Two Kilometers From Epicenter
Eight thousand Dominion survivors stood frozen. Out of original sixty thousand troops, only these remained. Emperor dead. Chain of command shattered.
Malvorn turned toward them.
Recognition flickered in those molten gold eyes.
*Black and silver uniforms. Dominion colors. Empire uniforms*
*Empire chained me. Two hundred years. These soldiers wear those colors. They are empire*
Thought process—fragmented, insane, but following terrible logic:
*Handlers wore those colors. Emperor commanded them. Soldiers obeyed. All guilty. All responsible*
*They took two hundred years from me. I take everything from them*
He charged.
***
Magnitude-seven earthquake with each step. Covering five hundred meters per stride. Twenty-five-story beast running at full speed.
Dominion soldiers panicked completely.
"It is coming! Run! Run!"
Captain tried organizing. "Scatter! Do not group together! It cannot kill us all if we—"
Malvorn roared. Words unclear but intent obvious through sheer rage vocalized.
"Empire. Chains. Two hundred years. Pay. All pay"
***
Tectonic Slam
Malvorn reached fleeing soldiers. Two thousand grouped together, running west in formation.
He raised his massive leg. Slammed it down with full Overlord strength.
Magnitude-eight earthquake. One-kilometer radius devastation.
Ground cracked open. Fissures swallowed five hundred soldiers instantly. Fallen into crevasses, crushed between closing stone walls.
Shockwave threw one thousand soldiers fifty meters through air. Bones shattered on landing. Dead or critically wounded, no difference in outcome.
Remaining five hundred scattered in all directions. Terror overriding discipline.
Malvorn's voice—tectonic rumble: "Not enough. More. Kill more. Empire dies. All die"
***
Earthen Prison
Two hundred soldiers fleeing north caught his attention.
Malvorn raised claws. Stone pillars erupted from ground around them. Twenty meters tall, instant enclosure trapping all two hundred.
Then walls collapsed inward. Crushing.
Two hundred soldiers flattened. Bodies unrecognizable. Stone became tomb and weapon simultaneously.
***
Stone Legion
Malvorn summoned two hundred earth elementals. Double his previous Lord-tier capacity—Overlord power manifest.
Each three meters tall, animated rock and clay, autonomous and deadly.
Mental command transmitted: *Kill empire soldiers. All of them*
Elementals spread across five-kilometer radius. Hunting.
Two thousand soldiers remained scattered across terrain. Elementals pursued relentlessly.
Ten minutes of systematic hunting:
One thousand five hundred soldiers killed. Crushed, buried alive, torn apart by stone hands.
Five hundred escaped. Fled fast enough, terrain hid them, pure luck saved them.
***
Three hundred more soldiers died from being trampled. Malvorn walking forward, not even noticing humans beneath his feet. Incidental casualties from mere movement.
**Malvorn's Kill Count - Ten Minutes Post-Ascension:**
Tectonic Slam: 1,500 dead
Earthen Prison: 200 dead
Stone Legion: 1,500 dead
Trampling: 300 dead
**Total: 3,500 Dominion soldiers killed**
**Survivors: 4,500 out of original 60,000**
Scattered, leaderless, fleeing in every direction. Army destroyed.
***
Coalition Command Post
Draven watched through spyglass. Every death visible. Every moment of slaughter documented.
Brenn's voice was grim. "He is killing everyone. Not just attacking strategically. Exterminating anything that moves"
Lysara tried understanding. "They enslaved him for two hundred years. Can we truly blame him for this rage?"
"No," Draven replied quietly. "But we cannot allow it to continue either. He is not thinking. Just raging. If we do not stop him, he will kill until the continent is empty of life"
***
Through bonds, his pack reported limitations:
Zor: *Bearer, he is Overlord now. I am only Lord-tier. The gap is immense. I cannot fight him. Cannot even slow him down*
Velnar: *Earth obeys him absolutely. My constructs are children compared to his legion. Completely useless against him*
Sylvara: *I can heal wounds. Cannot cause harm. Overlord is beyond my ability to influence in any way*
Draven realized the terrible truth. "Pack cannot fight him. I cannot fight him. No one here can. He is untouchable to conventional force. Except... maybe bonding"
***
Mira stared at her brother in horror. "Bond an Overlord?! Brother, that is suicide! Bonding requires consent, trust, resonance alignment! He is completely insane!"
