Through Hell to Heaven: Chapter 1 – Further Humbling

Chapter 1 – Further Humbling

I’ve been traveling on the oceans for weeks, and it looks like I’m no closer to my goal. I’m sick of seeing nothing but the sea around me and tired of eating fish. What makes me even sicker is looking at my reflection in the water. Seeing my damaged armor and beige, scarred skin that’s a reminder of my failure to defeat my ex-wife, Priscilla, is enough to make me want to throw up. My want for revenge is the only thing pushing me forward and keeping me from killing myself with the makeshift axe I’ve made out of the large fish I’ve eaten.

Even now, I can hear Priscilla laughing at my pathetic state in my mind. If she couldn’t use magic that affected my perception of reality, then she’d be dead or forced to bear my children to make up for all the ones she killed. This Pope that I’m traveling to talk to better give me the help I need, but then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if his God led me out here to torture me and make me starve to death or die of dehydration.

“Don’t lose hope. You’ll come to do great things if you keep going,” the God of the Catholics says.

This monstrance I’ve been carrying around contains the God of the Catholics in the form of a single piece of bread with a cross on it. The thing itself is indestructible and I can’t manage to get rid of it as every time I throw it in the sea, it comes back and hits me in the face. I’ve been able to converse with him and one of the few able to do so since not everyone can hear the voice of this annoying God.

“I don’t want to hear anything from you and I told you not to read my thoughts,” I say. “Besides, I’ve heard you telling me to kill myself in my dreams.”

“You know those were demons pretending to be me. I am the only God and the true Christ for my one, holy, Church.”

Great. As if I’d needed to be bothered by old enemies. I’ve conquered Christian kingdoms who claimed to follow the true Christ and conquered them all. No Christ or other god or goddess has managed to stand up to me without eventually falling or giving me their power, but the Christ of the Catholics is different. What makes this Jesus different than the others still alludes me, besides the fact that this one is more annoying than the others and the only one I haven’t been able to break. I might as well just call this God, the only God because he’s given me the most trouble and won’t stop calling himself the only God. I guess I can give him that since I wouldn’t be able to break free from Priscilla’s spell without his help.

“You’d have less difficulty making it through this journey if you’d listen to me,” God says.

“I listen here and there. It’s how I was able to get control of this frigate ship,” I say.

“You’d also find it easier to steer and use if you didn’t kill everyone on it.”

“I have a bloodlust to satiate. I also don’t want to hear you comment on what I did to the women of the ship. That was another need that had to be filled.”

“And yet, you are not satisfied nor will you ever be if you seek to satiate your hunger for blood and sex.”

“Says you. I was at least satisfied during the time it happened and the happiness I felt at offending you lasted up until now.”

“Now, you have no one to help you steer this ship, you’ve run out of food and water, and your hunger pangs for your lusts are still clawing at your soul.”

“You’re going to have to deal with that part of me just as I do and get over the fact that I’m never letting go of those vices.”

Something rocks the boat and stirs the ocean around me. Looking over the deck, I see what looks to be a large whale that’s five times the size of this boat swimming underneath. It descends further under the sea far away from my sight before rapidly coming back up and splitting the boat in half.

“You’re to blame for this, aren’t you?!” I say to God.

Taking my makeshift axe, I wait for the whale to turn around and get closer. As it turns around, it reveals the beak of a bird and a large red and black eye within its mouth with tendrils coming out of it. More tendrils also come out of the whale’s eye and parts of its body as it approaches me at high speeds. I’ve heard of sea monsters like this existing, but never thought I would ever see one. This will be a great meal and make a fine tale to tell the people back home about once I kill it! Leaping at the monster, my axe barely manages to make a dent in its skin as I struggle to climb up it while the rest of the ship is destroyed around me by its charge.

