bell rings loudly.

"attention all warriors, the time for battle has begun. make way to the battlefield. Once we get rid of this witch, we'll be free."

Sohee and y/n get up from their spots and make their way towards the battlefield. y/n turn back and take off his necklace before putting it on sohee.

"why-?"

"My mother always says that if i ever find the person i cherished the most, i should give it to them for good luck."

y/n smile warmly as sohee blushes and looks away.

"come on let's hunt that witch."

The battle was pretty one sided for some reason. The witch's army didn't stood a chance against the human. All those humanoid and horrible monsters cut down in an instant.

Y/n rushes in with his flying swords clearing the way for the army to move forward to the castle while sohee survey the area for any potential danger.

They arrive at the witch's castle and opens the gate. y/n motions for the soldiers to stay back as he and sohee look for any danger.

just as they enter the castle the gate immediately closes behind them as the soldiers outside yell for them. they curse themselves for getting trapped but they were interrupted by laughter.

They look towards the throne and there she was. the witch.

The witch looks incredibly old. y/n doesn't even need to scan to know that this witch is extremely weak right now.

"well well well, it seems human are capable creatures after all. you managed to defeat all of my minions very easily, color me impressed. but it seems that you 2 already know what fate lies after going through this door don't you? especially you y/n l/n."

Sohee looks at y/n questioningly while y/n could only look back with guilt. Y/n twirls his hand as the flying swords pierces the witch as she smiles wickedly.

"YOU FOOL. YOU KNEW WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES ARE YET YOU DARE KILL ME?!"

"So what? if these powers are with me, at least they'll be less troublesome."

Y/n twirls around with both hands as multiple swords flew aiming at the witch who only looks at y/n with disbelief. y/n grins maliciously as he grips both of his hands, causing the swords to stab into the witch's entire body as blood and destroyed organs flew everywhere.

A dreadful silence remains as sohee watched in horror at what his best friend just did.

"y/n.... what did you just do...?

*giggle* "what did i do? take her powers for myself of course."

"why.. why would you do that?"

"Why..... WHY?"

y/n screams as darkness surrounded him changing his clear (hair color) to white and his clothes are turn into black.

"To have revenge against humanity of course!"

"but you said you wanted to-"

"save humanity? it was a lie. they killed everyone i loved, my mother was sacrificed as if she was nothing in their eyes!"

"Then what about me? am i not someone important too?"

Y/n opens his mouth but he hesitated. Sohee desperately wanted y/n to say yes that their friendship wasn't nothing but it was only inevitable.

"you were just a toy for me to show off. you are nothing to me!"

Sohee wouldn't lie when he heard his heart crack at those words.

"You won't step outside y/n l/n."

"Oh? and who are you to stop me?"

"your best friend"

Y/n only laughs as he raises his hands to summon many swords.

"Very well, once i'm done with you. there will be no one to stop me!"

Smiling evilly, y/n sends thousands of swords towards sohee who dodges all of them with swift precision. suddenly one of them was able to hit sohee as he grimaces then many started to damage sohee as he kneels down on the ground with many scars on him.

"i know all of your tricks sohee, you can't beat me"

Sohee sighs as he stands still and raises his hand.

Y/n widens his eyes and tries to stop him but then a barrier surrounded him.

"no........ no no no no no NO! My plan was brilliant! HOW-"

Y/n was unable to finish his words as sohee quickly stabs him through the chest with his spear causing him to bleed and cough out blood.

Sohee pulls his spear out as y/n falls onto his knees while smiling weakly. his eyes are filled with tears and regret. the witch's power slowly leaves him as y/n returns to his original look.

the witch's power looks at sohee with hunger as it charges towards sohee but y/n immediately slash his necklace on sohee's neck which causes it to unleash a binding spell that captures the power as it growls in agony.

"SOHEE NOW!"

Sohee begins to chants a spell and activates it on the power, effectively destroying it.

"heh, i knew i could always count on you jagi~."

"Y/N!"

Y/n collapses as sohee goes to hold him.

"the witch's power will keep consuming stronger hosts and manipulate them so i had to make you hate me in order for you to force it out."

"But why? you-you're gonna die!"

"because i was gonna die soon anyways, my family is connected to the witch. we can only live until we have our first kiss."

"What do you mean?"

Y/n sealed his and sohee's lips together.

"I love you sohee so please....

never.....

forget.... *closes eyes*

me..."

Sohee looks at the boy in arms who was smiling warmly as if he was alive but he knows better.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH"

youtube

*timeskips*

Sohee walks towards your grave that he had made near his house in the garden that you guys loved playing in. He couldn't help but break down as he looks at your portrait, of your beautiful smile.

He leaned against your grave as he look up at the sky. he remembers that moment.

"c'mon sing with me sohee!"

"No....."

"UGH! you're so boring!"

Sohee smiles as he takes a deep breath and opens his mouth.

(songs and romanized lyrics above in the video. Below are english translated lyrics, i apologized if they're not accurate i just took them off google)

Your heart is consealed while love is near by

At sleepless nights no matter how hard i try accept me

I want to meet you right now my tears wont stop flowing i want to touch you

Because i love you it hurts a lot

The more i think about you my tears are overflowing

although we are unable to meet

i love you more than anybody else

Sohee was about the sing the next verse when he sees him. The person giggle and cups his cheeks. how he miss the person he sees in front of him right now.

Even though we just parted(said bye bye)

i'm overflowing to meet you again

and that days kiss has almost disappeared

i'm waiting a mail from you

sohee sings the next part as he gaze lovingly at the spirit of the person he loved and cherished

When i meet you the time limit will decrease

when we are together time becomes precious

we just said bye bye but i want to meet you again

with an mail to you a I'll meet you again

at the scene of return waits twilight

i feel like bringing you away

when your warmth disappear

i wake up from a dream to face the reality door

(From this point on y/n will sing the 'girl/vocal part' while sohee will sing the 'boy/rap part' and will sing together during the 'I love you part' and at the last chorus)

The more i think about you my tears are overflowing

although we are unable to meet

i love you more than anybody else

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) the sun rises

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) you are the only one i'm searching

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) close your eyes

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) my love for you

Together with you...

sohee held hands with the fragment of his lover as he sings the next part

"I want to meet you right now"in limited time

seems like i belive in"endless love"

when i think that i'll leave you

i feels like the pain splits me in two

your charming face torn

at the countdown of the nights end

Love you baby love you baby words freeze

Today begins and i can see you again

The more i think

the more i miss you and i want to meet you

the fragment of y/n leans against him as he closes his eyes sings along

The more i want to be by your side the more i cant reach tomorow

"Eternal"seems always until i find you

I dont want to let you go i dont want to be apart from you

Love you baby love for you

i dont want to let you go

Sohee suddenly coughs up blood as the fragment holds his body. then the fragment sees it, a bottle of poison. the fragment cups his cheek as he crys.

The more i think about you my tears are overflowing

without sun alone in the midle of the night

you are all i can see...

Sohee uses his last breath to sing, to fulfill that wish

Your heart is consealed while love is near by

At sleepless nights no matter how hard i try accept me

I want to meet you right now my tears wont stop flowing i want to touch you

Because i love you it hurts a lot

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) the sun rises

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) you are the only one i'm searching

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) close your eyes

I love you (love you) love you (love you)

Love you (love you) my love for you

Together with you...

Sohee dies as he finishes the song as he laid resting upon the grave of y/n l/n as many guards alert the authority when they discover this.

Despite never being happy on the living realm, if you listen closely you can hear the laughter of 2 lovers cherishing each other forever and for all eternity.

