A Crusade of Catastrophe [3-Let there be night]

It didn't take long for the Herald to decide upon which foe he would **** first. His Lord had given him the primary objective of combating the light after all. The dark was only given as a bonus, and one should always complete their main tasks first.

Finished playing with his toys, he began his march through the underbrush once more, seemingly disappearing from thin air due to the assistance of the conscious forest. The hobgoblins wouldn't have caused any problems anyway, but leaving the terror of him being able to arrive and vanish in an instant helped his purpose.

As he traveled, he considered how he should approach his task. He was to cause fear and disarray, but not enough permanent damage to make the lands or cities undesirable. It made sense of course, his Lord was a very tactical man who sought to conquest, and one does not wish to rule over a wasteland (especially if your domain is growth).

He decided, his main objective would be to kill low hierarchy enforcers, showing off power while not throwing the system into complete disarray. If he found there were multiple people capable of keeping the system at his destination functioning, he would not hesitate to kill one publicly and brutally. It would make good use of his new skill, after all.

As he crept through the dense vegetation, he at last began to hear sounds of civilization ahead. Soon he found a small fortified encampment, a wooden wall surrounding the whole facility with guards patrolling around.

From the banners and apparel, these were definitely members of the church of light. The purpose of this fortress was unknown to him, but he cared little for that fact. No matter their purpose, they were constructing a base within his Lord's land, and for that they would suffer.

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Lycus let out a bored yawn as he sat on the log they had repurposed into a chair for those taking a break from the watch. This was such a tiring job, but he would do it without complaint for his lady Millana! For her, he would give his life in battle, fending off any foe!

However, that didn't mean he wouldn't internally question her decisions a bit. He understood that his lady's sister, Lana, had lost in a duel against the man they had helped to town. But he didn't quite understand why that meant he would be sent to this encampment, well ahead of when she went as well.

He hadn't much liked that guy in the first place anyway, gave him a bad feeling from the start. He had such a strange persona to him, his excessive charisma and formality mixed with a quite rugged appearance. And there was no way someone who had not spent years training for combat could have a body like that!

Regardless, he wouldn't be here too much longer. Lana was supposed to arrive in the morning, and he could faintly see a few signs that the night was nearing its end. Soon enough, he could return to serving his lady, and proving to her he could be much greater than an errand boy!

A sudden voice from behind startled him, "Get up, it's your shift boy." Lycus scrambled to his feet as he spun around to see the guard who's shift he was taking. He gave a nod and a salute before moving over to the wall.

Luckily enough for him, Lycus was stationed within the wall, just meant to make sure nothing snuck in and to peer out of the few nooks that could be used as peepholes. He guessed it was probably due to them not trusting him too much, but he didn't really care.

As he did the rounds, he came across one of the few men here he did have a positive relationship with. "Hey Rogger! How's the night treating you?"

The fatigued guard looked over at him before replying with a chuckle, "Same old, same old I'm afraid." They shared a laugh before they chatted for a short moment. After a bit of time, they both wished each other well and moved to continue their shifts.

Only, as soon as Lycus had stepped a few feet away, he heard a forceful crunching noise. He spun around, expecting to see a bit of wood broken or for Rogger to have fallen down. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a huge, heavily muscled and seemingly bone armored arm reaching *through* the wooden wall, and grasping Rogger by the head.

As he stared forward in silence, he heard a horrific voice that sounded like a hybrid of a growl and a whisper. "Crunch." As if he was speaking an onomatopoeia, he crushed Rogger's head with seemingly no effort at all.

Lycus fell backwards, barely finding the voice to cry out, "INTRUDER! WE HAVE AN INTRUDER!" The arm retracted, leaving a large hole in the wall that a singular glowing eye peered through at him. He stared in complete horror at a creature that could only be described as a nightmare emerged from the darkness, breaking down the wall in order to make space to get in.

Lycus scrambled and crawled as fast as he could away, but the towering figure lumbered towards him. Just as it began to get close enough to touch him, an arrow flew in-between them. Both Lycus and the monster turned to the origin of the arrow, seeing one of the few heroes of 3rd tier in this stronghold.

Lycus was filled with relief. He remembered that he was surrounded by a bunch of soldiers that had risen from the academies of the light. Surely this rabid monstrosity stood no chance in an **** upon their own base...