Chapter Eighty, "Wake Up, Witch."
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"Emperor... There have been even more reports..." A man bowed before Arthur, the Emperor in question squinting with a hateful expression.
"You may leave, I have taken note of them already." Heeding his words, the man did a full turn, swiftly exiting the throne room.
Just like that, Arthur was left alone once more.
Three weeks had passed since his sisters shenanigans, and the capital city of Sunvera was falling into turmoil.
Bad things had been happening.
People were falling sick with unknown diseases.
Babies were birthed dead.
Children and loved ones were going missing.
Even bodies, they were showing up out of nowhere.
By the end of the first week, he had instated a city wide curfew.
Everyone, by all means, were forced into their homes before thirty minutes after night fall passed.
Whispers were starting to spread throughout the city.
The people were questioning the power of their Emperor, and questioning their faith in their god.
They believed that god may have been punishing them for some unknown sins they committed. Eerily, there were even some that believed Malak had been reborn, and had come back to torment their civilization.
Worst of all, there were some rumors.
Rumors of a new religion. A faith in the true gods.
A faith following one called Satan... A real god that gave his followers true power.
Arthur sighed, pushing himself off of his throne.
His moved towards the side of his room, finding himself in front of a wall.
With reluctance, he pulled a torch.
Before his eyes, the wall peeled back.
A prototype alchemical creation. A door opening mechanism that didn't require him to push it open himself.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Pulling another level as he dove into the the stairway, the wall shut behind him.
He stepped downwards, traveling for nearly a minute before he emerged in a dimly lit room.
It was a dungeon of sorts, mossy stone walls surrounding him.
Looking straight ahead, there was a person.
A person shackled to the wall, and stripped of all clothes.
On her body were countless markings and etchings. Seals, and strange demonic runes had been written into her skin, and her long black hair covered her face as she hung forward.
Arthur approached her, kneeling just a little before her.
"Wake up. Witch." He commanded.
He slapped her on the cheek repeatedly, and slowly, she did awaken.
She looked up at him, a smile manifesting on her face.
"Veniet ad te unus, et non videbis lucem diei semel manus in corpore tuo." From her body came a deep, and multilayered voice. A voice that was clearly not hers.
He did not understand this language, but he could understand the negative, and almost mocking connotation.
"I do not speak demon. You know this by now."
By the end of the first week, Arthur had taken it upon himself to commit a deep investigation on the capital.
The result of this?
He discovered the cult spoken of within those rumors.
A clan of people that did not follow god...
But one which followed the demons of the underworld.
He was able to extract little information from this woman before she was overtaken by this entity.
He suspected she had contracted with a demon from below, and now that she was not in the most ideal situation, she had been stripped of control of her body.
Just looking at her with his eyes, he could tell she was only level one. Not a strong foe, but likely one of the stronger ones.
From what he had squeezed out of her, he was able to learn a few things.
They follow a man. A Warlock called One. He is the most powerful amongst them, and he is only a level above her in power.
There were thirty of them at her time of capture.
And the last thing he learned was that they were working under the orders of the king of demons himself.
Satan.
Casting curses and sacrificing unborn children...
Killing innocents and non-innocents alike.
They do it in an act of purging the world of sin.
To make way for the perfect entity, and give him a clean slate to start his reformation of the world.
Sighing, Arthur grabbed the face of the Witch before him.
She was no longer herself.
She was being ruled by some weak demon...
"I honestly no longer have any use for you... I guess I need to find someone to fill your spot." He brought her a little closer, staring deep into her eyes.
"Slash." Words of magic rolled off of his tongue, and a line of red appeared on the woman's neck. Abruptly, he throat was ripped open, blood pouring from the wound.
Her life left almost instantly.
At that same moment, her body started to twitch.
Her skin darkened, a black essence running through all of her veins.
She steamed, and her skin burned.
A screech escaped her, with a puff of black smoke leaving her mouth.
Then she finally keeled over.
"It seems I damaged the demon by killing her as well..." He could hear the same voice from before, screaming in pain as her life fully left the land of the living.
"Good to know."
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A hand reached for a door.
It had been three weeks, and he felt enough time had passed.
And considering the happenings within the kingdom, he was slightly eager to see what she had to say about it.
"Oh hey there old man!" A voice shouted from behind him.
Confusedly, Lokreum turned backwards, glancing over his shoulder.
He had just peered into the restaurant five minutes ago, and she was in there waiting?
In that small span of time she had exited and begun to wait outside instead?
He chuckled.
He turned fully, looking at the woman leant against a building on the other side of the street.
"Are you stalking me, Diana?"
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