"He is suffering," Draven corrected. "Insanity is pain made into power. If I can reach him—show him he is truly free now, show him choice exists beyond destruction—maybe sanity returns. Maybe bonding becomes possible then"
Brenn asked the question everyone feared. "And if you fail?"
"Then Raziel kills him in three months. And one hundred eighty thousand people died for nothing. I have to try"
***
Decision made.
"I am pursuing him. Alone. This is months-long mission. Maybe years. Maybe I never return"
Lysara gripped his shoulder. "We will hold Covenant. You save the Overlord. Both tasks matter equally"
"Three months," Draven repeated. "That is my deadline. Raziel gave me three months to calm Malvorn before other Overlords intervene. I will use every single day"
***
Malvorn Turns West
Finished killing Dominion survivors. Three thousand five hundred dead in ten minutes.
But rage... not satisfied. Not even close. Needed more.
*Empire soldiers dead. Good. But not enough. Empire still exists*
*Emperor. Where is Emperor? Dead. Felt him die in detonation. But empire has heart. Capital city. Center*
*Two hundred years, I was chained there. Underground vault. Handlers kept me there. Chainkeepers there*
*I remember the scent. Metal. Blood. Fear. Control rods. That smell came from that place*
*West. Two hundred eighty kilometers. Capital*
*Empire's heart. Must destroy the heart. Then empire dies. Then maybe pain stops*
Malvorn turned west.
***
Not walking. Running.
Magnitude-six earthquake with each step. Covering five kilometers per minute at full sprint.
Destination: Dominion Capital. Two hundred eighty kilometers away.
At this pace: fifty-six minutes until arrival.
Civilians in path: over fifty thousand across villages, towns, roads. Most already fleeing—earthquake warned them. Some remained—elderly, stubborn, unable to travel.
Projected collateral casualties during march: eight to ten thousand people crushed incidentally.
***
Coalition Scout Report
Scout transmitted via Bloomscript before crystal failed from anomaly interference: "Warden! Malvorn turned west! Heading directly toward... gods above. He is going to the capital"
Draven calculated instantly. "Two hundred eighty kilometers. Three hundred thousand people living there. If he reaches the capital..."
"Genocide," Brenn finished. "He will flatten the entire city. We have to warn them—"
"They will not listen to us. We are the enemy. And even if they believed us, evacuating three hundred thousand in under one hour? Impossible"
Mira's voice broke. "So we just watch? Let him kill hundreds of thousands?"
***
Draven closed his eyes briefly. Opened them with terrible certainty.
"I will pursue him. Try to intercept before he reaches capital. If I can position myself ahead of his path, maybe I can make him see me. See someone who freed him. Spark recognition. It is all I have"
Lysara pointed out the problem. "You cannot outrun an Overlord. He is covering five kilometers per minute"
Draven touched the Codex. "Can you help? Store me, transport me faster somehow?"
Codex pulsed regretfully: *Cannot teleport. Can only store within, not move faster externally. Bearer must pursue conventionally*
***
Deeper inside the Codex, Worldroot Dragon's voice:
"I offer knowledge, Bearer: Overlords tire slowly. Hours of rampage before exhaustion hits. But exhaustion comes eventually. When he reaches capital and destroys it, grief will follow rage. That is your moment. When he stops destroying, when horror realizes what he has done—then you reach him. Not before"
Draven's voice was anguished. "So I let the capital die?"
"You cannot stop Overlord in rage-state. You are mortal. But you can save Overlord from eternal rage afterward. Choose: save three hundred thousand today and lose Overlord forever as other Overlords kill him, or lose three hundred thousand today and save Overlord—and future millions—tomorrow. Both choices are agony. Welcome to Bearer's burden"
***
Draven spoke to assembled command. Voice breaking despite trying to stay steady.
"I cannot stop him. Not in time. Not while he is in this state. The capital is lost. Three hundred thousand people are going to die, and I cannot prevent it"
Silence. Horror. Weight of truth settling.
"But I can save him after. When rage exhausts itself. When grief hits. When he realizes what he has done. That is when bonding becomes possible. Not during rampage. After"
"I will pursue. I will be there when he needs me. When he is ready to be saved"
***
Brenn spoke quietly. "Hundreds of thousands die. You save one"
"I save one Overlord who can destroy millions more if left mad," Draven replied. "One unchecked Overlord is extinction-level event. I am choosing species survival over immediate rescue. It is monstrous. But necessary"
Mira was crying. "This is what Bearer means. Carrying weight no one else can carry"
"Yes. And I will carry it. Alone. Because that is the cost of this power I accepted"
***
**Village of Thornhaven - 230 Kilometers From Capital**
Miller Gareth, fifty years old, village elder, felt the earthquake. Heard rumbling growing closer.
