Theo: The Blood Angel of Lescatie

A barrage of crossbow bolts pelted him, only to be bogged to nothing by a canopy of bright red blood. He shouted another arcane syllable to send a barrage of glowing blood arrows to rip the shooters apart; his teeth chattered in dark pleasures with each magic pulse. It was always a darkly pleasing feeling to tower over a foul dark elf slaver and terrify it. Today was his last, and best day of life, with perfect targets all around. Squeezing his fists, he mumbled an Old Tongue word, whipping the shed blood around him and slicing apart dozens more.

"DIE!" His sword split another skull. His left hand expanded, draining its sordid blood and healing him and hastening his muscles further and further.

His heart started fluttering. He knew he wasn't long for this world. That was the secret of blood magic: you don't survive it. It kills and poisons your mind. His throbbing figure was glowing crimson, declaring his unholy, unnatural power and fading soul. Yet it felt good. So good. He felt like a god of Death on the battlefield for one brief moment in his short, chaotic, tormented life.

"VENGEANCE!" Screaming this word by itself was a delight.

Bending back, he barely dodged a male Ogre's axe, the metallic edge ringing on the armored gorget within inches of his throat. He dove forward, impaling the grotesque beast through his heart and blasting him apart , his other hand's blood magic igniting the creature's blood filled organs and exploding the monster.

Surging forward, he caught a Drow girl, a strangely cat-eared, tights wearing, martial artist with a whip, in the belly with his sword, lifting the wretch above. Laughing madly, he enjoyed the drow attacker's dying, horror-filled face and grinned at the drow surrounding him.

"VOID!" He ignited his blade, making the alluring slaver girl burn alive, screaming.

Her comrades looked in terror as he opened his mouth, devouring her soul in front of them.

"SHE IS GONE! AS WILL YOU!"

As beautiful, seemingly innocent looking invaders surrounded him more and more, he felt the time right. His eyes, for one moment in eternity, gazed at the spectacle of grotesque bloodshed. Gazing into his opponents' eyes, he saw their world. Their treatment of people. Lines of slave markets with beastly treatment, sexual slavery of worse type, and even cannibalism, slaves ending up being accidentally blasted with spells and discarded, slaves that were broken in to be mere, clingy tools.

He saw visions of chaos of a realm bathed in corruption, Creatures eating even their dead, glutting an underworld kingdom with slaves even when resources were sparse.

And he saw fear in their eyes. They had answered the eerie call of a dead dark god promising them slaves, only to meet a furious, live monster of a human they sneered back in their realm, surrounded by a whirlwind of glistening blood emerging from his veins. A whip of blood sliced one of their own. Swords flashed, and three more fell. His scream, an unearthly warcry made those that stood shiver.

A red eyed demon in the body of a drow leapt at him with a spear. Another whiplike protrusion from his blood loss slicesthe creature apart. Dodging two more, he summoned his agonizing blood power and shifted to the side, taking both of their heads in a single swing.

"DIE BASTARDS!"

Theo started to laugh, his voice amplified by the enchantments running in his body. The survivors froze in fear as a river of blood started to collect around him. He could hear the cries of fear and hesitation fill his ears.

"HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW?" His booming voice made some hesitate and retreat.

A barrage of arrows ripped apart the terrified invader ranks as the mamono and human army behind him charged around him. Still it was not enough. The strange Drow were fantastically powerful, unleashing waves of waves of magical energies to cut down the attackers by the hundreds. Yet they would not falter.

This was a war over life and dignity. Monsters and men of Dunia had enough: Slavery, war, famine, displacement, another war, and now these newer slaving invaders had whipped the inhabitants into a frenzy. Even Holstauri had joined their minotaur sisters with axes to surge across the barrier, desperate, furious to beat back another horrid age of slavery and war at the cost of their own lives. This time it was closure or death. Even the grim reminder of absolute death within the spell boundaries did no longer deter anyone willing to fight, or die.

Even former Drow slaves were using Blood Magic to end their existence to just make a small dent in the war effort.

**

An endless thunder sounded around him as sheer number of attackers started grinding down the dreaded wound across the world as time and space started to ebb and flow, and the world quakes.

He stood before his greatest fear.

The spectre before him towered twenty feet tall, a monstrosity made of dust, coagulated blood and the most disgusting smelling, shimmering sludge one could imagine.

Maou stood before him, again. Now it was an utter atrocity to existence, fueled by his hate.

