The Wastes of Ironvale hadn't seen human life in decades. Once a mining colony, then a quarantine zone, it had been deemed uninhabitable after an alchemical catastrophe. Forgotten by most, feared by some. Which made it perfect for the Obscura Society.
No one asked questions when no one dared to go near.
It was morning when the sky split.
A fracture of violet light. A ripple of sigils in the clouds. And then the inquisitor arrived.
...
Callum Nox - Inquisitor VII
Ability: Marching Legion.
Produces infinite, equally skilled clones.
Title: The Endless Host
...
Two of him sprinted through the wasteland, feet pounding the gravel like war drums. They weren't stealthy. They weren't meant to be. On their backs, glowing with etched fire, were sacrificial runes, the kind that didn't leave corpses.
From above, Selene watched the scene unfold with quiet curiosity. Cloaked in shadow, floating from the air, she observed with her usual air of detached grace.
"This should be fun," she whispered, brushing her hair back behind one ear.
The first two Callums slammed into the steel gates of the Obscura compound. Screams rang out as the runes detonated, Till the gates break.
"Boom," one of the Callums murmured a moment before impact.
Then came the rush.
Six more Callums appeared behind the smoke, sprinting through the wreckage. Then ten. Then fifty. Then five hundred. They poured through like a tidal wave of suicidal soldiers, each armed, each chanting in unison.
The guards didn't stand a chance.
One scientist tried to activate a ward sigil, Callum crushed his throat with one hand, then melted through the wall to crush another's skull with the same fingers. Another clone tossed itself into the alchemy wing, detonating centuries of occult research in a single blaze.
A hundred Callums rushed the building. Fifty more flooded the halls.
No one was spared.
Selene watched with no small amusement, her eyes gazed at another Callum who walked past her, tipped his imaginary hat to her, and leapt off the edge to his explosive death.
But deep inside the compound, beneath layers of steel, occultism, and fear, they had kept something else.
Something not meant for eyes.
- Subject Null-11. Codename: Cathedral. -
A beast, seven meters tall, pulsating with stitched muscle and too many eyes. It had once been human. Or several. Now, it was a mess of other monsters, plates, and regenerating tissue, built to withstand all kinds annihilation.
It broke its chains the moment the first Callum entered the chamber.
"Ah," the clone said, seconds before being swatted into paste.
Alarms blared.
The monster roared.
And the Callums laughed.
Outside, Selene raised a brow as the compound shook.
"Was wondering when the party favors would come out."
Inside the chamber, Cathedral rampaged. Callums swarmed it, fifty, then a hundred. They fired spells, runes, blades, even living explosives. Each time a head was severed, another grew. Its muscle adapted. Armor grew. It started catching Callums and crushing them with brute force.
But Callum had already moved to phase two.
One hundred clones formed a circle and ignited their own life force.
Sacrificial magic burned through the air. The other clones pulsed with unnatural strength.
They moved faster.
Hit harder.
They still couldn't kill it.
One Callum launched himself into the beast's mouth.
It chomped down.
Big mistake.
Selene blinked once.
"Uh-oh."
Inside the monster, Callum multiplied.
One became ten. Ten became a hundred. A thousand.
The creature screamed as its own body bulged, splitting from the inside. Runes were etched into flesh as internal organs became explosives. Callum clones multiplied like ants in the belly of an abomination.
And then...
BOOM.
Guts exploded outward in every direction. Bits of steel-hard hide, tendons, and wetbone slammed into the chamber walls. The monster was gone, atomized from the inside out by a swarm of suicidal lunatics all bearing the same face.
Selene descend from the above.
"Took you long enough."
From the crater, a single soot-covered Callum emerged. His coat was half-gone. His left eye twitched.
"Had to see how much room was in there," he said. "It was enough."
The chamber was silent now. Smoke curled off the walls. The screams had stopped long ago.
Selene floated down, feet brushing dust as if it refused to cling to her. She stepped over countless corpses, through melted doors, and met Callum at the center.
"You always did make a mess," she said, folding her arms.
Callum smiled. Or at least, the one in front of her did.
"Oh? You say that like it's a bad thing."
"I'm sure the janitors will be thrilled."
Selene circled him once, inspecting the carnage. "You could've just vaporized the base from orbit."
"They asked for minimal collateral, remember?" he said, raising a brow. "Just because I can carpet-bomb the entire valley doesn't mean I should."
She chuckled softly. "Fair. Speaking of damage, how many of you are still active in this area?"
Callum closed his eyes for a second. "A couple thousand. Give or take."
She sighed. "Would you kindly detonate them?"
"Gladly." He turned, held up a single hand, and snapped.
Across the base, a thousand explosions went off in near-silence. Each clone triggered a delayed rune. Walls collapsed in on themselves. Any remaining secrets, experiments and survivors all gone gone.
The base was clean.
Selene pressed her palm to the scorched ground. magic spiraled outward, sealing the damage in silence.
"You're no fun," Callum said.
"Wasn't built to be." She stood, brushing her knees. "Now, for the real reason I'm here."
"Oh?"
"I want you to assign a clone," Selene said. "A single one."
"Suicidal mission?"
"No. Surveillance. I want eyes on a certain shopkeeper."
Callum narrowed his eyes.
"Dorian?"
Selene nodded.
Callum whistled. "That... antique clown? I thought he was a fraud."
"He is."
Selene turned, staring toward the horizon.
"And that's what makes him terrifying."
The Inquisitor of the Endless host scratched his head. "You want me to spy on someone who might not exist the way we think he does."
"Exactly."
"Sounds fun."
One more Callum appeared beside him. Identical smile. Identical swagger.
"Sup."
Selene nodded at the new arrival. "You'll monitor him?"
"Can do. I'll blend just right in."
"Try to be discreet atleast."
"No promises."
Selene raised her hands again, sealing the base fully, hiding the battlefield beneath layers of time-locked.
Callum watched her, genuinely curious. "You worried?"
"I'm never worried," Selene replied.
"…But?" Callum wandered.
"I'm preparing."
She stepped into a fading portal of blue light. "Keep your real body safe."
"There's no need to worry about that."
She smiled. "That's what worries me."
And with that, she vanished.
Callum looked at the smoking wreck of the Obscura base, the blood, the scattered bones, and shrugged.
"Could've been worse."
Then he turned to the new clone.
"You're up, pal."
"Should I be ominous? Cryptic?"
"You heard her, Discreet..."
The clone saluted, then began walking, whistling a jaunty tune that had no place in a battlefield.
Behind him, the last few clone bodies began glowing.
Callum rolled his neck.
"Alright boys," he muttered, arms raised.
"Let's go out with style."
And across the chambers, the ground bloomed with light.
Then burned.