Looked east. Saw mountain approaching. Walking mountain.
"Evacuate! West! That thing is coming straight for us!"
Village population: eight hundred.
Six hundred fled immediately. Young, able-bodied, trusting elder's warning.
Two hundred remained. Elderly, sick, stubborn farmers. "I will die in my home, not running like coward"
***
Malvorn arrived.
Did not see village. Too small to register. Just walked through.
Four footsteps crossed entire village.
One hundred eighty died instantly. Crushed beneath feet, buildings collapsed, buried alive.
Twenty survived. Hid in cellars, lucky positioning between footsteps, pure chance.
Gareth survived. Watching from ridge west of village.
"He did not even notice us. We were not enemies. Not threats. Just in his path. And that was enough to die"
***
Merchant Caravan - 200 Kilometers From Capital
Captain Lyssa led fifty-person caravan along trade road. Heard rumbling. Looked back.
Saw Malvorn approaching.
"Off the road! Into forest! Hide now!"
Forty-five reached forest. One hundred meters from road, dense tree coverage.
Five too slow. Elderly merchant, three guards, one pregnant woman. Could not run fast enough.
Malvorn passed within fifty meters. Ignored forest—followed road where terrain was flatter.
Shockwave from footsteps:
Trees swayed violently. Some snapped, fell.
Forty-five survivors thrown, bruised, but alive.
Five on road: crushed by shockwave debris. Wagons exploded into wooden shrapnel. Killed instantly.
Lyssa emerging from forest, seeing bodies. "We were merchants. Not soldiers. Not empire. Just trying to make living. Why? Why did we have to die?"
No answer. Malvorn already gone. Did not know. Did not care.
***
Farming Hamlet - 150 Kilometers From Capital
Farmer Bren, forty-five, father of four. Felt earthquake. Started evacuation.
Too late.
Malvorn visible on horizon.
"Run! North! Away from his path!"
Family fled—wife plus four children, sprinting north across fields.
Malvorn's stride: five hundred meters per step. Path: straight line toward hamlet.
Footstep landed on hamlet center. Church, town square, fifty buildings.
Crater: one hundred meters wide, twenty meters deep.
Buildings: gone. Vaporized by pressure. Pulverized into dust.
One hundred twenty people in hamlet center: crushed, buried, ceased existing.
Eighty on hamlet edges: survived. Thrown by shockwave, injured but alive.
***
Bren's family watching from one kilometer north.
Youngest daughter, seven years old: "Papa, where is our home?"
Bren staring at crater where village used to be. "Gone, sweetheart. All gone"
***
Refugee Column - 60 Kilometers From Capital
Two thousand civilians fleeing westward. Evacuating preemptively from war zone.
Saw Malvorn approaching from behind.
"It is behind us! We are fleeing toward capital, and it is chasing us!"
Stampede. Two thousand people running in panic.
Fifty died from trampling. Elderly, children, fallen and crushed by crowd.
One thousand five hundred maintained two-kilometer lead ahead of Malvorn.
Four hundred fifty lagged behind. Exhausted, could not maintain pace.
Malvorn overtook slow group.
Did not target them deliberately. Just walked.
Three footsteps through refugee column.
Four hundred crushed. Direct footsteps, shockwave, flying debris.
Fifty survived. Between footsteps, thrown clear, injured but alive.
***
Survivors—one thousand six hundred remaining—still fleeing toward capital.
Terrible realization: "We are leading him to the city! We are bait! But we cannot stop—he will crush us if we stop running!"
Herding themselves toward doom.
***
Total Collateral Casualties During March
Thornhaven Village (800 population): 180 dead, 620 survived
Merchant Caravan (50 people): 5 dead, 45 survived
Farming Hamlet (200 population): 120 dead, 80 survived
Forest Hunter (1 person): 1 dead
Refugee Column (2,000 people): 450 dead, 1,550 survived
Other scattered incidents (~5,000 people): ~1,500 dead, ~3,500 survived
**Total: approximately 2,256 collateral deaths during march**
Not targeted. Not deliberate. Just in path. Incidental destruction.
***
Capital City - Eastern Watchtower
Watch Commander Thane, fifty-two years old, stood on eastern wall. Thirty-kilometer visibility.