Eventually, I slip and fall into the ocean before managing to make it to one of the eyes. I get onto one of the pieces of the ship that barely has enough room for me to lay on it, stand up, and yell at the monster to come back and face me, however, it only swims away and then plunges into the depths of the sea. Great, now I’m worse off than I was previously with the only good thing being that this piece of wood is easier to steer and move than the ship I was on.

“Do not worry too much. Soon, you’ll reach civilization on the sea,” God says.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say right now,” I say while rowing with a plank of wood and heading in the direction God told me to go.

Hours pass until I realize that I’ve been rowing since the afternoon. It’s nighttime now so I decide to rest as best I can on this wobbly piece of wood. I don’t expect I’ll fall asleep because of how frustrated I am and uncomfortable laying on the wood, but I do, and when I wake up, I see what looks to be large cathedrals and buildings ahead of me in the morning mist. Rowing towards it, I see that the cathedrals and buildings are on some sort of large, damaged boat that looks like something from mankind’s futuristic past. So, this is one of those floating cities of the Atlantic Ocean I’ve heard so much about? That also must mean that the people I see on the edge are the fishmen who inhabit it.

Two fishmen watch me float towards them, one is a female with purple hair and orange eyes while the other is a bald male who has green eyes and is holding a spiky spear and shield with a cross design on it. Both of them have blue-colored skin with darker blue areas on their body that appear rough and scaly and have gills on the face and fins of a fish on their head. The female seems calm with a smile on her face while the male seems cautious even though he has a smirk on his face.

“Hello, my name is Lucy!” the female says. “Who are you and would you like us to help you?”

I can hear God’s voice in the woman’s as if the two are one and the same.

“He obviously needs help. Look at him,” the male says who has the same voice of God in his.

“I’m just being courteous by asking, Gerardus. Oh, you have a monstrance with you! Are you a traveling priest or penitent paladin?”

“Tch, I’m neither,” I say.

The debris I’m on makes it to the two, allowing me to crawl onto their floating city and stand up. In my head, I debate beating the two to death with the debris I was on or using Gerardus’ weapons against him.

“Do not harm these faithful servants of mine. They will be on your side and will help you,” God says.

“Now I really want to kill them because you said that,” I say aloud.

Gerardus raises his shield a bit and then says, “What do you mean and who are you talking to?”

“Haha! It’s sad really that a God’s faithful can’t hear the voice of the one they worship while someone like me can.”

“What are you talking about? Speak common sense.”

“Wait!” a man says in the distance as he rushes towards us.

This fishman is dressed in the grey and red robes of a priest and is wearing black metal armor. His eyes are black and grey, he seems no older than my father and has the voice of God in his just like these two.

“Stand back, Fr. Titus. This is a strange man,” Gerardus says.

“I have heard God speak to me of him in my dreams. He’s Leif, a Nephilim beastman chief from the Americas, and a dangerously violent man,” Fr. Titus says.

“Then why are you telling us to stand back?”

“Because I can hear the voice of God, like him, and guide him towards the correct path.”

“This man can truly hear the voice of God?”

Approaching me with caution and bravery, Fr. Titus stands up to me with his back straight and looks me dead in the eyes.

“He can and God has great plans for him despite the atrocities he’s committed,” Fr. Titus continues. “Leif, please allow God to help you. Here, you will gain the strength and perspective on your life that you need to defeat Priscilla and save the world from her devious curse.”

“I don’t plan on staying here long. Your God told me to see your Pope.”

“This is an important step you must make to reach my faithful servant and gain what you need to convince him to lend him his aid,” God says.

“See? God agrees with me.”

“As if his approval means that much to me.”

“It will soon.”

“Stop it. Both of you. Who is Priscilla and what are you both talking about?” Gerardus asks.

“I’m sorry for the confusion, Gerardus. I will explain everything along the way. Please, follow me, Leif, and allow me to show you why God brought you to us,” Fr. Titus says.

“Tch. As if I have a better choice,” I say as I reluctantly follow the priest and the other two fishmen into their floating city.

A collection of my lore and event books is out today!

