THE LAST GREAT POOL OF THE NORTH
THE LAST GREAT POOL OF THE NORTH
"Now back to the King of the East", Sara said.
"Xorkar, will you yield to me?" Eirot asked King Xorkar.
"No, I will not yield to the likes of you", King Xorkar replied to her angrily.
Suddenly, a crack in space appeared above Eirot, a Crucifix. With an enormous force, King Xorkar was pulled into the Crucifix and was soon absorbed by the Unholy Grail and became its fertilizer.
Unlike King Anazer, Eirot doesn't need Xorkar.
While Anazer could convince his army to join Eirot if he surrendered, Xorkar no longer has any minions under his control, besides General Asgara.
"What is that?" General Asgara asked in shock.
"I told you already, I am your Savior. You may choose to follow me, or you may choose the fate of Xorkar", Eirot told Asgara.
Asgara quickly bowed his head in obeisance and became bounded to Eirot's soul in an eternal contract of servitude.
Eirot captured the Great Pool of Suffering in the East kingdom and Alfred was transformed again. He grew a little bigger but other than that his appearance was the same.
"There isn't much evolution that can change me. I am at my most perfect appearance", Alfred told us about his lack of transformation.
"I prefer you better when you have six heads", Avula told him.
-------
"Something doesn't look right", Sara told us.
"What is the problem? Does the King of the North have an enormous army to defend his fortress?" Avula asked.
"The problem is there seems to be one in the fortress", Sara told us to our shock and surprise.
As we approached Fortress Gambyra in the north, Sara scanned the enemy's fortress to determine their strength. What she found was shocking. The enemy abandoned their fortress.
We flew toward Fortress Gambyra to check with our own eyes.
"Indeed, there are nobody in Fortress Gambyra", Lord Brathnok told us after his men scoured the fortress.
There were, however, many remains in the fortress.
"What happened here? Someone came here before us and destroyed the fortress?" Ratatouille asked us.
The fortress was littered with dead bodies. More precisely, there were parts of bodies that were scattered around. Some creatures must have viciously mauled the denizens of the fortress and possibly eaten them.
"This is not the doing of an army. It is the work of a beast. A carnivore", Rinna told us about what happened here.
"What about the Great Pool?" Eirot asked urgently worried that her prize was taken before her.
"I am afraid someone has drained the Great Pool of Suffering of the North", Alfred informed Eirot to her disappointment as we rushed to check the pool.
"Damn, there is not a drop of water in the Great Pool", Eirot protested.
-----
"Your plan is crazy, great witch. We cannot abandon fortress Gambyra, this is our home and the base of our power", General Moravi protested to the witch wearing a golden mask.
"Moravi is right, we will lose everything if we leave Gambyra, just like that idiot Zesgumath who went to the realm of the mortals leaving their Great Pool behind", King Sirroron told the witch.
"You do not have a choice. The Insurgents have already conquered the West and East kingdoms and will soon come here. You have no time nor the ability to defend against them", the witch told the king.
King Sirroron was undecided.
The choice before him was unbearable. He would have to go on a voluntary exile and abandon his stronghold and kingdom.
"If only my concubine is here and with a sane mind. She will be able to tell me what to do", King Sirroron said.
"Concubine Swaye is near to her awakening as an Anti-Saint. Once she awakens, you no longer need the Great Pool's magic. She is your strongest weapon", the witch told the king.
"But…", King Sirroron tried to argue.
Suddenly, a scout came to report, "Your majesty, the armies of the insurgents are moving again. They are coming north".
"Damn, the insurgents are quick", General Moravi said.
"You must do this for yourself and your concubine. If the enemy finds her before she awakens her magic completely, she will be taken by them like how they captured the other two Anti-Saints", the witch persuaded the king.
Finally, the king relented.
"Assuming I will do as you say, what should we do?" King Sirroron asked.
"The only way to awaken Concubine Swaye's Anti-Saint magic quickly is to give her the waters in the Great Pool of Suffering and feed her all the demons in Gambyra that we can spare for her nourishment", the great witch told the king.
"My demons? How many of them do you need?" King Sirroron asked.
"You may bring your best Demonlords with you. All the other demons shall be sacrifices to Concubine Swaye for her awakening", the witch with the golden mask said.
"So be it", the king commanded.
-------
"This trip is wasted. We missed the last Great Pool of the North", Ratatouille lamented to us.
"How can the North King drain all the water from this pool without the Unholy Grail?" Eirot asked in puzzlement.
Suddenly, tiny bubbles came out from the bottom of the pool to our surprise.
"Did the North King miss a spot? There is still water in this pool?" Ratatouille asked.
"No, that is not it. Water is being regenerated in this pool", Alfred told us to our surprise.
"What do you mean?" Eirot asked him.
"The Great Pools of Sufferings are the main source of magic in Hell, it couldn't be exhausted by draining its water alone. Its magic must be stripped from it too", he explained.
"The Greater Core of Suffering? It is still inside this pool?" Eirot asked.
"Well, you may try to claim the pool and see if anything happens", Alfred advised.
"I, Savior of the Revelations claim this Greater Pool of Suffering and its Core", Eirot pronounced and claimed as a rift opened behind her in the shape of a cross.
Suddenly, to our shock and surprise, a glowing magma orb surfaced from the bottom of the pool.