Someone Vanquish Me!

Melpomene has only ever wanted to be the [Villain] in an epic final battle. Regardless of the outcome, so long as she could go all-out fighting for the side of Evil™, she could die happy. As a [Daemon Autarch], she figured it was only a matter of time before a [Hero] and their army showed up and tried to kill her and her own troops to ‘free the land’ or something. After a few centuries, however, all the [Heroes] that did show up were rather… disappointing. Sick and tired of lackluster [Heroes] capable of neither the tactical genius nor the raw power necessary for the epic final battle of her dreams, Melpomene decides to take matters into her own hands. If the world won’t create a [Hero] worthy of killing her, why can’t she create one herself? Thalia was never meant to have a destiny. Destinies were for the highborn, the genius, or the downright lucky… and Thalia missed the mark on all three counts. After wasting a few years at a desk job and reading far too many self-help books, she was just as lost as when she got out of highschool. The only thing she had going for her was her [Perseverance] keyword, but even that wasn’t too special. One day when the corporate bullshit became just too much to bear, she quit her job on the spot and decided to live a life of adventure! Too bad the only armies that would have her were either pyramid schemes or exploitative as all hell. Thalia didn’t quit her job to spend her life garrisoning a wall, but it was beginning to look like she wouldn’t have another choice. Until, that is, a mysterious stranger approached with a ridiculous proposition… Why not start an army herself? Here’s what to expect: Epic Scale: Many POVs, but ultimate focus will always be on Thalia and Melpomene. Other POVs will always intersect and affect the main story. Tonal Juxtaposition: I love juxtaposition. Tone may shift suddenly from dramatic to comedic, but I guarantee the world and the characters will always follow their own internal logic and take their reality seriously. Army Builder: Individual power matters, but to truly make an impact in the world, characters need to amass and leverage armies. LitRPG-Lite: Existence of a ‘system’ is heavily implied, but its exact mechanics don’t come up too often. Progression: Outside of gods and whatnot, the power curve is relatively flat as far as LitRPGs go. Fantasy/Contemporary Setting: Story starts off in a high-fantasy setting, but quickly transitions into a near-future contemporary fantasy setting. Very ‘points of light.’ Battle Scenes: I make no guarantees how often battle scenes will come up, nor what the ratio of individual-scale to army-scale battle scenes will be. It will depend on the flow of the story. I will say that individual-scale battles will be on the more detailed end of the spectrum. I may later update this list at reader suggestion. After all, it is often easier to see from without than within. Also, I have a bad habit of sometimes getting too flowery or archaic with my language, but I’m working on it. Feel free to use suggested edits whenever a sentence or section is difficult to parse, even when it might be technically correct. I’d rather be understood than correct. Cover Art (no title) by khairulartstuio on Fiverr. Title Art by @ana_is_l8 on Instagram.