POV Rio
Indrid went to the Museum of Witchcraft with an agent to cleanse it. I stayed at Sanctuary as I made some preparations to deal with Dunwich. If I were going to be fighting Eldritch Abominations, then I was going in armed to the teeth. I also wanted my companions to be well-armed. Speaking of companions, I was bringing Deacon, Cait, Hancock, and Quiet on this mission. I decided to leave Dogmeat behind as I didn't think he would do that well in this case. Biting such things is generally a horrible idea.
"This is my weapon," I say in a Russian accent while placing my gun on a table.
Everyone looks at me oddly, but I ignore them.
"This is a Custom M249 SAW. It fires 900 5.56 plasma incendiary rounds per minute. It has a magazine of 200 rounds," I say with a smile.
"And what the h*ll am I supposed to use?" Cait asks.
I look at her and pull out the next gun. When she sees it, her eyes light up like a Christmas Tree.
"Rhinemetal AG Vindicator Minigun. It fires 3000 5mm explosive rounds per minute. Normally, you require a suit of Power Armor to use it properly, but you can ignore those requirements," I say.
Cait looks at the gun like it was her lover.
"You're the best, Rio!" Cait says with a smile.
The others get similarly heavy guns. Hancock gets a newly created Z-8 Rotary Cannon, a massive improvement over the normal Z-6. The improvements were thanks to the Prototype UP77 'Limitless Potential' that Delta Squad retrieved from University Point. I replicated the technology fairly easily and applied it to a much more powerful weapon. That was the Z-7, but I then upgraded the damage output and added some extra oompf with some enchantments, making the new Z-8. So far, I had only managed to make enchantments on energy weapons. I could have done ballistic weapons, but I thought that Energy Weapons were better weapons long term. Dodging a bullet is far easier than dodging a beam of light or a nearly weightless plasma bolt.
Deacon got a Spartan Laser, or at least my own version of it. It had some kinks to work out, but overall, it was a very viable weapon. The biggest reason it was so useful was that my version was powered by enchanted gems. It had a set of gems that could be swapped depending on the enemy to cause catastrophic damage. I tested the weapon on many materials, and certain types of charged beams can melt through tanks like butter. And thankfully, the ammo was unlimited when used by a companion. It just barely avoided the requirements to be classified as a heavy weapon. Instead, certain ammo wasn't unlimited, but the rest was. Which worked as Deacon would be only using two types of ammo, more than likely. Anti-Personnel and Purifying Light.
Next came Quiet. I was having a hard time determining what weapon fit her best in this situation. We would be fighting underground with limited spots to use her sniping talents. In the end, I decided to give her a DC-17 so she could swap when she wanted. It wasn't perfect, but it would do. On another note, she no longer looked like Joshua Graham; her skin had healed, and now I was certain she was Quiet from MGSV. She had lost some of her abilities. Such as intangibility and invisibility, but she retained some of her super speed and heightened perception. She also seems to be able to use a form of Bullet Time. Not constantly, but it could be used occasionally.
Besides weapons, I gave everyone a set of fully upgraded X-01 Power Armor. They had built in magic runes and wards to further protect them. I packed all the weapons I thought would be valuable, and we started our trip. The trip was very easy as we got a ride from Pequod. It could have held us even in Power Armor, but to save fuel, I just stored all the suits and took them out when we arrived at our destination. We set up an FOB at Parsons State Insane Asylum.
As we arrived, I was somewhat surprised to see a group on our way there. There was a small group of Gunners. Only 8 strong, but they seemed in a rush. When they saw our helicopter, they just kept running.
'Hmm, strange but not too surprising, seeing as it would be suicide to fight us like this.'
They weren't heading towards the asylum, so we didn't engage them. When we got to the asylum, I checked in with the Minutemen stationed here, and then we moved South towards Dunwich Borers. I used the Hoshigan to take a look and had to close my eyes almost instantly.
"Are you alright?" Cait asks with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, just found out Dunwich should not be looked at," I said while casting a healing spell.
The mere sight of the place magically caused a sizeable amount of psychic damage, and while it might not have been able to blind me, it did cause some blood vessels in or around my eyes to burst. It was very unpleasant. The entire area is like a twisted and corrupted void of despair and evil. The small glimpse let me see that the Raiders on the outside aren't fully controlled; instead, they are only influenced. The deeper you get inside, the more corrupted and twisted the monsters become. And something really nasty was down there. Not sure what, but it was really strong.
We went back to the asylum and waited for Indrid. Pequod stuck around as I planned on using him to clear out most of the outer Radiers. The plan was to specifically use Artillery first before Peqoud attacks, and then we would attack at the same time. With any luck, it would draw out the Raiders deeper inside outside. I estimated around 500-550 enemies inside Dunwich Borers, with 300 outside and the rest inside. I knew the Artillery was unlikely to cause any damage that the quarry couldn't handle, and even if it did, I could easily remove the collapsed rock.
As I was laying out the exact coordinates that needed to be targeted and talking with Pequod, Indrid showed up.
"I assume it is done?" I ask.
"Indeed. Now, unfortunately, I have bad news," Indrid says.
"Elaborate," I demand.
"It seems that the invaders are set on protecting their last stronghold. I have sensed they summoned a Bishop," Indrid says with a tight smile.
