Nero felt alive as the two dragons swirled around him. He impatiently waited for Ramses and Zara to plunge their dual attack down upon him, so he could he see their faces once he pulverized their attack into nothingness before counter-striking with his own attacks.
The dragons began to dance quicker and quicker around him, and he knew the pinnacle of their attack was nigh. However, the progression of the attack took a turn which utterly confused Nero.
The dragon emitting from Ramses dove towards Zara. And likewise, Zara’s dragon dove towards Ramses.
Nero steeled himself for the unexpected as he thought, “What is this trickery? They will not catch me off guard.”
However, both dragons continued as they simultaneously dove towards their targets grabbing each target in their gaping maws before exploding with great force.
Nero stood in place attack-ready unwilling to let his guard down even as the dust settled to reveal an incapacitated Ramses and Zara lying on the ground before him.
He remained lost in confusion until he finally realized a fourth person lurked hidden in the dust cloud. He called out in anger, “Who dares to interrupt my battle? Who dares to steal my pride on the battlefield?!”
His senses were refined in the midst of battle, yet he detected no one angering him further, “Show yourself! Coward!”
Then he heard soft footsteps walking opposite him on the other side of Ramses and Zara’s bodies with a voice calling out from the dust as it settled further, “You see, Nero. One does not need absolute strength to defeat an opponent. Using an enemy’s strength against them is just as effective. Isn’t it?”
Nero grunted and furrowed his brow as he saw Constance through the settling dust. She had her arms folded with a smug smile as she said, “We make a decent team together. Don’t we?”
Nero jumped forth tackling her to the ground and pinning her with his forearm against her neck gritting his teeth with anger. He brought his face inches from hers scowling down, “That was my prize to deliver to our Empress!”
Constance smiled, barely able to speak from the pressure of Nero’s forearm, “Do you mean to kiss me, Nero? I rather like your strong arm choking me. Is this why Xenia is so crazy for you? I see it now.”
Nero stared down at her scowling still. For a moment he acknowledged the similar beauty Constance shared with Xenia though he had never considered Constance attractive until she only just now joked about him kissing her.
He was then wrenched from his thoughts by Constance, “You asked who would dare to interrupt your battle?”
Nero nodded slowly, “Correct. You have no authority over me. I hope you have a convincing reason to interrupt a BloodStar Immortal on the battlefield.”
Constance once again spoke through the pressure of Nero’s forearm pinning her against the ground, “Empress BloodStar.”
Nero’s face began to morph from anger to understanding, and Constance nodded, “Uh huh. Xenia. She is arriving soon. And she wants Ramses and Zara alive for her wedding. Your wedding.”
Constance then raised her hand putting her finger under his chin, “I did steal your pride though. Why don’t you go ahead and steal a kiss from me. Xenia won’t mind. We both know that.”
Nero let up the pressure of his forearm against her neck, and he noted Constance’s disappointment. He couldn’t help but begin to notice for the first time that while Xenia was a class of beauty all her own, Constance’s illusion ki smoothed over any imperfections bringing her close to Xenia.
However, he stood and looked down at Constance, “If you plan to test my loyalty, you will succeed only in testing my patience.” He then looked to Ramses and Zara on the ground, “I have prisoners to tend to. Go play with your toy, Vega, instead.”
She stood up next to him and folded her arms again, “Oh I plan to. Though you won’t be surprised to know he doesn’t choke me quite like your massive forearm can.” She ran her hands up and down his forearm and smiled up at him knowing she was drawing his ire, “Are you really going to leave me to my imagination to wonder what your big hands could do around my neck?”
Nero would’ve slapped her across the plaza if he thought she wouldn’t have liked it; however, instead, he merely shrugged her off of him and continued to secure Ramses and Zara for his empress’s arrival.
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Constance once again stood with her arms crossed and smiled, “I’m off to carry out my other orders. My offer stands, Nero. Just ask Xenia. I can be a very fun girl.”
________________________________________________
Elsewhere, within the Heraklinos Empire, Jarek and Jacek stood on the palace training grounds while delegates and leaders from around the world gathered without them in the palace conference room.
Jacek eyed his father, “Shouldn’t we be in there discussing this?”
Jarek shook his head, “Events have taken us past the point of discussion. They don’t yet realize what has happened, but I do.”
“And what’s that? What has happened?”
Jarek sighed, “Xenia has inherited Victoria’s bloodline powers. The fools up there in the conference room don’t yet realize what this means.”
Jarek and Jacek exchanged looks before Jarek continued, “It means… Xenia is the most powerful person on this planet by a large margin. It means… that to win the coming battle… to win the coming war… well… the only way to win is by sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?”