Theo looked up. He had imagined this would be a fearful encounter, his nightmarish mental domination scaring him. But the mental union with Mingzhi had cleansed his dreams. Such was his relief that he smiled quietly at the rotting finger landing on his forehead.

"KNEEL." Was the booming, disgusting word.

"No." Theo blinked and spoke, with no rancor. Before the spectre could scream, he spoke: "You are wrong. Your hate consumed you worse than my condition. Rest now."

"LITTLE HUMAN FILTH." He raised his claw, an oily, disgusting clump of serrated blades to rip him apart. Theo concentrated, and dropped on his back: Mingzhi had told him that only the fearful, the gullible died by spectral weapons.

The claws passed through him with no pain but a small scratch. He blew on a small, conjured ball of water, softly raising a ring of protection on his back before he fell, and slid away.

"WHAT?" Was the disconcerted response of the deathless Maou.

"You are poisoned. Your soul is. But, you see, I found a little Hakutaku lady to draw your influence into herself and vomit it into the cosmos to be cleansed." Theo spoke calmly. He felt like floating on clouds, free and calm. "You see, it's over. We both channeled enough power in one being. Let's finish it." He drew a small dagger.

The world had enough. The sheer fury and determination had the Drow terrified. This was no soft surface world of petty humans and goblins to drag and abuse. The strange monsters were far too much even for their moonless world's slavers. Worse, the portal was still one-way. Any Drow desperately jumping back was being disintegrating.

The dead-god had fooled them.

"SEA SLUG! WRETCH!"

A billowing cloud of plague hit his body, emerging from a fanged mouth...ony to disintegrate around a shield of pure water. Theo smiled, and sliced with grace on the extended arms, cutting them off, only to reform.

"YOU CANNOT HURT ME." Spoke the gurgling beast.

"You can't keep this up either." Theo smiled, all fear gone. He had time to charge. The beast did not. Even so, the old monster god had plenty to dish out. He roared, lunging with a series of blasts of corrupt fire to batter Theo's body. He braced for impact and decided to roll aside...

To bump into a barrage of swords which already intercepted the spell blasts.

They were with him. His friends, people he fought and nearly died for. The men of Lescatie, who had been able to survive this far, had surrounded his half of the circle, wizards, unleashing a barrage of lightning towards the invaders, letting him deal with the colossal horror.

Amongst the horror stood a general, the very human that did not want the centaur in their camp.

"We are with you. Do it."

Using the distraction and terror he caused to their dead God, and the chaos of battle, he started to chant the forgotten words of Blood magic.

Point of no return had begun. Far more than 10000 souls were spent: he felt it. His blood threatened to burst out of his body as the Mamono God-King's essence threatened to stop him. The whispers became shouts as he neared his end. Strangely, the invaders stopped as if commanded by an invisible hand as he started chanting in the first Tongue of men:

K'ur gul iz zuul,
shab-mu gi-er-ra edin-na,
du'l-szib-ba-ra!
zul! su nge me gil-im!

-BE MY VESSEL, NOT MY CAPTOR, AND I PROMISE TO AID YOU

I CAN GIVE BRIKHA BACK TO YOU!

I WILL NOT ENSLAVE MEN, I PROMISE, I WILL MAKE THE INVADERS YOUR SLAVES INSTEAD-FRIENDS IF YOU WANT

THEO, YOU WANTED LOVE. I WILL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT.

I WILL GIVE YOU THE POWER TO CHARM THE WORLD. IMAGINE ALL THE WORLD DOING AS YOU LIKE. You WANTED FRIENDS. I WILL GIVE YOU ALL YOU WANT. ALL THE FRIENDS YOU CAN LOVE.

GIVE ME MY CROWN BACK AND I WILL LET YOU RULE BY MY SIDE, I CAN CHANGE. I WILL LET YOU SHOW ME THIS "FREEDOM" IF YOU JUST LET ME!

Theo took out his sacrifical dagger and started slitting his wrist. Now it was beginning. The voice grew ragged and desperate.

"STOP. I'LL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT. I'LL LET YOU LIBERATE ALL THESE WORLDS! LISTEN TO ME! I'LL LET YOU BE A SAVIOR YOU DREAMT OF BEING AT NIGHT! YOU KNOW YOU DREAMT OF THIS. LIBERATE EVERY SLAVE IN EVERY REALM. HAVE JOY AND HAPPINESS DOMINATE EXISTENCE. STOP!"

"DYING IS POINTLESS, THEO! YOU ABSORBED ME BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO LIVE!"

