Lin and Rion encountered a confused-looking Sigfreid. The older man wasn’t surprised that they were together, no he was wondering why he was being boxed in by four people yet only recognized two personally.
“Whats going on Rion?” Siegfried asked.
“An assassination attempt or two. I would like your assistance in a project.” Rion started with crossed arms.
Siegfried sighed. “I don’t believe I have the ability to..”
“Thats after. I need answers old man.” Rion entered a brawler stance with obvious flaws his body cloaked in flames.
Lin summoned sharpened icicles that were raised above and pointed right at Sigfried.
“Rion, you don’t know what you are doing!” Bill took a step back the two he sensed before keeping their distance.
“You don’t know me as well as you think. Old man.” Rion cocked his head to the right as though he were mad. While motioning to something in that direction.
“Fine, I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“Great! Where is the Death Tyrant? I know they’re alive and in hidding. If you can’t answer that then tell me how the Beastblood Emperor is related to them.” Rion approached while cracking his knuckles.
“You don’t know what you ask welp.” Siegfried seemingly caught on and raised his sword in a defensive stance.
Lin raised her hands upwards as her icicles shot up and spread out into a five-point magical circle, a spell to prevent anyone under expert from teleporting in or out of the space while limiting some at the lower expert tier. The main weakness of this ability was that it required her full focus, and it didn’t prevent short-range teleporting within the space.
“It’s over!” Rion punched forward with his left fist, as a large ball of fire shot forward, yet held little to no actual heat despite the excess mana that saturated the fire.
Siegfried cut through the ball with his sword and watched as an explosion of flame engulfed everything in sight blinding everyone who relied on their eyes to see.
----------------------------------------
A loud crack could be heard followed by the sound of a muffled scream before the flames faded and a confused Edwin lay on the ground seizing as lightning passed through his body rupturing organs and frying nerves. Ander stood over the restrained figure and scowled.
Laying across from Edwin was a restrained member of team Sunburst, their expression vacant and body limp despite no obvious physical wounds.
“Well pops. Those fishing lessons proved really useful.” Rion smirked as he looked at Siegfried.
“How in the abyss did you figure that out?”
“That there were people watching us? That you were my father? Or that you’d be in this general area around this time?” Rion smiled.
“Father? Thats the dragon slayer… His..” Edwin hissed.
“Ander. Raise the voltage. If he can talk then he can fight.”
Edwin let out a bestial roar as his body began to fail and his brain began to take damage.
Rion focused mana into his eyes and began to look through Edwin’s skull, watching as the brain was sufficiently damaged. “Stop.”
Rion didn’t yell the command, nor did he raise his voice. Yet the tone he used held a strange power behind it, one that did not beg hesitation or disobedience.
Ander stopped instinctually as the hair on his arms began to rise. “Right.”
“Good.” Rion approached the temporarily paralyzed Edwiin and placed a hand on his head before he filled it with healing and purifying mana.
The screams Edwin let out came from deep within his core causing blood to leak from his eyes and ears while his body went limp.
“I thought you said you couldn’t harm an expert?” Ander asked in a monotone.
“I’m healing him.” Rion replied bluntly as he took a step back.
“Can’t harm an expert? What are you talking about?” Bill asked.
“Made a deal with thay lying goddess. That that it matters.”
“Lying goddess?” Bill scowled.
“I’d rather not elaborate and get smited.”
“What’s going on?” Lin watched as Rion roughly threw his mana into his target, something most healers would never do, especially when working on their target's brain.
Edwin’s right eye exploded into a paste before rapidly regenerating, causing Ander to turn green as he left the scene.
“What the hell Kyr?!” Ander yelled as he was covered in gore.
“Quite down.” Kyrion watched as Edwin’s gauntlet arm fell off and a fresh arm grew in its place. He then picked up the discarded limb and tossed it to Bill before he stabbed his hand through Edwin’s stomach and pulled out a yellow mono-eyed creature with one arm and a large mouth.
”Grafted limbs?” Bill asked as he examined it carefully.
“Close.” Rion covered the creature in his hands with white flames. The strange creature tried to jump into his body before failing as the flames grew hotter and hotter, turning it into ash in moments.
