Monster Lands

A few readers wanted to know what would happen since the story won’t be finished. Fair enough, I know people did like it, I don’t want you totally dissatisfied! I’ll give the broad strokes, but I have to get super specific in some areas.

Nadil and Edith would engage in some power struggles, essentially each of them ordering secret missions to undermine the others’ position in the army. There is some grudging respect from Edith, as she sees that Nadil has the charisma and heart of a hero that she herself lacks.

Eren and Exris’ plan to wipe out the continent (and presumably the world after that) is to awaken an ancient slumbering monster left underground by Uxrex the Annihilator, a dead rival of Emperor Offed from the extremely distant past. As the day of the creature’s awakening grew closer, Edith would manipulate Nixtos, turning her against Nadil and using her as a spy, which would help put her coup into motion, reviving Emperor Offed after reassembling his suit of armor for his soul to inhabit.

It would be revealed that Edith is actually Edith Offed, Emperor Offed’s daughter-in-law, she was married to his now-deceased son and was using Nadil’s army as a front to return her family to power. Eli, Emily, and the Necromancer (who left the family due to mistreatment, but has been kidnapped and returned to them now)are all Edith’s children. Nadil tries to fight, but the violent, sadistic Emily would defeat her and take out one of her eyes. Emily also would kill Nixtos by crushing her in her hand, reasoning that the Offed family doesn’t need to be indebted to her. At this point in time the Destructor would have joined Nadil’s army after receiving Othera’s invite, and he would eagerly fight Emperor Offed so Othera, Nadil, and Marcus could escape from Edith’s base. The Destructor would have Offed on the ropes, but Emily Offed would interfere, using her magic to kill him before he could defeat Emperor Offed. The fact that he had the emperor on the ropes foreshadows that Offed’s power is somewhat elevated due to propaganda. Kersha would go against Eren’s orders and arrive to save the Necromancer, so she ends up helping the other heroes by accident. Offed’s army then makes its way to Eren’s castle to take it over and assert their dominance over the land once again. Exris would refuse to fight with Eren as he’s afraid of Emperor Offed, even though since he easily beat the Destructor he should have to trouble with his former master. Eren would fight him for a bit, but since her troops are spread across the continent she doesn’t have a force at her castle to match his. Then Nadil would show up to aid her. The two women would successfully kill Emperor Offed for good this time. Eren would allow Nadil to leave the battlefield without attacking her after their team-up, prompting peace talks since both armies are decimated at this point and Eren is still in possession of Uxrex’s ancient monster and could be convinced to not awaken it.

Days later, Exris is furious that Eren is genuinely trying to come up with a peace deal with Nadil, as he sees the fact that Emperor Offed infiltrated her group as proof that none of their enemies can be trusted to live. Eren begins to grow apart from Exris, as she’s not happy he refused to fight Offed with her while her enemy Nadil actually stepped in and helped. Never letting any conflict die, Exris would secretly sabotage the chances for peace, initiating a final war between Eren and Nadil’s armies that ultimately results in Marcus killing Exris by creating a fake Exris Receptacle to lure him into a trap. Seeing her father figure killed along with Uxrex’s weapon prompts Eren to retreat back to her castle with her remaining forces, panicking and crying over the fact that she has no one left on her side (Kersha and the Necromancer have deserted her after Exris sabotaged the peace deal).

While Nadil is victorious and Eren’s army is a totally spent force, the victory is short-lived. The continent is ravaged by a magical snowstorm. In the chapter with Sally we see a castle covered in a magical snow, stated to last for decades. As the story went on, “ice magic” would be elaborated on as one of the most powerful magics that can only be wielded by those who are completely cold inside. When Emperor Offed was killed, Edith realized that his resurrection was only possible due to her plans, and that the Offed family was actually holding her back. She would kill Eli and Emily, tapping into her ice powers for the first time and using them to force villagers to turn to her by wrecking their crops and modes of travel, then offering conditional relief in return for loyalty. Emily would swoop in as the true winner of the war and assert her dominance over the continent. Othera, Marcus, Kim, and Nadil would be on their own, later meeting up with Eren, who they would take in solely because they might as well use her in situations with mortal danger.

Without anyone to be afraid of her or put up with her behavior, Eren would be forced to change some. She’d also realize that her reign was ultimately a footnote in the grand scheme of things since she never did anything to help people. Eren would eventually meet up with Kersha and the Necromancer (who would be a couple by this point) and try to repair her relationship with them, as they are the closet things to friends she has. After a few adventures re-amassing their forces, Nadil’s group would storm Edith’s new icy fortress. You may recall in the chapter with Sally that the ice suddenly started melting when Marcus decides to go back and help Nadil out– that was going to lead to ice magic’s weakness, that a changed heart can thaw it. With all the heroes adventures and development, Edith’s powers are less impressive this time around. Totally shocked and unable to comprehend this (because Edith has always been a vindictive, cold person who has refused to change) Edith tries to fire one last blast of ice magic at the group, but Nadil would shatter the beam by firing a healing ray through it, melting Edith’s body (Edith is some kind of icy abomination clad in armor and silk now). It would look very DBZ.

Edith’s ice magic would ensure she cannot truly die, but without a body she must endure an ironic hell of existing as an invisible spirit that cannot interact with anything, forced to watch a world prosper without her tyrannical family’s rule.

Othera and Nadil would rule the new Monster Lands together, Kim would serve as a general and Marcus would become a somewhat successful politician, managing a town somewhere to ensure no kid has to grow up in the messed up environment he and his brother had to.

Eren would not be forgiven by the general populace, and she accepts that for Nadil to have any legitimacy as a ruler, Eren will have to be put to death. Kersha intervenes, however, and asks that the goblin tribes/other monsters get to punish Eren in their dungeons, or there will be no peace. Nadil hands Eren over to Kersha and the Necromancer, who take her to live in what is actually a decently comfortable house arrest, as they don’t want their friend executed.

And and, uh, Nadil’s economy would focus a lot less on war and murdering her own citizens, so Trapmaster’s sales would plummet and he’d be extremely sad lol.