Chương 23: Crusade 2

"Had enough yet?" Fizzy was standing triumphantly with a cocky grin on her face. Her left arm was leaning lightly on her wrench, while her right hand was wrapped around the neck of a female stoneborn with off-white hair.

"Hack! Koff! Koff!" Unfortunately, her captive couldn't respond with anything other than coughs and gurgles as she tried to gasp for air.

"Oh, whoops." Realizing she was squeezing a bit too hard, the golem opened up her fist and dropped the stoneborn to the ground. The woman landed on her back and gasped desperately as her lungs once again filled with air. Fizzy took a step closer to her captive, causing the woman to scramble backwards in a panic. Her instinctive attempts to run away were cut off when the golem smashed her wrench into the ground next to her and bent over until they were pretty much face to face.

"You're not going anywhere until I say so. Are we clear?" Kragiel frantically nodded her head up and down to show she understood.

"Good! Now then, I'll have you answer some questions." Hearing the mithril construct state her intentions flipped a switch in the stoneborn commander's brain. She went from fearing for her life to maintaining her dignity as a soldier in the blink of an eye.

"I have nothing to say to the enemy," she declared scornfully.

"If you're going to kill me, I'd rather you just get it over with."

"As if. I didn't go through all that trouble of sparing you sorry lot for nothing." Out of the thirteen stoneborn operatives, seven lay unconscious or otherwise incapacitated in the surrounding ruins. Another two were in critical condition due to them being much squishier than Fizzy anticipated, but she stabilized them with her healing magic. Four more had escaped and retreated, leaving the last one - who was obviously the commander - in the golem's tender care.

The fight was overall messier than the golem wanted it to be as she had difficulty controlling her new body's strength. But, seeing as how all of the proto-dwarves were still alive, she had managed to fulfil her objective.

"…" However, her prisoner was having none of it and remained silent. Everyone had heard of the mysterious white golem that recently appeared among the Nemesis's forces, so there was little doubt in her mind as to this thing's allegiance. Granted, the thing before her looked quite a bit different than the living statue from the rumors, but she seriously doubted there were two mithril golems running about. She had therefore resolved herself to not divulge any potentially sensitive information no matter what.

Even if Kragiel didn't always see eye-to-eye with her superiors, that didn't mean she was a traitor.

"Look, I'm not asking you for your country's secrets or whatever," said Fizzy.

"I just need directions, either to the surface or Kat- I mean, your Nemesis's stronghold. Do that, and I guarantee no harm shall come to you or your companions." The stoneborn was rather taken aback by those words. She had expected to be asked about many things, but the surface? That wasn't a topic she was expecting to come up at all. Kragiel chased her errant thoughts away and focused on the problem at hand - her unit had been decimated and much of their equipment ruined.

Though if there was someone to blame for this sorry outcome, it was none other than herself. Admittedly it was the golem that made the first move and attacked her unit, but it was her call to have her subordinates try and shadow the thing instead of falling back. No, it went further back than that - Kragiel should've pulled her unit out when the Dowser detected a potential borewyrm encounter.

"… If you truly meant us no harm, then why did you attack us unprovoked?" asked Kragiel.

"Unprovoked? I was being stalked by a bunch of armed strangers after having just finished off a pain-in-the-ass monster. What was I supposed to do - invite you over for tea and biscuits? Of course I'm going to take the initiative and go in for the first blow!" Fizzy's words stabbed through Kragiel like a spear. Of course this golem would come swinging at a suspicious bunch of people skulking around her at a potential moment of weakness.

In retrospect, that sort of reaction was only to be expected, as was her complete and total victory. The electrified golem was a being mighty enough to have felled a borewyrm queen single handedly and with relative ease. It was only natural that Kragiel and her men could scarcely even put up a fight against something like that. Strictly speaking, the confrontation would've been over in an instant if the golem wanted them dead. That was just how much more powerful she was when compared to the stoneborn.

Motivations and circumstances aside though, with Kragiel's options limited and her men's lives at stake, there could only be one answer to the golem's request.

"Very well. I, Kragiel of clan Sterner, hereby pledge to guide you faithfully in exchange for sparing my people and allowing them to return home to their families."

"Deal. Ah, I'm Fizzy, by the way." The golem stepped forward, grabbed the stoneborn woman by the shoulder and effortlessly lifted her to her feet. She wasn't hurt all that badly since Fizzy had saved her for last, so the two of them could leave right away.

