Witchers of Nifelheim - Finale

The skies over Nifelheim were covered in a thick layer of clouds. Ash from the recently erupted  volcano had spread far into the continent, mixing in with the winter storm clouds that prevailed over the planet for most days of the year, creating a strange, eerie mix. The clouds were black as pitch and hung heavily over the land, as microscopic particles of Shimmer glittered inside them, sparkling like millions of tiny stars, changing color from green to blue, as bolts of lightning raged deep in the storm.


It snowed, lightly, but even the snowflakes were strange, their white crystals shimmers with tingles of green. They sat everywhere, on your clothing, your hair, and when too many of them touched your skin and melted, the liquid burned, as if they were tiny droplets of acid.


The closer you flew to the clouds, the harder it became to breathe, as if all air was being sucked out of your lungs, by the storm clouds. So when you began noticing the orange carpet of the horde, devouring the land below you, hiding inside the storm, or even breaking through to come up above it, was soon was out of the question.


The horde didn't seem to have noticed your presence either way, the billions of parasites all marched in the same direction like zombies, slowly shuffling across the land, moaning and crying, until the hunger was too much to bare, and small clusters formed in the uniform carpet, where hundreds of parasites began to devour each other, until they were sufficiently fed, or injured, to continue the fight, and the horde continued it march.


Even a passing glance in the direction of their path left little doubt, they were heading to Lieselotte. And soon, the horde was so vast, they covered the entire horizon. Everywhere you looked, the carpet of parasites stretched up to the sky, in all four directions around you. It was like flying over an orange ocean, wild, and restless.



You kept your altitude at 10 kilometers above ground and 2 kilometers below the cover of clouds, where the air was at least breathable and the Griffons could sustain prolonged flight without needing constant breaks for a rest.




4 days into the journey, you noticed the horde suddenly thin out. A leveled plateau of frozen ice and snow stretched into the horizon, to your south-west, while the horde covered the north-east and a brief consultation with your Locator and map, showed you were close to the location of the fake Dark Machine.












Unwrapping the scarf from her mouth, so she could be heard, Zoy looked at the Locator again, squinting at the coordinates of the Red Orb that laid somewhere below, before she called over the wind.


"Okay! According to the Locator, we are nearing the Red Orb! Horizontally, we are 9 kilometers away from the target! And vertically, 10 kilometers above ground.

We seemed to have left the horde behind us, but not by much! They're currently just 7 kilometers, horizontally, behind us. But they're not heading in the direction of the Red Orb, so if nothing changes, our paths shouldn't cross!"



"Where's the Red Orb!" Lightning yelled over the raging wind, her voice barely audible and you understood what she meant. The visibility was heavily reduced by the snowfall and all you saw below was a leveled plateau of ice and snow. "There's not distinct structures or anything down there! I can't see anything from this altitude!"



"We may have to get closer!" Zoy yelled back, before turning over her shoulder and looked at you:

"Everyone got their spells ready? Remember! Kaylee has one Shield ready to fire, at your order! It will protect us from 320 damage and will dissipate in 60 seconds, after its used, whether it got damaged or not! So we should only reserve it for the most catastrophic scenario!"


She tilted her head toward her sister: "Viki! Deploy Spectral Armor!"



Viktoria closer her eyes, the ball of gold that shined in her palms for over a day now, suddenly began spinning faster and burst, exploding over the sky in a shower of gold and washing over the Griffons and you, coating you in a transparent layer of golden armor, that sat just over your body and clothing, its design reminding you of the samurai of old.



(Everyone received +40 Spectral Armor)



"Turn on Heightened Senses now, if you need them, and use whatever other buffs and items you need!" Zoy yelled over the storm "This is our last chance to prepare! Who knows what we're flying into!"


"Should we descent and head straight for the Red Orb?" Kaylee asked "Remember, if Kaznachey is near it, we will be in her firing range, once we'll be 4 kilometers, horizontally, away from the Orb.

The high level spells fall directly down from the sky, so our altitude won't matter, only the horizontal distance. Once we're horizontally 4 kilometers away from the Orb, we'll theoretically enter Kaz's firing range.  


How should we play this?"

Over the next two minutes Thena casts Heightened Senses at level 3 and Wall Run at level 2.

"Rose, could you please keep me updated on our mana each time I cast a spell?"

As her amplified perception kicks in she carefully examines the terrain where the combat will likely occur. Taking note of possible places for cover, potential blind spots, shadows, and places that can be used for ambushes for and against them. Once she has this information Thena informs the entire group.

Rain casts heightened senses and swaps Scan for wallrun, "Im dropping scan for more mobile utility since i'll be in the the thick of it. Anybody want to charge a big constant scan? so we can be constantly informed about Her current state?"

Rain casts a level 2 Heightened senses, before looking at the map and commenting, "Does Lucia just kick that much ass? because it looks like they are holding their landmass really well."

As the Heightened Senses activated, a blinding flash of gold briefly envelopped Thena. It felt as if in a single moment, she woke up, for the first time. She could truly see, sharper, hear, further, feel the presence of all creatures around her, both human and their parasites within.

You could see the individual snowflakes at staggering distances, hear them dancing in the wind, smell the iron and leather armor and the breakfast that was stored inside the griffons saddle bags. And most of all, you could smell the Shimmer in the air.

Its particles hovered above you in the clouds and smelled of only one thing - death.



Your Level 3 Heightened Senses allow you to detect all living things and hidden pentagrams, within a 1.2 kilometer radius around you, for several hours.

Cruising at 10 kilometers above ground, and 9 kilometers horizontally away from the Red Orb, the only thing you can sense around you are the particles of snow, mixed with microscopic dust of the Shimmer. You can't even see where the Red Orb is exactly, only a plateau of ice and snow.



The Level 2 Wallrun allowed you to run on any form of solid surface, including standing on the ceiling, and will also last for hours.


"We currently spent -60 Mana" Rose reported, very business like "which constitues roughly 20% of our Mana pool"




"I can deploy a Level 3 Active Scan, to get regular reports on our target." Adam said, "Its pretty high level so we'll get the full package - stats, status effects, spell list of our target, and her Limit Break.

