Feeling alone and vulnerable, the first thing that the Ebon Blade did was search the room for its wielder. She wouldn’t have abandoned it. The weapon was sure of that, yet she was nowhere to be found. Even if Evelyn had given into her rising bloodlust and gone on a killing spree, she would have taken it with her, it whispered to itself, confused by the development.

Confusion was normal enough. After everything it had just been bombarded by the weapon was surprised that it could see straight. A moment of panic about where one’s wielder had gotten to tended to clarify things.

Still, she was nowhere to be found. There was no one in the room besides the corpse of the juggernaut, and though parts of his unholy corpse still twitched, he was utterly, thoroughly dead. More interesting than the cleaved corpse, though, was its blood. The black blood pool, in defiance of all gravity, was shrinking and trickling slowly up the dias, where the base of the throne drank it in, in the same way that it did with its Path of Blood power.

It was only when the blade had finished studying that corpse and noticed a new soul in its soul gem, though, that it finally found Evelyn’s body. It had been harder to spot than the first because it had been reduced to ashes that had blown around the base of the throne by the same breeze that ruffled the curtains through the shattered window.

As soon as it figured that out, it knew what had happened. It recalled that terrible energy surging through it as it penetrated the throne; after that, the only missing piece was why she’d been reduced to ashes instead of a charred corpse.

No, not the only missing piece, it told itself as it looked around the room. Even without using full-blown Aethersight, it could see that there was much about this room and, indeed, itself, that it did not understand. Its wielder had been reduced to ash, but even as it tried to mourn her, all of the other details overwhelmed it. It had changed, and so had the throne.

Somehow, in that clash, Baraga and Princess Roselli had finally become one after centuries of separate torments. The blade could feel them, even now, deep inside of it. Their presence might have mended a tiny crack in its own broken soul, but in doing so, their reunion had bound it inevitably to this throne and, through it, to the world outside.

As the blade came to understand that, the shapes and patterns hidden in the floor tiles and the wall mosaics began to solidify in right glowing lines of power. It didn’t understand any of them, but it knew what they were. This throne was merely the tip of the iceberg. It was the interface that connected it to the magical machinery that was this fortress. Through it, the blade could feel not just Altbearstein or Severin. To some degree, it could feel all of the Inner Kingdoms.

It supposed that some would have rejoiced in this newfound power, but it vaguely resented it. Kings were supposed to be able to look at the whole field of battle; it was true it would not mind being wielded by a king, but a sword’s role was on the battlefield, not looking at the maps of where battles might later occur.

Still, it did not look away for lack of anything better to do. It studied the region and four great kingdoms ringed in by mountains on three sides. It knew little of their history beyond that they’d be conquered and forcibly unified by King Paralon sometime after Baraga’s demise.

Perhaps when the news of this slaughter gets out, they’ll break up, the blade thought, hopefully. As it gazed at the rich lands, it could see armies staged like pawns on a game board and wondered how they might be maneuvered to cause the bloodiest outcome.

It was an interesting idea, and it could feel a connection to them that was strong enough that it felt like it might be able to force the issue if it tried, but for now, the weapon set it aside. There were simply too many other things to explore.

It felt connected to the entire kingdom, more or less. There were a few bright lights out there that it could touch more readily than the others, but none of those connections was as powerful as Altbarstein itself. It was the castle, and as if in answer to that, it had but to look at the gates, and they started to swing shut. Those that saw them close were confused, but they became downright afraid when the bar moved into place to seal them, and the portcullis started to drop. After that, everyone that could fled through the postern gate, and the weapon didn’t even stop try to stop them because it was too busy trying to understand the limits of its current power. It might not control every last person who hadn’t fled them, but the building itself did easily enough.

I wonder if the throne has powers like my own. The blade wondered as it inspected all the traceries of light that traversed through the keep before meeting the great golden chair like the roots of a vast and glowing tree.

As it turned out, the Ebon Blade had but to ask the question and a menu appeared. It was different from its own interface, of course, but entirely understandable. It dealt with powers and statuses more than upgrades, though. In fact, the blade couldn’t see anything that looked like a direct upgrade for it.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The Inner Kingdoms:

Bloodline:

Severed

Throne: Usurped (79% integrity)

Guardians: Juggernaut (slain), Golden Knights (6/9 remaining)

Altbarstein: Damaged (99% intact)

Kingdom: Tumult (24% fear, 82% loyalty, 11% rebellion, 4% starving)

Ongoing Problems: Capital (sacked, panic spreading), Cities razed (2), Armies damaged or eliminated (1), Famines (14), plagues (9), corrupt nobles (74), bandit/rebel camps (19), goblin infestations (33), hardship (114).