Theo mumbled before he finished the spell. "I was dead the first arrow landed on my home. Too late for stopping."

PLEASE! I WILL GIVE YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! I WILL SEND THE INVADERS AWAY! ANYTHING YOU DESIRE!HELP ME CHANNEL YOU INTO A VESSEL FOR MY GODHOOD! STOP! JUST WAIT! STOP HIM!

The drow started to shake themselves clear of mental domination and drew their weapons again.

"A life for a life." Were the final words that cast the evil spell of Blood Magic. In a moment of eternity, Theo's heart felt light. He uttered the first words that would change the world, and plunged the knife in his own heart. His finishing words were a melodic, improvised line to attempt using dark magic for good in Common language. The Hakutaku had told him, now it was time to do it.

A hand grabbed his arm, startling him.

It was the bearded knight that had hated the centaurs. Theo hissed in fear, but the man was calm:

"Theo..."

"It has been an honor." He nodded, smiling and letting him stab himself.

The knife ripped his heart, freeing massive amounts of enchanted blood and energies. His last words were etched

"Ten Thousand Lives for Eternity!"

The drow surrounding him screamed and lunged, each possessing the face of a demon, desperate to save the Maou that channeled them to this world. Too late.

Thus ends the life of the boy-turned-monster-turned-lamb. A final observer with a looking scope, a scout noted that he exploded, the blood he absorbed from far more than 10000 sacrifices forming a burning, bright red star that could be seen during the day across the world.

The bloody star absorbed the blood shed on the warzone, drinking on the hot nectar of life freely given for honor; then the star exploded, impaling the exiting army from the portal where it stood. The invading "drow's" dying expressions were buried in a jagged flood of burning rubies.

The portal itself, a wound in reality that corrupted the world was shut and torn apart by the supernova that pounded the Pit deeper into the world. It is not illogical to assume the invasion realms were bombarded by torrents of molten lava and ruby as well, perhaps mercifully cleansing these realms of life.

The rest, as you know, is history. The seas roared, and earthquakes buried the Pit until seas spilled its soil and water, and molded it in shape of an island; embracing the megalithic, burning-hot ruby into an island.

The sole point of his existence, is in the heart of a mountain-sized Ruby under a verdant hill. It marks the Seal to our world, so that worse horrors from the Multiverse may never corrupt it.This world is ours, free from worse horrors and pains and invasions, for all eternity as long as the ruby stands.

Some would argue that Maou, the male spirit of all Mamono species is destroyed. Mingzhi says it's not. It's spread across the world now, and surely will reform and reincarnate after some millenia, hopefully under a more benevolent soul. Maybe we will then live side by side as equals, forever, male and female mamono and humans intertwined as a giant family, never to fall into chaos like this.

There will be wars,deaths and maybe even slavery again. But Bai Ze, the Hakutaku teacher Theo claimed to have met, said each of these horrid things will inevitably be manipulated towards greener pastures and lighter possibilties whenever said events happen and will lose some of their trauma, due to the colossal enchantment unleashed by the ritual. She said that the sheer existential level of world will from now on be similar to saucy adult-romance novels written in secrecy by Lescatian heretics, the universe itself molding to make perils survivable, horrors manageable, deaths acceptable.

I already receive reports of miraculously revived casualities from skirmishes amongst clans of mamono and men, and there is virtually no crisis of faith or emotional crimes and murder.

The ritual sacrifice by combat triggered a surprising, revolutionary and political change as well.

After decades of standstill and reconstruction, last week the Mamono Queens and the Human leaders signed a well formulated treaty. A year of outlining articles, arguing over borders and rights, we did it in honor of Theo's last requests:

We instilled civil laws of war, abolished slavery (although voluntary slavery of impoverished humans to the Guild S and debt labor endures, and no one bats an eye dark elf girls' naughty antics if they keep in certain ethical lines), and declared permanent peace. The principle is that sentient minds will not be preyed upon by sword.

The Guild S is harshly(over many protests of older, conservative Mamono) reorganized to a "servant allocation guild" with strict guidelines. (Strangely, Minotaurs' and Dark Elves' youngest generations aided us enthusiastically). I will keep correspondence with them, and assign a permanent human agent for any ransom trades/debt management for the truly desperate.

New generation of mamono are happy about this, and older generations are surprised by willing humans anonymously selling themselves to the guild. All is good for both: apparently both species are finding their joy and meet their desires behind closed doors.