It'll be costly thought, 40 Mana." He shifted in his seat: "We should also remember that if our target is Shielded or Armored, the Scan won't go through, it will only cause damage. We'll need to bring down any shielding, before we can use the Scan effectively."



Lightning looked at the Lucia Castle Town on the map and shivered "Ugh... Islanders... those guys are crazy, I've never met a more fearless or reckless bunch in my life. In another life they'd probably be pirates in the open sea, their naval and diving combat skills are the best on the planet. No wander the horde can't get a foothold. The ocean creates a natural barrier around their castle and water is where those guys are at their best."


Rain's body became briefly envelopped in gold as level 2 Heightened Senses took effect. She can now sense everything within a 600 meter radius.



"We're too far, I can't see anything on the ground in this snowfall." Kaylee wrapped her scarf tighter over her face.

"Should we head straight for the Red Orb?" Ursula asked.

Rain looks at Lightning wide eyed, "You know you could have told us this sooner right?! Islanders crazy enough that Laughing Lightning calls them crazy! We could totally use witchers like that."

"Assuming she doesn't have it." Rain says over Ursula's shoulder, "Yes. Snatch that orb, and bring it back to the griffons. Someone will likely have to heal Circi as well assuming shes not dead..." Rain goes stoic as she steels her nerves, "Speed, Surprise, And Violence of action... We have all three... We're going to win. The only way we lose... is if we hesitate." She takes a deep breath of ice cold air, opens her wings, and prepares to jump.

Rogue cast Heightened Senses on himself.

"Scan can't detect Shadows, right? So should I go on ahead and scout out the situation, before we make our move?"

"The more information we have the higher our chance of success. I'd say it's worth the risk" Thena nods her agreement to Rogue's suggestion.

"Sorry dude," Lightning guiltily smiled with a slight shrug "Lucia was so far out of our way, it would've taken us months to get there. Had just too much going on with one Alstreim kid needing rescuing, or another... seriously," she shook her head disapprovingly at Viki with a very smug grim.

"...Hey, what are you implying!" Viki frowned "shaking her fist."

"Exactly what you think" Lightning smirked, sticking her tongue out.



"Thena, you currently have 205 Mana left" Rose reported, all business like.


"Wait, hold on pal, hold on." Zoy's worried gaze immediately darted toward Rogue:

"Its... true that good intelligence is the key to any operation. And its true that Shadows cannot be detected by Scan or Heightened Senses, unless someone sees the shadow moving on the ground... but our recon target isn't an average mark. You won't be spying on complacent cultists or Red Witchers drunk on their own power."

Her gaze was pretty heavy, she looked scared and trying to hide it:


"Kaz... knows us... she knows our Limit Breaks... and the Red Orb is 10 kilometers away... if something-" she uncomfortably swallowed and looked at you again "... if anything goes wrong, we won't be able to reach you in time... even on Griffons, it will take us several minutes to reach you, and by then, we may be too late.

If Kaz spots you and thinks her cover is blown, she could kill you Rogue." Zoy looked at you, her eyes mournful: "Its an extremely high risk operation, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"



"Kaz has no reason to react to Rogue, even if she spots him." Lightning tilted her head in thought "If she's still masquerading as Lucretia, she'll just play the part of a frail damsel in distress and call Rogue for help, right?"

She pulled her hood over her head to shield her from the wind: "At any rate, whatever we do, we better do it fast. I mean like, REALLY fast. We're running out of time, not just to extract Circi's team, but to make it back in time for Migration. Getting left behind and being torn apart by the horde, or dying from starvation and asphyxiation when the biodome collapses is not how I imagined my life ending."


"Rogue?" Zoy looked at you with worry.

"While I'm not opposed to the idea of gathering more intel with shadow, how would the target report back?" Twilight interjects. "After going down, making their way over to Kaz, take note of the situation at that moment, then they have to return to the Griffon and talk, all without being seen."

She looks towards the general direction of their target. "Let's continue forward. If this is meant to be a rendevous anyway, we should be able to get closer without trouble. And if the attacks start, long distance can help us avoid them easier. How far can you see with heightened sense, and can you pick up everything?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:"Rogue?" Zoy looked at you with worry.

"We need to know what we're walking into" Rogue says, "Going in blind is just asking for trouble, and I'm willing to take the risk to see that we don't."

"Cant see shit. Not until we get closer. She'll likely know we're there when we enter full heightened senses range." She mentions, "When we land im going to greet 'Lucretia'. We should make it out to look like we are completely oblivious until we get to really make it count but we cant lose out on our element of surprise. While I and whomever else is locked in combat, Twilight can bait out Kaz's berzerker with the Vision of the dark machine. From there uhhh..." she pauses, "I dunno... but Kaz cant predict what we're doing if we dont even know." she looks over her shoulder, "Sound about right?"

"Heightened Senses allow one to detect life forms and pentagrams in a certain radius, even if those pentagrams are hidden." Viki explained "There are ways to hide from Heightened Senses, if one uses a Shield or Spectral Armor, or if one enters the Shadow form," she shifted in her seat, articulating:

"But, even those hiding techniques leave a footprint. For example, ordinarily using Heightened Senses on me, would reveal that I am a living human with a Parasite resting in my soul, but if I surround myself with Shield or Spectral Armor, you won't detect any life forms at all. But, if you pay close enough attention, you'll notice a literal blind spot, where I'm standing, as if there was a black hole, in my place. Like an empty void, where something should be.

So if you use Heightened Senses and detect a 'Void of Senses' in a certain spot, you can be sure that someone is hiding there, and that someone is Shielded or Armored.


As for Shadows, your Heightened Senses increases your visual perception, so if a Shadow tries crossing your field of view, moving fast though it may be, you are more likely to notice this sudden movement and spot it, should your Senses be Heightened.

As for the range," Viktoria energetically articulated with both hands, her purple gloves almost turning into blurs in the air:



"Rogue used Level 1 Heightened Senses, so he can detect things within 150 meter radius.

Rain used Level 2, so she can detect things at 600 meter radius, and

Thena used Level 3, so she can detect things at 1200 meter radius, that is 1.2 kilometers.