"Wait just a minute! You're not going anywhere without me!" Or at least that's what would've normally happened if it wasn't for the coarse male voice calling out from the side. Kadam, Kragiel's brother, was limping over while using his staff like a walking stick. Fizzy had broken his left leg in the scuffle, so the fact he was up and about already was rather impressive in its own way, especially since the unit's healers were currently indisposed.

"Kaddie! Are you out of your bloody mind?!" exclaimed his sister.

"Probably. But then again so are you."

"You need to get away from here!"

"And go where, exactly?

'Back home to my family?' You're the only one I have left, damnit!"

"Which is precisely why I'm ordering you to get your butt back to base!"

"I respectfully decline and cordially invite you to stuff it."

"I don't believe you!"

"Well, you'd better! There's no way I'm letting you walk away with this psycho all by your lonesome!"

"I'm standing right here, you know," said a slightly irritated Fizzy, causing the siblings to clam up immediately.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what your circumstances are, but I don't need any extra baggage."

"I'm no mere baggage, milady Fizzy," said Kadam respectfully.

"I'm a fully fledged Stonesinger. You'll need my Skills if you hope to safely traverse these depths and arrive at your destination in a timely manner."

"Oh? So your friend here was going to lead me on a wild goose chase?"

"I don't know what a goose is or why you'd want to chase it, but without a Stonesinger the most she could do is stumble around aimlessly until she either ran out of food or you got pissed off and smashed her." Kragiel's face immediately became a few shades paler, as that was precisely what she was planning to do.

"I see," said Fizzy sternly.

"So she lied to me even though she swore on her clan's name and everything."

"I know, my big sister says some stupid things once she gets emotional. She was probably thinking something like 'it's fine if I die so long as those guys get away.' I shudder to think what sort of stunt she'd pull if I wasn't around to keep her in check. Probably try to lead you to an active lava flow or something and have both of you fall in."

"Would you shut up already?!" shouted the sister.

"You're gonna get us all killed!"

"Well, normally you'd be right," interjected the golem, "but a deal has already been struck and I intend to keep my end of it. I'll overlook this little… incident so long as you two get me to where I need to go." She really didn't want to babysit two meatbags instead of one, but it was quite clear this was a package deal. Besides, there was some value in having a hostage on hand to keep these siblings in check, so in some ways this was actually a bit better.

Not to mention that, for what it was worth, she had every intention to let them live. Well, it was more the case that their deaths wouldn't benefit her in any meaningful way, but that was besides the point.

"I appreciate your understanding, milady Fizzy," said Kadam with a pained smile.

"However, might I implore you to do something about this leg of mine? I feel I will slow you down if it's not treated."

"Yeah, good point. Holy Light!" Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. A wave of Fizzy's hand and a flash of light later, the injured stoneborn's broken limb had snapped back into place, allowing him to walk normally. He revealed at the feeling of his miraculously mended bones for a few moments before he began collecting food supplies for the long trip ahead.

Meanwhile, Kragiel had gone to check on the rest of the squad and began relaying what she honestly believed to be her last orders. She told them to fulfil their mission in an expedient manner and then return home without waiting for her. The mithril golem and the two stoneborn siblings then set off into the ruins, leaving the rest of Kragiel's subordinates to lick their wounds.

"You know, you really are an idiot," spoke up Fizzy from the rear end of the line.

"You're an officer, you should value your life more."

"I know, right?" called out Kadam from up in front.

"She cares more about those closest to her rather than the country we're supposed to be protecting or her own ancestry. She's always been weird like that, ever since we were little."

"Shut it, jackass!" snapped his sister from the middle.

"You were supposed to retreat to safety, not accompany me to damnation!"

"Nah, we'll be fine. I don't think miss Fizzy here will go back on her word."

"You seem awfully trusting of me," noted the golem.

"Well yeah. I mean you Paladins are supposed to be a trustworthy lot, right?"

"There is some truth to that, I suppose." It was an undeniable fact that Paladins, Priests and Monks were inherently good, honest people. Especially ones that worshipped Teresa, Goddess of Truth and Justice. There were some black sheep like Fizzy, of course, but they were very much in the minority.

"Paladin? What?" blurted out Kragiel.

"What you didn't notice?" replied her younger brother.

