Corruption of Souls

Ch.49

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” The cloaked man, who was named Krimzon, asked after We vomited. The battle was won and the Hell Demons were pushed back, but the place was an absolute gory, bloodsoaked, gut-wrenching mess that along with our poor soul-tummy full of demonic soul energy, We couldn’t handle the sight or the smell of it.

The Night Sentinels and Skaven had gone to work on cleaning the place up with the Vermintide collecting skulls and such from the corpses. Meanwhile the Night Sentinels hauled corpses off to one of the many piles of bodies and burned them with flamethrowers to the complaints of the Skaven who wanted as much flesh and bone for their trophies that they could get.

“We’re bearing with it.” We belched and groaned at how much like heartburn all this tainted soul energy felt like. Eugh, why is it that Urta can handle this and We can’t? Hopefully she’s up to helping us out again.

“Let’s hope so.” He said when We saw some of the Night Sentinel’s deceased being carried out and back to their world through the portal. They lost about twenty, an impressive feat considering the Skaven lost hundreds that We replenished. “We’re going to scout out the area and make sure there aren’t any Gore Nests lying around here. If so, Hell would come back again with greater numbers.”

“Alright, We’re almost done here then.” We sighed as We sat in a clean chair.

“Yes, but another emotional rollercoaster awaits you back home. A few more, I reckon.” We groaned at that. “Do you wish our Lords were here now?”

“Yes, very much.” We sighed longingly for Hunter and Berserker’s presence.

He hummed before turning his head to the side for a moment, before looking back towards us. “The Nests have been purged and the area is secured.”

“Thank you for your service.” We smiled in relief before one of the Skaven approached.

“We believe your time here is done?” The Skaven asked as he surveyed the battlefield. Among the Skaven males were females too, who used my body to be reborn once it was clear that the fighting was nearing its end. They all corralled the much larger males with stern tones and instructions while also getting to work crafting tools and other things from the demon bodies.

“Yes. We’ll be heading back with her highness. We should get moving now. The locals’ patience are running thin.” Krimzon advised us and We nodded in agreement.

“Only so much in that we have much work to do and we’re hardly able to accommodate guests. Please take this abyss-damned charlatan with you.” The Skaven huffed as Siegmar was hauled to us by the arms and dumped in front of us. “Good hunting to you kind Goddess Wiatr, we won’t forget your help. You’re welcome here anytime.”

“Thank you.” We stood and curtsied to the Skaven who nodded and left us. “With that We guess it’s time to go. Want us to fly?” We asked while sprouting wings as We turned full feral dragon.

“That’s if you can carry us all on your back.” Krimzon hummed.

“Well not all of you We think.” We chuckled as We reached 20 feet and turned to anthro instead. “But you can use our tits to ride in our Inventory too.” We informed them as We got on our hands and knees, pressing our bosom into the dirt.

“That’ll do, but that isn’t necessary. We can have the people you can’t carry will run.” Krimzon nodded as most of the Night Sentinels jumped on my back. Those that couldn’t stated they would run all the way back to Unity. “They’re Runner’s Chasers, the faction he leads. They can outrun us, so they’ll be able to keep up. I’ll tell you more later.”

“Okay.” We turned full feral dragon again for more back surface-area before taking off and banking towards the direction of Equestria to the north. Looking down, We saw that they did indeed keep up with us, navigating their way out of the forest as we headed back towards Unity.

“Can I just say that most of us don’t really like the state of your world?!” One of the Night Sentinels shouted over the roaring winds as We flew.

“We could guess.” We dryly replied. This world was an acquired taste, not everyone is such a deviant they’d adapt to this place quickly. At least the locals have the excuse of being locals.

“The only good thing I see out of this is that we get to meet the little princes and princesses she had with our Lords!” Another spoke up and We blushed with a smile. “Have they been looked after?”

“Yes. Whenever We’re home We make a point of trying to spend at least two hours playing with them, along with our other pups and foals.” We said with a prideful smile. “As for their well-being, Cocoa has that covered aside from the maids and other attendants.” We want to spend time with our children soon. All of them, not just one group either. We feel that our foals with Daring and pups with Svartr are a bit neglected compared to the special treatment the Scinoxes give the Marine’s pups. Even if Spike spends time with our shared kirin foals with us when We’re available. At least We got in kisses and nuzzles with them all before We left town.