In theory, Level 4 will allow a range of 2.4 kilometers,

and Level 5 will allow 4 kilometers, maximum range. But its a massive waste of Mana at that point."





Viki leaned over the Griffons side and looked down:

"Right now, we are cruising at 10 kilometers above ground, and 9 kilometers horizontally away from the Red Orb, so we can't detect anything, unless its flying around us.

Kaznachey's maximum firing range is 4 kilometers, horizontally. Vertical distance plays no role in high level spells. So if Kaz is at the Red Orb and we get within 4 kilometers of it, we will be theoretically in her firing range."



"And possibly inside the detection range of her Heightened Senses, if she used them at Level 5," Kaylee morbidly said, "She has the Mana to spare."





"Sounds good," Ursula nodded to Rain.

"Maybe Rogue can enter Shadow form and move together with us, but like 1 kilometer ahead of us, as we all advance in the same direction, at the same time." Johan asked, adjusting his seeing glasses:

"That way, he can give us advanced warning if he sees anything. Or, baring that, once we start talking with Kaz, Rogue can remain hidden and ambush Kaz from behind, from the Shadow form."


"Whatever we do, we should begin," Lightning uncomfortably shifted "we are really, really short on time."

"The scouting idea is good but giving it a second thought this way of going about it isn't going to work in the slightest. I can detect things further standing here than Rogue can even if he moves up a full kilomter. Even then his limited range won't be able to detect any hostile spells fast enough based on the 150 meter range and he would have no way to make it back in time to warn us, "Thena comments, "We should also divert the learship and desision of this to Twilight from this point on. Let her call the shots from here on out as the Dark Machine bait is her idea. At this point we are wasting time discussing countless what ifs about Kaznachey to the point of choice paralysis. We need one person to direct and make the calls. We listen to and act on the orders as best as we can."

Without specific instruction, the Griffons continued on their initial path, the shortest route to the Red Orb, as indicated by the Locator device. The flight went on in tense silence, as you watched the numbers go down on the little radar device, its dark screen displaying an X,Y,Z grid with a vector indication your flight path and vertical and horizontal distance to target.

Horizontal distance, 10 km
9 km
8 km
7 km


The closer you flew, the more you began to make out, what looked like a near perfect circular hole in the ice, with a sharp drop and no visible bottom, at least from where you were watching.

5.5 km
5 km

"We're about to cross into Kaznachey's firing range," Zoy calmly reported, several beads of sweat dripped down her face, as she watched the screen of the Locator.

Kaylee's fingers tensed over the blinding teal orb of magic energy, the Level 5 Shield she finished cooking several hours ago. The spell seemed unstable, ready to burst out on its own at any moment and it seemed like it took every bit of the girls concentration to hold it in place.


"4.5 kilometers horizontal, 4 vertical to target." Zoy reported.


"4.3 km horizontal,
4.2 km
4.1 km
4.0!"


"We have entered Kaznachey's firing range." Ursula quietly called "...and possibly, the detection range of her Heightened Senses. We must assume she's aware of our presence now..."

Several moments more ticked by. The wind howled in your ears, the snow stuck to your face and cheeks, flying into your eyes, but nothing much happened. No attack came. Zoy looked back at you over her shoulder and nervously shifted in her seat.

"I guess... the attack's not coming..." She looked back ahead, at the circular pit in the distance. "Guess we're flying right up to her and playing our ruse face to face.."


The closer you got to the pit, the more it became apparent that the Red Orb is inside. According to the Locator, it sat 300 meters under ground, possibly at the bottom of the pit.


When you were about 2 kilometers away from the pit horizontally and 1.5 km vertically, you began noticing something around the pit. Numerous dark objects, strange silhouettes that you couldn't make sense of, lying on the far side of the pit, close to its edge. They reminded you of sacks of potatoes, but far to large to be that.


It was when the snow-drifts shifted and you made out the form of a snow fox, lying motionless by the pit, did you realize the edge of the pit was filled with over a dozen bodies of men and their foxes. All motionless, all stuck in strange, eerie poses, the snow slowly gathering over their bodies. They must have lied like this for 5 hours at least.

Just as you were about to scream a warning about what you had witnessed, somewhere, not far below you, two silhouettes had burst out of the ice. It happened so fast, you barely caught a glimpse of them. Your brain registered the familiar shapes and recognized them, before your consciousness did.


Two decomposing creatures, their flesh rotting and bones underneath glowing orange, they stood on four paws and had thin, wavy tails. They burst out of the ice in near perfect unison, doing a half somersault in the air and kicking up snow. And as they did, two massive pentagrams lit up under their bodies.

You didn't have time to recognize the exact pattern of the pentagram, you only had time to ascertain that both pentagrams were Level 4, primed for Area of Effect, one colored Teal, the other Purple.

Your eyes met with Kaylee's, she was searching for a command, to see if she should unleash her Shield now, or hold it for later.

You have about 1 second left to react.

Rain flicks her wrist, and snaps her fingers down at the wolf casting the purple spell, Unloading her lightning bolt. "dumb dog..." she sneers, as she glares down at the two wolves hoping to admire a one shot kill on what might have been a formidable target for once.

Rogue fires off another Lightning spell at the other glystaria casting the teal spell.

"If their bodies are still there, their souls haven't been fed upon, they may still be alive!"

Thena tenses up and hopes the counter attack from her allies is enough.

The world exploded around you, as Rain and Rogue discharged their spells near simultaneously. It was as if a pair of Ballistas were fired, and their bolts were lightning. The thunder made you go completely deaf for several seconds, preceded only by a twin explosion, as a flood of electricity washed over Rogue and Rain's bodies, visible blue flashes of lightning coursed over their clothing, making their hair stand on end, their locks of heir rising toward the sky and zapping with electricity, before the bolts of lightning accumulated in their fists and blasted down toward the ground in a blinding streak of zig-zagging electricity.


Just before the spells hit, you finally recognized one of the creatures you targeted. The body of an oversized puma, with the legs of a kangaroo. A long slick wavy tail, ending in a jagged sharp spike. Pointed ears, akin to a doberman and teeth as black as sin. Its body partially decomposed, rotting and filled with coagulated blood and moss that grew over its skin, and glowing orange bones in patches of missing flesh.