#Youtube #riize #riize sohee #lee sohee #sohee x male reader #bxb #war #angst #angst with a happy ending #kpop male idol x male reader #kpop male idol #riize x male reader

36 notes · View notes

svetzzi · 1 year

Text

knightklok stuff Is it headcanons or an au? I don’t know, but either way I sure as hell wrote about it.

Timeline: 1450’s-1480’s

Main Location: Pre-Sherborne/Sherborne, Sherborne Abbey Cathedral

Content Warnings: Character death, Christendom, religious fundamentalism, mentions of torture, mentions of social and systemic racism, mention of alcoholism.

Note: I subscribe to the implication that Dethklok, or even so the other people foretold in the prophecy, have been subjected to reincarnation for eons. Whether or not reincarnation is a normal aspect for everyone’s life-death cycle in the Metalocalypse universe is unknown to me as of writing this, but here I am making it certain for the pawns of the prophecy. Personally I find that the prophecy cave art in season 4, the “ancient animal forms” from season 2 and onward, and the lyrics of Blazing Star are evidence for this notion. Every force included in the prophecy are doomed to their fates; despite being placed in deadly situations time and time again, they can make it out totally unscathed until their death. Said deaths may seem sudden or untimely on a surface level, but they are always decided by destiny or the universe (or perhaps The Devil if we lean more into the Satanic narrative). Here we see a version of Dethklok from their long line of reincarnations (that also happen to be ancestral to the present-day members), who had failed to fulfill the prophecy and thus had to die and start over.

If there are severe historical inaccuracies, then my apologies, I am not a buff and I made this for fun. If it helps to ease the pain at all, I am certain if this were to actually happen in the show, it would also be incredibly historically inaccurate.

I am also not Catholic, so some things may be wonky in that context as well.

Noah Eruption

Nationality: English / Roma

Weapon: Morningstar

The surname Eruption evolved to Explosion as the English language advanced.

His looks and demeanor forgave his non-chivalrous attitude, however being a man of few words made the public mistake him for chivalrous. Nonetheless his stature and steadfast fighting ability granted him both knighthood and the role of leader for the Sherborne Guard. Born in Canterbury, Noah traveled to Sherborne for personal independence and to no longer deal with those that knew of his mixed Romani bloodline. His morningstar was his closest companion.

Fled and retired to The Western Isles post-exile. In retirement he turned to cattle farming.

Death: Drowning (reason ruled unknown, speculated to be either suicide or accident)

Aengus “Picil (The Ruthless)” Barrel

Nationality: Irish

Weapon: Dual-Wielded Scottish Dirks

The surname Barrel derives from his English grandfather’s favourite pub.

Picil, freeloader son of a shepherd, lived at his village’s pub. Of course, this habit kind of ruined his life and reputation within his hometown, however he did get some decent knife-tossing skills out of it. The pub eventually changed ownership, and consequently he was banned for being a pest. In some spark of clarity, the young man decided to start off on a clean slate. He packed a bottle for the road and headed for England (I reiterate short-lived clarity was mentioned, not intelligence). As a stumbling Irishman his time living there was incredibly difficult, but upon meeting Noah and Bishop Offgyrdd seemingly by coincidence he was “taken in,” so to speak.

And yes, his classic dirks slightly resemble penises, like God intended.

Fled to Wales post-exile.

Death: Went into the wood at night in a typical drunken stupor and was never seen again.

William “The Barbarian” “The Royal Guard’s Boil” “Barnacle Meat” Murdgruff

Nationality: English-Italian/Ethiopian (see Medieval Ethiopian Discovery of Europe)

Weapon: Battle Axe

William Murdgruff fled from Italian slums as a young adult, in fear of further discrimination and possible death. He hid in a cart of hay bales and went wherever it took him. Sherborne did not treat him much better upon his arrival, even less so than expected, but the Bishop of the village saw his potential. Murdgruff then proved himself to be a merciless fighter, and with the strong persuasion of Bishop Offgyrdd, he was knighted by the Lord and assigned to the small guard sanctioned in that very town. An exchange was brought in return for his knighthood– that he would keep his appearance a secret from the public, as it would damage the church’s reputation. They even commissioned a custom helmet in order for him to fulfill such an order. He did as told, however that did not stop him from becoming the town’s punching bag due to how he held himself (and having the most non-chivalrous of attitudes, obviously).

Fled to Germany post-exile.

Death: Tortured and Executed via Wheel at the beginning of The Werewolf Trials after fleeing to Germany.

Sigfrøðr / Sighfridh Swkigelf

Nationality: Geat

Weapon: Knightly Sword, though prefers Falchion

Irregular for the time and place, Sighfridh was born to closeted Heathen parents. Their Geatland patriotism imprinted onto him, but he found himself drawn to the Christian environment surrounding his family. Sighfridh saw himself not only in Odin, but in both the Lutheran and Catholic depictions of the Lord. In interest of visiting an authentic Roman Catholic cathedral, he decided to journey west. His stay in England was supposed to be temporary, especially after Toki began to accompany him on his journey, but finding good work with the Sherborne Guard (along with acclaim from all the English ladies…) Sighfridh stayed until the group’s exile.

Before England, Sighfridh was an ice harvester.

Returned to Scania post-exile.

Death: Disease of Totally Unknown Origin (it was definitely not syphilis).

Toki Wartúþr

Nationality: Norwegian/Norse

Weapon: Knightly Sword

(To my knowledge the name Toki has existed since like ~7th Century AD, so I find it perfectly sensible that the name Toki would be present multiple times throughout his family tree.)

He was a Sami boy adopted by Christian parents as a babe. Blessed with the spirit of death, his parents eventually blamed him for the unorthodox deaths of crops and farm animals, even if he was not tending to or near the area at the time of death. Their negative superstition surrounding their son grew more, soon blaming him for the rot of their food and the harsher winters. Believing him to embody the antichrist, they intended to kill him, but Toki found this out and escaped before they could execute their plan. He was a homeless wanderer for years, getting by on stolen goods and river water. It was when he ran into the traveling Sighfridh that Toki finally found some sort of path in life. To Sighfridh’s dismay, Toki was enamored with him and his journey, and so tagged along.

Exiled.

Death: Murdered.

Bishop Offgyrdd

Nationality: English/Welsh

Weapon: Holy text, witchcraft, sabre

Under the guidance of his most trusted companion, Sherborne’s Archbishop, Offgyrdd was devoted to the underbelly of the church. He typically kept an eye out for any newcomers during the day, and was a transcriber at night. Before the mysterious and gruesome death of Canterbury’s Archbishop, Offgyrdd was– although emotionally distant– an average abbott. Even though transcribing was work for a lower monk, Offgyrdd happily took on the task for The Church of The Black Klok. The loose lips on the group of knights he brought together was ultimately his, their, downfall. From Sherborne Castle, the royal guard was demanded to put an end to this heresy, but they refused. Because they liked Offgyrdd. He was pretty nice to them after all, you know? Their Lord allowed for word— panic— to get out due to this. Reeves and the rest of the general public ended up taking matters into their own hands. The traitorous royal guard’s executions were debated. The enraged mob was still somehow infatuated with them, despite their association with witches. Out of fear of his own life, the Lord mercifully damned the knights to exile. After the beheading of the Archbishop, the last thing Offgyrdd saw was Noah watching his demise from among the crowd.

Thankfully, the actual Black Klok meeting grounds were never found by authorities.

Death: Executed; burned at stake.

#I’m kinda forcing myself to post this #feels justified with how much time I put into it #I understand things aren’t fully fleshed out either so take it as you will #metalocalypse #fan art #svetzstuff #hope y’all like the art at least <3 #also thanks so much if you read all that..

