Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Apollyon POV:
"So, this is the Noxian capital." It was by far the most impressive thing I had ever seen so far in my life. Wide and tall, the streets were filled with hundreds of people living their life. The place was littered with imposing buildings, thin streets, steel walls and imposing gates. It was clear that it was built with protection in mind.
People from all sort of cultures were here judging by the variety in people and species. It seems Noxus is a place that will try to find a use in anyone in tit's borders.
Swain was a general in Noxian army and a popular one at that. I asked around for where he might be, and everyone answered with him being in the Immortal Bastion with the other generals.
This of course means that I can't just walk up to him. But that's fine, I have an idea anyway.
I walk into the courtyard that leads into the Immortal Bastion; hundreds of soldiers were being trained here. I looked around until I found a tent seemingly surrounded by mercenaries, so I walked over.
There was a long line but someone at a table noticed me and told the others to move out of the way and let me through. When he beckoned me to come closer I asked him with confusion, "Why are you telling me to skip the line?"
"Are you kidding? Look at you! Compared to these people you actually look competent!" the man at the table answered. I looked behind me and it made sense, most of the people were in leather armor.
"On a scale of one to ten how good do you think you would be to Noxus?" he asked.
"An eleven." I answered honestly.
"Is that honesty or arrogance?" he grinned. "Do you have a party?"
I smirked, "I have an entire legion ready to fight. All of them as nearly equipped as I am."
"Looks like we've hit the Jackpot with you, my friend!"
"You have no idea… they also don't require food nor pay."
"No pay? Is it smart to hire a legion of mercenaries who don't ask for pay?"
"They are better than everyone in this line but me." I say aloud causing many loud protests.
"Fuck you kid, your adopted!" a man with blue hair said, but when I looked at him, he disappeared.
"Hey you! Who the hell do you think you are?!" I hear a shout behind me as a hand roughly grips my shoulder.
I don't move but sigh, "Let me show you their worth." With a snap of my fingers the man who placed his hand on my shoulder blasted back.
Everyone in the courtyard looked at me and gasped as a warrior made of shadow stood next to me. "What the hell is that?!" the blasted man yelled in fear.
"One of my soldiers. Undead warriors ready to kill anything I wish." I then turn back towards the man at the table, "Like I said, they don't need food nor pay, not even sleep. They will keep fighting as long as I wish." I then commanded the shadow, "Kill him."
I kept my eyes on the man at the table as my shadow unsheathed it's blade and with a yell of despair decapitated the man it previously blasted away.
"Do you think I may be useful to Noxus now? By the way, I expect a lot more pay compared to one simple mercenary."
The man was silent before he burst out laughing, "You really are the ultimate Jackpot." He then stood up from his seat and held out his hand, "With skills like that, we can pay you ten times the amount we'd usually pay a single mercenary."
I shook his hand with a smirk, "Excellent."
"Welcome to the army of Noxus, Necromancer." I hear someone say. I turn around to see none other than Jericho Swain approaching me. "What is the name of you, and your legion of the undead?"
"We are the Grim Wolves… and my name is Dire."
....
"So that's how you escaped the Black Rose." Swain commented as I followed him to somewhere private.
"The only way to defeat the Black Rose, is to beat them at their own game."
He nodded, "Do you know where they took Raum?"
"No, he was taken before I could interfere." I answered.
"It's fine. In fact, that might make this easier. The Black Rose's new headquarters is none other than right here under the Immortal Bastion."
"So should I go and kill them all?" I asked.
He shook his head, "As much as I would like that, now is not the time. If the Black Rose is attacked now LeBlanc would throw Noxus into chaos. And for now, we have greater things to worry about. I'm sure you've heard of the coming invasion of Ionia?"
"It's partly the reason why I joined the army. I could retrieve magical artifacts for myself and possibly extend my army of shadows." I nodded.
"What do you have at the moment?" Swain asked.
"People I killed while escaping the Black Rose and a pack of wild Drake-Hounds."
"It'd be best to have trained Hounds instead, they are much more skilled at tracking and killing. The soldiers are fine since they are Black Rose guards, they'd have had the best training and equipment when they were alive. I can provide a dead pack of Hounds if you wish."
"That would be nice. My current shadows aren't trained to fight with Hounds as well so if you have any dead laying around, that would be useful."
"That will be easy." Swain smiled.
After some silence I ask, "What are you going to do with Darkwill?"
"The only one the Black Rose is currently trying to deal with before me is you. Both LeBlanc and Darkwill are planning to kill me… I can feel it. They'll most likely use this invasion to try and assassinate me." Swain frowned.
"Well, I would say be careful, but I can tell that's your number one priority. So do you want me with you during this invasion? How far away is it?"
"A few more months. In fact, I would like to ask a favor from you." Swain pulled out a map and pointed below Noxus. "Here is the City-State Piltover. In the Undercity there you can find many mercenaries we could use in this invasion, but the main one I need you to find is a man named Silico, he produces a body enhancement drug called Shimmer. Very useful for making men fight harder and longer. Here is a large bag of coins but do try to negotiate." Swain says, handing me a closed letter and a large pouch.
"That's fine. I heard Piltover is a good place to find information anyways."
"Here, just in case, it's your first payment as a mercenary, ten times the usual. In two months, a ship will appear on the main dock where you can ring anything you gather. Anything that can be of use in the invasion. depending on what you bring I will pay you for it."
"Do you have a horse I could use?" I ask with a nod.
"I will have someone waiting for you at the Southern gate with a high quality one and the rest of the supplies for the journey. Good luck and don't use the money on useless things, please." Swain said.
"Yeah, yeah." I say, grabbing everything and leaving. On the way to the gates, I went into a bookstore and bought a lot of books, so I had something to read on the way there, as it's quite a journey.
At the gate, sure enough there was a soldier holding a large bag of supplies and next to him stood a horse. As I approached them, he said, "You must be Dire right?" when I nodded, he passed me the bag and the reins of the horse. As soon as I grabbed the reins of the horse it started to thrash in fright, "Weird, he's not normally like this." The soldier tried to calm the horse down, but it just wouldn't stop. "WE might need to get another one."
I roll my eyes, "Is it a fast one?"
"Oh, it's the fastest in general Swain's arsenal. It's rider recently died against a Demacian so we've been trying to find it another rider."
I chuckled and said, "Step back."
He shrugged and stepped back as I cleaved it's head clean off. "What the?! Why did you do that?!" the soldier yelled at me.
"Watch." I said as I kneeled close to the decapitated horse, "Arise." Sure enough, a shadow form of the horse rose as it roared into the air. Then it did what all shadows did and knelt to me. "You will be named… Dorghar the Hooved Revenant." As if it approved of the name Dorghar it nickered before pushing it's head into my body.
"What was that?" the soldier quietly asked me.
"Magic." I say as I manifest a saddle on Dorghar and mount him. He stood and roared again before it started to gallop unnaturally fast. It felt amazing with the wind blowing past me and I could tell Dorghar enjoyed it too.
After some time, I canceled Swain's request of getting actual trained Drake-Hounds and decided to do it myself. But as I was doing so, I found a massive pack of forty wolves. They were much larger, stronger, faster and better hunters compared to the Drake-Hounds, so I 'recruited' them into my army. I even managed to manifest armor for the wolves to increase their defense. (Pic in P/C)
I then armored my legion as they howled, seemingly happy being similar in appearance to their master.
After that was all done, I decided enough was enough, and travelling over a hill I got a glimpse at the City of Progress. "Piltover."
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