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After the war that ended the space fairing and technologically advanced age of humanity, the earth is changed along with humanity with new races born and new challenges to face. Still, they fight amongst themselves and refuse to learn from the lessons of the past. These stories follow people born in this chaos who suffer and strive to do the right thing and be faithful to God who is still present in the darkness of this new age.

This book includes lore for newcomers and follows major events in the series such as the war against the Vicar Sylvatic and his ratmen and the tyranny of the king of the elves who keeps the entire world peaceful by keeping it in a dream. It collects; Immortalis Fides: Lore and Finer Details, A Quest for Sweet Suffering, Righteous Rejects of Heaven, Fighting Violence with Sacrifice, and Tyranny of the Blessed Race along with Behind the Story trivia for each story.

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Chief to one of the largest beastmen kingdoms in the Americas, Leif is a destroyer and conqueror of his enemies. He is trying to break the God of the Catholics who is different than the other Christs, gods, and goddesses he's defeated, but will find that this God is his key to defeating one of his wives who turns against him and tries to ensnare the world in a dream through her spell.

The Humbling of the Chief of Sinners: Chapter 4 – The Only Way into a Prideful Heart

Chapter 4 – The Only Way into a Prideful Heart

All our allies, both reluctant and true, have gathered on all sides of a capital city that Priscilla has chosen to be her home. We’ve communicated our plans to one another through conjured messenger birds and have agreed that a pincer attack is the best course of action. From there, we go straight for her and end her spell once and for all. Leading the battle is none other than me because of the monstrance I have and its ability to dispel Priscilla’s magic, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Most of the people in the capital are sympathetic to Priscilla’s cause so I don’t have to hold back from slaughtering them all.

When the charge starts, we are met by a small army that defends the walls from the outside. This is no trouble for us, especially since we are supported by siege weapons, archers, and mages who take care of the guards on the walls and lessen their numbers before we reach them. Once we get our siege weapons to the gates, we use them to break it open and start the slaughter within the city, however, before my axe touches my next foe, everyone and everything disappears in a flash of light as Priscilla’s spell affects me and puts me in a void of dull gold.

“It’s over, Priscilla. Your forces are no match for us and we are in your city’s walls. Surrender now and I will make our time together more pleasure than pain,” I say.

Priscilla laughs while appearing from thin air and then says, “Did you really think I would allow those loyal to me to die so easily? No, you’re still in your camps getting ready for the fight while my forces remain alive and my walls are untouched. I just thought I would be nice and make you seem like you had a chance against me.”

Holding out the monstrance, I say, “That’s what you think.”

“Ha! Do you think God will allow you to use his power as if he’s a mere tool to be used? I don’t think he will.”

“He wants you stopped so I don’t see why he wouldn’t.”

A blast of light comes from the monstrance while Priscilla tries blasting it away with light magic of her own. In the struggle, the light of the monstrance overpowers Priscilla and evaporates her into nothing. The area around us changes into an empty throne room in a castle. Before me are the unconscious bodies of Priscilla’s followers and a pile of ash that is presumably her. I throw aside the monstrance as if it were common trash.

“Useless piece of junk,” I say while sitting on the throne. “Nevertheless, there are plenty more women out there to birth my heirs. In fact, there are women here I can start with.”

Before I can take off my armor and clothes, the scene around me changes back to a void of dull gold.

Priscilla laughs at me again, appears out of the void, and says, “I just wanted to mess with you one last time before my final victory over you. I actually wanted it to go on for longer so you could be more disappointed to learn it was all fake, but I couldn’t hold my laughter back any longer.”

I check for the monstrance and see that it’s disappeared and not even in the place where I dropped it.

“Don’t worry about the monstrance,” Priscilla continues. “I got rid of it so it won’t be a concern for me anymore. I don’t know what kind of magic you used through it to dispel my magic, but it doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters to me is bringing peace to the world and bringing my dreams to life. Evander was kind in that he allowed everyone to live in peace, however, I am not so kind and naïve. Some people like you don’t deserve peace and happiness. Instead, I’ll give you what you deserve.”

