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Board & Conquest 97: The Battle for Saguenay
🕑 Added 2025-08-21 03:44:36 +0000 UTCHeroes gather to save Saguenay from destruction.
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A/N: gonna take a plane trip with little internet soon so posting early. Enjoy.
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The Growth Miracle caused all plants within a three-mile radius of the casting area to strengthen and overgrow, with each additional point of mana increasing that radius by another mile to a maximum of twelve.
In many ways, a dryad was her forest. Their lifeforce was linked to the mana-empowered tree they embodied and all of its saplings. All of Broceliande was a physical extension of its Lady’s will.
Using Sagesse as both a relay and epicenter for the full-powered Miracle did more than supercharge the Lady; it strengthened her entire forest and magnified the effect of Growth. The border of Broceliande moved forward towards Saguenay like a tide of crawling wood, reaching the city’s walls and shattering them. The ancient roots buried deep beneath its streets erupted through the pavement into great oaks and flowers, covering houses in moss and ivy, spreading chaos amidst the civilians.
Wepwawet winced as he observed it all from above through Victoire’s eyes. It would take a while for Saguenay to recover from the damage, but it served its purpose nonetheless. Walls of thorns arose around the cathedral area to trap the newly born demons within the district and seal off Archon’s mutagenic miasma. A thick, nearly impenetrable briar thicket the size of the former cathedral quickly overtook the damaged building and sealed it off.
The plan was to protect the now unclaimed leyline from Archon, or at least delay him… but Wepwawet immediately sensed that something was wrong. Mana surged around the cathedral, its concentration so thick that even non-Champions might notice it with their naked eyes. It shifted and wavered like the waves following the pace of the twin moons dancing around Elphion.
The leyline was reacting to the Lady’s presence.
“I…” The Lady looked at her hand miles away from the leyline, her fingers now glowing with golden mana. “What is happening to me?”
“Your Ladyship?” Sagesse inquired out of concern.
“I sense… the heartbeat of Mother Earth…” The dryad closed her eyes in deep meditation. “She calls out to me…”
Could it be… Wepwawet was torn between uneasiness and excitement. “Sagesse, press your hand against her ladyship’s skin.”
“Yes, Your Divine Majesty,” Sagesse replied. She gently grabbed the Lady’s shoulder, which allowed Wepwawet to form a connection with something no mortal should have.
Influence.
The Lady of Broceliande had Influence.
A very weak, barely noticeable one, but it was Influence nonetheless. A spark of divine power had awakened deep within her the same way Sun Wukong changed from mortal to immortal when he first began to ascend the heavens. His Growth’s power boost, combined with the fact her forest was now intertwined with the mana leyline, had caused a completely unforeseen development.
The Lady was about to transition into a local deity.
Nonetheless, her transformation was both fragile and incomplete. She needed to bind herself to Elphion’s mana, to attune herself to the mana locus in order to stabilize her new condition; otherwise, the power would eventually fizzle out in a way that could tear her apart from within.
Godly protocol demanded that Wepwawet assist her in this task. Part of the reason why Nexus deities chose Champions was in the hope of eventually fostering the rise of new deities that might one day join their efforts against the Titans, and the Lady’s kindness and wisdom made her worthy of the title… but on the other hand, it would likely add more weight to the Elphion System. A local god would be nowhere near as powerful as those coming from the Nexus and likely bound to a single Altar for the foreseeable future, but the System would still include their presence among Elphion’s defenders in its calculus. This would have consequences, on top of leaving Epona with a potential rival in her backyard.
However… However, Wepwawet couldn’t risk the Lady’s life. Stopping the process or interfering with the mana locus now might destroy her from the inside. He simply couldn’t abide the thought of letting an ally and newborn deity die out of selfishness and inaction.
He would save her first and deal with the consequences later.
“Change of plans, Victoire,” Wepwawet informed his Commander. “Keep Archon from the leyline, but don’t claim it for me. You must make sure it remains undisturbed for a few more minutes.”
“Are you sure?” Victoire asked as Soumis descended upon Archon to do battle with him. “We could use some reinforcements right now.”
“Someone’s life depends on it,” Wepwawet insisted. “I have faith you will prevail, and I shall provide all the help I can.”
His Champion accepted his decision with a nod. “Understood.”
Wepwawet split his attention on multiple fronts. Part of him continued to observe the situation through his Champions to bolster them in the battle to come, but most of his attention was focused on the Lady’s ascension.