114 notes · View notes

ro-botany · 1 month

Note

What was Freddie's reaction to finding out Robin and Grima was the same? Did he feel he was paid enough for everything? How much did he want to say, "I told you so" to Chrom?

(Hi, this is Robot from the future after writing the post. This is a long and unorganized stream of conscious disaster. Please bear with me. I promise I have an actual point to make lol.)

---

In my mind that was a pretty complicated moment for Frederick. In part because the reveal of Robin's nature happens very late in the story, long after Frederick has become friends with Robin and come to trust them as a commander... and in part because depending on which shipping AU I'm in, Robin is likely to be Chrom's partner in marriage, by that point.

Frederick is responsible for the safety of Chrom and Lissa. Whoever those two marry becomes a part of Ylisse's royal family, and thus, Frederick's duty to safeguard the royalty extends to them. If Robin is exalt-consort of the realm, then Frederick is going to protect them. Perhaps not as fervently as he does Chrom and Lissa, given that he hasn't known them since childhood, but it's Frederick, so you know he's putting his full effort into it. The man does nothing by halves.

What happens if the exalt-consort of Ylisse is also the fell dragon? What do you do, what do you even think, when your dear friend's partner, your own close friend, the commander you've trusted your life with for years, the royal you're duty-bound to guard the life and health of... is bringer of the apocalypse?

Oh, he's certainly vindicated in his initial mistrust of Robin, but it's a bitter victory.

And it's made yet more bitter by the fact that Robin was as unaware of it as the rest of them, and as horrified. It wasn't even a betrayal on their part; he can't even direct his anger their way.

I think that at first, and similarly to Chrom, Frederick probably took it at face value that Robin and Grima must be separate entities. From the way Validar talks about it, from the ravine of difference between the Robin he knows and the monstrous fell dragon, it doesn't make sense for them to be the same.

But by the time the Shepherds reach Naga, I think he's clued in to the fact that Grima and Robin are the same person on different paths. He's seen Robin's work firsthand, worked under them for years. He remembers how they defeated the Valmese fleet. He's seeing how they're changing as a person as the battle with their other self draws nearer. He heard Robin exclaim that they are the fell dragon -- not its vessel, but it in its entirety -- and heard the other Robin confirm that. He's the one who calls out the concept of defeating Grima with his own power as suicide, too.

Whenever I think about this I keep coming back to Frederick's pyromanic tendencies, and the fact that he has them so effectively controlled that he can be trusted to set up all the campfires for the Shepherds early in the mornings. Clearly being the reincarnation of the fell dragon god Grima is at a COMPLETELY different scale of severity from his issues... But I think he can relate, to some degree, to having some inherent destructiveness in you, inextricable from you, and how scary it is to face the severe and immediate risk that you may hurt or even kill people you care about, and not necessarily be able to control those terrible actions. He's come to terms with and leashed his demons. But he can also see the world where he failed to.

---

...I guess to answer your first question, about what Fred's reaction would be... Ime Frederick's in a better position than most of the cast to understand the conflict of self Robin is dealing with, and he has a lot of reasons to worry about their fate and to work towards reaching that understanding of them. The initial shock might lead to him trying to soften the reality to preserve his opinion of his friend, but I think he would come around to genuine understanding of their nature faster than many. And that he would ultimately want them to get out of this alive. The reveal of this aspect of their nature doesn't change the fact that they've fought long and hard for what's right.

He would absolutely think "i told you so", but with the amount of trauma the whole plot point deals to the gang, and especially to Chrom, I don't think he would ever seriously consider saying it. Just silently soak in the irony. Stare into the camera like he's on the office.

He absolutely does not get paid enough for this and he knows it. Obviously he cares too much to sit any of this out but gods above, when he signed up to be a knight he didn't think he would be fighting a whole ass deity by the time he was 30.

#fe awakening #frederick #it's late night blorbo posting hours #not even one of these thoughts is organized. good luck <3

11 notes · View notes

analexthatexists · 2 months

Text

Undertale AU Ideas involving Alphys

Because not everything can be about Sans Undertale, right?

(I had so much fricking fun writing, these oh my god.)

TW: Suicide and other heavy topics

1. Reincarnation

Alphys kills themselves and is revived similarly as Flowey.

This part of one of the Betrayed Undyne Endings stook with me for a bit. What would happen if she unsucessfully pulled it off and was brought back to life by Flowey or some other person? Perhaps even Undyne? They'd probably come back as maybe a robot or some sort of technological-based body.

And then like...Everything resets but Alphys stays the same and is basically now trapped in the role Flowey is. RESET after RESET trying to get back to their normal life and all of their friends, Alphys would realize that they can't go back and that this is their life now, going down a similar path as Asriel once did, but resorting to violence and hurting others far slower than Flowey did. Eventually they just become hopeless and go a bit crazy. Their goal however wouldn't be to become the GOD OF HYPERDEATH or TO STEAL YOUR SOUL or anything like that. They just want to be able to die and move on, maybe even reincarnate into a better life, just anything but THIS. And instead of teaching "It's KILL or BE KILLED", they teach "It's FIGHT or BE FOUGHT" (Less about hurting and killing people and more defending yourself from others), letting you learn how to fight and attack before how bullets and attacks work.

2. Destabilization

In an attempt to continue her plans in experimenting with DETERMINATION, Alphys chooses to inject herself with some of the substance over gathering fallen down monsters, only to eventually turn into an Amalgamate.

I have a feeling this idea has already been done, but screw it. Yes, I'm aware it's similar to things like Alphys NEO and Alphys Takes Action but WHO THE HECK CARES!?

After a few trials, Alphys decides to push their research further and, seeing as they don't want to risk any lives (and basically stopping the Amalgamates from happening), decides to test the stuff on herself without permission from or telling Asgore. The idea was less about making SOULs persist and more about a monster becoming as strong if not stronger than a human, potentially being able to shatter or cross The Barrier if successful. She was already dealing with low self esteem anyways, thinking that if this did fail and she died, would anyone even miss her? It wasn't much a loss, which motivated her further to do this to herself, injecting a SMALL dose of DETERMINATION into herself with the help of some complex machinery. At first, it worked and she was fine, and she took down notes about herself and continued her studies mostly normally, but as time progressed and she grew more stressed, more determined to finish her work and more obsessed over doing this for everyone, her body began to deteriorate as the DETERMINATION began overwhelming her. Eventually she wasn't able to leave the True Lab and had to send out Mettaton, who was growing more and more concerned about the doctor's condition, to do stuff for her via text messages and other forms of communication. Eventually, she went totally silent all together, resulting in Mettaton and Undyne going into the True Lab to check on her, only to find she'd transformed into something monstrous and unrecognizable. A fate almost similar to Gaster, actually. Brilliant scientists being shattered mentally and physically to their own creations.

3. Recollection/Reformation

Alphys tries to save Undyne before she dies after the Undying battle, but fails horribly as the rest of the Underground falls, Undyne ultimately becoming an Amalgam.

While evacuating everyone in Hotland into the True Lab, Alphys sent Mettaton to Waterfall to ensure Undyne escaped the battle alive if all went to Hell. Mettaton was able to stop the Human from landing the fatal blow and escorted Undyne out of the area, much to Undyne's disliking. They wanted to FINISH THE HUMAN, not RUN FROM THEM! Mettaton brought them back to the True Lab with Alphys, who recognized Undyne was moments away from melting and dusting away. The human had not landed the blow that would kill them instantly, but their health was slowly draining and the DETERMINATION was wearing off. In a state of panic, Alphys decided to simply inject MORE DETERMINATION into Undyne in hopes that would stabilize things. After all, Undyne had been pretty stable up until now when it came to having DETERMINATION. It should be fine, right?