I feel my body, face, and limbs get cut and bludgeoned by invisible objects that destroy my helmet and armor. After, I see and feel myself being violently violated by women, men, and beasts of all kinds seemingly at the same time. This is the same kind of torture I put Priscilla through and I am incapable of breaking free from it while I hear her unending laughter in the background. I truly am defeated and there’s no way out of this. At least none that I can see.

The torture comes to an end after an undeterminable amount of time and I see my father fighting Priscilla. I am lying on the floor of a throne room while Priscilla’s servants make sure I am lying down while watching the fight. My father’s axes clash with Priscilla’s sword and shield while she uses magic to throw him off. On my father’s hip, I see the monstrance I once had.

“Leif!” my father says while turning his head to look at me and trying to fight at the same time. “I have to admit. I am a follower of the God of the Catholics and so was your mother. He came to us in our dreams and converted us from there. It’s why I trust Him so much and why I’ve been trying to get you to do the same. I’m sorry that I wasn’t forward about this before and for not being a better father.”

“If you truly worship God, then go back to sleep. I’ll give you a good dream this time if you do,” Priscilla says.

Ignoring what Priscilla said, my father continues, “I know what His purpose is for you now, and resign myself to His will. Please do as He says so I can see you in Heaven.”

My father throws me the monstrance that I catch just as Priscilla cuts his legs and then his head off. I am now in a black-and-gold void by myself and unrestrained. So, I’ve been reduced to this as my only choice to save my life?

“I’ve always been your only choice to save your life and your soul,” the God of the Catholics says.

Gritting my teeth, I say, “Fine then. Let’s do things your way.”

The void around me dispels and I find myself on a boat outside the capital city.

“Sail to the Vatican and inform the Pope of what is happening here. He’ll only get unconfirmed reports and rumors otherwise and won’t trust them since he personally knows Priscilla and thinks the best of her.”

“Okay,” I say as I ready the boat and then start sailing into the sea. “How am I supposed to know where to go without a map? I hardly even know how to sail a boat.”

“I will be your guide and your helping hand.”

“I hope you’re a good one and that my father was right to place his trust in you. I’ll get revenge on Priscilla. I swear it!”

“You’ll get your justice, not revenge.”

“Whatever. She’ll pay for the humiliating defeat that she gave to me.”

“It wasn’t a defeat.”

“How so?”

“Through your defeat, I have gained one of the most valuable treasures of all, a place in your heart, and soon, I will have all of it. You’ll come to see this as a victory through defeat in time.”

“Tch. If you say so.”

 

The End

The Humbling of the Chief of Sinners: Chapter 3 – Clawing for Victory

Chapter 3 – Clawing for Victory

Has my father always been this way? Did he change recently? His gold and black armor has a shine to it and his long grey hair and beard seem to glow with a golden glow as if his original hair color is trying to replace his greys. Also, his wings appear to be more like angel wings capable of actual fight. In contrast, my grey wings are incapable of flight and are used as sharp blades to cut those who try to come up behind me. The God of the Catholics has changed him in some way in front of my eyes, and I’ve somehow, never noticed it until now.

I’ve been biding my time to show that we don’t need the help of any God to beat Priscilla, but for now, I’ve been allowing him to gather allies for us and agreeing with him at almost every turn. This next course of action, however, I cannot agree with. I was fine with making allies with non-Catholics and other religious people whose gods and goddesses we dominated. Working with the Catholics is another issue as it is taking one step closer to serving their God. I should be hanging these people from hooks and hanging their young from their parent’s intestines. They should be groveling at my feet while missing their own and crucified like their God.