Thank the heavens that gods had invented multitasking.
“Do you hear me, child?” Wepwawet asked the Lady through telepathy.
“Yes, I… I hear you…” The Lady smiled gently. “You… you are the voice of Winter itself.”
“Focus on the mana. I will guide you through the process.”
Like a parent teaching his child how to walk in the middle of a warzone.
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The streets of Saguenay had turned into a walled garden.
A great barrier of thorns, thicker and larger than any fortress wall, had surrounded the entire cathedral district, sealing it off from the rest of the city and preventing the newborn demons from escaping it. Meanwhile, Filou and his allies had managed to evacuate and regroup south of the cathedral when the Vault started collapsing on itself. Renarde and the Free Brotherhood had already set up a hideout in one of the nearby buildings in case the plan went south, so they met up with their allies there. Archers under Wenda the Elf and Montfort had taken position on the nearby roofs to oversee the area, guiding civilians who had avoided suffering from demonic corruption to gather in their safe zone.
“Here, dear squire,” Renarde said as she tossed Filou his scimitar and clothes. The werefox seemed quite delighted to finally drop her human disguise. “You will look more dashing with these.”
“Thank you,” the squire replied, his forlorn gaze turning to the sky. “What I would give for wings.”
His lady and that dirty dragon were dueling Archon in the clouds above, raining fire and ice upon the vile lunarian, who retaliated by telekinetically throwing stones and projectiles at her. They were too far away for Filou to see everything clearly, but he knew in his bones that his mistress needed him… and yet he couldn’t do anything.
What use was a squire who could not assist his knight?
Rapoleon seemed to have read his mind and swiftly reassured him. “You saved a child’s life, and save more you shall,” he said. “That’s already plenty, Filou. The best we can do is ensure Victoire and her pet wyrm can fight with a clear mind, without worrying about casualties.”
Filou nodded in agreement, though he wasn’t entirely convinced. He would do his part like everyone else.
“So?” the transformed Hood asked Gaspar. The mage had been in a deep trance for the past few minutes. “What gives?”
“I have received word from Lady Epona.” From the grim look on Gaspar’s face, his goddess wasn’t too happy about his actions. “Reinforcements are on their way, but won’t arrive for an hour or two.”
“So we’re on our own.” The Hood spat fire at Gaspar’s feet. Although Filou knew that the demon’s heart was pure, his true form was quite the intimidating figure. “I hope you are happy with yourself, mage. You planted the seed from which this disaster grew.”
To his credit, Gaspar had the grace to look down in shame. “This was all a terrible mistake…”
“It is not too late to make up for it,” Filou tried to comfort him. For all his faults, the mage had been the only one out of the three to object to the plan. “Help us stop Archon.”
“Yes, yes, I…” Gaspar nodded with firm resolve. “You have my support.”
A tremor shook the street, with smoke rising west of their position. “Demons are trying to break through the enclosure!” Wenda shouted from atop the roofs. “The two stooges are leading them!”
Gaspar’s eyes widened in shock. “Melchior and Balthazar are still alive?”
“Of course they are,” the Hood replied with a grumble. “They are second-generation demons, meaning they’re both strong and capable of converting others through blood transfusions. We cannot allow them to escape the perimeter, or each new demon will proceed to convert someone else until the city’s entire population becomes an army.”
“Is there no way to cure them?” Filou’s jaw clenched. “Most of these demons are civilians.”
Gaspar scowled. “No one ever found a cure for the transformation. It is a permanent process.”
“I could potentially force them to calm down, but not with Archon broadcasting his thoughts in their minds and driving them into battle frenzy,” the Hood said. “The best we can do is incapacitate them if possible, or kill them if not.”
“Not necessarily,” Gaspar replied. “My command spell should still work on these demons, or at least help disrupt Archon’s control over them for a time. This should let us neutralize them non-lethally.”
“I see. Well, it’s worth a try.” The Hood turned to his allies. “Werelings have an innate resistance to demonic transformation compared to humans and elves, so Filou, Rapoleon, you’re coming with me. Renarde, Montfort, Wenda, you focus on evacuating civilians.”
“It’s quite the offense to ask a bard to watch from the gallery,” Renarde complained with a sigh. “But as you wish.”
“You can write me a ballad to complain later,” the Hood replied with a snort before raising his fist. “To battle!”
Filou hardened his heart. He couldn’t waver now, when thousands of lives were at stake. “To battle!”