“But no cigar.” Rion dusted the creature off and approached the unconscious Edwin.
“What’s going on?” Lin asked.
“Why would Imala give me the ability to turn demons into ash without killing the host?” Kyrion asked his father.
“Oh. Oh no.”
“What?” Lin looked at Bill with suspicion.“
“It’s about your uncle. One known across the world as the Demon Lord.”
“Wait. What!” Lin summoned two lances of ice pointing one at Bill and the other at Rion.
“Hmm? First I’m hearing about a demon lord.” Kyrion said honestly.
“The Beastblood Emperor, through a dark ritual, took over his body like that of those demons you’ve been encountering.”
“Ah, so he was a demon lord before that happened.” Kyrion nodded having caught on.
“I won’t say he was a saint, but his soul was shunted from his body. Every fifty years there is a trial that Imala puts a number of experts through a crucible, those who come out alive are marked somewhere on their bodies with a number. The strongest of them are marked on their hands with a number. Your grandfather was ranked one before he lost his arm, your uncle was ranked number 18, your mother was 76 due to her indirect fighting style, and I was just a fledgling back then.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Wait… Fifty years ago? And my mom was already an expert? How old…”
“Don’t ask a question your better off not knowing the answer to.” Lin kindly informed Kyrion.”
“You were a praitioner when Bill was born.” Kyrion said bluntly.
“That had more to do with the war rappidly raising my potential.” Bill said bluntly.
“Is that so?” Kyrion latched onto the lie having finally picked up on his father's tic.
“Thats where I would like to end it.” Bill stated.
“You don’t get to choose your parents. But, your uncle was a demon before he was possessed by one. The Malkit Genocide took my grandfater along with most of my other family.” Lin kept the points ready to strike.
“Genocide? Thats never the answer.” Kyrion stated.
“Genocide is the answer, and the question is who’s next.” Edwin said unconsciously.
“Ah. Well the truth serum finally kicked in… And that’s not helpful.” Kyrion eyed Edwin with suspicion.
----------------------------------------
“You killed his demon, why is he still?” Ander asked.
“Yeah. He was evil before the demon boosted him to expert. It takes time or mental trauma to break ones mind prior to full possession.” Bill informed the youths.
“For a liar you sure like to throw evil around rather generouslly.” Kyrion kicked the slowly rising Edwin in the head, sending them flying into a building.
“What else…” Bill started before he was soundly interrupted.
“What was that for?” Lin asked, her spell almost forgotten.
“He deserved it. But no, he’s really back down to early practitioner. How lame.”
“How can you tell that by a kick?”
“I wouldn’t have broken his jaw with a light kick like that if he was an expert or higher practitioner.”
“Are you sure you aren’t a vivisectionist?” Ander asked.
“I never said I wasn’t. But not particularly. I prefer the term surgeon though and would rather heal and adjust closed wounds if possible. Also, people scream less when I apply anesthesia.” Kyrion grabbed Edwin by the neck and picked him up. He then began to slowly walk back towards the group.
“Whats going on?”
“Who is your master?” Kyrion asked as he began to squeeze.
“You are. Milord.” Edwin replied as his daze faded and his own eyes widened.
“You said he had to tell the truth Kyr. What does he mean by that?” Bill asked worriedly.
“Later.” Kyrion said to Bill.
“No no no no no. That shouldn’t be! Master!” Edwin let out a scream as a hand exited his chest and ripped out his heart from within his body. The hand looked vaguely familiar before it retreated through what seemed to be a rip in space.
“Oh! That explains everything. The reason every attempt to kill you has failed! My blood spell was targeting the wrong person. What’s worse is that I can’t target you if I wanted to. How is your soul already that strong? Don’t get too cocky, we will meet soon, and I will shatter you for your insolance.” A distorted yet familiar voice spoke through the tear.
“Yeah yeah, buddy. If you can do so after going through the preferred channels, I’d appreciate it, as I already have a busy schedule and you currently aren’t a priority.” Kyrion put on a poker face and moved closer to the tear in space
“You don’t…”
Kyrion took out a pine cone filled it with fire mana and launched it through the tear as it passed he forcibly closed it with his space affinity.