"Paladins are supposed to be mighty warriors that wield the magic of God. Isn't that exactly what milady Fizzy was doing?" The female stoneborn looked back over her shoulder with wide eyes. Now that Kadam mentioned it, it was true that the Spells this golem employed carried the unmistakable golden glow of holy magic. Well, there seemed to be a bit of a green tinge to it that threw her off, but there was no other magic that carried that same serene light.

"What?" asked the golem when he noticed her bewildered.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"Pardon her, she just hasn't seen an actual Paladin," answered Kadam in her stead.

"None of us have. We lost many of God's servants in the early stages of the war, so Paladins and Priests are… very hard to find these days outside of the noble caste. We were only children when it happened, so we've never had the chance to meet any of them."

"I see. That does make certain degree of sense." Another trait of the stereotypical holy servant was that they were inherently selfless and prone to sacrificing themselves for the good of others. So when Katya and her Iron Curtain descended upon them, they were among the first to stand up to her and get annihilated. The ensuing decades of strife had led to the surviving clergy questioning their beliefs being shaken, resulting in religious occupations going nearly extinct.

And without active clergy to guide them, the stoneborn's faith in their god had all but been replaced by the cold pragmatism needed to survive the endless war.

"I guess your people must've worshipped Goroth, then?" asked Fizzy.

"Well, yeah. I mean who else is there?" replied Kadam in a slightly humorous manner.

"… You do realize there are nine gods in the world, right?"

"… Oh. I, uh… You're serious?"

"Deadly serious." A heavy silence descended upon the trio as they walked past the borders of the ruined city. Kragiel, Kadam, and pretty much every stoneborn since time immemorial had been taught that Goroth was this world's only god. Having lived in near-total isolation for centuries meant that the ancestors of the dwarves were given no reason to question this. It was so deeply ingrained in them that the siblings had trouble accepting it.

Granted, they never actually prayed or anything, but it was still a jarring thing to hear they've been lied to all their lives. That was assuming that this surfacer wasn't talking out of her ass, of course.

"I'm not buying it," declared the sister.

"You doubt the word of a Paladin?" asked Kadam.

"No. I doubt the word of a murderous monster who has no qualms about lying to get her way and has attacked our people on multiple occasions." Unlike her brother, Kragiel wasn't convinced of Fizzy's intentions. In her mind, that golem was the enemy, so she refused to believe a single thing that came out of her mouth. Or… wherever it was her words were coming from. Whatever the case, she was deeply disappointed in her brother for buying into the stranger's claims so easily.

The fact that her subordinates weren't in direct danger anymore had also emboldened her, which was why she allowed herself to speak her mind.

"I deserve that," admitted Fizzy.

"I was misled into serving that cunt and very nearly paid dearly for it when she betrayed me. That's why I need your help to find her base - so that I can stomp her flat for the grave sins she's committed." Admittedly the 'sins' this narcissistic Paladin had in mind were the otherworlder's attempts to rob her of her free will. That was the only reason she was on route to bash Katya's brains out.

Well, that and she really didn't have much else of a choice since, according to Kadam, there was no known direct route to the surface. Fizzy had trouble believing that, but the Stonesinger wasn't being forthcoming with his information. That was fine, though. Some part of her felt like she wouldn't be able to face Boxxy if she let someone get away with soiling its most precious shiny - namely herself.

If she was actually given a choice between leaving this underground ecosystem to its fate or getting revenge, she would pick the latter ten times out of ten.

"I guess you could call it my penance for all the crimes I've committed against your people," added the golem. There was also the consideration the stoneborn would surely overlook her past behavior if she solved their Nemesis problem. She would probably be lauded as a hero or a savior, which definitely had an appealing ring to it. Her newfound influence would then surely be enough to help her return to the surface and reunite with the only creature that truly understood and accepted all that she was.

She had faith it would all work out somehow, so her only complaint about the current arrangement was that Kadam wasn't leading her straight to Novyy Dragunov. The exact location of the Nemsis's headquarters was unknown to him - and indeed the rest of his people. The most the Stonesinger could do was lead her to one of the otherworlder's automated mining facilities, whereupon she would need to search for clues. It may not have been what she wanted, but it was certainly a start.

"Oh yeah.

'Penance.' That's totally what this is about," said Kragiel dismissively.

"First you say our ancestors lied to us and then you say you've had a change of heart? Paladin or not, you must really not be right in the head if you think I'll believe any of that for even a second."

