The aftermath of Solares’s entry lay in piles of organic matter, inorganic substances, and clouds of dust: the earthquake, dying soldiers, and the screeching transformation of metals into melting slabs had rendered the avenue relatively silent. Nearby blocks still rang with antimatter blasts, but not this one. Enemy forces seemed to take the hint from being overwhelmingly bombarded, and intercom reports from revolutionary soldiers painted a Zudrian retreat. Anastasia and Solares were amongst the few left in the recently decommissioned coliseum district.
A King of Demons was not to be taken lightly.
“Is your voice tired, Anastasia?” Solares worried.
Anastasia nodded, letting her brother activate the comms while she rested her throat.
"Construct radar towers," Solares ordered the engineering teams over the radio, "the Zudrians will not escape us, no matter how much they think they can."
Anastasia watched Solares’s movements. Yes, he was relieved that she was okay, but there existed an edge to his physical movements. Tensed muscles, flickering pupils, and an unreadable, poker face expression were all she could see from behind the cloak and mask.
"Kill any Zudrian soldier on sight," the King of Demons' voice held no emotion, "leave none alive. If you see a general, tie him to the stake."
The sun did not rise to the horizon that hour. Perhaps black smoke from the carnage nearby and around proved sufficient enough to blockade the light. No, that needn’t be so, for Corona Eternus's rotation was slow enough to have a night and day cycle that exceeded forty-eight hours. Hence, nighttime would remain for several more hours, unless anyone had devices that accelerated planetary rotation.
Calm down, Anastasia, the Assassin Queen thought to herself as Solares came to a stop, nothing out of place is going to happen, alright? Nothing.
"Hey!"
Anastasia and Solares whipped around, bringing a walking Sagittari within sight and mind. Her armor was cleansed of blood, which was the work of an active singularity. However, her movements were slower than usual, and her presence felt like it pulled on the air. The experience befuddled until the Assassin Queen realized that her kin was assimilating mass, a strange merger of organic physiology and a singularity.
"Sagittari…" Solares nodded as the singularity woman marched to him.
"Zudrian forces made a hasty retreat from me." Sagittari bluntly stated, coming to a halt upon nearing the King of Demons. "We may have caught a break by surprising them."
The Demon King's eyes lit up. "That is excellent news, sister. We can fortify our positions in peace.” Anastasia nodded at that statement; she needed a break. "Disregarding our little blue best friends… How fares the evacuation?"
Sagittari tilted her head, hands folded. “The slaves have been following a pathway of gateways Fomalhaut made. Zudra shot their shots, but as far as we’re aware they didn’t land a hit.” That was particularly fortunate, knowing how the Zudrian military police could just shoot on sight thanks to fugitive slave laws. “They were too busy running to even notice, the blue losers!”
“Excellent job,” Anastasia smiled while Solares gave a slow nod, In not even a literal millisecond, Sagittari’s face shifted into a wide, beaming smile, not permitting time to display any event before her current expression. “with that done, we need to move on to the next phase.” Disregarding her sister’s unnatural physiology, the Assassin Queen resumed giving intercom commands: “Construction squad one, we are arranging kinetic energy reverser defenses, looking for electric shields to cover this area within a twelve-mile radius. Send drones for assistance, over.”
Squad one immediately replied. "Yes, ma'am!"
Corona Eternus’s coliseum party was done in every sense of the term. With the district cleared, defenses could now be constructed. Electric shields would provide a dome over the area, blocking enemy artillery, energy or kinetic, from ruining the Shadow Clan’s attempts to fortify their new position. These shields could also ward off orbital bombardment in enough numbers, which was always a relevant concern when fighting Zudra. The heavy collateral damage inflicted by orbital attacks was deemed a necessary evil in just about every battle the slave-owners got into. Finally, Solares was present here, and knowing his reputation, Zudra would land soldiers equipped with kinetic weapons designed to break through all defenses. Hence the kinetic reversers, which were capable of taking the energy of every projectile and shooting it back. No matter what Zudra tried, Corona Eternus must belong to the Shadow Clan.
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The calm was serene and mortifying at the same time. No Zudrian aircraft flying overhead, no missiles screeching through the skies. Sagittari stated that her black holes ruined the long-range missile silos on Corona through simply drawing electrons out of the power grids. Such was a convenient side effect of using singularities since they caused everything around them to fall inside. It must have been terrifying to be Zudrian.
None of the sheltered, elite military leaders of the Zudrian mother country could have prepared for such an assault. Though Zudra was the titan of the known galaxies, they were becoming too large, corrupt, divided, and fragile to withstand a formidable enemy. And they had too many powerful foes. Nova Zudra’s ground soldiers, armed to the teeth, did not expect small-scale black holes to tear them piecemeal, nor did Corona’s generals expect to deal with a rampaging “Miss Solares” at their slave auction or a living fireball that melted their entire air fleet. As for the actual, far more sinister Solares, he was right underneath their noses, waiting for the cue to erase them.
