Author note : Hi guys, GSD REDDY here and I am back with another chapter.
Edit - Self edited.
This is the SECOND chapter sponsored by our supersweet donor InsaneHyde of U.S. So guys join me in a biiiiiiiiig round of applause to thank InsaneHyde for his generosity.
Enjoy and thank you.
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Betrayal upon betrayal :
Riddick stood in mid air with Atlee as he waited for Liam. Soon they were able to see the figure of Liam flying towards them. The army of Jehu empire were instantly filled with confidence as they saw Liam's figure.
However, Liam's face was ice cold as he flew towards Riddick. He snorted lightly and raised his hand. Riddick smiled as he saw through Liam thoughts.
"Swoosh!"
A razor sharp blade of energy swept the battlefield as Liam slashed the skies with all his might. Countless screams filled the sky, out of fear, surprise, anger and dismay.
Liam's strike clearly split apart any deva who stood in his path. His face was cold as he raised his head and said in a loud voice, "I, Liam have come to accept your offer Riddick. You will honour your word, won't you Riddick?"
Riddick smiled as he heard Liam. With just an simple action, he showed everyone that he was serious. By killing his own allies, he showed everyone that he was siding with Riddick.
By openly proclaiming those words, he was showing Riddick that he was not having any second thoughts. All these were accomplished within seconds and with a mere loss of less than ten devas. It was a very intelligent way to gain Riddick's trust.
Seeing his actions, Riddick couldn't help but admire the man in front of him for a second. Even though his family was murdered and even though he was facing the mastermind behind the incident, Riddick himself, Liam maintained his state of mind. This was a rarely seen quality even amongst cultivators.
Revenge can be achieved in two ways. The first is by direct annihilation of your enemy but the most painful one is by betraying him after you earn his trust. Liam eyes showed Riddick the conviction of a man who is hell bent on killing him.
Riddick liked Liam for that for he always believed in one thing. You can trust a bitter enemy much more than a good friend. Friends are weak, they get jealous very easily and they betray without a second thought when given a chance. On the other hand, bitter enemies are strong. They live to kill you and thus will always choose the best course of action.
(AN - There are always exceptions. No offence meant to any of my friends )
In chess, a grandmaster can easily defeat someone who always uses the best move possible in any situation but he definitely can't defeat another grandmaster so easily for the best move is always predictable.
A grandmaster fighting another grandmaster won't always involve the best moves. They involve deception and trickery, to fool you into a trap.
Similarly you can guess what an enemy is going to do but you can never guess the same about a friend. Countless years of suffering and countless betrayals have made Riddick unable to easily rely on others.
Riddick smiled lightly and asked in a calm voice, "Oh! I thought that you had no interest in revolting against your own brother Liam. Why did you have such a sudden change of heart?"
Liam snorted lightly and explained about the assassination of his family. Even Atlee's face changed when he heard about the entire events. Liam simply skipped about entire talk with his brother and Minister Chu. He said to Riddick what he would have wanted to hear from him.
Riddick maintained a calm expression and said in a low voice, "I am sorry about the matter regarding your family. It truly pains my heart but I have to ask you something Liam. You see, I can't let you into my ranks without confirming your objective."
Liam nodded lightly and said, "I am ready to answer anything."
Riddick smiled lightly and asked in a cold voice, "Do you know, there are empire and clans which cull their own descendants to protect the remaining from harm and extinction? Tell me, Liam, why are you so sure that this entire chain of events only involved the second prince, Jasper? Why are you so sure that your elder brother, Morgan the Emperor isn't involved at all?
After all no matter how you think about it. Your entire family was massacred while the only thing that happened to his family was the assassination of his daughter-in-law. She is just a woman who was married into his family. His son can always marry another.
I find it too suspicious Liam. Aren't you too trustful? That is a dangerous quality in our age and time Liam."
Riddick's words exploded like thunder in Liam mind. Liam's face became pale as he never thought of this possibility. No, he could never think about this possibility because he was lead away from it by Minister Chu.
If Riddick could aim to cause a rift between Morgan and himself then why couldn't Morgan try to use him as a scapegoat to win the war? Liam mind questioned itself.
In the first place, there were many things that can't be explained with logic regarding the attack on his family. How can a man enter the Imperial palace and kill so many people without alerting the guards? The second prince, Jasper obviously didn't work alone so he should definitely have an ally.
If someone did sneak into the palace, how did he escape? In the first place, why was his entire family assembled in one room? Why wasn't that room guarded? Why did his families personal servants didn't show up as soon as they heard the sounds?
Liam mind began to reel as he thought about them all. He couldn't help but think of a dreadful scenario. His family was the second highest family within the Imperial household. The only one who can assemble them all without reason and at a short notice was the emperor himself.
Liam began to grind his teeth as he thought back to the talk between himself and Minister Chu. Chu managed to completely side track his objective of killing Jasper by telling him that Jasper was obviously controlled.
In that heat of moment he didn't think about it but now that he thought about it. Just who can mind control a Yaksha so easily? What kind of power would one need to achieve that feat? If someone can really do that then why the round about way? He can simply massacre the entire army and seize the empire.
Riddick stood silently noticing the various emotions on Liam's face. Riddick face didn't change for the entire duration but inwardly he was laughing silently. Riddick shook his head and thought to himself, "Now one final blow and you will give yourself to me Liam."
Riddick sighed lightly and asked in a calm voice, "So Liam, did you talk to this second prince? I am sure that with your age and experience you could have at least gotten a clue regarding the truth behind this incident. Did you?"
Liam raised his head and looked at Riddick. He shook his head blankly. As he shook his head, he thought about the suggestion made by Minister Chu. Chu asked the Emperor Morgan to lock Jasper away until the war was over.