“I can’t wait to see them!” A female Night Sentinel said excitedly, gaining cheers from the others. We chuckled at this and focused on our orientation as We rushed through the air.

“Just don’t spoil them!” One remarked.

“Pfft! As if!” She retorted.

“They’re certainly excited about the children!” Krimzon commented as the Night Sentinels talked amongst themselves. “Planning on having more with them?”

“We...um, yes. Though We don’t know about Runner, Pillar or Collateral yet. We haven’t gotten to know them.” We huffed in annoyance. If not for whatever the brothers went and did, We’d have gotten to meet Runner properly instead of in passing, as well as Pillar and Collateral.

“Wait until we get to the Helix Stone! It’ll show you their past!” He informed us.

“Oh?” We replied with uncertainty. The blood and gore wouldn’t be a problem, it’d be the fact that We’d be diving into what is likely to be a mentally draining issue when We still have problems reconciling each other’s memories.

“No shit Sherlock!”

Why do We feel judged?

“You have to keep strong! We know bloody war isn’t your forte, but it’s unavoidable!” He told us, misunderstanding our main concern. It doesn’t help that these damn hell-soul energies are burning through our poor soul-tummy~. “This will be your chance to understand how their lives started out.”

“Alright.” We groaned in resignation after spending some time considering it. Home was already on the horizon. We really wasted time walking to Rodenas, this trip barely took a few hours by wing.

“The Helix Stone is inside your home, somehow making its own room! Oddly enough it looked like a Temple was built around it.” Krimzon went on and We huffed in annoyance.

“That doesn’t sound good.” We replied uneasily. Daring’s experiences with ancient artefacts and Svartr’s experiences with living volatile fickle gods filled us with dread before We flew down towards Unity, weaving through Harmonia’s wide branches.

“I’ll show you!” Krimzon said before We landed and everyone jumped off of us. Once that was done, We shrunk down and returned to our comfortable two-tailed vixen form. He then led us through our home where We found that there was indeed a new room added, one that reminded Willow of Destiny’s Iron Lords Temple. Inside in the middle was a large slab of stone floating above the ground with hieroglyphics carved into it that shone with red light. It also had the Doom Marines’ Slayer mark which was made bigger than the rest. The walls depicted many battles on them with the Doom Marines fighting against the forces of Hell.

This room is badass and spooky! We don’t like it in our house! What will the children think?!

“This is disturbing.” We muttered as We approached the stone slab warily.

“This better not be a trap! The last time I saw one of these-.”

“All you have to do is touch the Helix Stone and it will show you information relevant to you regarding those who touched it last and woke it up.” Krimzon instructed.

“It’s awake?” We backed off in concern. Sentient or otherwise intelligent artefacts are never good!

“Trust me. It is my duty to keep you safe. I wouldn’t suggest something that would endanger you.” Krimson’s reply was very reasonable.

“Okay, but We’re seeing Urta right after this.” We groaned with a rub of our ripped six-pack at the burning sensation within us before placing our hands on the slab.

(<3)

A flash of red light blinded us temporarily, then We found ourselves in an empty void of darkness. It didn’t stay this way for long before We were again blinded. We winced and blinked to adjust to the bright light below us. After our vision returned We gasped in shock at the land below covered in fire.

“What-? How?!” We questioned before We were brought down to the ground and saw what was happening. We were horrified by what we witnessed. “O-Oh gods…” It was a town besieged by Hell’s forces, the ponies running for their lives as they were hunted down and slaughtered by them. The guards couldn’t stop them, falling to the Hell Demons so easily.

“They are Rage…”

The gritty and deep baritone voice Willow remembered from DOOM 2016 echoed in our head as sights of towns, cities, entire worlds burned to ash and the people were slaughtered and eaten like mere cattle.

“...Brutal and without Mercy…”

Then the scenes moved to tortures fit for Dante’s Inferno, breaking the minds of mortals and sacrificing many to bring more of their kind over. They even influence a cult to have them carry out their dirty work.

The worst one was the scene of a demon skinning a child alive in front of her mother and then forcing the mother to wear her own child’s skin as a mask that turned her into a grotesque demon of flesh.

The scene changed again to the Everfree Forest, where a group of Demons roamed through it. It seemed they were searching for something. However, one of the Imps got their heads blown off from behind them.