And they had only themselves to blame. Most of the Shadow Clan developed spirit energy for the sole purpose of dismantling the Zudrian imperium, so all of the above could be seen as Zudra’s own crimes crystallized, weaponized, and used against them. Anastasia's bloodthirst would soon join theirs, and in place of the awkward, anxious concubine, Zudra would find a murderous Assassin Queen.
Footsteps clicked against cracking rubble, and Anastasia turned to see a shrouded blonde woman turning the corner. Delilah, having shed her mask and hood, approached the circle with unusual silence. The once loud personality who added humor and mischief to the group went on break. Hands folded over her stomach, lips creased into thin lines. Stress had aged her, surpassing the regenerative abilities she held as a spirit wielder.
One might assume the blonde human had released her pent-up anger toward the Zudrians upon attacking the coliseum, wiping out the military police, and dispatching two challengers. Yet upon looking into the human's eyes, even through her sweet, inviting, and maternal gaze, rage colored her irises. One could tell that Delilah had been in tears.
"Delilah," Solares whispered to the woman, "I understand the pain of what Zudra is trying to do to your family." It was an expected deviation from his demon-king persona and reputation, and one that Anastasia was always proud to witness.
"I know," Delilah forcefully chuckled, "I get that. You relate, and I can't say I'm glad that you do because…"
"Worry not," Solares held his hand up, "you are family, and for this reason, your wellness greatly matters to me."
Anastasia joined in, walking close to Delilah, and placing a hand on her shoulder. The facial portion of the Assassin Queen's suit melted away, and her thin lips twisted upward. The human woman looked up at her with a ghost of a smirk.
"No matter what happens," Anastasia looked at her kin, "we will always be there for you, okay? Zudra will have to walk over the entire Shadow Clan if they want to touch your child. And we know what happens to them when they try. "
Delilah bobbed her head. Words alone wouldn't be entirely enough to console her. Being the poster-child of the Zudrian government’s war on “inferior” races imprisoned her between rage and despair. Now that the former was released upon the coliseum, all she had left were tears.
Solares was looking blankly at the smog ahead, a nothingness reflected in his eyes. Such was far from the gentle king piece that the Shadow Clan knew and loved. Instead, this was a sign of an unnatural creature with purpose, a champion of the unstable Licentius.
"Delilah," the King of Demons rumbled, "we have allies, we have armies, we have each other, we have family. You and I both know how my role hurts me, and how painful dominance in the Licentian Order can be. You need not turn into me."
Turn into me.
Matthias's origins were not too mysterious to them. The thing behind his powers was an extradimensional deity with a hunger for destruction. Delilah was rewarded by this being as well, being given control over entropy. Their red eyes, shaped into spirals, marked their allegiance and submission to this god.
Champions, they were called, divine champions.
Anastasia always thought that the Licentian Order was a cult, a murderous cult that killed whoever their god found undesirable. The Licentian Order had an incessant vow to serve Licentius, the God of Chaos behind Solares and Delilah in addition to themselves.
Though he pranced around as a deity of justice, Licentius's definition of justice had no qualms about murdering children, wiping out whole worlds, and demanding that his champions do these things. To make matters worse, his followers were indoctrinated into thinking that they were doing something good and manipulated into thinking that they were happy to do them. Those who grew remorseful would be thrown into gauntlets, beaten and bruised, until they recanted this “weakness.” A Licentian champion could not feel sadness or grief, only rage and hatred for those marked as “sinners”.
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Licentian Order, the Assassin Queen scowled as Solares placed Delilah's head on his heart, victims of divine narcissism, manipulated into a life of senseless violence by an unstable god. Licentius, I really hate you, and when we’re done with Zudra, you are next.
Interrupting her vows of vengeance against that prick of a god, a pair of twin black holes emerged on the ground ahead. Anastasia moved back: no matter how many times she had seen the black hole twins at work, she was never comfortable around their powers. She allowed Solares to step ahead of her. The winds coming from the voids did not hold as much destructive force as last time, which had led to the utterly emaciating destruction of the Zudrian army.
Fomalhaut hopped out, blood and grime stuck to his armor. Cloth tore on his arms, whilst his normally black hair drenched grey with dust and asphalt.
"Fomalhaut," Solares waved his hand at the dark-skinned human ahead of him, "everything is all clear. No enemies in sight: only Anastasia, myself, and the rest of the clan you see before you. How goes the liberation, blood brother?”
“You all did a great job of getting the Zudrian police out of the picture, first of all. ''Fomalhaut's boots were clicking on the ground as silver glistened on his breastplate, exuding a combination of might and grace.” Every slave we’ve seen we have gotten out. And of course, the so-called supreme armies could only shake their fists as they ran away.” The paladin’s brown eyes scanned the world while the black hole from whence he came folded to a close. “Hey, isn’t there someone missing?”
