The Humbling of the Chief of Sinners: Chapter 1 – Just Deserts

Chapter 1 – Just Deserts

My father, Olaf, and I return home from a recent raid with our treasure and slaves in tow. Most of my troops and commanders are on horses or carriages while the slaves are forced to walk. As for me, I ride on the back of my wife, Dora, who is a centaur and the ex-wife of a past rival who submitted to me after I defeated her and her people in battle. Like her, the ten children I have with her act as charging units in battle that wield heavy, tall shields that we use to great effect in battle. She doesn’t mind being my method of transportation and ridden in both senses of the word.

Riding with me on Dora is another of my wives, Illustrious, who is a lizardwoman, a type of beastman that is notorious for the secretions they give off that mess with people’s heads and emotions to make them feel lust toward them, another great asset in battle and negotiations. I found her in the wild and used my own methods to make her fall in love with me. The ten children I have with her act as influencers on my people and enemies to get my way. With our home in sight, I point at the stone walls that are decorated with the bodies of my enemies, some of which cling to life.

“Refuse to do as I say and you may end up on the walls or worse,” I say to the slaves, many of which groan or try not to look at my decorations or trophies in some sense.

In the settlement, more of the punished are in the streets both living and dead. The living are used as playthings by my people while the dead are used for much the same or eaten by the animals, ratmen, or more animalistic of my people. Actually, both are used for the same purposes. There was no reason to make a distinction except when mentioning this to the new slaves so that they know how they’re treated doesn’t matter if they’re living, on the verge of death, or dead. The bodies of the dead and the pieces left of them are cleaned up by the scavengers of the settlement to do with as they wish per my strict rule to keep this place as clean as possible. We’re not completely barbaric here.

I say goodbye to my father who goes to his private home with my mother, his last remaining wife. I’ve tried to get him to marry women his age, older, and younger, but despite having more than one wife in his prime years, he’s settled with only having one. He can do whatever he wants as far as I’m concerned even though he’s the retired chief of our kingdom. The slaves we got are brought to their proper place while my soldiers either go home, to the bar, to the barracks, or to where the slaves are going. As for me, I go home with my Dora and Illustrious. My home is the ruins of a church that I’ve made into a personal castle.

Outside of my castle are another two of my wives, a high elf named Ruth and a dark elf named Bathsheba, both of which I’ve had ten children with and who come with me into battle if I require their light or dark magic. They hug and kiss me until walking with me into my home where I meet another two of my wives, both of which were nuns before they gave in to me one is named Lily and the other is Dominique. Speaking of falling, one of the recent arrivals to the Americas is a soldier named Priscilla, a woman with golden eyes, light beige skin, and black and red hair. She came here with a group of her allies on a quest for penance for whatever she did for the now-deceased king of the elves. We found her at some secluded monastery where I also found one of the Church’s most prized possessions, a monstrance that contains their God in a white host.

Priscilla was a hard one to break, not just because of the experiments done to her by the king of elves that made her more durable than most, but because of how stubborn she was. We raped and killed her allies in front of her and strapped her naked to a shield while slaughtering settlements held by her Church. I had my way with her in front of her God and she refused to submit. After, I allowed my men, women, wives, children, and even beasts to do whatever they wanted to her, and after three months she gave in to me and became my seventh wife. She is also pregnant, which she tells me is a miracle since none of her other husbands managed to do so. No one can say that I’m not greater than any god because of my accomplishments and what I’ve been able to do.

Soon, the Christ of the Catholics and His Church will break or give me His power just like the Christs of other denominations that claimed to have been the true Church but were just another bandit or rogue kingdom. There was a Christ each for those that claimed to be the superior race such as the elven and ratman supremacists, a Christ for the faith-onlyists, a Christ for the traditionalists, a Christ for the pagans, and so on. Many claimed to be possessed by their God and promised victory by Him and all of them have fallen. They were no different than those who worshipped many gods and goddesses and those who worshipped no gods and only lived for themselves. This God of the Catholics is different.