It's no wonder why my father made this tenuous alliance behind my back and isn’t allowing me to talk to their leaders or be near their people. He’s even taken the monstrance from me and given it back to the Catholics as a show of good faith. Even though the monstrance is far away from me, I can swear that I still hear the God within it mocking me. While thinking over what to do next, I’m unsurprised when everything around me disappears and changes into the golden scape indicative of Priscilla’s dream. We’ve heard reports of people willingly joining Priscilla, especially Catholics, so I expected something like this to happen. Evander was one of the most faithful and virtuous people and many people wanted to stay in the dream according to Priscilla, so Catholics wanting to subjugate the world into a dream that forces people to live in peace is something that the hypocrites would obviously want.

To be honest, this turn of events is good for me as it shows my father that the Catholics are not to be trusted. What’s better is the fact that Priscilla is sending various Christs, gods, and goddesses at me to fight. I have to give her extra love for this when I see her next. While fighting the gods, I think about the fights I previously had with them. Why did these die and were conquered so easily compared to the God of the Catholics? What makes their Christ different than the others?

The Christs of other denominations were like the gods and goddesses of other religions, but the Christ of the Catholics isn’t like them despite appearing to be like them in every way. What makes him different than the others? What makes the Catholics different than the other Christians and religions? What truth am I missing in this mystery? Who are you really?

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” the God of the Catholics says in my head. “Through me, you will become your truest self. You seek a crown and I will give you the greatest crown there is, the thorned crown of love, that I wear as well. Take my hand and I will show you who I truly am and help you become who you truly are.”

Uncontrollably, I reach out to a bright light that has dispelled the other Christs, gods, and goddesses. I walk out of myself like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. I grab something in the light, and by the time I wake up, I realize that I’m holding the monstrance high in the air with my father and the leaders of the Catholic settlement around me all of which who have stopped fighting one another.

“You’ve seen the light, my son,” my father says before hugging me.

Lightly pushing my father aside, I look down at the monstrance as I start to feel disgusted for having been used by the God of the Catholics. I can’t describe it, but something within me resonated with the God’s voice. He’s done something to me and staked his claim in part of my soul and I have to get rid of it somehow!

“I haven’t seen anything!” I say. “You shouldn’t trust these Catholics. Many of them fight against their own God’s wishes and have deceived us into walking into this trap.”

“Not all of them have done this. Seek out the ones with golden glowing eyes and kill those ones. I suspect that the fighting has only just begun.”

Sure enough, what my father says is true as everyone in the settlement has turned on one another with more people with golden glowing eyes entering the settlement. Heading into the fight, I let out my anger by splitting heads, cutting off limbs, and slicing off heads with my axe. Even though I was told to only kill those with golden glowing eyes, I swing my axe wildly and wider to catch a few of the other Catholics in them and pretend it was an accident or unavoidable because of the chaos of the battle. No God will make me look like a fool! I am a Nephilim! I am Leif, chief of the largest and most influential beastman kingdom of the Americas, and soon, of the world once Priscilla has been dealt with.

Once the battle is done, I go back to my father and the leaders of the settlement who have decided that they’re fine with working with us on the condition we work independently since they don’t exactly trust us because of us “accidentally” killing their own in the battle. My father gives me a dirty look and I shrug. Seeing as how this is his only option, my father accepts it and shakes hands with the leaders. We then take our leave, make camp on our way to our next destination, and rest for the night as the sun sets. While cleaning my weapons and armor, my father sits by me and looks into my eyes.

“Is something the matter, father?” I ask.

“I want to speak to you about our upcoming battle with Priscilla. We may have gathered many forces to face her, but her spell will make our numbers and strength meaningless,” he says.

“When has the spell of a woman ever stopped us from victory? We’ve beaten gods before, so I don’t see why this will be any different.”

“This is different because this spell affects us more mentally than physically and we need the help of a God to overcome it. Now, I see why the God of the Catholics has taken a liking to you, and today our path to victory was made manifest when I saw you hold up the monstrance and break Priscilla’s hold over our minds.”

“What are you saying? That I should allow the God of the Catholics to obtain victory for us?”

