NOVEL NEXT Aftermath 3: New Land….New Ruler?!
As the light surrounding her subsided, Amelia's eyes opened and saw herself in the middle of a large empty square surrounded by buildings and lanterns glowing with bright golden lights via crystals. Her eyes scanned the surroundings and she noticed that the buildings had no life in them and the moon was out as it was still late at night or super early in the morning, she looked down at the square and saw the massive inscription on it glowing before deconstructing and turning into dust in the wind. With her mind very much baffled as to where she was and what time it was, she began walking down the paved large road in front of her. As she did so, Amelia noticed that the pathway she took was very empty, the buildings lining the massive street were built with similar architecture and gave Amelia the familiar feeling of being in the towns of the Erstad Duchy, navigating the winding empty but well-lit roads.
{!}
As she rounded the corner, she saw a massive lamia clad in plate armor that held a halberd in one hand. Amelia's eyes widened as she had never seen a lamia this tall and large before, noticing the lamia was staring at her with ruby-red eyes. Amelia was still holding onto her daggers and was ready to strike but she did not sense any ill intent on the lamia despite the massive person slithering her way. And when the lamia was only a few meters away, she dropped her halberd onto the ground and withdrew something tucked in its armor, pulling out a white pouch and fishing around it before it pulled out a red cube with powdered sugar on top, surprising Amelia. She was still wary as the lamia slithered closer and gestured for her to take the red cube she recognized as something Ophelia called a "Snack Cube"
"You want me to eat this?" Amelia asked as she took the snack cube from the giant palm of the lamia
"Mhmm" The lamia voiced with a nod
"Hmmm" Amelia was understandably suspicious as she scanned the food with her magic, finding it imbued with magic but it was a type of magic that she had never seen before. But her danger sense did not fire off so she shrugged it off
{!}
As she ate the cube, she felt magic surge through her body at a rapid pace and large banks of words and knowledge filled her head at a rapid degree. She felt her throat fill with magical energy and she could feel something forming inside of her, and when the process ended she could feel as if she had just unlocked something in her brain.
"What did you give me?" Amelia asked as she looked back up at the lamia before her
"I gave you a translation cube miss, it is to ensure that you are able to speak and understand our language" The lamia replied with a smile as she answered
{!}
"What? Really?!"
"Yes miss, if I had spoken earlier you would not have been able to understand a word I would have said, some of the others before you had that reaction so I decided it was best to speak only after you took the cube" The lamia added
"But how would you know that I would consume it?"
"I didn't"
"Hmmm....I see"
"Is there a question you wish for me to answer?"
"Yes. Where am I?" Amelia asked
A smile appeared on the lamia's face as she formed up beside Amelia and gestured forward. Amelia on the other hand was confused by this but decided to follow the path before her, she had read the lamia's stats during their conversation and saw that her name was Erhet, and her power ranking was around S-Rank, something she could deal with. And as they continued down the street, Amelia thought it prudent to ask Erhet more questions on the way to wherever they were going.
"So...Erhet"
{!}
"You already know of my name miss?!" Erhet asked with a surprised expression as she looked down at the human next to her
"Yes, I read your stats. I know you name, your skills and your power ranking. Still below mine but you are powerful"
"*GASP* So you are her!" Erhet shouted as she slithered in front of her
{?}
"Who do you mean her?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms
"I am so sorry but I can not answer that just yet, the square up ahead is filled with the rest of your peers and people who escaped along with you, just continue down this road and you will meet them soon, now if you will excuse me" Erhet brushed away her questions and slither down a side road, leaving Amelia confused, very very confused.
Considering that she did not know where else to go but straight, Amelia followed Erhet's instructions and continued down the road in front of her. And after a while, she arrived at her destination. Stepping into the square she saw stacks upon stacks of crates, dozens of wagons laden with personal belongings, cattle and livestock, and chests filled to the brim with gold, silver, copper, jewels, and other valuables. She also saw thousands of people sitting around, all of them unsure of what to do.
Amelia immediately went to work organizing the people she saw in the square, taking action as she rallied the numerous Imperial Guard soldiers to do their duty and stand watch at the entrances to the square. Organizing the families that were present and assigning former maids and butlers of the Erstad estate who were present in the group to take stock of what had been brought with them and check to see if the records were matching with the same ones they took before they left that goddess forsaken continent. It went about like this for a full twenty minutes as Amelia watched everything slowly but surely fall into order, she still held her reservations on where the hell they were and where the others were, especially her thoughts for Ophelia but for now she had to organize the people who escaped with her and needed guidance.
{!}
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
BOOSH BOOSH BOOSH BOOSH
Suddenly, the rumbling of heavily armored soldiers heading to them filled the air. The rhythmic tune of the iron boots stomping against the paved road gave a very heavy and powerful sound as it neared the square.
"Guards! To your stations!" Amelia shouted as she ordered the Imperial Guard sentinels into a defensive formation, forming a tight single-line box formation surrounding the civilians and herself
"Everyone be ready!" Amelia ordered as she looked at each entrance to the square, trying to see who was coming
Her eyes widened as she saw in the street in front of her, a massive formation of soldiers with pikes and spears marching towards them, all of them suited up in pitch-black plate armor with jagged designs, giving off a very aggressive aura surrounding them. Amelia saw the same formation coming in from each direction and to her surprise, the one leading one of the formations bearing down on them was Erhet. She did not understand what was happening, but her danger senses were still not firing off but she was not going to risk that feeling when it came to protecting the people who had also been teleported here.