“...But you, you will be Worse…”

A hail of bullets followed, shredding through the lesser Demons within seconds before the Doom Marines sprang into action. Three of them engaged the bigger ones in close combat while the last two gave supporting fire. We knew the first two were Berserker and Runner. Berserker used his fists to pulp through the Hell Knights and Barons of Hell while Runner sped around the battlefield and used a chainsaw to cut them down as he laughed like a maniac.

Hunter was using his rifle to slow down the bigger Demons. The other two must have been Pillar and Collateral. One seemed to be unaffected by anything that assailed him while the other seemed to have more excessive firepower as he gunned down anything in his sight.

We wished We could have water or something, We had a feeling this was going to take a while.

(<3)

We went down their memory lane, witnessed the many hardships they had to face be it Demons or the Public. We also saw their Princesses’ parents and how cute the two little sisters were. Celestia was a bit of a cunt towards them at first, but Hunter and Pillar seemed to have things under control with them. We even got to see how the ponies back then mistreated Berserker, egging him on before they feared him and left him alone when he earned the title Bloody-Handed.

There was even one point where Runner was sent to an orphanage to see what had happened, only to find that the children were turned into monsters with their souls trapped inside, tormented throughout the whole ordeal. Runner didn’t want to kill them and tried to get out of there, but was trapped as Hell placed a barrier around the building. Satan Asmodeus himself mocked Runner through the children’s voices as he tortured his mind and spirit, even offering to make deals with him.

Eventually Runner snapped and used his Chainsaw to end the children's suffering quickly. After that he just laughed bitterly through his tears of sorrow and guilt.

“Oh Runner.” We mewled in understanding. Svartr had to do something similar once. The Undead Curse had swept through a small human settlement. Way back when, the only method of dealing with Undead was to slaughter them, ensnare them at the nearest Bonfire, then subject them to endless torment by harvesting their bones to make more bonfires. She’d had to do this to many families, churches, orphanages...

Another unknown amount of time passed until We saw the Doom Marines standing before a large gate out in the middle of nowhere. Daring knew that this was one of the Gates of Tartarus, where a Cerberus is supposed to stand guard. However, it was abandoned. The Doom Marines searched and found a passageway off to the side, going through it to find Hell Demons inside with Cerberus chained down and tortured for their amusement.

After brutally slaughtering the sadistic dog-hurting fuckers, they ended up with one demon left. He wasn’t from Hell though, he changed sides after hearing Tartarus was overrun. He only did so just to survive, even at the expense of Cerberus. Berserker beat him to death starting with Fatal Testicular Devastation.

After killing the traitor, they healed Cerberus and he opened up the Gates for them. Once they entered Tartarus they found it was a desolate place devoid of life, nothing but a wasteland full of red sand and crags. With Hunter’s tracking skills they found a hunting party that was chasing after a young demon-pony girl. Without question the Doom Marines killed the Hell demons and saved the girl.

The girl was frightened of them at first, but Pillar calmed her down enough for her to lead them to where there were more of her people. It was a large underground cavern with easily a town’s population within. She led them to a tent and inside was a Demonic Alicorn stallion covered in bandages. He introduced himself as King Hydrax.

“Oo~ he’s nice to look at.” We ogled the memory-version of Visi’s father. Hot damn, no wonder Visi is so attractive. If her father looks this good, how much of her looks are from her mother?

Anyway, he asked who they were and what they wanted. When he was satisfied with their answer he went on to explain their plight. Hell invaded Tartarus to get to Equestria and conquer both dimensions without warning. While Tartarus had put up a fight, there were already traitors among their ranks who let Hell march through. Soon enough they were forced to abandon their homes and flee into the wastelands. The King suffered grievous wounds during the battles, but had survived. Now his people were scattered and are living on borrowed time. With that, the Doom Marines decided to help them reclaim their home and drive out Hell.

At the end of this exchange, Visilia entered the tent. “Whoa, um, she looks exactly the same. How fresh are these memories?” We then facepalmed. Right. Alicorn. Duh. Alicorns have the unaging gene innately, even non-divine ones can’t die from aging since they stop at their physical maturity.

Anyway, Visi was wary until her father explained to her about them. Once she was brought up to date, screams were heard as the refuge came under attack. It was a scouting party of Prowlers, but once the Doom Marines dealt with the pack of demons that quickly laid-low the already exhausted defenders of the refuge, they went outside to discover an entire horde of demons waiting, likely for word from their scouts.