Their Church and settlements always rise from the grave and their God is found in this monstrance. He is also one of the rudest ones I’ve ever talked to. Hey! I know you can hear my thoughts. Say something to me. Putting the monstrance down in my room, I wait another second for the God to respond before hitting it with my axe. Some day I’d like to break the monstrance you’re in, but no matter what I use, I can’t manage to make a dent in it.

“The time of justice is almost at hand,” the God of the Catholics finally says.

Sitting down on my bed with my wives resting with me, I sigh and then say, “It’s about time you said something. You sure are picky about when you speak and who you speak to.”

“If there’s no reason for me to speak, then I won’t, and if you were able to properly see, you would’ve seen me speaking to you and others in different ways.”

“Such as what? You spoke to the one warrior monk pretty clearly before I killed him. He was an honorable man and a good fighter who was a fun challenge to wage war against. Do you remember when I skinned his dead body and incorporated his skull and bones into my axe? You’re horrible at protecting your faithful. I would’ve given a servant of mine to defeat my enemies at all moments.”

“There’s more to life than victory and victory can be found in defeat.”

“So you say. What is this time of justice that is soon arriving and who is the one it will fall upon?”

“You, Leif.”

“Hahaha! What have I done to deserve it?”

“You’ve lived a life of sin and evil.”

“It’s only sin and evil in your eyes, but in mine, I’ve lived a virtuous life of honor. I made my family proud, built up my kingdom to be one of the biggest in the Americas, and every one of my servants and allies is prospering and living happy lives. What evil is there in a man who does everything for the people he loves?”

“When what the man loves is evil and his methods and intentions behind his actions are evil as well. A man can only be good when every aspect of his thought and action are pure and dedicated to me.”

“Of course it has to come back to you. Who are you really to demand this?”

“Love and truth itself.”

“What is truth? What is love? These are both things dependent on a person’s point of view and the god of their choosing. You are no different than the other gods I’ve conquered and I will destroy you or have your power.”

“Worry less about what you’re going to do to me and what is about to happen to you. Justice will come to you soon.”

“Again talking about justice. I’ll destroy your Church before your so-called justice will manifest.”

Looking at my wives, some of them are watching me with interest while others are enjoying their drugs and lying next to me. No one beside me can hear the God of the Catholics besides me and the one warrior monk who recognized that I heard him when he was speaking to the warrior monk. Not even Priscilla or the ex-nuns can hear a word from the God they divorced. Tomorrow, I’ll go out to raid another one of the Church’s settlements, take slaves, and maybe have my way with a few of the women before throwing them to my servants or selling them off. For now, I enjoy my time with my wives for the rest of the day.

On the next day, I immediately rally my troops and father for another raid that they are all willing and excited to go on despite having just come back from one. The thought of foiling the plot of the God of the Catholics is so appealing to them that they’re ready before an hour passes. My wives are also willing to go, but I don’t allow them, however, I do bring the monstrance so I can make the God of the Catholics watch as I slaughter his people again.

“Are you sure you want to go now? The caretakers say I’m going to give birth soon, so you might as well wait until that happens. I’m sure you want to name our miracle child personally,” Priscilla says.

“Don’t unless you want your reign to end sooner than later,” the God of the Catholics says.

“Even though I do want to name the child, I’ll trust you with that and go to battle. Your ex-God told me justice will soon be done to me and I’d like to ruin his plans before they can be enacted. He’s even taunted me now saying that I should go to face his faithful unless I want my reign to end sooner,” I say.

“Then I wish you luck.”

My father, men, and I head out on horses and carriages to the closest Catholic settlement we know.

“Should we approach this fight differently than others?” my father asks.

“I don’t see a reason to change tactics. Large shield users lead the charge while archers and mages back us up from the back is a winning strategy that’s won us many battles that aren’t sieges on larger cities. Why do you ask?” I say.

“This God you are carrying with you is different than most. I suggest caution.”

“We’ve always met caution with bravery, but I’ll defer to your wisdom in this case.”