"Sis! Do you seriously need to aggravate her like… that?" Kadam had looked over his shoulder in a panic, but was both relieved and surprised that their 'escort' seemed to be rather calm. Fizzy's last words were more or less lip service anyway, so she saw no reason to get upset when they were called into doubt. Still, it was necessary to say these things, as repeating a lie often enough would turn it into a truth. It was a lesson that Keira was the living embodiment of.

"Given the circumstances, I wouldn't believe me either," she said with a shrug.

"Only a moron would take a stranger's words at face value. But hey, I can at least prove one of my claims to be true." Fizzy then reached over with her right hand, gripped Kragiel by the shoulder and pushed her down to her knees. The stoneborn naturally struggled against this sudden act, but she couldn't even budge the metallic limb. Even if the golem was shorter than her, it was both heavier and stronger. Her brother was also quite upset at this sudden development.

At the very least it didn't seem like her sister was about to be killed, so he ended up just looking on in a conflicted manner while struggling to form words.

"Teach Job: Paladin!" A serene blue light flowed out of the golem's mithril frame and seeped into Kragiel. She froze in shock as the entirely foreign power flowed into her before she could even comprehend what had just happened. Congratulations, you are now a level 1 Paladin! STR +2. END +2. INT +2. The Faith (FTH) Attribute has been created through a special action. FTH +1. The Luck (LCK) Attribute has been created through a special action. LCK +1. Proficiency level increased. Champion of Chaos is now Level 1.

FTH +2. LCK +2. A series of messages identical to the ones Fizzy got during her own involuntary induction into Horton's cult flashed before the stoneborn's eyes. The golem then released her grip, prompting the woman to scramble up to her feet in a panic. She dashed over to her brother's side, who caught her in his arms in an attempt to calm her down.

"Believe me now?" said Fizzy with a smirk.

"Are you freaking insane?!"

"What? What did she do?" asked Kadam.

"She just made me a Paladin of some weirdo god named Winnie!"

"… Okay. First of all - woah. Secondly - Robert's a weird name for a- Wait, what? Wasn't it Doreen? … Rhonda?"

"Oh, that's just how the name of the Goddess of Uncertainty works," said Fizzy matter-of-factly.

"Don't think too hard about it and you'll get used to it in no time."

"I see… I guess the elders really have been lying to us, then."

"That's not the point!" insisted Kragiel, then turned back towards the golem.

"Why the fuck would you just force something like that on me?!""'Why' isn't the question you should be asking here," was the golem's reply.

"Being Cedric's devoted isn't about 'why.' It's about 'why not.' To question the status quo, to ponder all of life's possibilities and to make them into reality - that is what the God of Happenstance desires most. And that is why we, as his randomly chosen, must act as the heralds of change."

"… We are but rocks thrown into stagnant waters, causing ripples that none can foresee." Those words had come out of Kragiel's mouth as if they both were and weren't her own. Like she had always known them, but only just now remembered them.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Fizzy with a clap of her hands.

"Well, I'm more of a boulder than a rock, but that's the gist of it."

"You feeling alright, sis?" asked Kadam, more out of curiosity than concern.

"Yeah. I'll be fine, I think. This is just… new to me." This divine servant thing was definitely an odd sensation, but it wasn't one she particularly disliked.

"Ah, don't worry about it, you'll get the hang of it in no time," reassured her the golem.

"All of Patricia's chosen are a bit weird, so you'll fit right in with the rest of us!"

"… Something tells me I'd rather not meet any of the others, though."

"… That's kind of a good point, actually. Weird shit does tend to happen when too many of us gather." Having two demonic Overlords duke it out in the middle of a war zone was quite high on the What-The-Fuck-O-Meter™.

"But, I suppose I will admit you were telling the truth about the god thing," conceded Kragiel.

"I just hope you weren't lying about the other stuff."

"Guess there's only one way to find out, right?"

"Yeah…" Having grown somewhat closer, the trio once again set off towards their destination. Kadam was in front and Fizzy was in the back much like before, though the newly initiated Paladin walked shoulder to shoulder with her brother. She was in the middle of reevaluating her beliefs while also coming to grips with Angelo's divine presence, so she needed him for emotional support. However, seeing him smiling to himself while throwing her sideways glances wasn't exactly helping.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked in a disgruntled manner.

"No. It's just that I think this is the first time in a long while that I've heard you say that word."

"What word?"

"Hope."