Even though they were outnumbered they still charged at the horde. Pillar stayed behind as the last line of defense while Runner, Berserker and Collateral engaged the massive army up close and personal. The battle was fierce and devastating. Those that bypassed them were met with Pillar and his impassable armor and his new hammer he grabbed from the cavern at the entrance of the cave system.

Within the ranks Hunter moved about the Demons, causing all sorts of trouble. This made them turn against one another. Eventually the Doom Marines won the battle with the land covered in blood and guts that they stood atop. Tartarus started praising them as their saviours, which was a big change of pace, instead of being treated like freaks and blamed for something they didn’t do or have control over.

“We can see why Tartarus is favored by them.” We sighed in relief of the sight.

After that they had a feast which was pillaged from the Hell Demons’ supplies and got some rest.

The very next day the King wanted to test something out since with their help it could be possible. He introduced four Demonesses, the Scinoxes of Old, known as Splicers because of their usage of Blood magic, but thanks to their more involved methods with the Doom Marines the new name stuck.

Anyway, they asked for a sample of the brother’s blood. From there they managed to create the first batch of the Night Sentinels. Of course, since they were males it couldn’t work for females, so they needed someone who could make the connection and work from there. That was when Visilia stepped up and took a shot at it. Luckily she was successful so the Scinoxes used her blood to bridge the brother’s blood to create female Night Sentinels.

That was how they began their Crusade through Tartarus. Each Doom Marine led a faction of the Tartarus Legion. The Crusaders led by Berserker, the close-combat specialists. The Chasers led by Runner, the scouts and guerilla fighters. The Defenders led by Pillar, who specialize in defensive tactics and heavy fortifications. The Gunners led by Collateral, the artillery and heavy cavalry units. Lastly the Ghosts led by Hunter, who were the snipers and assassins often relied upon alongside the Chasers to coordinate and assist the others.

Throughout the war they won and lost many battles and saved and lost many lives. Hell had Infernus Cannons, brutal explosive magma artillery that burned hotter than normally possible and had a ludicrous range. In order to deal with these, Hunter and his Ghosts were often tasked with destroying them so that they could move forward.

Eventually they reached the Capital City of Hicronex. The large city was under the control of traitors and former prisoners alike with a wall now surrounding it with Infernus Cannon emplacements lining atop it. In the middle of town was a tower that acted as the main entrance for Hell’s force to pass through. They couldn’t launch a full-scale assault since they’d lose too many before they would reach the city gates. Hunter and his faction were needed again to take out the guns and open up the way for them. This was the final push they needed to drive Hell out.

Hunter and his Ghosts all snuck their way up to the wall without alerting any of the Demons. Next they infiltrated the city with some of them scaling the walls, while the rest found cracks within the wall and started digging their way through. Once they were inside they completed all sabotage objectives and signalled for the siege to begin.

“... Rip and Tear, until it is done.”

The gritty DOOM 2016 voice said yet again before the Doom Marines and their armies gave their war cries as they charged into the city.

“RIP AND TEAR!!!!!”

It was so loud our ears were ringing! “Ow~.” We whined as We rubbed our adorable and overly-sensitive fennec ears before We returned our attention to the rather long and overly-detailed vision. I won’t get into the parts about their, ah, right, not getting into it.

The siege was swift and brutal. They quickly spread out to cover every inch of the city. Berserker had taken half of his Crusaders and spearheaded towards the tower while the others surrounded the city. Visilia led the other half of the Crusaders. It was a bloody and brutal battle since both sides didn’t want to give the other an inch. Looking at Berserker We gasped to find that all of his troops were dead, but so were the Demons protecting the tower. He was the only one alive, leaping his way over to a power crystal.

Once at the crystal he started breaking it with his sword, the energy inside pouring out through the cracks. Frustrated, he pulled out his pistol and shot it in one of the fissures, causing an explosion that flung him into a wall. However, the tower didn’t power down and the portal stayed open. Berserker tried to get back up to try and figure out how to close the stable portal, but his body wouldn’t let him.

In his moment of desperation, two figures flew down from the sky. It was King Solaris and Queen Gaia of Equestria themselves. They were the clear Deus Ex for the situation. The Queen knelt down to Berserker and leaned down to whisper in his ears. “Please, forgive us.” At this, she and her husband looked sadly at one another and flew up towards the top of the tower.

Berserker reached out to them, hoarsely pleading for them to stop. Even when they were long gone he tried so desperately to get up and follow them, but it was far too late for him to stop them. A light began to shine. Brighter and brighter until it exploded, sending the top of the tower scattering across the city and severing the link. Hell could no longer come through now, but the Royals had sacrificed their lives for it.