It was not fine.

After injecting Undyne with more DETERMINATION, Alphys left the room for a second to reassure herself and find some things to help bandage Undyne up or ease their pain. When they came back, Undyne had vanished. She heard monsters from the hallways screaming and roaring, and quickly realized that, not only had Undyne transformed into an Amalgamate, but was actively getting into fights with the other Amalgams, who weren't happy about this newcomer's sudden arrival. Alphys was unable to stop any of it, and had to bare to the Amalgamates sloshing around and trying to eat each other alive, which then resulted in ALL OF THEM FUSING TOGETHER, Undyne having most control over the newly formed "monster" while the other, more scattered brains took a backseat. Alphys, both mortified and thankful to see Undyne in this state, was a tad bit more relieved to find that Undyne had actually kept most of her mental state and would in fact be staying alive. However, the issues popped up when it came to monitoring this giant amalgamate and breaking the news to everyone else in the area.

EXTRAS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Fragmentation

Alphys tries to off themself in a different way, choosing to dive into The Core hoping to plummet to their death. However, they end up shattering themself through time and space like Gaster presumably did.

I don't have much of a story or idea of what could happen from here, perhaps Alphys meeting Gaster or taking their place. You could do a lot with that idea, but I'm not sure where to even begin.

5. Ascension

Flowey makes a big frick-up and turns Alphys into a God. It's similar to The Thought where Sans absorbs the 6 Human Souls, but it's with Alphys and the reasons are drastically different.

While preparing to extract the DETERMINATION from the 6 Human Souls in the True Lab, Alphys encounters Flowey, who politely asks her for the SOULs to become a GOD, else he'll kill Alphys and take them by force. However, Alphys refuses and tries to run off with the SOULs, to which Flowey is quick to stab her with vines. The SOUL containers fall to the floor, shattering and releasing the SOULs, which Flowey proceeds to begin absorbing. However, before he can, Alphys retaliates and absorbs them HERSELF.

Not too sure what could/would happen afterwards though.

#undertale au #undertale #alphys #alphys au #utmv #undertale au ideas

10 notes · View notes

manawari · 7 months

Text

Doom Breaker is a top-tier story with genres that balance everything immaculately well. From the dark lore, the wars, the characters, the action itself. . . Even romance — that one thing most (as far as I've read) manhwas cannot drive properly.

I love that Altair is not only served as the love interest, she has her own circle of character that doesn't revolve around Zephyr. She's her own person. The story shows how well she and Zephyr work together even in separate ways. And in the recent chapter, I noticed something—

Altair and Zephyr's deepest thoughts both have thorns!

Since birth, Altair had been desired because of her beauty and her status in the world. Most men only wanted her because she'd make a good trophy for them. She knew her worth and if she wanted to fall in love, she wanted to fall in love with someone who was willing to go through a difficult path with her and see through her exterior. She believed that there would be no love for her in life.

In Zephyr's case, he was used and deceived. His life started off as a slave who had been beat around and had poured so much sweat and blood just to reach where he was. Even in his second life, he carried the scars from his first life. The fear of losing the ones he loved and the fear of being tricked again.

They found each other.

Altair finally found someone who was willing to walk the thorny path in her life. Zephyr wasn't a man who brought her down just like she feared, he was a man who held a torch in her life and gave her everything she (never knew) needed. She wasn't alone.

Because of Zephyr's past with the Smiling Woman, he was afraid that he might experience the same way. . . But not Altair. She showed him honesty instead of futile words. She never deceived him (well, except that kissing spell, but Zephyr had already anticipated that) and treated him like an object, which was also something he shared with Altair — they both wanted to be treated the way they were, not as objectives to be thrown away after.

ZEPHYR WILL ALWAYS CHOOSE ALTAIR

NO MATTER HOW MANY LIFETIMES

IT'S FOREVER GOING TO BE HER

AND ALTAIR WILL NEVER LET GO OF ZEPHYR'S HAND NO MATTER HOW SHARP THE THORNS BENEATH HER FEET ARE

#why isn't anyone else reading this manhwa? IT'S AMAZING I'M TELLING YOU #i feel like crying at how beautiful their love story is—#manhwa #doom breaker #reincarnation of the suicidal battle god #doom breaker zephyr #doom breaker altair #zephtair

21 notes · View notes

blue-howlite · 10 months

Text

#doom breaker #reincarnation of the suicidal battle god #Fade #meme #realistic ending ig #something worth dying for

9 notes · View notes

blogger-dome · 1 year

Text

What i have read

Good

The bugning after the end 171

God game 15

the game that I came from 111

Re monster 76

Skeleton Soldier (Skeleton Soldier Couldn’t Protect the Dungeon) Chapter 202

Reincarnation of the Suicidal Battle God Chapter 60

Solo Spell Caster Chapter 73

Leveling With The Gods - Chapter 65

How to Live as a Villain Chapter 65

Solo Max-Level Newbie Chapter 76

Grow Stronger By Eating! Chapter 88

Solo leveling 179 bad ending

Villain To Kill Chapter 68

The Gamer, Chapter 403

Infinite Level Up in Murim - Chapter 129

Taming Master Chapter 66

Heavenly Demon Cultivation Simulation - Chapter 58

OMNISCIENT READER CHAPTER 153

RETURN OF THE MAD DEMON CHAPTER 63,5

MURIM LOGIN CHAPTER 127

TALENT-SWALLOWING MAGICIAN CHAPTER 22

SWALLOW THE WHOLE WORLD CHAPTER 125

Book Eater - Chapter 43

The Lone Necromancer Chapter 29

Tomb Raider King - Chapter 304

REBIRTH OF THE GREAT GOD CHAPTER 104

Seoul Station Druid - Chapter 43

Level 1 Player Chapter 29

DOES THE LORD’S COIN NOT SHRINK?! CHAPTER 82

CULTIVATING THE SUPREME DANTIAN CHAPTER 175

Return Of The Shattered Constellation Chapter 63

MARTIAL ARTIST LEE GWAK CHAPTER 100

It all starts with playing game seriusly chapter 71

BUG PLAYER CHAPTER 87

Second Life Ranker Manga Chapter 138

Archmage Streamer - Chapter 30

Martial inverse - Chapter 234

Nano Machine - Chapter 111

Meccha Shoukan Sareta Ken Chapter 21

Return of the 8th Class Magician - Chapter 73

Magic Emperor Chapter 330

Poison Dragon: The Legend of an Asura - Chapter 95

The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live a Normal Life Chapter 70