The Hood led the group, which included Rapoleon’s wererat sappers, through the streets on the way to the rising plume of smoke. It didn’t take them long to reach a plaza overrun with thorns and briars.
A dozen demons or so were slowly burning their way through the ivy wall by breathing fire at it. They still wore the clothes of their old lives, but their skin had turned into crimson scales. Thick black horns had grown atop their heads, and serpentine tails lingered from their back. All of them reached seven feet tall at the minimum, with fearsome razor-sharp fangs and jagged claws.
The true horror, however, was the monster leading them.
“By the gods…” Gaspar muttered to himself, and Filou couldn’t help but shiver in disgust in turn.
Demonic transformation had done more than transform Balthazar and Melchior; it had merged them. Their bodies had joined into a gaunt, lumbering bicephalous abomination. Tattered clothes covered its filthy humanoid body, but not the two horned heads atop its shoulders. The entity retained the faces of the mages that made up the fusion, but their jaws had lengthened into a ghoulish parody of grins.
“Ah, Gaspar,” the two heads spoke as one upon spotting their old colleague. “We’ve been looking for you.”
The monstrous fiend waved a hand at the group and blasted them with a mighty fireball.
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The fiend was strong.
Victoire had seen Soumis’ flames incinerate pegasi riders, griffins, and other monsters in an instant; yet his breath never even reached Archon. The dragon unleashed an incendiary pyroclastic cloud at the Archdemon, only for the flames to twist and disperse before they could get anywhere close to their target. Archon snuffed out the fire into thin smoke with the power of his mind.
Almost all of Elphion’s creatures had learned to fear and be in awe of the power of dragons, but the Archdemon treated one as a mere annoyance.
Victoire’s own attempts to support her dragon also fell flat. She sniped the Archdemon from afar with her spear, the same way she had defeated Epona’s pegasi riders and clashed with Watatsumi’s dragon, once, twice, thrice. Each time, Archon effortlessly deflected the attack with a mere flick of his hand.
Victoire had had the advantage of initiative and power in all engagements since she and Soumis teamed up, but not today. Even Watatsumi’s dragon spawn had been on the defensive during their clash in Orestown, yet Archon was the first foe to force Soumis back.
“Mistress, Soumis is struggling!” Soumis complained in disbelief as he barely managed to avoid a massive chunk of cathedral wall thrown at them. “Soumis hasn’t put so much effort into a fight since that slimy princesskiller slew his previous mistress!”
And this thing is just as dangerous as the hydraslime that bested you, if not more so, Victoire thought in annoyance. Archon had begun to pursue them above the streets, telekinetically levitating rocks and pavement blocks large enough to splatter men before throwing them at the duo faster than arrows. His magic has to have a weakness!
“We need to close in!” Victoire growled through her teeth after summoning her spear back to her hand. Her attempts to snipe the creature from afar had all failed so far. “He has the advantage at range.”
Getting too close would leave her exposed to the demonic toxin the Archdemon’s wings exuded, but she didn’t see any other option. One of his projectiles was bound to hit at one point or another.
Soumis reluctantly followed her order and turned back, deftly flying around Archon’s projectiles in an attempt to catch up to him. He avoided a few, blasted a boulder with his flames, and then lunged straight at the demon’s face.
Archon’s tail swept forward like a whip and swiftly coiled around Soumis’ mouth, forcing his jaw shut and catching his neck in a bind. The dragon seemed to like it for a moment, much to Victoire’s disgust, until the demon tightened his grip in an attempt to outright strangle him.
“Your blood… yes, I remember it.” Archon’s insectoid face twisted into a sneer of absolute rage as he leaned closer to Victoire. “I remember how your kin bested me, how they beat me beyond the verge of death and forced me to sleep centuries beneath the earth… my old scars still ache from the kiss of your cursed spear.”
“This time, I will make sure to leave more than scars!” Victoire replied upon raising her spear.
She roared and jumped at the Archdemon, willing to brave the toxins, demonic transformation, and the risk of falling to her death if it meant driving her weapon into the monster’s heart. She put all of her strength into the leap, fighting the fear seizing her as she flew across the air…
Only to freeze in midair.
Archon’s telekinetic power froze her in place before she could get anywhere close to him, binding her arms and legs in place like a doll carried by invisible strings. Her shield burned against her skin as it sensed the power of its ancient enemy take hold of it, but it was too weak to repel it.
“Four centuries of evolution, and you are still relying on sticks,” Archon said, his voice oozing disdain. “Disappointing.”
