Zane stood upon the clock tower, casually leaning against the railing as he observed the unfolding events below. He was by no means surprised at all by what was about to transpire.
In the ruined street below, Prince Arthur stumbled over himself, panting heavily as golden lights whirled and danced around his figure, mending the damages upon his body and resealing the blood escaping from his body. He glared intensely, eyes narrowing as he fixed a calculating gaze upon the deformed and mangled husk of Vella that laid upon the ground before him.
"What are your names, and how do you know my name?" Arthur demanded, his voice rasping as he finished mending himself and rose to his feet.
A distorted and garbled voice echoed from the broken body of Vella, "What I am and who I am is of no importance... but with what you have done here, I will not-"
CRACK!
FWOOSH!
Before the speaker could finish his sentence, Arthur flashed forward in a blur of gold, slicing Vella’s head clean from her body! Her severed head rolled across the cobbled street, coming to a halt a few yards from where it had been separated from her body.
"What do you think you are, interrupting me when I am talking?!" the Madam growled furiously, her consciousness speaking through the mouth of the severed head that lay upon the ground.
Before Arthur could stomp upon the head, a thick, ink like liquid oozed from the tiny crevices in the stone street. The pitch black substance slithered and snaked its way around the broken limbs and body of Vella, swallowing up the remains whole.
"Hahaha! Even if my first plan failed, my experiment was perfectly executed," Vella’s severed head cackled, eyes rolling up into her skull as the ink consumed her.
"Tch!" Arthur hissed, rushing forward with a blur of gold as he prepared to finish the body and crush the head into dust.
"STOP, BROTHER!" Zane barked from his post on the clock tower.
Before Arthur’s golden blade could finish vella, a loud and powerful noise of some kind echoed throughout the ruined district.
FWOOOSH!
From the ink-like substance burst forth a roaring inferno of black fire, consuming the body and head of Vella whole, reducing it to nothing more than a pool of darkness.
The battlefield went silent.
For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the distant swish of the wind, the settling of the Dust .
AND THEN ....
G-G-G-R-R-R-MMBLE!
The ground beneath their feet vibrated violently.
GRRRR!
The broken road cracked and groaned as the subterranean stone shook and trembled.
FWOOSH! KABOOOM!
A great surge of dark mana exploded from the earth beneath the ground, blasting skyward in an inverted waterfall of black energy! The sheer force of the explosion of dark mana was so great, that it billowed outward, condensing into a thick black storm cloud that swallowed up the sky, casting the entire city of Valeria into an endless night.
"Hahaha! This is even better than the original plan I heard of to make an army of humans infused with demon parts and blood!"
The Madam’s voice echoed through the sky from the underground cavern.
A moment later, the clouds began to weep. It began to rain.
"If I knew it would have turned out like this, I would have done this a lot sooner," the Madam murmured, her voice floating up from the deep underground chamber.
She floated above the clouds, her eyes closed, and her face tilted upward toward the sky.
"You finally show up," Arthur called up, wiping away a smear of blood from his lip. "That’s good of you, it makes my job of finding you a lot easier - HUH? What the-"
Before Arthur could finish his insult, the Madam’s body distorted and twisted, her black robes transforming into a beautiful crimson dress. Her brown hair changed to a gorgeous shade of red, and her nails lengthened into obsidian colored claws.
’Huh! So this is what it is like to be a VAMPIRE EMPRESS , huh?" the Madam whispered, slowly opening her eyes.
FWOOOOSH!
A great wave of dark aura burst from her body, and the clear raindrops that fell from the sky turned into a blood rain!
"Ah... that’s more like it," the Madam cooed, opening her mouth and allowing the raindrops of blood to fall onto her skin. "The feeling, the scent of blood... I have missed it so much."
Gloria gasped and trembled upon the clock tower as she watched the glowing red figure hover amidst the storm of blood rain. "WHAT A MONSTER!"