Swordmaster's Youngest Son Chapter 59

Starting Today, I’m a Player Chapter 49

The Novel’s Extra Chapter 50

Trapped In A Webnovel As A Good-For-Nothing - Chapter 117

I Am The Fated Villain Chapter 83

Damn Reincarnation Chapter 42

Absolute Sword Sense Chapter 8

Return to Player - Chapter 115

Strongest Fighter - Chapter 80

The Story of a Low-Rank Soldier Becoming a Monarch. - Chapter 83

Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 39

Sword Fanatic Wanders Through The Night Chapter 13

I have Max level luck Chapter 53

Records of the Swordsman Scholar - Chapter 44

I’m An Evil God - Chapter 277

TRASH OF THE COUNT’S FAMILY CHAPTER 92

The Return of the Crazy Demon Chapter 52.5

SOLO BUG PLAYER CHAPTER 101

Accidentally Became a God - Chapter 30

FFF-Class Trashero - Chapter 133

Supreme Yanluo System - Chapter 105

Standard of Reincarnation Chapter 24

Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble Chapter 64

The Constellation That Returned From Hell Chapter 100

Legendary Youngest Son of the Marquis House Chapter 50

My School Life Pretending To Be a Worthless Person Chapter 21

Kill The Hero - Chapter 103

Reincarnation of the Murim Clan’s Former Ranker Chapter 58

EVOLUTION BEGINS WITH A BIG tree chapter 13

Auto-Hunting With Clones - Chapter 19

Eternal Club Chapter 124

Dungeon Odyssey Chapter 21

Genius of the Unique Lineage Chapter 36

I HAVE 48 HOURS EVERYDAY DAY CHAPTER 45

Invincible at the Start - Chapter 68

Lord of the Mysteries - Chapter 64

Heavenly Sword’s Grand Saga Chapter 35

Archmage Transcending Through Regression - Chapter 41

Kill The Dragon Chapter 32

World’s Strongest Troll Chapter 8

Return of the SSS-Class Ranker Chapter 30

Ultimate Devouring System - Chapter 11

Drug Devourer Chapter 15

Star Instructor, Master Baek Chapter 50 {S1 END}

Demon Lord’s Martial Arts Ascension - Chapter 41

Maxed Out Leveling Chapter 53

Transcension Academy Chapter 31

The S-Classes That I Raised Chapter 65

Relife Player Chapter 21

Infinite Mage chapter 20

Pick Me Up, Infinite Gacha Chapter 33

I Became A Part Time Employee For Gods Chapter 27

Logging 10,000 Years into the Future Chapter 12

Han Dae Sung Returned From Hell – Chapter 24

Past Life Returner Chapter 32

Max Level Player - Chapter 19

I Used to be a Boss Chapter 22

Revenge of the Iron-Blooded Sword Hound Chapter 22

Mid

Terror man

Maxed Out Leveling Chapter 19

THE BLADE OF EVOLUTION-WALKING ALONE IN THE DUNGEON CHAPTER 68

Player Who Can’t Level Up Chapter 50

LEVELING UP, BY ONLY EATING! CHAPTER 88

Return of the Disaster-Class Hero Chapter 42

Dungeons & Artifacts - Chapter 69

SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 80

Bandit King 10

The Tutorial Tower of the Advanced Player Chapter 122

THE ULTIMATE OF ALL AGES CHAPTER 109

I WAS RAISED BY THE BOSS CHAPTER 34

Level 1 Player Chapter 29

MEMOIR OF THE KING OF WAR CHAPTER 45

One-of-a-Kind Irregular - Chapter 19

Nito no Taidana Isekai Shoukougun: Saijaku Shoku - Chapter 19.1

Youjo to Scoop to MaganouChapter 15.5

My Path to Killing Gods in Another World Chapter 45

Super Evolution Chapter 50

Overbearing Tyrant - Chapter 20

the god of martial arts Chapter 154.1

The Man From Hell - Chapter 14

Regressor Instruction Manual Chapter 80

Zomgan - Chapter 4

The Otherworldly Infection Story that Started with a Virus Reincarnation Chapter 16.1

Newbie Management – Chapter 9

The Princess is Evil - Chapter 58

I Became the Tyrant of a Defence Game - Chapter 16

To Hell With Being A Saint, I’m A Doctor Chapter 43

THE SUPREME WAY CHAPTER 15

The World's Best Engineer - Chapter 86

Divine Leveling System - Chapter 48

Sleeping Ranker Chapter 47

SSS-Class Gacha Hunter Chapter 51

I Obtained a Mythic Item Chapter 51

Youngest Scion of the Mages - Chapter 21

Great Sage of Humanity chapter 39

Reborn Ranker – Gravity User Chapter 22

Transcension Academy - Chapter 23

Library of Heaven's Path - Chapter 219

I’ll Be Taking A Break For Personal Reasons Chapter 25

Player Who Returned 10,000 Years Later - Chapter 52

World’s Apocalypse Online - Chapter 143

Heavenly Inquisition Sword Chapter 22

Backwater Old Man Becomes a Swordmaster Chapter 13

I just want to practice Alchemy And Become A God - Chapter 2

Universal Raider - Chapter 13

Life of a magic Academy mage chapter 22

Meiou-sama ga Tooru no desu yo! Chapter 7

Hoarding in Hell - Chapter 40

Isekai Walking Chapter 3

Secret Player Chapter 24

As A Fated Villain, It’s Not Too Much To Destroy The Protagonist, Right? Chapter 7

The More I Kill, The Stronger I Get - Chapter 9

A Gate Opened on my First Day as a Politician - Chapter 34

Transmigrating to the Otherworld Once More Chapter 41

The Hero Took Everything from Me, So I Partied with the Hero’s Mother!

Is This Hero For Real? Chapter 23

Baek XX Chapter 6

The Demon Prince goes to the Academy Chapter 20

Everyone Else is A Returnee Chapter 20

Demonic Evolution chapter 3

Reincarnation Of The Strongest Sword God Chapter 31

Hero the Maximum – Chapter 14

The Constellations Are My Disciples - Chapter 19

I Levelled up by Becoming an Influencer Chapter 11

Hell’s Tormentor Kraken Chapter 7

Bad

Hero Has Returned - Chapter 77

Not finish good

The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 29

The god of hiscol 114 not finish

OVERGEARED (TEAM ARGO) CHAPTER

104

Tensei Kenja No Isekai Raifu ~Daini No Shokugyo Wo Ete, Sekai Saikyou Ni Narimashita~ Vol.7 Chapter 21: It Seems Like I Became An Assassination Target Again.

Slave B - Chapter 41 Hate the main carekter

the king of bugs

A RETURNER'S MAGIC SHOULD BE

THE STRONGEST GOD KING CHAPTER 115 SPECIAL CHAPTER 32

LEVEL UP ALONE CHAPTER 57

Spare Me, Great Lord! - Chapter 17

Am I Actually the Strongest? Chapter 14.1

Martial Peak - Chapter 2325

Tower of god season 2 chapter 108

CHRONICLES OF HEAVENLY DEMON, CHAPTER 130

TENSEI SHITARA DAI NANA OUJI DATTANODE, CHAPTER 49: LET’S LEARN HOLY MAGIC

The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 78

Super Gene - Chapter 41

The Earth Savior Selection - Chapter 24

Volcanic Age - Chapter 96

Evolution frenzy - Chapter 43

Not finish bad

The Tutorial is Too Hard Chapter 42

The Challenger Chapter 19

20 notes · View notes

ryin-silverfish · 24 days

Note

How many differences are there between the first version of the novel and the second that we all know?

Quite a lot, in fact. The relationship between Wuwang Fazhou Pinghua and FSYY is kinda like the relationship between JTTW Zaju and JTTW novel: the skeleton of the story is similar, but everything else is off.

Off the top of my head:

-In the Pinghua version, King Zhou didn't offend Nvwa with his simp poem, but proclaimed his love to a Jade Maiden, and the Jade Maiden gave him a sash as keepsake.

-After that, however, the Jade Maiden didn't visit again. Lovesick, King Zhou ordered his subjects to give up their daughters as concubines, in search of one that looks like the Jade Maiden.

-One of these girls was Su Daji, who then got killed and possessed by a fox demoness, granting her supernatural beauty that led to her father sending her to King Zhou as a tribune.

-One day, the fox saw King Zhou wearing that sash, asked him about its origins, and became insanely jealous upon hearing the story. She talked King Zhou into burning the Jade Maiden's temple and destroying her statue.