Life Forces: 81,934,569/100,000,000

Minor Boon: 50,000 Life Force - solve a minor local problem

Create Guardian: 100,000 Life Force

Major Boon: 500,000 Life Force - solve a major local problem or a minor regional problem.

Miracle: 1,000,000 - solve a major regional problem or call upon the Gods to aid what lies beyond the kingdom’s magic.

Expand Kingdom:

10,000,000 Life Force - this ability can only be used after a territory is actually conquered by means of warfare or subterfuge.

Ascend to Godhood: 100,000,000 Life Force

Miracle is probably how it chained the Juggernaut and tried to chain me, the blade thought to itself as it looked at the foreign system. If it had such powers, though, why not use them the minute I entered the kingdom?

The blade had no answers for that. It might have been a desire to save energy, or it might not have been possible. Both the King and whatever malevolent soul that powered his throne were gone now, though, and neither of them could give it answers.

The blade selected Create Guardian first, for obvious reasons, then watched as the thing tried to crawl out of the throne’s golden shape like it was giving birth. It was an ugly process, and the Ebon Blade did not much like the idea of creating life instead of ending it, but there was no one else to wield it right now, and it wanted to be free of this throne.

That process took time, so once that was done, the blade looked at the other options. First, it considered using a miracle to try to bring one of its previous wielders back to life, but it rejected that idea immediately.

-10,000 Life Force.

Blades do not create life, it reminded itself. Only death.

Next, it tried some of the other options. It started small, reaching out to one of the goblin infestations that appeared as a foul stain on the map of the kingdom. Not sure what to do, the blade willed it to be purged, and almost immediately saw a message appear as the stain began to fade. The power didn’t show it, the goblins dying, exactly. Instead, it felt the energy dissipate through the region. It stirred within the men and women of the area to action, and it knew they would handle it as soon as possible.

-5,000 Life Force.

That’s it? The blade wondered, almost missing that voice from before that might have been able to explain something to it. Both times, it felt the massive drain of power, but it hadn’t come from its own reserves. It had come from somewhere else.

It wouldn’t have helped the blade, though, even if it was still there. It didn’t seem interested in helping anyone at all. The number of problems raging through the kingdom confirmed that. The blade wasn’t particularly interested in helping it either, of course, but the King and his throne certainly should have before it arrived. They were sitting on nearly bottomless reserves. They should have used them to make this a paradise, but instead, they saved all of it as greedily as a dwarven merchant, doing everything they could to approach godhood.

The blade didn’t care about godhood or the kingdom. It cared about finding a new wielder, and as soon as the golden knight finished materializing out of the throne, it switched its focus to the thing, using it as easily as it might have used one of its wielder’s in the past.

The blade immediately tried to use the thing to pull itself free, but as soon as it did, the knight fell to pieces, and the blade fell back onto the throne. It recognized the problem immediately, even before the knight started to recover and put itself back together. It was only connected to the throne by contact. As soon as it lost that contact, it lost control of this convenient minion.

What am I supposed to do about that? The Ebon Blade wondered as it looked out into the courtyard beyond to the few milling people that hadn’t already fled the castle. Should I just go grab one of them and force it to be my wielder?

That didn’t sit right with the blade. It would take over someone if it needed to, but it would much rather be used by someone who wanted its power with the right mindset. It wasn’t exactly sure where it would find someone like that right at the moment, but it knew that if it wasn’t leaving immediately, it needed to bolster its defenses.

It could see a large group of armed men forming up in the city, a hundred yards past the gates. The fact that it could see spikes of mana out there indicated that there were mages among them. So, if they were going to try something, they would do it soon.

Reluctantly, the blade sent its guardian downstairs to unpin all the shattered pieces of its comrades so they could be put back together. Then, it started summoning another one from the much-diminished throne. Only when all of that was done did it turn its attention to its own powers to see what could be done with all of this overwhelming Life Force.