Novels2Search

True Madness

The Mzeshtet, a race of bug-like creatures who strive off of war on other planets, the leaders of the Mzeshtet keeping the rest of their race docile as to not cause a mass extinction event in where every other race in the galaxy will kill them for being a nuisance. Because of the leaders' decisions to be peaceful with other planets or solar systems, those planets and solar systems will sometimes contract the Mzeshtet to finish a war on a planet for them, the Mzeshtet becoming a mercenary nation for the sake of winning a war without losing any lives on any other races side other than the Mzeshtet.

The leaders are the only ones in the Mzeshtet that wear any sort of armor or use any sort of technology for that matter, the rest of the Mzeshtet opting for chaos rather than safety.

The Mzeshtet are a humanoid race, a thick black carapace covering the outside of their body, mandibles clacking together near their mouths, hunched over while claws protrude from their wrists, some of the race having similarities to beetles or even mosquitos, while the rest of them have more of a likeness to ants. The leaders of the Mzeshtet look similar to wasps, wings coming from their back as they are covered in formal wear, or if in battle, a Mexe, swords, et cetera.

Commentaries from the Abyss, Ludis Minor, Commander of Terra.

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"You want to gamble!?" Ishval yells in the middle of the ballroom in front of the Gambler and Ren standing beside him, "What are you on about Human?"

The Gambler clears his throat, "It was Ren's idea, not mine. My specialty is gambling so - a duel for Ren's freedom, I will choose gambling as the method of victory." The Gambler shrugs.

"Why are you so lackadaisical!?"

"It's funny seeing your reactions. Never thought it'd be that entertaining but here I am."

"Ren, are you serious about this!?"

Ren sighs, "Yes, it's better than being cramped in a castle as a princess, isn't it? It's obvious I would run at some point so be glad that it resulted in this."

Ishval sneers, "Why can't you be reaso-"

The Gambler cuts Ishval off, "You're being unreasonable, objectively speaking."

"Objective!?" Ishval growls, "I challenge you to a duel to the death, no gambling, no fucking games!"

"You don't want to do that."

Ishval takes off a glove and throws it at the Gambler's feet, "We will see, Gambler!"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The Gambler sighs, a disappointed expression going across his face. "Do you want to do this right now, sir?"

"Yes!"

Ren sighs, "Damnit all..."

The Gambler clicks his tongue, "When do you want to start?"

The King, Yol'itep Piolari - only referred to as the King, He sneers as he enters the room, sword in hand, throwing it to Ishval. "Kill him Ishval!"

Ishval lets out a light chuckle as he unsheathes the blade given to him, the glistening silver shining across the entire ballroom. People watch in awe, Ishval speaks, "This blade is called the Neen'act Sadrac, an ancient blade known to cut through any metal or shield known to man, do you still wish to face me?"

"You're going to want your shield." The Gambler suggests, lowering himself to the floor, playing with dust.

"I only need my skin!"

Ishval incases himself in a hard scaly shell, the lights of the ballroom shine across his shiny carapace, sword in hand. The Gambler taps the rings on his thumbs and two short swords appear in his hands. "We should've just gambled..."

'What a rude awakening...' The Gambler thinks to himself as he examines the angered Ishval in front of him. 'Aren't I handling this a little too well?' The Gambler continues, confused by his oddly calm demeanor. Ishval goes into a fencing stance and moves towards the Gambler. The Gambler changes the look of one of his blades, long gaps appearing in the middle of one of them meant to catch another's blade and break it. The Gambler nods to Ishval, who moves in closer, attempting to stab the Gambler, he moves to the side, tapping the tips of his blades against Ishval's sword. The Gambler looks impressed for a moment as the suit automatically deflects most of Ishval's attacks.

Ishval distances himself, attempting to understand how the Gambler fights. 'I won't need the autopilot anymore.' The Gambler thinks to himself, taking a deep breath. Ishval goes to stab the Gambler, the Gambler, in response, takes the back of his sword breaker blade, placing it on top fo the Neen'act Sadrac, twisting himself to appear on Ishval's right while his blade was still connected to his, breaking Ishval's sword. The Gambler quickly transitions into using his other blade, bringing it across Ishval's chest, causing him to fall to the floor. Everyone was baffled by what they had seen. The Gambler exhales as Ishval checks his wound, which isn't there, only the residual pain he would normally felt if cut like that. The Gambler points to his swords.

"Pretty ingenious right? One can break swords while the other causes pain." The Gambler comments, looking at his blades with a proud expression on his face. "I won, right?"

Ishval gets up, composing himself.

"I know what you guys are thinking. Are you willing to face the consequences? The Quiz'heir Mazak may come and hunt you all like rabid dogs, you are aware of this? You guys did create them after all just for occasions like these when you were a more reasonable society."

Ishval cringes in annoyance, the carapace from before dissipating. "I was wea-"

"The pain receptors from my blade bypass armor."

"This is... bullshit."

"You would've stood a chance gambling, gambling is determined by luck after all, not by objectivity. If it was hand to hand combat it would've been more like an actual match related to gambling as well since anything could happen in such a situation but we decided to use swords, it doesn't matter if you have experience if someone in front of you is smarter than you, and has experienced madness incarnate."

"What?"

"It's a figure of speech I created, may we go now?"

The Gambler takes Ren by the hand and sprints out the door to the ball. "What's going on!?" Ren asks as she is dragged along by the hand.

"I don't want to stick around long enough to where they get even angrier you know? Some people like them wouldn't care if something stronger than them has a rule that was as stated before you know? Especially the King."

"My..." She stops herself.

"See?"