-In response, the Jade Maiden sent the Taisui God to reincarnate as King Zhou's prince, Yin Jiao, and end the Shang dynasty.

-What ensued is roughly the novel's plot beats, vastly simplified, tweaked and slightly out of order——Daoist guy gifting King Zhou a magical sword that nearly killed Daji through its aura, Ji Chang finding baby Lei Zhenzi in a tomb, King Zhou killing Queen Jiang by pushing her off a building, the brutal tortues and executions...

-When Yin Jiao learned about the truth of his mother's murder, he tried and failed to avenge her, escaped, and was given the Axe of Zhou's Doom by a divine soldier.

-Jiang Shang(Jiang Ziya) was a street diviner whose accuracy attracted King Zhou's attention, got rewarded with a job appointment, then ordered to battle Huang Feihu, who rebelled after King Zhou made Bo Yikao into meat sauce and fed it to his father, Ji Chang.

-Jiang Shang released Huang Feihu after hearing the truth, which led to King Zhou executing his aged mother, and he survived by faking his own suicide. He first met Yin Jiao and later, Ji Chang (King Wen), and together, they rose up in rebellion against King Zhou.

-There wasn't the grand overarching plot of the Investiture; instead, the Pinghua version just had characters show up and be like "by the way, this guy is/will be the god of _____." No Chan-Jie conflict either.

-Upon victory, Yin Jiao chopped off King Zhou's head himself, while Daji was reverted to her fox form, stuffed into a sack and crushed to death with a wooden pestle.

-By the standard of Confucian filial piety, the patricide part is pretty outrageous, and probably why it got changed in the novel.

-Yin Jiao was very much the protagonist of the Pinghua, and the Fengshen Movie Trilogy certainly took more inspiration from the Pinghua in that regard.

#fengshen yanyi #investiture of the gods

4 notes · View notes

allyleetheo · 30 days

Text

Here is a list of Manwha's recommendations. They are sorted into genres, and do not contain any BL/GL, I have a separate list for BL/GL manwha's.

I have not read any of these yet. (I'll be giving them ratings as I read them.)

Compiled by Lis (Blob / s.class.villainess on Tiktok)

You can search https://tinyurl.com/mwreclist for their complete list and ratings.

Note: This list is mostly not up to date with the episode counts, so most of the titles might have more chapters than listed.

🪻total amount of titles: 439

Key:

🔁 - Complete works

ACTION

Medical Return (100 chapters)

Mercenary Enrollment (76 chapters)

ACTION / FANTASY

A Gate Opened on my First Day as a Politician (24 chapters)

Arcane Sniper (73 chapter of ons)

Crimson Karma (118 chapters)🔁

Damn Reincarnation (29 chapters)

Doctor's Rebirth (82 chapters)

Eleceed (210 chapters)

Ending Maker (31 chapters)

Estio (33 chapters)

F-class Destiny Hunter (59 chapters)

Heavenly Demon Instructor (42 chapters)

Heavenly Sword’s Grand Saga (28 chapters)

Hoarding in Hell (39 chapters)

I Stole The First Ranker’s Soul (41 chapters)

Kill the Hero (103 chapters)

Legendary Youngest Son of the Marquis House (43 chapters)

Leveling With The Gods (60 chapters)

Maxed Out Leveling (21 chapters)

Murim Login (52 chapters)

My Daughter is the Final Boss (83 chapters)

Nano Machine (101 chapters)

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (171 chapters)

Overbearing Tyrant (33 chapters)

Player Who Can't Level Up (95 chapters)

Ranker's Return (remake) (56 chapters)

Reaper of the Drifting Moon (25 chapters)

Reincarnation of the Suicidal Battle God (44 chapters)

Return of the 8th class Magician (29 chapters)

Return of the Mount Hua Sect (72 chapters)

Return Of The Shattered Constellation (42 chapters)

Second Life Ranker (116 chapters)

Seoul Station's Necromancer (41 chapters)

Solo Leveling (179 chapters)🔁

Solo Max-Level Newbie (42 chapters)

SSS-Class Gacha Hunter (45 chapters

SSS-Class Revival Hunter (94 chapters)

Standard of Reincarnation (22 chapters)

Star-Fostered Swordmaster (32 chapters)

Talent-Swallowing Magician (30 chapters)

The Advanced Player of The Tutorial Tower (107 chapters)

The Daughter of The Elemental King (105 chapters)

The Frozen Player Returns (50 chapters)

The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years (119 chapters)

The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live a Normal Life (35 chapters)

The Hero Returns (38 chapters)

The Martial God who Regressed Back to Level 2 (50 chapters)

The Newbie is Too Strong (31 chapters)

The Novel's Extra (28 chapters)

The Returner's Magic Should Be Special (192 chapters)

The Return of The Disaster-Class Hero (48 chapters)

The S-classes That I Raised (105 chapters)

The Scholar’s Reincarnation (140 chapters)

The World After the Fall (12 chapters)

Tomb Raider King (308 chapters)

Trapped in a Webnovel as a Good for Nothing (140 chapters)

Trash of the Count's Family (85 chapters)

Tyrant of the Tower Defence Game (82 chapters)

Villain to Kill (61 chapters)

Worthless Regression (25 chapters)

FANTASY / ROMANCE

A Capable Maid (59 chapters)

A Good Day To Be A Dog (93 chapters)🔁

A Happy Ending for the Villains (16 chapters)

A Marriage Alliance for Revenge (43 chapters)

A Most Virtuous Villain (83 chapters)🔁

A Princess's Guide to Saving Dragons (18 chapters)

A Red Knight Does Not Blindly Follow Money (66 chapters)

A Single Round at Romance is Enough! (48 chapters)

A Stepmother’s Märchen (83 chapters)

A Symbiotic Relationship Between A Rabbit And A Black Panther (68 chapters)

A Tender Heart: The Story of How I Became a Duke’s Maid (110 chapters)🔁

A Transmigrator's Privilege (65 chapters)🔁

A Villain Demands to Be Loved (70 chapters)🔁

A Villainess Is a Good Match for a Tyrant (104 chapters)🔁

A Wicked Tale of Cinderella's Stepmom (109 chapters)

Abandoned Wife Has a New Husband (44 chapters)

Adelaide (85 chapters)🔁

Aileen's on Fire! (20 chapters)

An Unseemly Lady (35 chapters)

Aria of the Withered Branch (87 chapters)

Ashtarte (80 chapters)

As You Wish, Prince! (93 chapters)🔁

Baby Squirrel Is Good At Everything (21 chapters)

Becoming The Villain’s Family (43 chapters)

Becoming You (124 chapters)🔁

Beloved by the Male Lead's Nephew (32 chapters)

Beware of The Villainess! (93 chapters)🔁

Birth of a Goddess (199 chapters)

Bloody Sweet (86 chapters)🔁

Carefully Choosing a Husband (31 chapters)

Carrier Falcon Princess (79 chapters)

Cat in the Chrysalis (42 chapters)

Catherine's Key to a Happy Life (25 chapters)

Caught by the Villain (The Villain Discovered my Identity) (110 chapters)

Charlotte Has Five Disciples (124 chapters)

Cheerful Countess Sisters (68 chapters)

Chitra (141 chapters)

Cierra (23 chapters)

Cinderella Disappeared (20 chapters)

Cradle of Heaven (18 chapters)

Crows Like Shiny Things (49 chapters)

Daisy: How to Become the Duke’s Fiancée (98 chapters)

Dear Nemesis (65 chapters)

Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess (91 chapters)

Disobey the Duke if You Dare (26 chapters)

Divorce me, Husband! (39 chapters)

Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp (143 chapters)🔁

Don't Hire My Brother Your Highness! (35 chapters)