A Manticore.



Two of them.




Hidden under the ice and snow, the creatures were soaked, where the ice had melted and seeped into their fur and when the lightning struck, it amplified the effect, making the electricity course through their bodies. Their muscles seized up and the wind carried their guttural, sporadic shrieks, before they contorted, froze at bizarre, eerie angles and crashed back into the snowdrifts like statues.



(The Twin Manticores each suffered -40 HP damage and became Paralyzed for 5 turns of combat.)




But it was too late.
The Manticore's Pentagrams had already been discharged, their surface turning dull and black, leaving behind burned marks in the snow, where the Pentagrams had burned.

For a moment, you couldn't understand where the spells were. You didn't see them.
Until two tiny sparks of light materialized right in the middle of your flight group. They burned like two tiny stars, one teal, the other purple, no larger than a sewing pin each.

And then, they both expanded in a split second, turning into gigantic spheres of light that swallowed you, the Griffons and everything around you in a 1 kilometer radius. There was no time to escape, to no time for evasive action. The blast radius was simply too large.




First, your Spectral Armor sizzled and cracked like an eggshell, then you felt your Heightened Senses dull and shrink back to their original perception, as if the spell was never cast.

And then, you closed your eyes and couldn't open them anymore. You simply couldn't lift your eyelids, forced to watch a heavy screen of black. And a few moments later, you realized that your eyes were in fact, open, its just no matter where you looked, you only saw darkness.



(The Party and their Griffons were afflicted by an Unknown Status Effect for 2 minutes and 30 seconds - 10 rounds of combat.)




Your Griffons shrieked and bucked under you, stopping their flight abruptly and trying to hover in place, if you weren't strapped into the seats by leather straps you might have just been hurled off toward certain death several kilometers below.

As the deafness caused by the Lightning strike slowly faded, it gave way to a cacophony of panicked shrieks and conflicting orders. Viki shouted to descend immediately. Lightning yelled to pull back and fly as far away as possible. Zoy yelled to continue on, on the intended flight path.

Their voices were soon drowned by what seemed like fireworks, exploding in the air, somewhere not far from you. You couldn't see anything, only hear the fireworks getting progressively closer and closer, as they exploded in a chain reaction around you.

Then suddenly the sound of energy reverberated around you and you felt a wave of water wash wash over you, yet leaving you dry and all the sounds of the fireworks suddenly became dull and distant, as if they were happening dozens of kilometers away.


As a relative silence began to settle around you, Adam's alarmed voice rang clearly nearby:


"...what happened?... What did you do?!"


"I..." Kaylee's muffled, crushed voice came from behind you "...I deployed the Shield... I'm sorry..."

Silence filled the air for several moments, as the Griffons tried to stabilize and hover in place, trying to enter a circling pattern, flying inside, what must have been a 4 kilometer sized sphere, protecting anyone and everyone inside it.

You could only image what it must have looked like, a shimmering blue sphere of incomprehensible size, hovering in the air, its surface changing like waves in the ocean, as several silhouettes flew inside.


"I was afraid... we'd be sitting ducks if we were flying blind... I-" Kaylee stammered, feeling guilty or afraid that she set off the shield prematurely "...I panicked... it was a reflex-"



Her voice was drowned out by an explosion so enormous, it rocked every bone in your body. You have never seen or heard a nuclear bomb explode before, but you imagined, this is what it would sound like.  The wind blasted you so fiersely, it knocked the Griffons off course. You fell out of your seats, your bodies only held in place by the safety straps that tied you to the Griffons, making you dangle in the air just over a massive kilometer sized drop to the frigid ground.

Your skin felt on fire, as if a massive heatwave washed over you and you heard the gigantic sphere crack and shatter, and crumble into gigantic, massive chunks, like a glass ball exploding in slow motion, raining its colossal debris all over you.


The only consolation was that you took no damage from the blast. Whatever struck the sphere, did 320 damage to it, shattering it completely and leaving you just on the edge of death, but intact.


Seconds passed, the Griffons plummeted toward the ground, then finally managed to fight off the shockwave, spread their wings and stabilize their flight, reflexively flying horizontally to the ground, as much as they could feel while flying completely blind, and you somehow managed to slump yours back over your seat. All wind was knocked out of you, but you felt no damage was inflicted on you this time. Not even a Status Effect.


"Ahaha!.... AHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!" Lightning's relieved, almost hysteric laugh echoed over the air "IT DIDN'T WORK KAZ!!! YOU LITTLEEEE....... BITCH!!! AAAAHAHA!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA..... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHA-"



Her maniacal laugh was cut short and drowned out by a strange sound, a sound that used the imagination in your head to draw a sphere of expanding energy, that began somewhere far below you, and rapidly expanded in your direction. You thought you could almost see a blood red glow, expanding toward you, through a veil of darkness, but it could have just been your imagination.


"...we should have cooked more Shields-" Kaylee's quiet, resigned voice echoed from somewhere nearby, before the sphere of energy washed over you, and you had lost your mind, and fainted.



(The Party suffered -320 Sanity damage.)




(Your Sanity has been reduced to 0.)







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







"Krasnaya Vodah
Chujaya Bedah"


A woman was melodically chanting, somewhere nearby, her beautiful, mesmerizing voice followed by horrid, pained screams of a Griffon, before its pitiful shrieks were cut abruptly short and you heard a blade being pulled out of flesh, liquid spraying across the stone in droves.


"Slov moih ne otvratit,
Slov moih ne otgradid,"



The woman continued to chant, almost sing, her voice as sweet and honey. You heard another Griffon shriek in livid outrage and then a sharp quick slash that rendered flesh and silenced its cry. Something massive fell on the stone and rolled for several meters, leaving behind pools of liquid to rush out.

For better or worse, you only saw darkness.



"V tot chas kak Ya pridu chob Vzyat-"


The woman seemed to stop just short, just short of finishing her verse, and you could almost hear her smiling.




You blinked and realized your sight had returned to you.















Kaznachey, the Collector of Souls stood in the middle of an oasis, at the bottom of a cylindrical stone pit. There was grass here, stone pillars that were once the corners stones of some structure that fell long ago, and even a lake, easily 20 meters across.