Sagittari tilted her head up, black bangs flying away from her eyes, and pointed to the sky, “Here she comes!”
Like a meteor burning the skies and swelling in size as it approached, an object roared with flaming trails emitting from behind. The closer it got, the more defined it became, taking a humanoid shape. The person within the flames, a human stretching her hands while rocketing with the noise of melting rock splattering into the air, dramatically slowed her velocity with even more flame. From her hands came jets of smoke and then light, which highlighted the bright red, armored waistcoat, and auxiliary sleeves nearest to the flames. Her floating brown hair fluttered in the wind just as palms unleashed fire facing down, allowing her to descend like the rockets of a spaceship descending on a landing pad.
"Tanaka," Solares’s eyes shone a bright red before he shot two thumbs up in her direction, "that entry was… awesome!"
Mei chuckled, dipped into an exaggerated curtsy, and then opened her arms for Delilah to sprint and tightly embrace her. Over her lover’s shoulder, she commented "I bet I gave his infernal highness quite the show to relieve his boredom, didn’t I?"
Anastasia blinked as she thought of just how her brother made his entrance. If fighting five Zudrian soldiers and quickly killing them off was boring, then she truly did not know what boredom was.
With the King of Demons leading the pack, the Shadow Clan took their definition of a nature walk: traversing battle ruins and discussion. For some while, there had only been silence apart from the distant reverberations of ammunition being fired. Knowing how Corona Eternus used to function, it was likely the closest the planet had come to silence in months: a few muffled explosions and bullets were nothing in comparison to the way cars clogged the streets, crime festered in the slums, wealthy nobles flaunted their piece of staggering inequity, and slave auctioneers made millions in a day.
"Yesterday, this place was a bustling city," Fomalhaut opened the floor to discussion as he pointed to a partially collapsed edifice, "the people who worked in this building will likely wake up tomorrow assuming they will return here to clock in again."
"Well, their jobs contribute to an extragalactic slave trafficking operation," Mei's voice lacked patience, "so their unemployment is for the greater good."
"No kidding, but what do we do after we're done taking this planet?"
"Fomalhaut," Sagittari interjected with a blissful sigh, "how many times have we had this discussion? This planet is going to be built anew. A place where all can live and prosper, regardless of what race or galaxy we come from."
“That’s exactly the thing, sis. Nova Zudra will be here within the week to intimidate the locals into surrendering back everything we conquered. Even if we decide to turn this whole planet into a fortress to stop them, we don’t have time to do it if the survivors are against us and in our way. We need their support. Right now, all they know about us is that we have crushed a bunch of peasants under this rubble right along with the nobles. There were low-wage caterers at that auction, janitors in these office buildings. People who didn’t have a choice but to serve this system. The people who survive them are going to need a lot of good reasons to support us, so we’re going to need a message to go with that vision of yours.”
In another life, the black hole twins may have been intergalactic political scholars. Their discussions ran wild, going from Cruvelia's races such as the Nashiyega or the dark blue Zoldamians, to warrior cultures like the Amazons and Gargareans, creeds of humans far more capable than the regular kind. And with each discussion, they seemed more excited, as though they were nearing “the key'' or “the answer.”
Sagittari had stopped as she processed his words, and the others had begun to pass her when she finally spoke up: “Cruvelia can be a home. A place of comfort and warmth, where everyone can belong. A place that belongs to every race and people.” She said with a passion in her throat and a heaved chest, "In fact, it needs to be one. If we let the nations of this galaxy split any further, we will risk another Zudrian political hegemony."
Fomalhaut solemnly nodded, despair in his eyes. "I know, Sagittari. The last thing Cruvelia needs is to go down with a dying dictatorship." Something told Anastasia that the thought of Zudra's fall, and those who would be dragged down along with it, depressed him. "They won't go out silently. They'll take everyone with them, and whoever picks up the pieces…"
"May no longer exist." Mei finished for him. "The bottom line is that we can't disappear, Fomalhaut. The only way we can keep any progress is to guard whatever we create. Too many people across the universe need someone fighting for them, including the people here."
"So the universe needs us then. It needs leaders who will actually lead." Sagittari stressed the last word with a hardness in her voice that could have been diamond. "Not just suck all the resources dry. It needs us to lead its people to something better."
“We also need a reason for them to follow,” Fomalhaut asserted, “and we know that Solares’s reputation, while terrible amongst the nobles, is legendary amongst the lesser castes. He was necessary when we fought the Deathless, he may be key to success here, and I believe… he will always be part of the solution to the problems plaguing this galaxy... and beyond.”