“I know that voice.” Kyrion sighed.
“What did you toss in there?” Bill asked
“A glutteonous quillcone variant. When filled with enough mana the plant explodes sending needle-like appendages everywhere. The variant portion causes them to implant their seeds in anything they come in contact with and grow well, when attached to a living creature, that creature suffers through painful itching on top of uncontrollable bowel movements that get worse the more they’re stung. The gluttonous portion causes them to eat through anyone and anything, expert-tier bodies included. As this is a tool and not my magic, I don’t break any rules.” Kyrion put his hands behind his back.
“Which one of you is the villian?” Ander turned around and asked.
“I mean. He just ripped someone’s heart out.”
“And you spent the better half of ten minuets torturing someone.”
“I was exorcising the demon. On top of getting rid of some pent up anger. You know what happened. Given his response chances are he deserved more.” Kyrion crossed his arms before he fell to a knee.
Lin let out a scream as her barrier was shattered. She fell to a knee and the lances she had summoned vanished.
“Kyr! Move!?” Bill moved in front of Kyrion as a large red-haired figure appeared behind him with a pincer-like arm. In a swift motion, the claw wrapped around Bill’s neck and squeezed, instantly breaking his bones but not fully decapitating the bodyguard. He then tossed the man to the ground and began to move toward Kyrion.
“You made this easy revealing yourself to my benefactor. I have been waiting for this since you first pulled one over on me, five and a half years ago.”
“Ander take Lin and Run!” Kyrion commanded as the Beastblood Emperor approached him.
Ander grabbed the fading Lin and began to fly off.
“Not so fast.” The Emperor turned his arm toward the retreating duo and began to charge up a shot of some kind.
Kyrion put energy into his legs and leaped forward into the Emperor’s chest head first.
The Expert let out a surprised gasp as a syringe passed into his body and deposited a drug.
“What have you done? Why do I feel weird?”
The Emporer’s form wavered as his crab arm became that of a human.
“I am going to turn you inside out and make you live through the experience before I destroy you.” Kyrion said through darkened eyes.
“Thats… Ne…”
Kyrion closed the distance at a speed that left a resounding boom behind him as his fist impacted the armored individual and only managed to crack it.
“You shouldn’t attack when your betters are talking. How rude.” The Emperor brought a hand to Kyrion’s neck only for him to miss.
Kyrion countered with a sweep to the legs that caused the expert to fall onto a spear of earth
The expert twisted, landing a kick on Kyrion’s chin that sent him reeling.
“If only I had more time to prepare.” Kyrion tossed a pouch at the Emperor.
The Emperor smashed it with their hand and soon found himself covered in what appeared to be sulfur along with something else that make the man feel off.
Kyrion moved in and punched the expert in the same spot he had earlier. This time his punch connected and passed into the man’s internal organs.
“Well, thats new.” The Emperor looked own at Kyrion and wrapped both hands around his neck.
Kyrion, ever the optimist began to build up all of his mana at once should he die and let loose a surge of purifying fire..
The Emporer snapped Kyrion’s neck and was surprised that the spell hadn’t stopped and even more that the boy was still functioning.
Kyrion’s back began to glow as his features reverted to their natural state. In moments both he and the Beastblood Emperor were engulfed as something primal spoke through him.
Servants of the Betrayer, you do not belong in this world. Your existence is a sin. Yet you mettle in matters that should not. One of your ilk killing a fateless directly when they have yet to make the first move is bound for a penalty. The nature of the punishment will be decided by the Council of Eight, and the verdict carried out by the Shepard himself. This will be the second time an attempt of yours has made it this close to succeeding.
“Why is an Arbiter in his body?” The Beastblood emperor took a step back.
I did say that there was a first attempt. It’s been handled. Continuing further could be detrimental to your empire.
“What rule was broken?!”
A being from the higher realms can not interfere with those with no fate. For good or ill, unless procedures are followed.
“What is the penalty then?”
I can not say, but we may have an answer in three of this planet's years. Even then, I doubt you could understand it.