Far away in the pristine and fancy office of the Royal Castle, a deep voice echoed as the great double doors opened.
"Why would you send Prince Arthur to such a dangerous area?" Gedion questioned, stepping into the large room as the doors shut behind him.
The King stood at the tall, arched window, peering out toward the distant horizon where a great mass of pitch black clouds flickered with lightning.
"Mmm... Well, tell me, Gedion," the King mused, not turning to face him. "What must a good King possess in order to lead his kingdom?"
"Well... they must have strength, knowledge, and intelligence," Gedion replied.
"You are all correct, but you have missed one important thing," the King noted, slowly turning around to face the General. "That is judgment."
"Judgment?" Gedion asked.
"Yeah! If those two can’t even take down that demon, that means they are not worthy to be from this family! Hahaha!" The King laughed heartily, turning back toward the window.
’What an idiot,’ Gedion silently cursed, resting his palm against his forehead and shaking his head.
Back in the ruined street of Valeria, Arthur was done waiting.
FWOOSH!
The prince rocketed upward like a golden bolt of lightning, channeling all of his power and light magic into his blade.
"BLADE OF LIGHT : SMASHER!"
BOOOOOM!
A great wave of force blasted outward from the slash, causing a great explosion of dust and blood rain to erupt from the impact. However, when the thick cloud of dust cleared away, Arthur’s eyes widened at what he saw.
The Madam stood standing still, casually holding Arthur’s great shining blade within only her two fingers!
"What... You caught my light blade with two fingers?!" Arthur gasped, surprise and shock etched upon his face.
Zane sighed as he looked upon the scene. "I knew it," Zane muttered, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Let’s go you two," he said to Maria and Gloria as he casually began to climb down from the tower.
"Who said you could leave?!" the Madam snapped, flicking Arthur away as if he were nothing more than a bothersome insect and biting one of her fingers, letting dark blood drip from her lip. "The fun is only just beginning!" The Madam said, smiling maliciously.
"I can breathe easy now," Zane muttered, turning around. "It’s not like I am scared of you or anything, it’s just that he didn’t ask me for help and besides, these two have learned enough from watching," Zane said, pointing toward Maria and Gloria.
"Is that so?" the Madam scoffed, turning her attention back to Arthur who was charging toward her once more. She swiftly danced away from the golden thrusts of light magic, twisting and turning with ease as if there was nothing more daunting than fighting this man.
Zane, Maria, and Gloria continued to climb down the interior stairs of the tower.
As the three reached the first floor and opened the front door to the outside, a body shot past them, crashing into the stone side of the clock tower!
CRASH!
It was Arthur. He slid down the broken and shattered stone wall, leaving a trail of red behind him.
"Are you okay?" Zane asked calmly, holding the door open for him.
"Damn it... this demon is far too strong," Arthur spat, forcing himself up from the ground, dripping blood from countless wounds.
He panted heavily, "Haah... haah... I have passed my limits, this demon is just too strong for me alone, Zane!’
Arthur reached into his spatial storage at his back, pulling free two glowing golden blades.
"Huh? What?" Zane blinked, looking at him.
Arthur gritted his teeth, suppressing his royal pride, and screamed at the top of his lungs,
"Help me, WILL YOU?!"
Zane took a deep breath, a small smirk forming at the corner of his lip. "Well, if I help you, you are going to owe me a large sum of debt that will have to be paid back!" Zane shouted.
"Fine, whatever!" Arthur growled.
"That’s more like it, now how are we going to deal with this monster?" Zane asked, casually walking out the door and toward Arthur.
Hovering above the two brothers, the Madam looked upon the two men with disgust. "Two men ganging up on one woman... what a royal disappointment," she said mockingly.
Behind Zane, Maria and Gloria both nodded in thoughtful agreement.
"HEY! I can easily take you all down by myself, you know!" Zane shouted up toward her, tightening his fist with a laugh.