Arterius had only appeared on Earth’s horizon for a few moments when the planet began to shake. The kilometer-wide circular field of dirt directly under him soon exploded outward, as if a bomb had detonated under the surface. Pieces of dirt spewed out dozens of meters high, throwing dust and debris everywhere.
Before the dust could even settle, a loud, incessant buzzing came from the ground. Arterius looked down at the obscured hole, his senses already warning him of a danger hurtling towards him. The constant buzzing got louder and louder, sounding almost like artillery fire, but Arterius simply stood in the sky, watching. Soon, a shadow darkened the cloud of dust, but still, Arterius only watched.
Then, all of a sudden, Arterius abruptly vanished from his spot, reappearing almost a hundred meters away. And not a second too late, as the massive mandibles of a hornet clamped down on the spot where he had stood just before.
Arterius took the sight of the giant insect before him in stride, not even balking at the sight of the kilometer-long abomination. The bug, which a human entomologist would identify as an Asian Giant Hornet, was the strongest of the Insect Monarch’s pets on Earth, a specialty made specifically for handling the mages of the Grand Order. After all, its strength would never have been needed for handling the mages on Earth.
But, faced with the most dangerous animal Earth had ever seen, Arterius simply smiled – the smile of an adult watching a child attempt to fight.
Without making even a single movement, a giant circle a few hundred meters across formed in front of him, filled with spiraling characters made of a golden light that appeared as if drawn by an invisible hand. They began at the outer ring and wrote their way around, spiralling inward until the entire thing was full. The characters were of an incomprehensible language, with patternless strokes unlike any Earthen language, but even a non-mage could tell that an unfathomable, archaic power was hidden behind them.
The second the entire circle was filled with the strange markings – a process that took only a fraction of a second – a singular purple bolt of lightning shot out from the center. It arced across the space in less than a second, charging the air around it as it moved.
The hornet sensed the danger, but it was too slow to save itself. With its massive body, it didn’t take very precise aiming to hit it dead in its center.
The bolt hit the bug like a truck, sending the thing hurtling through the air. Tiny purple arcs of lightning danced around the thing’s body as it flipped around and around in the air, but the bug quickly regained control of itself. Its massive wings beat hard, generating massive gusts of wind.
The second it stopped moving, it bolted towards Arterius with incredible speed, moving faster than anything its size had any right to.
Arterius simply smiled as the bug came towards him. With his hands still clasped calmly behind his back, three massive circles of golden letters appeared again. Out of them came three more bolts of lightning, each just as powerful as the first. But this time, the hornet was ready for it. Flying like an ace pilot, it pivoted around the bolts with expert control, dodging each strike by a hair.
The three bolts instead hit the ground behind the bug, setting off explosions that could have brought skyscrapers down. Massive craters were left behind in the wake of their landing, a testament to the horrifying power behind each spell.
The bug, having dodged each bolt, found itself only a few meters away from Arterius. Immediately, it clamped its mandibles shut with enough force to cleave a bus in half, but it was too slow. Arterius had already teleported almost half a kilometer above the hornet and cast his second spell of the fight.
Looking down from above the bug, the man created yet another kilometer-wide circle full of golden letters. Only, this time, the characters were noticeably in a different order.
The circle, parallel to the Earth’s surface, conjured a pillar of flames exactly as massive as it was. The flames pushed all the way down to the ground, crashing past the bug like it didn’t exist. The massive span of the spell completely encompassed the bug’s entire body, dousing the thing in bright orange flames. The flames ran down like liquid, maintaining the flow for almost a minute – as if a faucet of flames had opened above the Earth.
When the flames finally stopped, there was a massive circle of charred dirt where the fire had been, and inside the circle lay a gigantic, blackened body. The legs and wings twitched still, but the entirety of its face and body had been scorched till it was unrecognizable.
Arterius floated in the air, passively watching the dead animal, when a voice came behind him.
“As expected of the great Archbishop, the legend of Flazer Field, the right hand of Astros,” the voice said in mocking grandiose. “The harbinger of justice, the legendary holy knight, Arterius. To have dealt with my special pet with only two spells. And the most basic of spells, at that. Are you trying to embarrass me?”
Arterius sighed, turning to greet the man floating a few meters behind him. The man had a youthful face, his skin a pasty white that looked like it’d never been touched by the sun. Long black hair fell down to his waist, fluttering gently behind him. He was wrapped in loose robes similar to Arterius’ – only his were sky blue.
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His eyes, however, were undoubtedly his most striking feature. They almost glowed with a deep blue like the bluest ice of the Arctic, and they held the coldness to match. There was nothing in them except for a frigid indifference and an almost crazed resolve.
“I am not trying to embarrass you, Monarch,” Arterius responded to the man. “You simply embarrass yourself.”
The Monarch laughed placidly. “You look good, Arterius. Especially for someone coming up on ten thousand years. It’s hard to believe I’m a few centuries older than you.”