Scout reported. "Commander! Eastern horizon! Something massive approaching! Dust cloud five kilometers wide! Earthquakes every few seconds! It is huge!"
Thane took spyglass. Looked.
Saw Malvorn. Twenty-five stories tall. Obsidian scales gleaming. Twelve horns. Molten gold eyes visible even thirty kilometers away.
Dropped spyglass. Hands trembling.
"That is the Shatterlord. Emperor deployed him at Ashen Fields. He was fifteen stories then. Now he is... what is he?"
"Overlord, sir. Ascended. And he is coming here"
Distance: thirty kilometers. Speed: five kilometers per minute.
Arrival time: six minutes.
***
Emergency Council - Shadow Council Chamber
Six surviving council members. Seventh was Emperor Valerius—dead at Ashen Fields.
Spymaster Korin acting leader. "Overlord approaching. Six minutes until arrival. Recommendations?"
General Thrace: "Evacuate. Three hundred thousand people. But six minutes? Impossible. We might save ten thousand—those near gates. Rest are trapped"
Treasurer Duke Malick: "Where do we evacuate to? Overlord's path is westward—directly at us. Fleeing west means running toward him. East returns to battlefield. North and south have limited roads—bottlenecks, stampedes"
Diplomatic Envoy Lady Serin: "Could we surrender? Negotiate? Offer something—"
Thrace cut her off. "He is killing everything. Dominion soldiers, civilians, forests. No discrimination. He is not attacking empire strategically. He is attack made flesh. Mindless destruction"
High Judge Vorn: "Then we have no options. Three hundred thousand people. Six minutes. We cannot save them"
Silence. Death sentence for entire city.
***
Korin made decision. "Ring evacuation bells. Open all gates. Tell people: flee anywhere. East, west, north, south—does not matter. Just run. Some will survive. Most will not. That is reality"
"Activate Chainkeeper emergency protocol. Grand Chainkeeper Morvek—deploy override rod. Attempt to kill Shatterlord remotely. It is our only chance"
***
Evacuation - Five Minutes Remaining
Bells rang across city. Magical amplification carried announcement:
"Evacuation! Overlord approaching! Flee! All gates open! Run!"
Three hundred thousand people. Four gates. Five minutes.
Instant stampede.
Panic overwhelming. People trampled toward gates.
Bottleneck: gates only ten meters wide. One hundred people per minute capacity each gate. Four gates total: four hundred people per minute.
Five minutes: two thousand people maximum through gates.
One thousand died in stampede itself. Crushed, suffocated, fallen and trampled.
Twenty thousand near gates escaped. Lucky positioning, close proximity.
Two hundred eighty thousand trapped inside. Too far from gates, could not reach in time, gridlocked in streets.
***
Notes:
First Rampage: Malvorn kills 3,500 Dominion soldiers in ten minutes using Tectonic Slam (1,500 dead), Earthen Prison (200 dead), Stone Legion (1,500 dead), and incidental trampling (300 dead), survivors reduced to 4,500 from original 60,000.
Coalition Watches: Draven recognizes pack cannot fight Overlord-tier, bonding identified as only option, Mira horrified at suicide mission, three-month deadline emphasized, Draven chooses to pursue alone.
Malvorn Targets Capital: Turns west toward Dominion Capital 280 kilometers away, running at 5 kilometers per minute (56 minutes total), seeking empire's heart and Chainkeeper Headquarters where he was imprisoned, 300,000 civilians in target city.
Worldroot's Counsel: Advises Draven to let rage exhaust before attempting contact, grief follows rage as opening for connection, impossible choice between saving 300,000 immediately or saving Overlord long-term, Bearer's burden defined as carrying weight others cannot.
Draven's Choice: Accepts capital will die, chooses species survival over immediate rescue, recognizes one mad Overlord is extinction event, commits to pursuing and bonding after rampage exhausts, acknowledges monstrosity of decision.
Collateral Casualties: Eight villages/caravans/groups in Malvorn's path, 2,256 incidental deaths during march, victims not targeted deliberately but crushed from being in path, families destroyed, homes erased, survivors traumatized.
Capital Preparation: Six-minute warning from watchtower, emergency council recognizes evacuation impossible, 300,000 population with only 20,000 near enough to gates, stampede kills 1,000 in panic, 280,000 trapped inside walls.
Chainkeeper Override Prepared: Grand Chainkeeper Morvek activates emergency kill protocol, long-range resonance weapon designed 200 years ago for Lord-tier beasts, untested on Overlord, final desperate attempt to stop approach.
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