"A Bishop? Like from Chess?" I ask.
"Yes, and no. They are more accurately a rank of priest within their ranks. There are very few of them left. When the war began, there were 20. Last I heard, there were 3 left. The real issue is that they are powerful creatures that usually require a much higher-ranked devil to deal with. If you compare it to my current power, then they would be around 10-15 times stronger than I am now," Indrid says.
"That... Might make things more complicated. How do we deal with them?" I ask.
"We will need something much stronger to kill them. You are not strong enough to kill them. So we need a weapon. Unfortunately, I don't have such a weapon," Indrid says.
"What kind of weapon do we need?" I ask.
"A powerful relic would be great, if not that, then a Consecrated Weapon," Indrid says.
"Relic?" I ask.
"It won't help us. They don't exist anymore. Or at least not any we could use. We would need something like Lord Lucifer's Flaming Sword or Arthur's Excalibur. Though both would be massive overkill," Indrid says.
"Wait, Excalibur as in from Arthurian legend?" I ask, very intrigued.
"Yes, but neither exists anymore. The Flaming Sword was destroyed with Lord Lucifer. And Excalibur was destroyed along with his kingdom due to a certain being we are contractually obligated not to speak of. It was actually part of the reason why we made that contract," Indrid said.
"Wait, so those legends were true? King Arthur, Camelot, Merlin, Mordred, Morgana, and the rest?" I ask.
"Yes, though not everything is accurate. For instance, Excalibur was much stronger. It was one of the very few fragments of creation. Lord Lucifer's Flaming Sword was another. Legend had it that they were created from the Big Bang itself. From what I remember, Excalibur was so dangerous that even Lord Lucifer didn't dare appear on Earth to fight Arthur," Indrid said.
"Then how did their kingdom fall?" I ask.
"The same reason the Great War happened. Someone made it happen. Mordred was controlled and corrupted. Turned into a host of something very evil and more ancient than hell itself. Someone is said to have existed since the dawn of time. Whether that is true is up for debate. This being saw Arthur and his kingdom as a threat. Merlin, the King's Advisor and Court Mage, had created a school for magic. That thing couldn't allow that, as more mages meant it was harder to kill all humans, and it made humanity stronger," Indrid says.
"And even with Excalibur, they could stop Mordred?" I ask.
"Nothing is unbreakable. Excalibur was incredibly powerful, but it couldn't be everywhere, and more importantly, its host was mortal. Once King Arthur was dead, the sword would pass to the next in line. Mordred just made sure it was only him. Once he got the blade, the spirit possessing him broke free and destroyed the blade. With the last child of Arthur also dying, and Excalibur destroyed, the kingdom destroyed itself with civil war. One side was Merlin, and the other was Morgana. And with that, the age of magic came to a close," Indrid said.
"Hmm, so that being destroyed Excalibur. Was the sword a threat to him?" I ask.
"Most likely. Like I said before, there is nothing in this universe that can kill him anymore. He has been planning this for longer than I have existed. If he has come back now, it is because he is certain of victory," Indrid said.
"Sigh. Okay, now back to the weapons. I have some Holy Frag Grenades," I say.
"You do? Hmm, let me get some distance and then take them out of your spatial storage," Indrid says.
Indrid backs away and then nods when he is far enough. I take out the grenades, and his skin starts to smoke.
"Okay, okay! Put it away!" Indrid says while backing farther away.
I do as he asks, and he stops smoking very soon after.
"Sigh. It seems like you got very lucky. Those are plenty powerful to kill the Bishop. But it also means I can't come down there with you. If one goes off, I might be able to be far enough to survive, but if more than one goes off, I will be destroyed at worst or banished back to hell at best," Indrid says.
"Can I cleanse this quarry with them alone?" I ask.
"No, the Bishop might be weakened if you set them all off near the entrance, but it wouldn't kill them. And even if you use them in close proximity, it would destroy them, yes, but it wouldn't sever the connection to the invaders. For that, you need to use the spell I know, which is on page 257 in the book on Infernal Magic. It would at least greatly weaken the darkness in the quarry. But eventually darkness would build up again, and the invaders could summon other minions," Indrid responds.
"Okay, how dangerous are these to us?" I ask.
"Very minimal. Consecrated weapons do damage based on the level of sin or evil karma an individual has. You have committed very few evil acts, so it would cause the pain of a slight itch at worst. Your companions might feel more pain, but it should be no more than a severe burn. But remember to use the grenades as close to the bishop as possible and don't give them a chance to respond. Bishops are not fools," Indrid says.
"Got it, do it close and without the enemy predicting it," I reply.
"At the very least, you don't have to worry about the Bishop being one of their strongest," Indrid says.
"Why do you say that?" I ask.
"Those who have lived this long in the war are not the strongest. All the strongest died early in the war as each side sacrificed one powerhouse for another. Only those that are cunning or lucky have lasted this long," Indrid says.
"Wait, but shouldn't it be the other way around. The weakest should be the first to go," I respond.
"Not if both sides are dead set on wiping out each other and any sacrifice is acceptable. It is a war of annihilation. Whoever wins can slowly replenish their numbers," Indrid responds.
I always find it interesting to speak with Indrid as he has so much knowledge collected over his long life. But we ended the conversation there and focused on the plan.