Dream Lover Strategy Guide (57 chapters)🔁

Empress? Empress! (130 chapters)🔁

Evangeline's Sword (23 chapters)

Everything's Coming Up Roses (23 chapters)

Extras Don’t Want to be Overly Obsessed (56 chapters)

Falling For The Enemy (49 chapters)🔁

Falling into the Deep End (34 chapters)

Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage! (123 chapters)🔁

Flirting with The Villain's Dad (94 chapters)

Follow The Bread Crumbs (70 chapters)🔁

Forget My Husband, I'll Go Make Money (24 chapters)

For My Derelict Beloved (54 chapters)

For Stella (32 chapters)

Fortune-telling Lady (27 chapters)

From a Knight to a Lady (92 chapters)

Go Away Romeo (36 chapters)

Golden Time (47 chapters)

Happily Ever Afterwards (61 chapters)

Heroine's Shares for Sale (39 chapters)

How Did I Become the Princess? (44 chapters)

Honey, I’m Going On a Strike (54 chapters)

How to Be a Dark Hero’s Daughter (40 chapters)

How to Get My Husband on My Side (57 chapters)

How to Hide the Emperor's Child (78 chapters)

How to Prey on Your Master (72 chapters)

I Abdicate My Title of Empress (23 chapters)

I Adopted the Male Lead (90 chapters)🔁

I am the Precious Daughter of the Greatest Villain in the Fantasy World (45 chapters)

I Became the Tyrant’s Secretary (54 chapters)

I Became the Villainess in a Disastrous Novel (44 chapters)

I Became the Villain’s Mother (63 chapters)

I Became the Wife of the Male Lead (47 chapters)

I Bid You Adieu (101 chapters)

I Can't Keep Up With My Stallion Duke (38 chapters)

I Choose the Emperor Ending (115 chapters)🔁

I Didn’t Mean to Seduce the Male Lead (40 chapters)

I Don’t Love You Anymore (58 chapters)

I Don't Want to Play the Matchmaker! (37 chapters)

I Dream of Health, Wealth and a Long Life (84 chapters)

I Failed to Abandon the Villain (44 chapters)

I Found a Husband When I Picked Up the Male Lead (50 chapters)

I Have No Health (51 chapters)

I Listened to my Husband and Brought in a Lover (21 chapters)

I Raised a Black Dragon (74 chapters)

I Raised My Childhood Friend as a Tyrant (57 chapters)

I Shall Kill that Sweet Devil (79 chapters)

Isnelda (26 chapters)

I Stan The Prince (66 chapters)

I Tamed My Ex-husband's Mad Dog (37 chapters)

I Thought My Time Was Up! (30 chapters)

I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword (34 chapters)

I Was Seduced by the Sick Male Lead (26 chapters)

I Was Tricked Into This Fake Marriage! (107 chapters)🔁

I Will Take Responsibility for the Welfare of the Male Lead (35 chapters)

I'm Not The Final Boss' Lover! (36 chapters)

I'm the One Who Died, but the Hero Went Crazy (32 chapters)

I've Been Proposed to by a Villain (62 chapters)

If You Touch My Little Brother, You’re All Dead (46 chapters)

Inso's Law (147 chapters)

Into the Light Once Again (48 chapters)

Is It a Fortune or Is It a Woe? (83 chapters)

It Looks Like I’ve Fallen into the World of a Reverse Harem Game (74 chapters)

It Seems I've Transmigrated Somewhere (29 chapters)

It Was All A Mistake (61 chapters)

It’s My Destiny To Be The Hero’s Saviour (33 chapters)

I’ll Be The Matriarch In This Life (64 chapters)

I’ll Just Live on as a Villainess (73 chapters)

I'll save this Damned Family! (110 chapters)

I’m a Martial Art Villainess but I’m the Strongest! (72 chapters)

I'm a Villainess, Can I Die? (28 chapters)

I'm Engaged to an Obsessive Male Lead (81 chapters)

I’m Only a Stepmother, But My Daughter is Just So Cute! (65 chapters)

I’m the Male Lead’s Girl Friend (63 chapters)🔁

I'm the One Who Died, but the Hero Went Crazy (23 chapters)

I'm the Queen in This Life (50 chapters)

Justice for the Villainess (43 chapters)

Just Leave Me Be (80 chapters)

Kill the Villainess (100 chapters)

Lady Beast (113 chapters)

Lady Crystal is a Man (30 chapters)

Let Me Die in Peace! (32 chapters)

Let’s Hide My Younger Brother First (40 chapters)

Leveling Up My Husband to the Max (97 chapters)

Lies Become You (18 chapters)

Like Wind on a Dry Branch (85 chapters)

Lillien of Turin (33 chapters)

Long After The Ending (60 chapters)🔁

Lydia's Great Escape (57 chapters)

Marriage and Sword (39 chapters)

May I kill You, Your Highness? (30 chapters)

Miss Not-So Sidekick (177 chapters)🔁

Miss Time (60 chapters)🔁

More Than You Know (28 chapters)

My Dear Aster (45 chapters)

My Farm by the Palace (65 chapters)

My Husband Hides His Beauty (80 chapters)

My Husband, My Sister, and I (26 chapters)

My Mysterious Nighttime Visitor (10 chapters)

My Red String of Fate (90 chapters)🔁

My Sister Picked Up the Male Lead (59 chapters)

My Warmonger Husband (46 chapters)

Necrobride (37 chapters)

No More Nice Sis (64 chapters)

No Outtakes (38 chapters)

Not Just Anyone Can Become a Villainess (68 chapters)

Nullitas: The Counterfeit Bride (55 chapters)

One Pair Lady (40 chapters)

Only Realised After Losing You (26 chapters)

Ophelia the Oracle Queen (12 chapters)

Please Don't Come To The Villainess’ Stationery Store! (36 chapters)

Please Give Me The Pacifier (41 chapters)

Please Marry Me Again, Husband! (36 chapters)

Preventing the Making of a Tyrant (46 chapters)

Princess of the Animals (16 chapters)

Protecting the Witch's Son (38 chapters)

Protect the Knight (53 chapters)

Queen Cecia’s Shorts (80 chapters)

Regina Rena: To the Unforgiven (24 chapters)

Reporting for Duty, Duchess! (48 chapters)

Revenge Wedding (84 chapters)🔁

Rewriting My Tragic Ending (34 chapters)

Rewriting the Villainess (62 chapters)🔁

Roxana (39 chapters)

Royal Marriage (49 chapters)

Run, Meil (50 chapters)🔁

Sacrificed (52 chapters)

Say Ah, the Golden Spoon Is Entering (40 chapters)

Saving My Sweetheart (A Way to Protect the Lovable You) (89 chapters)

Second Life of a Trash Princess (23 chapters)

Secret Lady (43 chapters)

Seven Years Later (36 chapters)

Savor the Taste (59 chapters)🔁

Side Characters Deserve Love too (127 chapters)

So I Married the Abandoned Prince (29 chapters)

Straight to the Red Carpet (40 chapters)

Swimming Lessons for a Mermaid (101 chapters)🔁

Taming the Emperor's Hound (31 chapters)

Taming the Corrupted (45 chapters)

Terrarium Adventure (19 chapters)

The 101st Heroine (71 chapters)🔁

The Accidental Heiress (45 chapters)

The Baby Isn't Yours (29 chapters)

The Beast Emperor and I (26 chapters)

The Beloved Little Princess (96 chapters)

The Black Haired Princess (107 chapters)🔁

The Boutique at 97th Sheldon Street (26 chapters)

The Crown Princess Audition (80 chapters)