The floor was littered with bodies, your friends, allies, family, and people you briefly met only once. The members of Fox Team. All of them.

Circi and Larsen were here, just barely conscious, just like you, paralyzed and unable to move. You slowly realized that all 50 plus Witchers sprawled around this cave were all conscious, just barely, their eyes delirious or empty, desperate or hopeless.



You heard paws stepping gently over the snow covered floor and saw two Manticores behind you. They were descending a flight of stairs that seemed to be built into the walls of this giant pit, the stairs going in circles around the pits entire perimeter.

The pit you were in, was so large, it was easily 300 meters in depths. And above you, in the sky, 6 distinct flares burned, stationed dozens of kilometers above ground. Some were exactly the same, two of them unique and different. They depicted angry parasite heads, surrounded by bones, snarling and silently barking, burning gray, or red, or orange, there was no mistaking that these pentagrams were visible for hundreds of kilometers in every direction.



The two Manticores came closer and you noticed they weren't exactly alike, one's fur was more purple and dark, its teeth red and the spike on its tail reminded you of an dark Amethyst stone, filled with tiny holes and jagged ends.

The other Manticore's fur was more green and covered in moss, as if the flora was feasting on its decomposing flesh, taking over more and more of its body, growing gross mushrooms on its back and all types of toxic looking spores. Its teeth were dark green and its spiked tail looked more like a green emerald, but dark and sharp as razor glass.


The two parasites were holding Witchers in their teeth, dragging them down the stairs and down into the pit, where everyone laid. They were holding their Witchers by their clothing, their capes and hoods, the collars of their shirts, gingerly, as if taking utmost care not to pierce the Witchers with their teeth, as they dragged them by their clothing toward the center of the pit and dumped them there, by Kaznachey's feet.


Well over 50 Witchers laid sprawled in here now. All unmoving. Their eyes glassed, wild.

The Griffons laid slain before you. Some beheaded, others had their hearts pierced or their necks sliced ear to ear, their blood flooded the pit, soaking you in it.



Kaznachey smiled and looked at the sky with content. The Nifelheims sun made her blue, transparent skin glitter, her smile all the more beautiful. Her mesmerizing blue dress, somehow left untouched by the blood at her feet.





"...are you familiar with human religious texts?"

She slowly asked, her voice sing-song and pleasant, as she slowly bend down and picked up a glowing Red Orb. The artifact burned from within, as if an incessant firestorm raged inside it. She stroked the sphere, smiling, the flames reflecting inside her eyes.


"I find them fascinating," she commented, as casually, as if she was discussing the weather "It always amazed me, how much wisdom humanity managed to condense, into so few pages of literature."

Her eyes drifted up, toward you:


"I especially liked the story of... Noah's Ark." her smile slowly grew, as she held the Red Orb with both hands.


"...when Noah new a flood was coming, that would destroy all the world, he built himself an Ark. And hid all his family in it."

Kaznachey's eyes burned, the red flames of the sphere reflecting inside them.


"And after the flood washed over the land, Noah stepped out of the Ark, and once again claimed the land of himself." the woman lowered her gaze at the Orb and stroked it again:



"Of course, it's just a story of wisdom. A metaphor. In real life, you'd need... redundancy.
One Ark wouldn't be enough, so I built several." her eyes darted toward you again, without her moving her head, her smirk lit up by the Orb:


"I was pressed for time, of course, by the time I learned of Lucretia's intent, it was already too late to stop her. I had to do a rush job. Still, the Arks performed as intended. As the energy surge of the Dark Machine washed over the land, we... hid... inside the Arks, all over this world." Kaznachey slowly stroked the Red sphere.


"And we did... survive Armageddon... the irony is that... Lucretia didn't. She died in the same explosion that was meant to kill me." Kaz smirked:


"And all her effort would have gone to waste... except... well... I did a rush job with the Arks... you see." she looked down at the orb:


"By the time I realized the flaw in its design, it was already too late. I was locked inside it, stuck in perpetual hibernation, in what you would call an embryonic state, my energy spent, my Mana depleted. I could not, leave the Ark, on my own." her cold eyes locked with yours:



"I needed outside intervention."



She sighed and stood taller, holding her shoulders broader:

"Can you imagine? Having this vast, empty planet to myself and being unable to step out and claim it? It was frustrating... considering it took me several million years to reach... just about anyone...

I used my powers to try and contact other worlds... other places... I eventually felt the presence of Kepler, its vast, lush world filled with billions of lives. But their minds were too busy, too clouded. None of them could hear me, over the vast distance of space, it was... all but futile."


She smiled:


"And then... Kashiwagi Brice tried to kill himself." She looked down and dusted off her dress, brushing aside a flew Shimmer ridden snowflakes:


"Its funny, how a corporate multi-billionaire can have so much power, and yet have no power at all. One of the richest, most influential people on Kepler... tries to take his own life? What could he possibly be upset about?

What did he lack, that all the money and influence in the world, could not buy? So desperate and hopeless to attain it, he tries to end his own life?" The woman shrugged:

"I didn't really care... all that mattered to me was... he swallowed enough pills to fling himself into a coma, and made his mind quiet enough, to hear me. And then..." Kaz smiled:


"All I had to do, was ask, what he wanted... and then offer it," she slowly presented the Orb "On a Silver Platter."




"I promised him, the solution to his problem, lies in this Orb. All he had to do was build a portal to this world, send in an expedition team and bring this Orb, back to Kepler." Kaznachey's smile grew slowly unhinged.


"Of course... he had to rely on me for everything. While he laid in a hospital bed, his hundreds of lackeys buzzing like worker bees to pump the poison he swallowed, out of his system, I whispered sweet nothings to him.

I gave him the blueprints for the Portal. I explained the technology to him. And I directed his hand, in the construction of the portal, in a secret, underwater lab, on the edge of Marina Trench, some 50 kilometers off the coast of Ragnveig.