As Erhet and the soldiers arrived in the square, they swiftly shifted into multiple rows that stood right in front of the Imperial Guard, with the latter still raising their weapons on Amelia's orders. Amelia looked up and saw several dragonkin wearing the same set of plate armor but wielding different weapons. Her eyes then shifted back down and focused on Erhet who was giving off a small smile, which seemed suspicious to Amelia, hell the entire situation itself was suspicious to her, as ever since she arrived in the square she had an indescribable feeling biting at her.
{!}
But just as she was about to ask Erhet something, the sudden sounds of trumpets and drums playing caught everyone except Erhet and her soldiers in the square off guard, Amelia and the rest who were gathered were all baffled by the music and the sudden clanging of the weapons that accompanied them as the rows of soldiers before the group began lifting their pikes and striking the ground below them, all the while chanting something Amelia could not understand in the slightest.
"Silence!" Erhet commanded, with her words leading to the trumpets, drums and clanging of the pikes to cease
"Introducing, Her Imperial Highness, Empress Ophelia Erstad I!" Erhet announced as she and the formation behind her all turned to the side, forming a corridor
{!}
Amelia's eyes widened as she saw a familiar face, a face she had been longing for these past four months. Dressed in a regal and flowing black dress that stopped right above her feet, with a splendid and ethereal looking cape of velvet, with the inner part of the cape looking like a starry sky, wearing a golden crown adorned with black jewels cut in the shape of diamonds. Her purple eyes locked with Amelia's and she could see a smile on Ophelia's face.
"Ophelia!" She cried as she rushed past the civilians and the Imperial Guard, running at full speed to her lover, leaping into the air
Ophelia smiled as she saw this, opened up her arms, and caught her beloved as she landed in her embrace, the two of them immediately locking lips and kissing each other deeply. Tears were flowing down both women as they embraced each other tightly, their feelings of longing and missing one another that had been pent up for months were now in full display as both of them got deeper and deeper into their kissing and hugging, both of them still keenly aware that this was not the time and place to just take off their clothes and go wild. And as their lips parted and they held each other in their arms, Ophelia snuck in one more kiss before turning to Erhet and nodding.
"All kneel before the rulers of the Halkare Empire, Her Imperial Highness Ophelia I and Her beloved wife, Empress Amelia I!" Erhet shouted, causing the soldiers, the dragonkin and herself to kneel before the duo, with the citizens and the Imperial Guard in the square all surprised and confused.
"Wait....excuse me what?" Amelia remarked as the words filled her head, turning back to Ophelia who had a smile on her face.
"Welcome to your new life my beloved" Ophelia replied as she pulled her in for another deep kiss which Amelia reciprocated
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Far, far south of the Halkare Empire, on the other side of the continent, was the nation known as the Dukedom of Abernath. A coalition of dukedoms and baron territories that all serve an elected head of state known as "The Duke". A nation sprawling with human life and with a rich and booming economy with a large army to protect them from outside threats, at least that is what it looks like to outside observers.
Inside the Grand Opera House, the largest building in the capital of Lindsburg, an event was ongoing.
"Everyone, please give a resounding round of applause for your Duke! Duke Paderborn!" The announcer shouted as the crystal-powered lights of the theatre flashed on and aimed at the large and lavish stage.
The crowd cheered as the velvet curtains raised and a large obese man came walking out behind them, dressed in a dashing dark blue suit with white accents, with matching white gloves and black shoes and a cane that he held in his right hand. Almost every part of his body was covered in clothing but his neck or what you would call that mass of grotesque flesh was exposed, the flesh in question was putrid green with many pot marks, blemishes and craters marking the skin, it stretched upward but no one else could tell how it affected his face as he wore a white mask on top of his face that smiled. As he reached the end of the stage, he waved at the crowd before him
"Hello my pretties!" He shouted with glee as he waved at them
But as Duke Paderborn waved to the cheering crowd, all was not as it seemed as a closer look at the crowd showed people wearing masks of white, all of them with different emotions. And each of them was holding onto a steel chain that ran into and through the floorboards below them, leading into a massive chamber underneath the stage. The room was lined with rows upon rows of shackled nonhumans, all of them looking beat and malnourished. As the chains pulled on them, they activated crystals that were in front of them, the crystals let out noises of applause and laughter that went up to the surface via large pipes that were aimed above the crystals.
For you see, the Dukedom of Abernath, despite its beautiful looks, powerful economy, and impressive army. Is a slave state, one run by monsters of beings calling themselves the superior race and a nation where the mistreatment of slaves is a daily sport, for you see, in the Dukedom of Abernath, you are either a slave by birth, or a chosen by the goddess Histy, and you would be unlucky to be born the former.
But fear not reader, as a grotesque abomination of a nation such as this will soon meet its end, an end that will come via the "Walking Apocalypse" and her beloved soon enough.
A/N: Hello! So this is the final Aftermatch Chapter for Vol 1 and my oh my, they have finally reunited and of course, there just had to be a villain on this continent too! Anyways, this will be the final chapter until January of next year as I will be taking some time off and writing chapters for my other series, The Old Scholar. I hope you enjoyed the 1st Volume of this series and I hope to see you all enjoy the 2nd one when it comes, and even show some love to my other series. If you wish, I can answer questions in the comments below and please let me know your thoughts as well! And as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!