The look of hatred on the Astrologer’s distorting face brought joy to my heart as I looked on from my prone position. “Imbue Null!” The skills that were launched at him suddenly stopped, as I saw a wave of energy emerge from his body. He kicked off the ground right for me.
Air Burst! I had to escape, which was making it difficult to counter the tumor inside of my head and isolate completely. He was getting closer and closer. I had mere seconds left until he was on top of me. Looking around the Astrologer had formed more sonic constructs.
“Life Refraction!” The words boomed across the plaza. Air Burst. Acid Shot. I sent myself upwards as the energy from the Astrologer’s skill reached me. Acid Shot only slowed down the attack and dispersed it slightly, before it hit me and forced the Astrologer to dodge to the side. I focused on my energy and its flow, just like I did against curse damage. I could feel the energy digging into me and into my body.
The attack had been centered over my right hip, and already I could feel the tendrils of energy racing through me. His tiny hand reached out towards me. Acid Shot! The skill was blow apart into a ring, the Astrologer not slowing down. Air Burst.
I was out of energy, as I shot away from him. That was when a beam attack struck the Astrologer head on and pushed him back. Soldiers rushed in and began using all types of skills at him. My protection detail raced over, picked me up and quickly began to carry me away towards the Imperial Palace.
There was a big desire to stay and watch, but I needed to address the damage he had done to me before it could settle in and become even worse curse damage. The last sight I saw of the Astrologer was of him trying to escape, but soldiers were surrounding him rapidly. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I thought and went back to focusing on the curse damage, as I was quickly carried towards my anti-curse room, which doubled as a bunker.
Racing inside, my soldiers set me down on my reclined chair and two remained behind while the rest secure the doors on the other side. They weren’t to open them unless I was unconscious and needed treatment from outside, I gave the order, or I was dead.
“Let me focus,” I gasped out. The soldiers saluted and remained quiet as I went back to solely focusing on the inside of my body. That last attack by the Astrologer had been powerful, but it was a ranged attack. There was a reason he had been racing towards me. The smaller distance helped, but he hadn’t been touching me.
If he had, I would have died or whatever he had wanted to happen would already have happened. It was a struggle to focus on both the tumor in my head and the area around my hip, but there was nothing else I could do at the moment. And the best thing I could do was to resolve my injuries while the line between them and my personal energy was very clear.
Already, I was pushing back the foreign energy that had gotten into my hip. Surgery would be helpful and would resolve the issue right away. There was a tree like tumor there, stretching out inside of me and towards my organs and right leg.
The pain was quite bad, but nothing I hadn’t experienced countless times. The climb up the tower had been much worse in some ways. At least here I was comfortable and could wait out whatever was happening outside.
The soldiers rotated out, but two of them stayed with me in the anti-curse room at all times. While it was highly unlikely, the risk of someone using a remote attack towards me was not out of the realm of possibility. That was why, with my body still unable to move, I wanted them in here.
After an hour, I was finally in control of my body and had isolated both the tumor in my head and the other tumor in my hip. My right leg had a hard time moving, but that was due to body damage. I slowly got up.
“Emperor Michael, do you need anything?” the soldier named Berry asked me in a muffled tone. While I had some hearing damage, and my burn damage, that wasn’t too important right now. I had dealt with worse in the past.
“Take me to General Abdullah. I need a cane to help me walk for right now.” Berry saluted and ran off. Another soldier entered the room. To keep the buddy system going strong. Berry came back a couple of minutes later with a metal walking stick.
“The General is in the conference room with Supreme Governor Clarissa,” Berry said. I nodded at that and very slowly made my way over there, while suppressing the curses in my body. If they told me anything besides the Astrologer being dead, I was going to be incredibly pissed.
Hobbling my way through the hallways of the Imperial Palace with my protection detail I finally reached the conference room. I was let inside and the two people managing this nightmare quickly came to their feet and bowed towards me.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I made my way to the chair at the head of the table which had been draped with the flag of Purgatory for my makeshift throne. I sat down and put the cane on my lap. Clarissa and General Abdullah sat down as well as the doors were closed. Both had grim looks on their faces, which meant bad news. Also the fact that neither of them was speaking up first meant that neither of them wanted to be the one to share it.
Well I would throw Clarissa a bone since I liked her more and General Abdullah had been managing the soldiers and the encirclement. “Is the Astrologer dead?” I asked.
“No Emperor Michael,” he replied.