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Liam's face was now boiling with anger as he understood everything. He bit his lips until they were bleeding as he understood how his brother fooled him. He body trembled as he remembered about his family. He couldn't help but shake in utter madness as he thought about his brother's innocent and pitying face while he stood there in the audience chamber.
"Why? Why? Why did you do this to me brother? Why? I was faithful to you. I did all your dirty work. I worked as your mere underling. I didn't want anything expect your trust all my life and the worst thing of all, I thought that I had it." Liam muttered to himself in a voice which felt like it encompassed everything including anger, love, despair and madness.
Far away from the battlefield, Morgan was sitting in his study as Chu..aka... Dragon was explaining the circumstances of war to him. His heart suddenly felt tight and his face became pale all of a sudden. Fear appeared in his eyes as he suddenly remembered about Liam.
Dragon noticed the changes and immediately gave Morgan a glass of water. Morgan drank it and asked in a low voice, "Are you sure that my brother will be safe Senior Chu? I suddenly have a bad feeling."
Dragon nodded his head and said in a calm voice, "Yes, he is safe your majesty. Don't fear about anything. Even if it comes to the worst, Lord Liam can escape with his life. He is after all a third tribulation Yaksha."
Morgan nodded his head and returned to his papers but deep within his heart he still felt unease. What he didn't know was the change in Liam?
Riddick turned his head and looked over at Atlee. Atlee looked at Riddick as Riddick signalled him to look after Liam. Atlee sighed inside his heart and strode forward and comforted Liam. No matter what, both of them were brothers and above all, both had suffered because of their own family. That was enough to spark a comradeship between them.
Riddick left them alone and flew back. At a desolate mountain a few kilometres away from the battlefield, a man was standing with sharp eyes. He was watching the battlefield and every movement of Riddick with utmost concentration. Beside him, June was standing as she too watched the battlefield.
As Riddick landed before them, both of them nodded and greeted Riddick respectfully. Riddick nodded his head and said, "How is everything going on June?"
June raised her head and said in a calm voice, "Today's losses were great master. We lost over a thousand devas and about twenty Yakshas. This is a huge loss for a single day. The way this war is going, I fear that I won't be able to maintain the morale of the army for long. We may soon be facing a revolt."
Riddick nodded his head and said, "Don't worry, we will soon have more allies. However, we will have more enemies as well. This war is soon going to sweep the entire Underworld."
June and Roger looked at each other and asked at once, "Master, why are you even waging this war? I know that an empire is a very influential and powerful force but our enemy, Krum can easily overthrown a hundred empires. So why?"
Riddick laughed lightly and said, "Do you know how the three empires have survived the chaotic times of Yaksha realm. Underworld can now said to weakest of all continents but before Stellar Millennium, it wasn't. There were many experts who could shock the world. However, the three empires still managed to exist. How did they do that?"
June shook her head and so did Roger. Even though they did know about Underworld since ages. They never really tried to investigate about it. Now that they thought about it, it was indeed really strange.
Riddick was able to make an empire shake with just a few hundred Yakshas and ten thousand devas. Contrary to their reputation of being unconquerable for hundreds of millennia. The Jehu empire was starting to crumble slowly. That didn't make any sense.
If Riddick could do that then why couldn't those ultimate experts of Underworld. Roger and June nodded their heads in realisation and asked in a low voice, "So how did they manage to survive for so long master?"
Riddick smiled lightly and pointed at Atlee and Liam a few kilometres away. "They will be the key which will solve this puzzle. As I said, this war is only a means for us to achieve our goal. Unfortunately or fortunately, Atlee just happened to stumble upon our path."
Riddick's eyes were cold as he looked at Atlee and licked his lips. June looked at Atlee and then at Liam and asked in a calm voice, "Who do you think will betray us first master?"
Riddick smiled widely and said, " It Doesn't matter. Whether it is Atlee betraying us or Liam betraying Atlee. Whether it is Atlee betraying Liam or both of them betraying us together. It doesn't matter. They are all within my palm.
No matter who betrays whom, no matter who trusts whom. It doesn't matter because I have already broke them all into pieces. Now all I have to do is to use them as my pawns."
A million kilometres away from the Jehu empire, a man slowly walked into the wild marshes of the Brown desert. A woman was sitting on a rock beside a large oasis with a skewered snake in her hands.
The man bowed lightly and said, "My lady, the war between the mysterious army and the Jehu empire is reaching its climax." He then proceeded to tell the entire events of the day including Riddick's appearance and Liam's revolt. He then asked in a respectful voice, "What is your order, My lady?"
The young lady turned over and looked at the man with her fox like eyes. Her dark black hair flowed behind her back creating an enchanting look. She smiled lightly and said, "Go pass on a message to the person who commands that army, The ruler of the Silician Alliance, Nina wishes to meet him."
The man was suddenly taken aback. Nina looked at the man and narrowed her eyes. She smiled lightly and asked in a charming voice, "What is it?"
The man bowed his head again and said in a respectful voice, "My lady, I dare not question your decision not do I dare to find fault with them but I plead my lady to be careful. These people are unknown to us. we hold no record of them.
I think it is dangerous for you to meet the person known as Riddick. From what I could observe he is extremely complicated. He can make Yakshas his servants and he can conceal his presence."
Nina laughed lightly and narrowed her eyes. She then smiled and said, "That's why I wish to meet him Burdock. Why do you think he showed up today of all days? He is inviting me and the Leon empire.
He showed us his strength today and gave us a choice. Would we join forces with him or with the Jehus?" Nina's eyes held a seductive charm as she said, "Burdock, I wanna meet this man. Tell him, if he can satisfy me, he can get more than just an empire."
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The fun isn't gonna end just yet.