Archon dismissively waved his hand and telekinetically threw Victoire into the void.
Victoire’s heart skipped a beat as she found himself falling straight towards the thick briar that now covered the cathedral. The ground called out to her, growing closer by the second.
“A little help?!” she called out to her god.
“On it!” Lord Wepwawet replied. He coated her skin in thick, strong bark with his Oath of Spring Miracle and then summoned a geyser beneath her to soften the fall.
Victoire crash-landed amidst a bed of briar flowers, which hurt a bit, but proved less deadly than hitting the pavement. A sharp pain erupted in her chest—probably from a rib breaking—followed by the soft sensation of her god’s magic healing her wounds. The impact would have likely killed her a few Rank Ups ago, but she had grown strong enough to stand back on her feet in an instant.
Archon and Soumis landed a few feet away from her among the ruins; or rather, the Archdemon slammed his dragon captive against the ivy-covered pavement with his tail like a ragdoll. Soumis valiantly attempted to claw his way out of his predicament, but Archon telekinetically flattened his claws and wings against the ground.
“Your biology is impressive, wyrmling,” Archon said, even as he quickly began to pummel Soumis’ head into the ground with his bare fists. Sickening noises of bone cracking and steaming blood began to leak from the dragon’s lips. “But while your kind grows complacent on the gifts nature gave you, ours strives to constantly improve itself.”
He’s going to beat him to death at this rate. With little choice left, Victoire raised her spear and called upon her trump card. “By the ancient pact, I compel you to appear, oh Questing Beast of Glatisant!”
Her crown glowed with golden light and summoned the beast in a flash.
It materialized in front of her, so great and mighty as to rival a dragon in size and majesty.
Victoire had only heard legends about the creature, but none of them did it justice. It was both the strangest and most beautiful creature she had ever seen, with a long serpentine head and neck, a fearsome leopard-like body with fur that glittered like gold, and four clawed limbs fearsome enough to wrestle with giants. Its sinuous tail hit the ground like a whip, briefly causing both Archon and Soumis to look at it in awe. A short, tense silence fell upon the battlefield as all marveled at the beast’s sudden appearance.
But then it spoke.
“For centuries, I have slept!” it said with a feminine, shrilling voice that sent shivers running down Victoire’s spine. “Waiting for a noble princess of true chastity to awaken me!”
Victoire froze in horror as the light dimmed and her eyes paid more attention to the creature’s body. It wasn’t fur that coated it, but scales; tiny scales the color of gold, with a few black ones here and there forming spots. And the head… Victoire looked up at the creature’s head and swiftly noticed the very familiar features of her jaw and maw, the silvery reptilian eyes filled with greed and empty vanity…
…
No…
No, no, no, no way, no, no, no!
“Yes, it is I, Glatisant, greatest monarchologist in all of dragonkind, coming to witness the fruit of her labor!” the beast declared, her reptilian eyes turning to Victoire with pride. “Behold… your creator!”
NO!
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Comments
Jasus
Victoire I thought we were friends!?
Richter Stormstrike
Enjoy yer break! This left me wheezing x'D
Void Herald
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, though there'll be a break next week for dragoncon + other stuff ;)
Unlisted Pokémon Hudson
Hey guys does anyone know the update schedule for B&C?
Andrew Joseph Robinson
Yeah, definitely. Her Divine Epithet/Providence would be Mistress of Dragons.
George R
Great chapter thanks
Publius Decius Mus
Lol, of course there would be a dragon who has a princess-breeding program :D Minion Void, you are the greatest writer of dragons.
Val
Victorie is going to Ascend some day and become a dragon goddess
Vik M.
Ooo I wonder what her element is! Perhaps lightning?
Antony444
Thank you, Queen Victoire, your sacrifice is dearly appreciated by all the non-draconic species of Elphion!
TheCrazyDuck
The glory of dragon existence is too great for manling Victoire to bear any longer.
inkaral
Wait wait wait… female dragon! Does this mean Soumis and this new Glatisant are going to have to fight over Victoire? Or will they unite to serve her? *Victoire screaming internally in the background*
Andrew Joseph Robinson
And here comes dragon number 3! Victoire and Wepy can't stop collecting them, so why not just grab them all!
LazyF0x02
Victoire has summoned a third dragon for Wepawet's army, how kind of her.
Void Herald
You can almost taste Victoire's breakdown ;)
Joel Magnuson
That ending LOL