The figure within Kyrion faded and the boy fell to the ground, dead as information passed through him, Memories that weren’t his own were available to him as though they were first-person accounts. From his corpse a wave of powerful purification mana enveloped the beast blood emperor, causing him to stagger backward as something within him screamed in pain before falling to a knee. The expert however wasn’t injured enough to be defeated. He felt that his uncle’s soul was no longer in the man’s body as though it had been sent somewhere a long time ago and he was going to the same place.
Kyrion was now aware of the previous attempt in question, the one that led to his strange birth and current mana capacity. The gift bestowed onto him through his grandfather was planned. Jala had been trained to pick the other two spirits. He now understood that while the magic and affinities were within him, the spirits could depart after he reached the top of expert and become a master.
The sight of an enraged Bill having regenerated and charged the Emperor despite the gap did awaken a somewhat odd sense of pride. Despite being aware of his death Kyrion’s will lingered long enough to watch Lin escape and his father do his job. From there everything faded t black.
“There are so many experts but what makes a master?” Kyrion asked as he regained consciousness in the storage pool he found himself in when he died.
“A showing of mastery. Sometimes through large scale magic, other times through a hard fought combat, On a few rare occasions through the creation of something truely grand.” Said a familiar ancient serpent.
“Oh, great. I’m back here again.” Kyrion crossed his arms.
“Yeah. Looks like you had a run in with smeone you shouldn’t have encountered.”
“Where’s my father?”
“Who?”
“My dad. He died moments before I did.”
“Oh… That, He may have gone to a better afterlife.”
“There’s more than one?”
“About thirteen in total. This is the realm of lost souls. Its place for souls that have yet to decide who they are, and what they follow as well as incomplete beings. You my boy, have been here longer than you can remember.”
“Is that right?”
“It is. When you were brought back originally you decided to forget this place as you were quite spiteful of him slaying your father and wanted to give him nothing useful.”
“That sounds like something I’d do.” Kyrion sighed.
“There is no door yet, But you should be aware that this world lives on a erratic time scale.”
“All right then. Answer me this. What will I need if I want to bring my uncle’s soul back to his body?” Kyrion asked.
“You’ll need a soul bound bag, the ability to hide, and a lot of free time as you can not bring souls with you through the normal means.”
“Right…On a totally unrelated note, what is an Arbiter?” Kyrion asked the serpent.
“They are of the fourth iteration of sentience, servants of the great tree born from its flesh, or something. I was dead around that time.”
“Dead?”
“Well defeated mostly. There was no true death back then. No place for souls of considerable power to rest. Bodies had no shape as you know them now. The strong ate the weak and I was once the greatest of the strong. Not that it matters to one as young as you.”
Kyrion sighed despite not having lungs here. “Is that why I don’t have organs?”
“Movig on. Do you need to know anything?”
“What happens if you purify a time demon?”
“Their interactions are erased from the world and all memory directly pertaining from them are wiped from the universe. Dependiing on the range and power the creature will freeze time for anywhere from 1 year to 15 depending on how much of the world was touched.”
“I see. I’ll need to die again if I wish to stay here for a bit.”
“You’re beginning to sound insane.”
“Here me out. Something has been calling for me to come here, now that I’m here I belive that this was intended for better or worse and I’d rather not waste such an experience.”
“So you’re aware that your just a puppet for those much stronger than you.”
Kyrion looked at the serpent and sighed.” Those who use me will learn that I’m a vindictive tool at best and a wild card at worst.”
“I’ll keep that in mind and will be upfront. A long time ago, I did you a favor, if you come back again I’ll give you a task, on completion, I will give you access to something I locked away a long time ago.”
“No details?”
“Memories of a fool.”
“I see. How important are these memories?”
“How many times do you believe we’ve encountered each other?”
“At a minimum, this will be the second. Given you recognized me a bit after I ended up here. I now know that getting here isn’t easy.”
A white doorway appeared behind Kyrion, and he felt his body through the portal.
“It seems that you need to go.”
“Well then. Guess I should build a pyre then. I intend to go out big.” Kyrion hopped through the portal and re-entered his body.