Arterius nodded. “You do have quite the youthful face. I would consider switching to your skincare routine, but unfortunately, not everyone can go around murdering billions without a single thought.” Arterius sighed, acting as if genuinely sad. “Some of us were cursed with souls, with compassion and empathy. Things you wouldn’t really understand.”
The Monarch sneered at the man’s words. “Oh, please. Spare me the righteous act. You and I both know the only reason the Grand Order even cares about me is because of the things I know. The old bats at the Council probably soil their pants every night knowing they can’t control someone who carries the knowledge I have.” The man grinned with glee as he spoke, reveling in his fantasy.
Arterius shook his head. “I don’t care about the politics of this. I am here because I will put an end to your crimes. I am here for justice, regardless of anything else.”
The Monarch laughed again. “Well, little Arterius, you are too late. I have already completed the rune for Planetary Sacrifice. If I were you, I’d turn back right now and head home as fast as I could. Because once I ascend…” he paused then, laughing loudly. “Then, there will be no stopping me. I will wreak havoc on the universe, I will murder your family and everyone you care about, I will feast on the corpses of-”
“I don’t understand people like you,” Arterius cut in, stopping the Monarch’s rambling. “I don’t understand what your end goal is. Is that really why you’re doing all this? So you can…feast on corpses?” he asked, sounding genuinely disappointed. “Is that what motivates you? And as for being unstoppable, you and I both know that’s not true. Sure, the Archbishops of the Grand Order will no longer be able to contain you, and the Council of Astros is too cowardly to try, but you won’t be unstoppable. Not in the whole universe. A few planets? Sure. You’ll be able to take a few planets of your choosing and do absolutely whatever you want with them, and no one would willingly pick a fight with you over it. But even if you had ten times the strength you’ll have after ascending, you wouldn’t dare step on the Seven Petals’ planet recklessly, or the home planet of the Celestial Palace. Or any of the five Lower Planets.”
The Monarch looked at Arterius, for the first time without the mask of arrogance on his face. “You ask what motivates me?” he asked, his voice cold. “I live to destroy. My goal is to destroy. You ask why I want power? So that I can obliterate everything with my grasp. Once I have ascended to the realm of Emperors, I will destroy everything I am able to. I will kill everyone I am able to. And standing on their bones, I will take the next step and do it again. And again and again, until the very universe is nothing but ash, burnt in the flames of my rage.”
Arterius shook his head at the Monarch’s words, true sorrow in his eyes. “What a sad, lonely road to walk.”
The Monarch snorted. “The universe put me on that path first. I wish simply to teach it how grave a mistake that was.”
“Unfortunately, Monarch, your story ends here. This will be the last planet that will burn at your hands. You won’t ascend, because we know how to stop you.”
The Monarch raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
“So long as there is a single living being on the planet aside from the caster, the rune will not complete, and you will not be granted the strength you crave.”
“You’ve done your research, I see. Congratulations. But do you really think I have no way of getting you outside of this planet’s atmosphere? After all, all I need is a single moment, a mere fraction of a second, and the rune will complete.”
Arterius didn’t respond, looking at the Monarch warily.
The Monarch laughed under Arterius’ scrutiny. “What? Why are you looking at me with such suspicion? I’m only going to blow myself up. I was about running out of time with this clone, anyway. Oh, but I do suggest shielding your ships. The blast won’t kill all of them, but I’m sure I’ll get thousands, at least,” he said, grinning viciously as he spoke. Glowing blue lines began to appear on his face, like his very blood was changing color. They spread all over his body, growing faster and faster while getting brighter.
Arterius stared at the Monarch in dumb shock, indecision coloring his face as he rapidly went over his options. But before he could decide, his wife’s voice came from behind him. “Don’t worry about the ships, Arterius!” she yelled. “The Cloud Saint and I will protect them.”
Both Arterius and the Monarch looked over to see the old woman and another man who sat cross-legged on a puffy white cloud, both of their hands stretched outward as they created a gigantic shield of golden light big enough to protect all twelve ships.
But the Monarch wasn’t one to let his plans be foiled so easily. With a grin, he shot forward toward the shield, his body a blur as he travelled faster than a bullet.
Immediately seeing his target, Arterius shot after the Monarch without a second of hesitation, not pausing to think of the consequences.
Aya, seeing both men rushing towards her, yelled out at her husband. “Arterius, no!”
But it was too late. The Monarch crashed through the golden shield like it was glass, immediately latching onto Aya. His body was more blue than skin as he wrapped his arms around the old woman, his detonation mere seconds away.
Following him came Arterius, his eyes wild as he desperately thought of a way to save his wife.
The Monarch grinned like a madman as he watched Arterius leave Earth’s atmosphere. As his body grew brighter and brighter, until it was almost blinding to look at, he laughed a crazed laugh. “You fools!” he exclaimed loudly. “The game is over! I have won!”
And then he exploded.