“It’s the only way.”

“I admit that his power has been useful, but I will not allow him to steal the glory that is due to me by defeating Priscilla. He may aid us, however, I will make the final blow and have the credit and glory for the victory.”

“You better hope that God allows it. He does not act according to anyone’s will or by simple human logic and reason. He’s something beyond that we’ve never experienced before.”

“I’ll be sure to be careful and make you proud, father. Our victory is inevitable as it always is.”

“You always make me proud, son. I’ll never be ashamed of you nor will I ever deny being your father.”

My father hugs me and then walks off. I heard your voice again in his, God of the Catholics. If you think you’ve won a place in me, then you’re wrong. Things will go back to normal tomorrow after my victory and our time of relying on you will be over. Mark my words.

The Humbling of the Chief of Sinner: Chapter 2 – Undeterred Spite

Chapter 2 – Undeterred Spite

While washing my grey bone armor, helmet, skull pauldrons, and wings in a lake, I reflect on what’s happened so far and plan ahead. So far, we’ve gone to our allied settlements only to find them in the same situation we were in, but some of their members under Priscilla’s influence had left with her. She clearly doesn’t have enough power to bring the entire world under her control and is gathering an army to protect her until she does. The most important question I have to answer is how to dispel her delusions.

“That is done with my help,” the God of the Catholics says. “Without me, you wouldn’t have broken free from that dream and would’ve been killed by your men.”

“And here I was thinking that you’d want me dead and burning in the pits of Hell,” I say.

“You still have a chance to save your soul if you do as I say. My faithful servant who helped break Evander’s spell over the world was much like you. He was a ratman ruled by feelings of lust and violence, but thanks to him allowing my place in his heart, we were able to free everyone from the spell. He even gave up eating human flesh so that he wouldn’t sin against me, despite knowing he was cutting off years of his life by doing so.”

“A ratman giving up on eating human flesh? That’s a new one. Here I thought those were just rumors made up by your Church. Still, I’m sure I’ll find a way to take down Priscilla on my own. You can help where you will, but I’ve faced people with godlike abilities before and conquered them all.”

“You’ve faced demons and only won because I’ve allowed it. Even if you refuse my help, I’ll find my way into your heart one way or another.”

“Keep telling yourself that as if makes you feel better. I’ll sooner overcome you and take your power for my own than allow you power over me.”

A scout comes to me, kneels, and says, “Elder King Olaf requests your attention, King Leif. We’ve made new discoveries about your wife.”

“So, my father did some independent scouting by himself without me knowing about it?”

“Yes, sir. He wanted to get as much information about her as quickly as possible before she can do more damage.”

“Your father is a wise man. You should question him on his motives,” the God of the Catholics says.

“You don’t need to tell me that,” I say, turning to the monstrance. “I know my father is wise and I don’t need to ask him about anything. I’m sure he’ll tell me whatever I need to know when I need to know it.”

I get out of the lake, put on all my armor, take the monstrance, and go to my father who is looking at a map marked with the locations of our allied settlements.

“What have you discovered, father?” I ask.

“More of our allied settlements are under siege by Priscilla than we thought, some of which are completely under her control and would’ve been traps to walk into. The situation is worse than it seems,” he says.

“I’m glad that you had the foresight to see if there were traps ahead. Without you, we would’ve walked into them and lost more of our men.”

“It was obvious to do, so don’t give me too much credit. What has the God of the Catholics told you? We can use all the help we need.”

“We don’t need his help. He told me to defer to you, anyway, and I want to prove to him that we don’t need his help.”

“He told you to defer to me? That’s an honor.”

“An honor? What happened to the father I knew that was the scourge of other men’s gods?”

“I still am, but the God you carry is one of the honorable ones if not the only honorable one. What happened to the son that learned from my wisdom? Friendships are to be preferred over domination. They are easy to manage and sometimes easier to obtain than the subjugation of enemies.”