When we reach the Catholic settlement, we start the battle by having the archers and mages bomb it to get rid of the defenses on the walls and start fires within it. We all take up shields and hold them up while approaching the walls at a steady pace and looking for traps in the ground or possible reinforcements from behind. When we reach the walls, our largest and strongest beastmen break it down, and most if not all pretense of holding back is let go as the slaughter begins. I kill as many of the soldiers and civilians alike with the monstrance of their God in my hand, most of which hold back to avoid hitting it while fighting me. One of the civilians who tries fighting me also tries begging their God for help and I allow their God to help them die by beating them to death with the monstrance.

At the end of the battle, it is clear that these faithful were no match for us. Our caution was unnecessary, but I do appreciate the low casualties since I need people to carry away the spoils. I also have enough men to settle and hold this place until I am able to send more to make it my own. So, will justice still come to me?

“It will. This has done nothing to stop it,” the God of the Catholics says.

Then I will have to plan to do more. There are no more nearby Catholic settlements that I know of and most of the settlements around here are mine or allied to me. I’ll have to plan a campaign of raids on father settlements and maybe even burn down a few cities. Yes, that sounds like a fun time that I’m sure my allies and men will love since it typically ends in the best spoils. For now, we head back home with what we’ve won just in time to see it burning.

“The time of justice is at hand,” the God of the Catholics says.

Racing to see what has happened, I see the dead bodies of my citizens, friends, family, children, and wives all burned and brutalized. Few of the beastmen and ratmen are alive and seem to be struggling with a spell trying to take over their mind. I see that Priscilla isn’t among the dead and run to try to find her, and when I do, I see that her eyes are now red and gold with one eye being black. She is floating in the air, a dark gold light emanates from her hands, she is dressed in golden jewelry, and her lower regions have been cut out.

“Priscilla? What is happening here and where is the child you gave birth to?” I ask.

“The rebirth of the dream that Evander once had. He was a fool to allow it to be dispelled, so I will put the spell back on the world to reinstate an everlasting peace. As for the child, I cut him out of myself as I was giving birth, cut his heart out, and then cut off his head to offer him as a sacrifice for power,” Priscilla says with a grin as she’s on the verge of laughter.

“What?! You killed our child to reinstate that ineffectual dream?!”

“Does the death of a child now bother you because it was yours? Good! I hope it tears you apart that I’ve killed every one of your children and wives.”

“You have to stop her,” the God of the Catholics says. “The atrocities she will commit cannot be allowed to happen and mankind must not enter the delusions of the dream again.”

“Heh, your ex-God and I are on the same page. I won’t allow you to put us all back into that dream. What good did it do for you when everything and everyone returned to normal not long after it ended?”

“I’ve always doubted that you could hear God and what you say only cements it. This time the dream will be more reality than dream as I influence people to think how I want them to while they are none the wiser. You won’t be able to stop me anyway, boy. I have centuries of wisdom to draw upon, and now that my magic has been enhanced by the hex ritual, I have become unstoppable! Evander deluded himself into thinking that the evil he’d done was good, in some way, but I have no such delusions. I don’t care about what evil I need to do for the greater good. Peace will reign in the world! Just try and stop me!”

A flash of light coming from Priscilla’s hands blinds me momentarily. When I open them, I see dozens of beautiful women before me all of whom call out and reach for me. It’s a call I can’t resist nor can I resist the call to violence when people try to get in between me and them. Another flash of light wakes me up from the delusion to see my men fighting each other, most of whom are entranced by Priscilla’s magic while others like my father aren’t. I help kill off those who are entranced and tell the remaining who weren’t to gather what they can from the settlement since there’s no saving it now.

“What should we do now, son?” my father asks.

“We go after Priscilla to stop her schemes. Once we do, I will make her give birth to more than enough children to make up for the ones I lost today. For her to offend her ex-God so much that he’d command me to stop her must mean that she’s truly a wife worth having,” I say while grinning to myself. “Oh, yes! She will be mine and her resisting my efforts to do so only makes me want her more.”