“And why is that when he was encircled?” I asked softly, trying to contain my rage and emotions, so I didn’t lose my grip on the curse damage.
“He disappeared. I suspect he maneuvered through an energy layer. We surrounded the area and spread out, holding hands, and forming rows of soldiers, but he completely vanished once you had departed the plaza. There is still another matter. An airship continues to circle above us,” the General replied.
“The only one with aerial capabilities is yourself,” the General finally said after a long pause.
“I am heavily wounded right now. I took heavy curse damage in his final attack. It will take time to recover. What are our current options?” I asked.
“I suggest we lower the shield and target the airship with all the beam attacks we have available. That is around fifty, which should allow us fairly good coverage even at that extreme of a distance, Clarissa here thinks otherwise,” he replied.
“If the Avatar is onboard, the risk is too great she is killed,” Clarissa said. That made me hesitate.
“Do it. Bring that airship down. If we recover the Avatar, bring her before me alive and unharmed. We aren’t targeting her, only the airship she is using,” I replied. It was clear the city shield was giving us protection from her spying if she remained up there for that long. Probably waiting to swoop in and take charge if both the Astrologer and myself were dead.
“There is another thing,” I said as I thought back on events. “Ruth lives and is aiding the Astrologer. Since the city is closed, find her and kill her. We have the old reward poster?” I asked Clarissa.
“I still have a copy, I can dig it up,” she replied.
“Then do so and spread it around. Whomever finds her a hundred thousand points from me personally. If they kill her ten million points divided between whatever group or person succeeds in killing her. That includes our soldiers. It should be a priority. Have everyone in the city start looking for her. And if she is found, the Astrologer is probably with her. Once a disturbance happens, mob them with everyone we have available.”
“Should I hold off on the Avatar then?” General Abdullah asked me.
“Let’s search first and leave the city shield up for two more hours. If we don’t find her by then, take out the Avatar’s airship before she runs away. It is time to end all this nonsense once and for all. See to your duties General Abdullah,” I replied and the General got up and saluted me.
“Yes Emperor Michael.” He left the conference room leaving Clarissa and me.
“How bad is it?” she asked.
“Not good. That last attack hit my hip. There is a tree like tumor spreading from there. I can barely move my right leg and my organs might have been damaged,” I said with a sigh. “Good news, I isolated the tumor in my head, and both are contained. But they will take time to remove.”
“That isn’t good. How long?” Clarissa asked.
“Deeks probably. I can’t let up in the slightest. That means two day sessions at a time, then a short bit of sleep, and then back at it.”
“What about a restoration?” Clarissa asked me.
“The damage is both in my physical body and my energy. I need to change my energy, so that a restoration will work. As it is, it will just keep me as I am right now. It won’t change anything.” I could feel the damage that had been done to me.
Of course, the Astrologer had to survive. After everything I had planned, he was still alive. How frustrating. But he had lost big time and I was still alive as well. I would argue that the outcome leaned towards my victory, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“Come on, I should make an appearance after being carried away,” I replied and slowly got up.
“You don’t have to.” I shook my head at this.
“I don’t, but I should. Seeing me alive even if injured, will confirm in people’s minds that I am their Emperor and not easily beaten.” I couldn’t appear too weak. Otherwise that would lead to trouble. With a government like mine, the strength of the center determined the strength of the entire organization.
If I was weak, weakness would spread like cancer. But if I was strong, then things would run much more smoothly. That same principle applied to the Dragon Empire. While the Divine Empress was viewed as unkillable, her Empire remained quite strong. But the moment her weakness was exposed, it all crumbled. Sure, there were other factors, but weak leaders invited dissent. My history in Purgatory proved that time and again.
I slowly made my way to the entrance of the Imperial Palace. Clarissa let my protection detail know what I was doing. With the glowing edge of the shield, and the distance, it would be hard to peer all the way down from the airship. Even if the Avatar did see me and run away, I didn’t really care.
She was done. Totally and absolutely done. She had played her last card against me and she was going to be hunted down the moment I was better. I stood at the window above the entrance into the Imperial Palace.
I didn’t say anything, I just stood there and let my soldiers see me. Occasionally giving a light wave when one of them saluted me as they rushed through the plaza. I wasn’t going to give a speech or leave the Imperial Palace. The risk was too high, and I couldn’t handle a follow up attack right now.
Word would spread that I was alive and moving. My cane was hidden to the side, and I was holding onto the windowsill with one hand to make sure I didn’t lose my balance.