I doubt he understood half the physical processes I explained to him. Which made it all the more easy to tweak his portal to my liking." The woman shrugged with a smile:




"Once the Portal had activated, he though he'd only be sending in the 20 men special ops team he prepared, inside the Portal test chamber, in the depths of his underwater lab. He though the Teleportation field would be maybe 10 meters in radius." her smile grew crooked:


"In reality, the instructions I gave him, ended up expanding the Portals field up to 150 kilometers in every direction, teleporting not only the entire staff of his lab to Nifelheim, but also the crew of every ship in the vicinity... and the entire population of a nearby coastal town of Ragnveig.


1 Million new souls... on Nifelheim... I was sure at least... one of them... would find my Ark... they had plenty of incentive... Kashiwagi Brice told them he wasn't going to send them back to Kepler, unless they found the Ark and brought it with them."




"...you... caused this?..." Zoy's eyes were staring wide open at the blue woman. Profound horror and shock was reflecting over Zoy's expression, eyes filling with angry tears, as the world she thought she knew, crumbled around her:

"We... weren't Exiled... YOU caused this?"



"Oh my sweet baby..." Kaznachey gently approached, kneeling down next to Zoy and stroking her head, as if she was petting a dog:

"Did you... think... anything you did on this planet, mattered?... did you think your life had meaning, because you guarded the Machine Portal for generations?"



Kaznachey's gaze became unhinged, cruel:

"Did you think Kashiwagi Brice was a moron with no budget? Did you think if he built the Marina Trench Portal, and then another one in the north pole, he couldn't afford to build a third one?"



".......what?" Kaylee's voice came distorted, from somewhere behind you. You felt the urge to jump up and claw at Kaznachey's face but your body was numb, you couldn't move a single muscle.



Kaznachey caught the look in your eye, the dawning realization, and smiled:


"Do you understand, the definition, of insanity?" she cocked her head:
"Insanity is... doing the same, fucking thing... over and over again... expecting shit, to be different.

After Brice sent 5 invasions through the Machina Portal in your north pole and you darling..." she patted Zoy's head: "Slaughtered ALL of them... you didn't think Brice would build a third portal, in your backyard, under my close direction?

Somewhere... unguarded by Witchers yet easily accessed by me? Where I could appear in my truest, beautiful form and grant him the Orb, packed to the brim with Parasites, which he would promptly take back to Kepler, thinking he just discovered the holy grail?"




"....what did you do?...." Kaylee's voice bordered on horror, disgust and fury: "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!"


Kaznachey's smile grew sweat: "...I gave Brice an Ark full of Parasites. He successfully portalled a strike team to Nifelheim and transported the Ark back to Kepler, a month ago.


At this very moment... your homeworld burns."



Kaznachey watched you carefully, and when the implications finally hit, she smiled.

Kaylee Brown wrote:"....what did you do?...." Kaylee's voice bordered on horror, disgust and fury: "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!"

Kaznachey's smile grew sweat: "...I gave Brice an Ark full of Parasites. He successfully portalled a strike team to Nifelheim and transported the Ark back to Kepler, a month ago.

At this very moment... your homeworld burns."

Kaznachey watched you carefully, and when the implications finally hit, she smiled.

"Then, if you've already succeeded, why are we insignificant little mortals still here?" Rogue asks, "Surely you have no more need of us, why haven't you just turned us all into red witchers already?"

Rain squints at the woman quitely taking in kaz's plan, "huh..." she glances at Kaylee a moment, her mouth somewhat agape in thought, "This is probably the saddest news i've ever heard..." she swallows heavily, "For... alot of reasons..." she looks at Kaz, "Oh this is going to suck." You see a potential bottomless pit of pity.

Squiggles:

"she DOOMED herself..." Rain states internally, "she didn't just doom us... shes going to have to go back into the ark, but also in moving parasites to our world, she dooms herself to the ark Potentially forever!" she shakes her head, "That is really... really sad." she bites her lip a moment, "He did this a month ago? It cant be very far into the invasion, Enough to the point where they could create a new generation of witchers to stomp out the fire."




Circi sighs and simply watches before speaking up quitely, "It wasn't his JUST his family you stupid prick." She sneers, "It was his family and 'Every living thing if all flesh' did you forget that part? Where he loaded two of every animal on the planet to SAVE it. I guess you dont know how to not block out important story details you soulless monster."


Kaz:

Circis been trying to get under your skin for the past 5 hours. Its like her insults are tireless. Its impressive really and the ones shes delivering now are leagues milder then the ones she was delivering about an hour ago.

Twilight takes a breath. "So, after you take Keplar, turn it into the next Nifelheim... Then what? Go to another planet, until you find one that actually kills you?"Because that's the end result you're heading to."

She shakes her head. "All the carnage, and for what? It won't fill the emptiness of your existence, you should know by now."

Her gaze empties, her words clear and hollow. "If you just asked me, I could have brought her back for you."

"I want to know why you wasted the time of everyone on this planet and everyone visiting from Kepler? Unless you get off on seeing people suffer you could have just left at any time. No, I think you're trying to break our spirit so that your Red Witcher curse takes effect. I mean the last thing I remember was my sanity reaching zero. I don't think this is real." Thena narrows her eyes and with all of her mental strength pictures Kaznachey busting into flames.

Thena wrote:"I want to know why you wasted the time of everyone on this planet and everyone visiting from Kepler? Unless you get off on seeing people suffer you could have just left at any time.

"I do get off on watching humanity suffer, got me there." Kaznachey cackled "But as to why I didn't leave sooner, its because of Brice. Its not my fault he's fucking useless. I mean, how many times did he fail? How many invasions did it take, before he finally succeeded?


I left an Ark... several different Arks, actually... in plain view, in easy reach of his portals, as far from Nifel's population centers as possible. And he STILL found fresh ways to fuck it up! Genocide, targeted assassinations, sacking, he told his goons to kill every surviving human on this planet, just to cover up his initial fuck-up in Ragnveig.

So afraid, was he, of word getting back to Kepler, that he resorted to outright genocide of Nifel's population, lest they Migrate back to Kepler, and tell everyone of his deeds!

So focused, was he, on your genocide, that he inevitably drew the ire of Witchers, who wiped out his strikes teams, time and time again!

So by the time he prioritized the Ark's retrieval, over your genocide, the Witchers had already dug themselves in, around his portal, ensuring that all future invasions from that doorway would be met with Level 5 meteors raining down from the sky!

