My Servant System



Bodies piled around me as I continued my dance of death, my Khopesh dripping with blood and caked with viscera, each slash into one of the many cultists further adding to the mound I had created.

Limbs, heads and bodies littered the ground around me, while blood pooled into puddles as the death toll rose, the Cult of Ambition throwing body after body into the meat grinder that the four of us had become.

It was hard to imagine what the Cult of Ambition was trying to gain through this attack, but our answers would come to us as the horde of cultists gradually began to thin out, the fodder - nearly enough people to fill a small town - now dead at our feet, numbering potentially in the thousands.

It was an astronomical number of people to be inside one cult, but as a dozen new people draped in ornate robes stepped out of the gateway - which fizzled out behind them after they exited - we got to learn some of the reason as to why.

Silver and onyx studded their cloaks and armor, clearly an homage to their Fiendish lord that they worshipped so reverently, while the pressure of raw mana surrounding their bodies was higher than their followers by threefold, which was worrying as they stared towards us with disdainful expressions.

"To think that the pathetic dregs of this backwater Barony would yield us such a big catch! It can only be thanks to His will that we were blessed this way! One of the many thorns poisoning this Empire stands before us, brothers and sisters! It is our duty as the new rul-"

I watched - blood dripping down my body and breathing measuredly - as a bullet of fire slammed against the man's chest, bursting against a thin barrier of pure mana that barely blocked the attack, silencing the man in the midst of his speech.

As he opened his mouth to speak again, four more bullets slammed into the barrier, with the third cracking it open and exploding against his flesh, allowing the fourth to burst open his torso and cause him to go from preaching to screaming in agony as flames consumed him.

"If there is a thorn to the Empire standing here today, it is not me but you. Disruption of order and the throwing away of lives for a false promise spoken by the forked, lying tongue of a Fiend. Any gripes you have with the Empress and the lands she governs should have been taken up through debate and peace, and yet you resort to not only violence, but to selling your souls for a momentary hope at achieving your goals."

The remaining eleven cultists stared at the Marquess with a few emotions - anger, hate, caution and fear being the prominent four - as she spoke, and a few of them tried to attack her, spells of raw mana hurtling through the air towards her, only for them to impact harmlessly against the Marquess' own mana.

"Pathetic weaklings clawing at the poisonous promise of a Fiend, accepting the 'boon' of strength and hope without knowing just how fickle that promise was. What did you ask for? Power to tear down the Nobility? Did you think that you have the ability to contend with the foundations of this Empire now that some pathetic Fiend told you that you can?"

Her words were scathing as she began to walk forwards, a shroud of red mana flickering around her as more and more spells impacted her protective barrier, which caused the cultists to panic and begin switching their focus towards the rest of us, hoping to distract or get rid of the Marquess by killing us.

Coiling Wind Mana around my feet, I began to run forwards, weaving around the bolts and sickles of mana that threatened to rend my flesh from my bones and break me apart as I closed in on the cultists.

Anput and Jahi took a more direct approach, silver and gold shields blocking the attacks as they too made their way forwards, their blades gleaming dangerously.

"Go on. Speak. Declare your goals with pride as I cut you down where you stand!"

The eleven cultists blanched as the Marquess slowly made her way towards them, before they found themselves embroiled between the glows of silver, gold and blue as we reached them first, descending on them with great speed.

"For our Ambition! For the downfall of this blight on the world! Brothers! Sisters! Cut down these misbelievers and show them the strength Lord Tza'Delira granted unto us!"

One cultist - braver than the others - attempted to rally the remaining ten, only to find herself the target of us three as we sped towards her, grabbing her and flinging her out towards the Marquess as tribute before returning to the new slaughter happening where the gateway used to be.

"Keep two alive!"

A shout from one of the Wisps made Anput nod, and her sword switched towards a club, which she used to knock out her targets - picking one cowardly and one fervent cultist - while Jahi and I focused on cutting down the rest, pouring more mana into our attacks and engaging in duels.

Ducking beneath a sword slash, I blocked another's spear thrust before ramming my shoulder into the spearman's stomach, pushing him back momentarily as I switched targets to the swordswoman, parrying her longsword once before scoring a small cut across her chest as she barely leaned away from the attack.

The spear lunged towards my side again, and with the sword slashing down at me as well, I jumped back before rushing to the side, around the spear and placing myself right in front of the spearman, allowing me to punch him in the gut before I smirked, shards of ice blasting into his stomach and out his back as I activated a spell, knocking him to the ground and allowing my frost to claim him.

With him down, I stepped aside from the swordswoman's attack and sliced horizontally towards her, the serrated teeth of my Khopesh catching her waist and slicing through her flesh easily, bisecting her.

Killing my two opponents, I honed in on the last remaining cultist before watching as her head exploded like a melon as a bolt of flames entered her cranium, killing the woman instantly.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Leone staring at us from afar, her hand raised as she prepared to shoot another bullet if necessary, her newly crafted spell already showing its worth.

"Another set of people to interrogate... damnit, this is tedious. But..."

The Marquess looked down at the three unconscious cultists at her feet, sighing as she moved her gaze from them to the corpses instead, muttering "How has a cult grown to such a size without us knowing? Who controls it, and why..?"