The Inquisition will monitor Lescatian territories any overt debauchery and corruption, knowing the entire "human chattel" business is, fundamentally, immoral. Their mild oppression will also enable some disgruntled to defect or pass to mamono side and provide a steady stream of humans for the mamono to use for sex and labor until humans on their side can make up in numbers.

Standing armies will exist, and I fear small-scale wars will be inevitable, but Dunia knows an era of peace that even started influencing other continents. The magic-imbued treaty has even its nickname:

"Price of Freedom."

That price is blood. Lots of it. Officially the treaty is named Ruby Pact.

For we stamped the treaty with a seal of heart shaped pure Ruby taken from a chunk falling down when we landed on the island.

The stone's weeping blood was used as ink, for it is the price of freedom from darker aspects of life: willingly given blood for a future generation. It was never a more fitting ink, and the Monster Queen's representatives wept from the sheer emotional load. One gave me a hug that was far from lusty. I learned that she had once shared wine with Theo, and the sight of blood broke her heart. She felt it was his heart, the Ruby, purified and melted into the World Seal.

What happened to people he knew?

Strange things.

Shindalla was found dead in front of the shrine she lived in, having slit open her stomach after burning away her slaver tattoo. Her "death poem", some weird message, was written in some eastern script:

From children we hurt,

Weeping with shame, regretful,

We ask for forgiveness

They say the unusual blooming of flowers around her is the sign her request became true. I'm not well versed in Eastern mythology myself. I was doubly shocked when a verified will was given to mamono treasury to start a sanctuary for war orphans and rehabilitation for pre-Megiddo slaves and their progeny, under her name! How did she gather a quarter million gold pieces?

Billie was found dead. She, in all her brief spotlight in history, fought to the bitter end as the portal over Lescatie claimed lives, sword in hand, as a succubus crusader.

Eszter and her sisters of Arpad rode into eternity that day, giving their blood to save the world we fought so hard to defend.

Mingzhi and Bai Ze travelled back to the East (each having a young husband in tow...). Both wrote "The Epic of Ruby and Blood" and were received like queens by the Imperial Court of Zhong Guo, prompting the Jade Emperor to send emissaries and traders.

There is a wandering musician, kitsune girl boasting she carries the blood of Theo. Her composed song, "Song I bled for" is a well repeated bard song across taverns.

Theo's once-carnal partner, some human girl named Melinda visits the island every month. Donning a black cloak, she dutifully etches the names of everyone she remembers on the obsidian rocks and cares for the flowers. When etching the name Theophilos, a visitor saw her chuckle as if laughing at a hidden joke.

Otep, the commissar-turned militia leader of Temirburg stepped down from office and runs a funeral service. She commissioned a small pyramid in old Misrani style at the shore of the island, etched full of hieroglyphs writing the story, workforce being mummy girls, made from human girls Otep had saved from death or terminal diseases during her police career.

Vierna came out on top, "kind and tender bitch-queen of the west". Temirburg is a free city in all aspects of social standing(ironic that a dark elf ruled it), and she and her wife Ilsa are co-rulers. Lauriel survived her injuries and married Tomas in a humble ceremony. Their bedtime habits are...controversial, and she gave birth to a lot of children, but Vierna had found her peace at last, free from her mother's visions and her anxieties. Her daughters, Esperanza and Spes, are being groomed to be twin co-rulers of the city. Vierna plans on stepping down and raising the new generation of children in a co-ed college free for Temirburg citizens.

Temirburg's economy is booming, as its delights, joys and strange customs.

A few Black Brigade members survive. Even they have changed. I see them reverently visiting the mountain, and I saw one of them, an ancient Lamia, adopt a family of human children. Joachim, the eldest became a famous archivist and historian. Another ex-Black Brigade member, an ancient Black Oni, traveled southeast to Qadim to start a series of monasteries and soup kitchens. They don their blackened fur and skin no longer as a declaration of war against Man, but of humility and penance, and enjoy attention and interviews. Lescatian court wizards will track them, but most think their penance and regret is sincere.

What happened to the boy who was in the eye of the storm?

The Human factions started to worship Theo's memory, provoking much anger from the Theocracy. Already unorthodox Lescatian churches push for canonization of Theophilos, Battle Angel, Warrior-Saint of Slaves and Orphans. His symbol is declared a sword smashing chains before a wounded ruby heart. If they knew he became a blood monster before his death... The verses about Allfather guiding him and granting him heavenly wings would be void.