Enraged at the loss of their tower and portal, the Demons fought with desperation against the Doom Marines and their Night Sentinels, literally Hell bent on destroying them even at the cost of their own lives. What’s worse was the Summoners were summoning reinforcements that were probably from Equestria.

They were spread out around the city at strategic locations that allowed these reinforcements to divide the forces of the Marines and turn the tables. Berserker was still alone and injured, but the demons seemed to have either forgotten he was there or figured he was already dead. Good thing, it let Berserker recover, but the others were harried.

Pillar and his Defenders protected the wounded while they were attended to by medics and Scinoxes. Hell blitzed the field hospital with imps and pinkies with hell knights acting as field commanders.

This was surprisingly effective compared to the tactics We’d seen earlier today in reality. Thank goodness these forces of Hell didn’t survive to deliver improved mixed-unit tactics to their leaders or the Carimite Skaven would’ve been mowed down before the Night Sentinels ambushed Hell from their own dimension.

Anyway, they used this new desperate and disturbingly effective tactic everywhere, taking the Sentinels and the Brothers by surprise, costing hundreds of lives before they could adapt to the frenzied mosh-pit being directed by level-headed enemy sergeants.

Collateral and his Gunners took up firing positions within ruined buildings to mow down the raging hordes of Hellspawn that swept through the streets without being able to do so from in the streets, those died before they could move position.

The biggest issue past the teeming mass of ravenous berserking demons were the flocks of Cacodemons carrying Revenants and Mancubuses both normal and Cyber to rain rocket barrages and acid mortars from the air while helping the knights coordinate further.

Thankfully the Sentinels and the Brothers were able to coordinate despite being separated due to Runner and his Chasers going around to open holes in enemy lines and lend assistance as much as possible. Runner himself was more focused on getting to Berserker, something the Demons didn’t give him the luxury and chased him off, likely by coincidence considering they didn’t even bother with the tower and Berserker was left to recover.

Of course, Runner wasn’t the only one. Visilia and the rest of the Crusaders were desperate in trying to recover Berserker, but they were besieged by entire legions of Hell Barons crashing down on them hard. It would also explain why this particular faction stabbed the living fuck out of them back in Carim.

It was Hunter and his Ghosts that were the lynchpin in stopping the counterattack by hunting down the Summoners to stop the flow of demons being brought from Equestria. Ironically enough this was also a tactical boon, because I got the notion that these summoned forces weakened the demon occupation of Equestria to the point the local resistance cells were able to rally their fellow slaves to freedom, but that's another story.

Hey! Helix Stone! Don’t go all meta story-teller on us! Smug bastard.

Where was it anyway? Oh, well that was a bit anticlimactic, after the Summoners were dealt with it was just mop-up. Sure the tower collapsed and everyone frantically dug in the hopes of finding Berserker, but he was fine. Since he’d had time to rest before the last Hell Baron collapsed the tower in spite, he was able to survive by being too pissed to die and punching at the debris coming down on him, which left him in a large pocket in the debris which he was freed from hours later by rescue crews. Honestly he could’ve gotten out on his own with a few more minutes, but that’d have been a rather explosive exit.

After all was said and done they had the city, but at a terrible cost. Around the destroyed tower, piles upon piles of corpses laid, stacked on one another. Most of them were Hell Demon bodies to be disposed of, but Berserker’s entire deceased contingent of Crusaders had to be dug out first before things could be cleaned up. Berserker had been the one to make those piles on entry to the tower and the other brothers contributed to it when pushing the last bit of demon resistance to this point.

It took about a month and a half to clean the city up, spreading the word that they’ve reclaimed their home, but they also spread word of what became of the Royal Equestrians. So they converted the tower ruin into a memorial ground, where the many names were inscribed and a large statue of the King and Queen were placed on the top: Queen Gaia and King Solaris. Candles were lit as all of Tartarus gathered and mourned for their Fallen.

Once they were gathered in ceremonial black, armor or cloak as was their prerogative, King Hydrax gave a rousing speech to the people that spoke of heroism, hope, and to declare that the day Hell was expunged from the realm would be declared Liberation of Annihilation in celebration of their liberation and to remember the fallen with gratitude rather than sorrow. When he was finished, the bells tolled and everyone left to begin rebuilding their homes.