Amusing, though it was, watching Keplers gunships and tanks getting pulverized into glass by Zoy's ancestors, it didn't bring me any closer to a fucking escape!"


Kaznachey hissed: "If I hadn't obliterated Nagisa Castle and slaughtered a few million newborn Parasites to clear a new landing zone for Brice's third portal, conveniently leaving another Ark right under his nose, he'd still be pushing fresh gunships through your the north pole!"


Kaznachey slowly exhaled and composed herself.

Rogue wrote:"Surely you have no more need of us, why haven't you just turned us all into red witchers already?"

"Oh but I AM turning you, right now! I AM." Kaznachey beamed, her expression growing increasingly euphoric and unhinged as she took hold of your head with both hands and patted your hair, as if you were a cat:

"That is why I lured you all here!" Her eyes were shining, smile growing manic "Since the moment you set foot on this planet, your fate was sealed. It was always going to end here. Right here. Your entire journey was for this moment!"


She tilted her head, searching for understanding in your eyes: "...do you understand?..." her smile grew crooked:

"Nothing you did on this planet... mattered... it was all for nothing. You only had one job. To devour Parasites and grow strong. And you've accomplished that job marvelously. And now, that you've become the strongest Witchers on this planet, your job is... over." she tilted her head to the other side:


"Are you confused? Are you wondering why I'm telling you about the Arks and the third portal? Oh my sweet Rogue." She stroked your hair again, deliberately emphasizing that she thought she was petting a cat:

"I'm not explaining this to you... I'm explaining this to your Parasites... because soon, they'll be in control, and they will take me to Kepler, in this." the woman slowly rose and picked up the Red Sphere again.



"There's only two ways a Parasite can leave Nifelheim," Kaznachey quietly said, her voice growing calmer:

"Attached to a human. Or locked in this Orb. I was tempted, to have Brice rescue me through his third Portal but.." she smiled: "I wanted to keep an eye on my investment. And I invested a LOT..." her eyes drifted to Adam:

"Especially... in you." her smirk widened: "...Agatha never understood why I helped her create a human-Sinner hybrid."


Adam swallowed but stayed silent. Even now, he somehow managed to wear a neutral mask that didn't betray his emotions.


"The truth is.." Kaznachey smirked "Your body might be the only one, strong enough to sustain me, without imploding... if I attach myself to you... and turn you into a Red Witcher... well... there will be NOTHING... that can stop me. And if I fail and accidentally devour you?" The woman shrugged:

"Well... I still have the Ark."



"Don't you FUCKING touch him!" you heard Lighting bark from somewhere behind you, her voice livid. Kaznachey smirked.





"I don't understand..." Viktoria quietly called from nearby. Her voice sounded cold, calculating: "...if you were all trapped inside the Arks, after the Dark Machine wiped this planet, how did you get out of the Orb?"


"It requires human contact. A touch. By any living creature really." Kaznachey shrugged "When the first humans found an Ark on this planet, they took it into their palms, and it allowed us to... devoured their essence... waking us from hibernation... allowing us to burst out and roam the planet once more.

We will do the same on Kepler, make sure you let a human hold the Orb, once we're on the other side, understand? Guillotine?" Kaznachey tilted her head, seemingly addressing Viktoria, or, rather her Parasite.

Rain wrote:"she DOOMED herself..." Rain states internally, "she didn't just doom us... shes going to have to go back into the ark, but also in moving parasites to our world, she dooms herself to the ark Potentially forever!" she shakes her head, "That is really... really sad." she bites her lip a moment, "He did this a month ago? It cant be very far into the invasion, Enough to the point where they could create a new generation of witchers to stomp out the fire."

Squiggles remained eerily quiet. You sense a whole rainbow of emotions from him. Regret. Pain. Despair. Profound sadness... Guilt. Even now, you could feel tears welling inside his eyes. Slowly, he was turning into just a ball of pain, sad and miserable.

Circi wrote:"It wasn't his JUST his family you stupid prick." She sneers, "It was his family and 'Every living thing if all flesh' did you forget that part? Where he loaded two of every animal on the planet to SAVE it. I guess you dont know how to not block out important story details you soulless monster."

"Quiet in the peanut gallery." Kaznachey brushed the hair from her eyes "Tying you to a burning log and hurling you off a cliff, is still on the table Circi, don't tempt me."

Kaz wrote:"....what did you do?...." Kaylee's voice bordered on horror, disgust and fury: "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!"


Kaznachey's smile grew sweat: "...I gave Brice an Ark full of Parasites. He successfully portalled a strike team to Nifelheim and transported the Ark back to Kepler, a month ago.


At this very moment... your homeworld burns."

"You son of a bitch!" Kaylee's sudden bark drowned out Kaz's monologue: "YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" Kaylee's eyes went wild, her eyepatch slipped off her face, the string cut, revealing a horrid, ugly scar over her right eye, as she laid in the snow on her side.

"WHAT DID YOU FUCKING DO!?" the girl hysterically shrieked, tears streaming down her face, that was so distorted by despair and anger, you barely recognized her "WHAT DID YOU DOOOO!!!" She wailed, collapsing into the snow, her shouts turning into inconsolable sobbing, as she burred her face in the snow, her hands uselessly lying behind her back:

"My family..." Kaylee cried, her body rocked by uncontrollable sobs, loud and guttural. "M-my... family..." she slowly curled into a ball, her teeth clenching, as her breathing became rapid and her yellow eye opened again, zeroing in on Kaznachey, becoming distorted by a horrid grimace:

"I'll kill you..." She spat out, sending the snow flying away from her face "You fucking whore!..." tears streamed down her face, covered in blood and dirt, as she tried lifting her head from the snowdrift:

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" She shrieked, closing her eyes shut "YOU FUCKING WHOOOORE!!!"



Kaznachey watched silently, in amusement, as the strength slowly left the girl and she collapsed, sobbing into the snow. Zoy's voice cut in harshly like a knife:

"Calm down!" The blond girl hissed "Kaznachey lived four millions years on this planet. She would use its frame of reference on a subconscious level. One month here would amount to nothing more than 10 hours on Kepler. There's still time. We can still contain the outbreak!"