The Demonic Contract (64 chapters)

The Destroyer Fell in Love With Me (71 chapters)

The Duchess with an Empty Soul (100 chapters)

The Duchess's 50 Tea Recipes (143 chapters)🔁

The Duke's 99th Bride (24 chapters)

The Duke's Bored Daughter is My Master (57 chapters)

The Duke's Teddy Bear (54 chapters)

The Dungeon’s Dying S-class Lady (24 chapters)

The Empire's Hidden Hope (21 chapters)

The First Night With the Duke (102 chapters)🔁

The Goddess of Healing (159 chapters)🔁

The Golden Forest (55 chapters)

The Golden-Haired Summoner (100 chapters)

The Grand Duchess of the North Was Secretly a Villainess (21 chapters)

The Handsome Male Lead Won't Let Me Log Out! (35 chapters)

The Heroine Is a Man (36 chapters)

The Lady and the Beast (72 chapters)

The Lady I Served Became a Master (79 chapters)

The Lady Tames the Swordmaster (70 chapters)

The Lady Wants to Rest (43 chapters)

The Lady’s Butler (90 chapters)

The Lady’s Law of Survival (61 chapters)

The Little Lady Tames the Leads (22 chapters)

The Little Landlady (22 chapters)

The Maid and the Vampire (76 chapters)🔁

The Matchmaking Baby Princess (51 chapters)

The Millionaire Divorcee (21 chapters)

The Night Without Shadows (60 chapters)

The Noble Pirate (22 chapters)

The Perks of Being a Villainess (45 chapters)

The Precious Sister of The Villainous Grand Duke (69 chapters)

The Princess is Evil (34 chapters)

The Princess's Doll Shop (33 chapters)

The Princess’s Double Life (42 chapters)

The Princess’s Spaceship (85 chapters)🔁

The Protection of Lariensa Gelinus (90 chapters)🔁

The Real Daughter Is Back (21 chapters)

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion (158 chapters)🔁

The Rebirth of A Tyrannical Empress (103 chapters)

The Remarried Empress (117 chapters)

The Runaway Lead Lives Next Door (41 chapters)

The Second Male Lead is Actually a Girl (16 chapters)

The Stairway of Time (110 chapters)🔁

The Strongest Characters in the World are Obsessed With Me (56 chapters)

The Tyrant Wants To Be Good (32 chapters)

The Tyrant's Sister (121 chapters)

The Tyrant’s Only Perfumer (44 chapters)

The Tyrant's Tranquilizer (37 chapters)

The Villainess Empress’s Attendant (20 chapters)

The Villainess Enters the Game! (18 chapters)

The Villainess Flips The Script! (91 chapters)

The Villainess is a Marionette (54 chapters)

The Villainess Lives Again (95 chapters)

The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass (105 chapters)

The Villainess’s Blind Date is too Perfect (29 chapters)

The Villainess's Road to Revenge (20 chapters)

The Villainous Princess Wants to Live in a Gingerbread House (54 chapters)

The Villain’s Daughter-in-Law has limited time (35 chapters)

The Villain’s Savior (87 chapters)🔁

The Viridescent Tiara (69 chapters)

The Wicked Woman's Daughter (38 chapters)

This Girl is a Little Wild (50 chapters)

This Villainess Wants A Divorce! (118 chapters)🔁

This Witch of Mine (58 chapters)🔁

To a Happy Ending for The Tragic Novel (20 chapters)

To Those Who Long for My Destruction (38 chapters)

Tricked into Becoming the Heroine's Stepmother (50 chapters)

Trophy Husband (55 chapters)🔁

Truthfully, They Only Remembered Her (76 chapters)

Under the Oak Tree (50 chapters)

Untouchable Lady (51 chapters)

Valia, Tribute to Shuden (20 chapters)

Villainess For Hire (32 chapters)

Villainess in Love (95 chapters)🔁

Villainess Maker (72 chapters)🔁

Virtues of the Villainess (82 chapters)🔁

Wake Up, Warrior (53 chapters)

Welcome to Sylvia's Garden (20 chapters)

What it Takes To Be A Villainess (163 chapters)🔁

What's Wrong with You, Duke? (133 chapters)🔁

When I Quit Being A Wicked Mother-in-law, Everyone Became Obsessed With Me (23 chapters)

When The Count's Illegitimate Daughter Gets Married (34 chapters)

When the Villainess Loves (70 chapters)

Why Are You Obsessed with Your Fake Wife? (34 chapters)

Wished You Were Dead (37 chapters)

Your Majesty, I will raise you well in this life (41 chapters)

Your Majesty, Please Spare Me This Time (73 chapters)

Your Throne (126 chapters)

SUPERNATURAL / ROMANCE

A Chance At Last (69 chapters)🔁

Act Like You Love Me! (126 chapters)

Bitten Contract (95 chapters)

Eaternal Nocturnal (60 chapters)

Goodbye, In-Law! (75 chapters)🔁

Marry My Husband (66 chapters)🔁

Operation: True Love (70 chapters)

Perfect Marriage Revenge (95 chapters)

Rewriting Our Love Story (62 chapters)🔁

The Time We Were Young (39 chapters)

Villain with a Crush (Pure Villain) (62 chapters)

ROMANCE

200% in Love (62 chapters)🔁

A Morning Kiss at Tiffany's (52 chapters)

A Business Proposal (106 chapters)🔁

A Step Closer to Your Heart (94 chapters)🔁

Before It's Too Late (41 chapters)

Charming You (72 chapters)🔁

Date First, Love Later (46 chapters)

Day by Day (74 chapters)🔁

Daytime Star (77 chapters)🔁

Faking It In Style (75 chapters)

His Devilish New Hire (73 chapters)

Idol House (71 chapters)🔁

Interview with the Crazy Rich (53 chapters)

Love Lies (83 chapters)🔁

Maid for Hire (43 chapters)

Match Made in Hell (45 chapters)

Maybe Meant to Be (79 chapters)

My Boss's Special Request (38 chapters)

My Ex, Client (47 chapters)🔁

My Far Too Tumultuous Marriage (35 chapters)

My Irresistible Ex (100 chapters)🔁

My Sweet Girl (98 chapters)🔁

Nice To Meet You (67 chapters)

One Step Away From Happiness (30 chapters)

Our Secret Alliance (71 chapters)

Painful, but Desirable (73 chapters)🔁

Positively Yours (80 chapters)🔁

Revelation of Youth (51 chapters)

Secretary Out-of-Order (20 chapters)

See You in My 19th Life (85 chapters)

Sixth Sense Kiss (51 chapters)

Substitute Boyfriend (55 chapters)

The Lady with a Mask (55 chapters)🔁

The Losing Streak (40 chapters)🔁

The Omniscient Point Of View Of An Unrequited Love (83 chapters)

The Pharmacy Where the Wolf Howls (77 chapters)🔁

The Second Lead Syndrome (38 chapters)

Two Steps Away (50 chapters)🔁

Unlovable Replacement (84 chapters)

Wedding Impossible (72 chapters)🔁

What's Wrong With Your Online Life? (31 chapters)

When the Day Comes (52 chapters)🔁

Wished You Were Dead (96 chapters)

Writer's Block of Romance (27 chapters)

OTHER

From Today On, I’m a Boy (68 chapters)🔁

Ice Lamp - The Chronicles of Kira (74 chapters)🔁

I Work at a Witch's Mansion (36 chapters)🔁

I Became a Doting Father (48 chapters)

Level-Up Doctor (29 chapters)

This Is The Law (44 chapters)

#manwha #webcomic #webtoon

2 notes · View notes