Jarek nodded his head as he stared off towards the mountains, “Sacrifice.”
He then snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at Jacek again, “Before we continue anything pertaining to discussion. We must first train together.”
Jacek removed his tuxedo and dress shirt he still wore and changed out of his dress pants into a pair of white training pants.
Jarek did the same as both men walked to the center of the training grounds with their muscular upper bodies on full display.
Jarek and Jacek assumed positions opposite one another, and Jarek said, “The reason I stopped training you after imparting the basics of Perfect Warrior to you is that it becomes dangerous. Not dangerous to you or me. Dangerous to our world.”
Jacek frowned but nodded as he tried to follow along.
“Have you ever thought about it?” Jarek asked.
“Thought about what?”
“Thought about what would happen if we intentionally trained while both in Perfect Warrior?”
Jacek shook his head, “No. I guess not.”
Jarek’s body began to glow with a familiar ki as Jacek noted he had activated Perfect Warrior. Jarek then said, “Your turn.”
Jacek required quite a bit more ki to enact Perfect Warrior and rose his ki to much higher levels as he shrouded himself in the ki of Perfect Warrior.
Jarek then attacked him with a ki blast. Jacek took damage but also absorbed the energy due to Perfect Warrior.
“Now attack me back!” Jarek stood strong with his chest puffed out ready to take on an attack.
Jacek fired a similarly powered ki blast back at his father who allowed the blast to impact upon his chest.
Jarek then formed another even more powerful ki blast and threw it right back at Jacek. The blast exploded causing the ground to rumble, and Jacek absorbed yet even more power.
“Do you see the danger now?” Jarek calmly asked. “When we train together in Perfect Warrior, we create a feedback loop of power. Raw power. So long as we don’t cripple our bodies with damage, we can manufacture raw power. We can momentarily achieve power greater than even Xenia’s.”
A messenger came running up to both Master and Lord. The messenger had a dire look on his face as he held out an envelope without saying a word.
Jarek walked over to the messenger and grabbed the envelope. Jacek walked over as well and dismissed the messenger before turning to his father, “What is it?”
Jarek opened the envelope to remove a white card. He opened it to read:
“You are formally invited to my wedding not as guests but as enemies of war. I ruined your wedding. You are more than welcome to try to ruin mine. Sealed with a kiss of blood. Surely you recognize these lips.”
The card had an imprint of lips made in blood, and Jacek began to boil in rage as he knew the imprint must be Erika’s.
He cried out in anger and hurled a massive energy blast at the mountain range adjacent to the training grounds.
“WE ARE GOING! READY THE MEN!” Jacek huffed and puffed as he stared his father down.
Jarek shook his head and frowned, “We are not going. Perfect Warrior, in the manner in which we intend to use it, will take days to prepare. Maybe even weeks.”
Jacek lashed out, “Days?! Weeks?! We hardly have hours!! The world may not exist in days or weeks!”
Jarek nodded, “Xenia loves to toy and play. She could’ve killed us at the wedding. She didn’t. She wants the world to see her newfound power. She will wait for us.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Jacek stared down his father once more.
Jarek replied as he slowly nodded, “If she doesn’t. If the world is ablaze by the time we are ready…”
Jacek maintained his stare waiting for his father to finish.
“…then that is our sacrifice…”
Jacek began to shake his head in disagreement, “I refuse to sacrifice so much. I will take the men loyal to me from the Saber Fortress and rain on her wedding day myself if I must.”
Jarek barked at him, “That is what she wants!”
Jarek then calmed himself, “But if you insist, you may. I understand the need to act after losing Erika. She was a great woman. A great leader.”
Jacek nodded, “She was a great many things, but most of all she was prepared to work hard to maintain a lasting peace in this world.”
Both men paused for a moment reflecting on Erika’s death. Jacek felt somewhat guilty at his lack of crippling heartbreak, and Jarek perceived his son’s inner tumult. Jarek had long surmised that Jacek had made his choices based on what was right for the world rather than what he truly wanted.
Jarek thought to himself, “A basis which will serve him well going forward. Even now he acts to prevent more death rather than to avenge Erika’s.”
Jacek then sternly said, “You have another contingency too? Don’t you? If I should fall.”
“Mm. Yes. Maybe. The Starfallen Contingency.” Jarek nodded, “But you must understand that is an even longer shot than us training with Perfect Warrior.”
“I am leaving. I suggest you speak with her while I am away.” Jacek then turned and began to walk off the training grounds as he planned to muster a fighting force.