"You don't really believe that." Kaznachey simply replied, brushing the blue hair from her face with a smile, and Zoy's expression darkened under her gaze:

"You're not in denial, are you Zoy?" Kaz tilted her head "You know better than I do, how fast Parasites reproduce, how fast they spread in a densely populated city. By the time the geniuses in your government realize they're under attack, it will be too late.

Facing an enemy they can't see, can't kill with conventional weaponry? They don't even realize what's happening to them, as my Parasites sweep across their metropolises. And each Parasite, even a newborn one, can induce Mental Breakdowns in humans, at a distance of dozens of meters away. Especially in humans who weren't born on Nifelheim and have no natural immunity to this affliction.

And I can hear it all." Kaznachey raised a palm to her ear "...The screams of the dying... across the vastness of space.... its mesmerizing."

Twilight wrote:"So, after you take Keplar, turn it into the next Nifelheim... Then what? Go to another planet, until you find one that actually kills you?"Because that's the end result you're heading to."

She shakes her head. "All the carnage, and for what? It won't fill the emptiness of your existence, you should know by now."

"I want to go home, Twilight." Kaznachey slowly looked up at the sky "...that's all I ever wanted.

And Kepler is just a stepping stone in my journey. I will burn it to ash, just to get even. And then? I will go home." she closed her eyes, content for a moment.



"I thought..." Zoy frowned "Parasites were native to Nifelheim."

Kaznachey scoffed, looking sideways at her: "...Naive."

Twilight wrote:"If you just asked me, I could have brought her back for you."

Kaznachey's icy gaze zeroed in on you before you realized it, and her gaze made you uncomfortable.
It was like she was seeing you for the first time. Studying you. Measuring your facial expression, your body language. You didn't like what you saw in her face.

For the first time, you felt like you made her angry, truly, angry. It felt like you really hurt her, for the first time. And for a brief moment, Kaznachey realized that you noticed. And she scowled:


"Michiru Strea is dead. She's been dead for a very, long, time." the woman walked toward you in a brisk pace, her blue dress waving in the wind behind her:

"You can't bring her back. It's no longer possible."




"No. It is." Kaylee called from afar and Kaznachey's icy gaze darted toward her. For a moment, you thought Kaznachey was going to behead Kaylee in the next second, but the moment passed and Kaz didn't move, so Kaylee continued:

"I know someone... who's been resurrected... I know them personally... there is a way."



Kaznachey rose to full height and curled her upper lip in disbelief and silent anger, before returning her gaze back to Twilight:

"...Fine... thank you for bringing this to my attention," she pretended to smile to you. The smile soon faded:

"Not that it will do you any good." She blinked "Alyx. Probe her mind until you find the knowledge and muscle memory to conduct whatever ritual she's referring to. But don't be afraid of me, if it doesn't work. I won't hold my breath."


Kaznachey marched back to the center of the pit, rising her hands in the air.



She was about to start chanting again, then stopped and looked at you over her shoulder. Then smirked, as if she had one last jab in the chamber:


"...Don't worry. What happens next-... you won't die.

You'll still live..." she dismissively smirked: "...as a little voice in your Parasites head... locked in his soul... forever... while he controls your body...

And no one... will ever... know...

Not your colleagues, your friends... or your families..." her smirk grew eerie, poisonous:


"Don't be upset, you never had a chance... the game was rigged from the start..." she turned away, smirking:





"...Your Parasites were in on the joke from the start."





She rose her hands and a flash of red lightning shot out of her hands, enveloping her whole body and washing across every human in the pit:


"Moy deti prishli vzyat,
To chto brat chto bilo dat."





Your vision turned red.

You fainted.

(Rain Runner)



The desert of the mind.

Perpetually gray sand stretching as far as the eye could see, which wasn't far. Everything beyond the immediate twenty meters suddenly turned to darkness, as if you were standing under a spotlight, and everything beyond it was colored pitch black, yet there was no sun in the sky.

Only graying storm clouds that constantly moved and rumbled with thunder, stretching across the entire horizon.


Squiggles stood before you, in his Spidery form, but shorter than usual.

He was about your height now, his front mandibles clumsily grasping a perfect copy of your Witcher weapon, the purple long falcion. He looked like he didn't know what to do with it, like he didn't want to hold it.

His eyes were welling with tears that soon streamed down his face as he blinked. He closed them shut in remorse and looked away in shame:


"R-Rain..." he quietly sobbed "Rain I..." he shook his head and dropped the sword to the ground, clumsily wiped his spidery face, but the tears just kept streaming down his cheeks and he gave up. Slowly lifting his gaze back to you:


"R-Rain!" he pleaded, taking a step toward you, then recoiling in fear, as if he wasn't supposed to do that. His expression was miserable:


"I didn't know!" He pleaded "Rain!... I didn't know about the third portal! I didn't know anything about the Arks! Kaznachey just told me to infect humans, as soon as I was born, or she'd kill me! So I ran toward you..

I wanted to tell you about the Red Witchers! I wanted to tell you, how she ordered me to make sure you survived, long enough to become a strong Witcher, so that one day I could take over your body... but I-..." Squiggles shook his head, desperately trying to suppress a sob and wiping his eyes:


"Rain... you are the closest friend I ever had..." he looked pleadingly into your eyes "...Kaznachey treated me like dirt... but you... you always saw me as your equal..." he sobbed:

"I wanted to tell you about the Red Witchers... I wanted to stop it from happening to you... but the Words of the Curse physically prevented me from sharing anything with you. I was physically incapable of telling you about it, or warning you in any way... all I could do was watch... and keep you alive... regenerating you over and over... no matter how hurt you got..."


The demonic spider pitifully wiped his eyes, then slowly looked up at you, and cautiously, slowly, raised his front mandible in your direction, as if he was extending a pleading hand toward you:


"Rain... I don't want this... this nightmare... this Red Curse... I didn't want any of this!!!" he sobbed:

"You are my closest friend... I'll never do anything to hurt you..." he slowly, pleadingly extended his mandible to you, his eyes searching, just a tiny spec of hope in his eyes:

"...you believe me... don't you?" he asked, blinking the tears from his eyes.