“I’m sorry, father. I’ll be sure to keep your wisdom closer to my heart then. So, what’s our next course of action?”

“We do the same as Priscilla and gather allies before we attack her. She’s likely to have gathered more than we expected since she doesn’t seem to have stopped moving and gathering power and forcing people to join her.”

“I can’t imagine she would have that many people with her since she’s left people in their home settlements. Here I thought you would want to get revenge for our people, especially mother.”

“Your mother died peacefully and I know she’s in a better place, so despite her being killed, I, for some reason, don’t have feelings of vengeance.”

“Old age must be getting to you, father. Since you’ve lost your fire for vengeance.”

“Again, you forget my wisdom. Peace is to be preferred over war. It’s why we wage war. We subjugate and make allies so our people can live in peace.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry for my constant forgetfulness.”

“It’s okay, son. Do not wallow in defeat…”

“For defeat is only permanent if victory does not follow.”

“See? You aren’t as forgetful as you may think. Now, let us gather the allies where we can. Perhaps we can learn more and make new allies along the way.”

“As you say, father.”

My forces, father, and I move out and go from allied settlement to settlement searching for allies. Since my father is the wisest, I allow him to do most of the negotiating as he always does while chiming in here and there so that he doesn’t become too charitable in his promises, especially to the settlements we aren’t exactly friendly with. For example, I find it hard to promise old rivals protection and a time of peace, trade, and negotiation when the blood of our friends and family is on their hands. While negotiating, a fog of golden light overcomes us and makes it appear as if everyone and everything around me has disappeared.

“I don’t know how you broke free from my spell, but it doesn’t matter. I have an innumerable amount of obstacles that will stop you,” Priscilla says.

“Show yourself and you’ll see that I can overcome everything that you throw at me,” I say.

“Ha! As if I’ll allow that. Even though I’m miles away from you, my power can still reach your mind and allow me to use those around you to kill you and your allies.”

Around me are women of many sizes and races who have weapons in their hands.

“Do you think your tricks can control me? I’ll break free of this trick like I did the other!”

I don’t let my feelings of lust get to me and start slashing at the women who all swarm in an attempt to kill me.

“Stop it, Leif!” the God of the Catholics says.

“I don’t need your help! I can’t get out of this by myself!” I say.

“You’re killing your men! Listen to me!” a voice says, sounding like a combination of my father’s and the God’s.

“Father?”

The mixed voice continues to tell me to stop until it overpowers me, making me stop, and see that I was killing my own men. Many of the other people on the other side were killing each other as well, so at least I wasn’t the only embarrassment. My father is holding the monstrance I had that now seems to have a fading white glow to it. Because my father is recognized as the one who broke Priscilla’s spell over us, our rivals agree to help us, but from a distance, sending a messenger between us so that what happened here doesn’t happen again. Also, they don’t trust me and tell me to listen to my father more, as if I needed to be reminded of that.

It's the last thing on my mind as my father’s voice mixing with the God’s is my primary concern. Once we’re alone while camping on the road to the next settlement, I bring up what’s on my mind.

“I told you we could use a God’s help and if this God’s power can help us overcome Priscilla, then I don’t see the harm in accepting it,” my father says.

“Be careful with this God, father. This one wants a place in your heart and mind to claim you for his own,” I say.

“Do not worry about me. I can remain independent even when I help this God. Worry about your pride getting the better of you. We can’t win this battle alone against Priscilla, so you must learn to accept help from those who offer it and can give it.”

“Yes, father.”

During the night, I sleep alone as I have been sleeping for the past few nights. I don’t care to lie with any number of women despite my body desperately craving it and there being women in our group who wouldn’t mind it. Doing this gives me the drive to want to get to Priscilla faster to make her suffer for what she did to me and to violate her for many days and nights without rest. I won’t allow the God of the Catholics to be my crutch in my battle against her. Soon, I’ll find a way to overcome her on my own and show my father that I’m a stronger and smarter son than I seem.

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.”