Solares had been silent throughout the entire conversation, and Anastasia had some understanding of why. Peoples across Cruvelia looked up to the Shadow Clan to lead the charge to a better future. Regarding her brother, they saw a feared guardian rather than the savage beast the Zudrian elite so passionately despised. Yet, of increasing concern to the Assassin Queen and the Shadow Clan was that Matthias once silently agreed with the latter perspective. They all consistently tried their hand at making their king piece see otherwise. Their attempts were met with progression, and with excruciatingly small concessions.
The Licentius problem menaced them as much as the god did the universe.
So as the Shadow Clan endorsed Solares as an intergalactic leader and wove him into their grand visions, the Assassin Queen was unsurprised at the dead look in her brother's eyes. Whereas Anastasia had her Assassin Queen persona as a higher version of herself, a promise to fight for a better universe, Matthias's Solares was the opposite. The personality and concept did not belong only to him, but also to an ancient creature responsible for mass destruction and to its divine creator: the dreaded Licentius. Every bit of power that damned god granted him must have seemed to draw him closer to his predecessor’s horrifically cursed destiny. According to him, he would be one of the worst things to ever occur to the universe, but an entire galaxy was telling him otherwise. As a result, Anastasia could understand how Matthias the brother, friend, and protector could feel like a lie in the face of the horrible, savage, world-ending incarnations of Solares that existed millennia ago.
It must be hard to struggle with an idea of yourself, Anastasia thought while looking at Matthias's struggle to maintain confident posture, especially when you never had a self in years. She watched her brother explode into a morbid, despairing laugh.
"My brother has a point. You have literally been the guardian angel fighting for a galaxy that wants to eat itself!" Sagittari never spared words when she spoke them, "Your reputation as a defender of the people and your willingness to fight for them, time and time again, makes you the perfect figure to rally behind, Matthias. Even if certain forces tell you otherwise..."
Solares looked at her with apprehension. "Rally behind me? That is ironic, a Sun God of War purposed to eradicate whole cultures in the name of divine justice, leading people to the promised land."
Anastasia could not avoid speaking. "It isn't too ironic, Matty." The King of Demons turned to her, beckoning to continue. "You and I, all of us, we have done too much for Cruvelia to forget. Even tonight, we are liberating this planet from Zudra’s claws!"
"We are…"
"So, it wouldn't be surprising if they called all of us to lead them, to lead the whole galaxy in fact."
"I know, but do they truly want a thing with my origins representing the galaxies of a free universe?"
"I’m guessing they’d want the so-called angels maintaining the Zudrian war machine and others like it instead?”
Solares only hung his head, and his shame was palpable. Even after the incidents in which he nigh took his life, he had yet to truly share his sorrow with the brothers and sisters of his new clan. The Assassin Queen looked to her kin for support and saw only a series of concerned expressions that gave her some idea of how her own face must have appeared. She was clearly not the only one helplessly watching her brother’s pain.
"The name, Solares," the Demon King mumbled, "is tied to a supernatural abomination who made entire stars scream. Everything that thing did, was done in the name of my god's wrath."
"But there's more to you than that—" Anastasia was cut off before she could continue.
“Listen, Anastasia… nothing can truly excuse the path I chose to tread to receive my power. I was a small boy, a weak small boy, who wanted to become powerful just to face Zudra, and what did I do? I agreed to a god’s desire to make me his new sword and shield. Every punishment I carried, every word of abuse I threw at other members of the Order, all of that was done in his name. I faithfully obeyed, I voluntarily ceded my life to him, I made myself a slave!”
“No!” Anastasia roared. “You are Matthias Orion Majoris-DeUmbra, my brother, a Shadow. You are standing amongst Cruvelia’s greatest defenders! You don’t belong to that fucking sorry excuse of a crusader god! Don’t you dare let his cult define you!”
She seized his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.
But he did so only with dying, confused eyes.
No one in the Shadow pack had a word to say that could disperse the tense aura shrouding them all. Bullets popped and peppered from districts nearby, barely audible where the Demon King and Assassin Queen stood.
“Worry not about me, Anastasia,” Solares gently pulled her hands from his face and held them as he exhaled, leaving the others visibly unsettled, “I will be fine, still the king, always alive, after nearly a century and a half of war. Nothing manages to kill me.”
His irises and sclera flashed with the same black and orange as the sky behind him as he strode forward ahead of the group. Mei gave Sagittari a silent nod before falling into step in the wake of his billowing cloak. Her nod then passed onto Fomalhaut. He clenched his knuckles, but the nod carried onward until it reached the Assassin Queen herself. They had no other option: they could only follow the Demon King across the ruins, support him without being able to heal him.
Anastasia snapped out of those thoughts and caught up to her clan.
One day you’ll see, the Assassin Queen clenched her fist as she walked, one day you’ll see how beautiful the universe is with you in it, and when you do, Licentius will finally fall.