Kayron…
After having watched how the fight between Marcus and Julian concluded, he was fascinated with the discovery of the former’s abilities.
So he can destroy souls as well…
Interesting…
It was unfortunate to lose such a powerful asset like Julian, but in exchange, he learned some incredibly helpful information about the kind of power Marcus has.
For some reason, his power was constantly evolving so that it could overpower and transcend any limits placed before it.
Not unlike the power of the Forrosans, but of which is clearly different in nature as their power comes from the external source of their god while his comes from his own strength.
Could he be tied to the Forrosan’s God of Wrath in some manner…?
Regardless, if he could find a way to replicate Marcus’s ability to rip a soul from a person’s body, then maybe he could take that power for himself.
The only issue is that he would need an absurd amount of energy to match or even exceed the man’s output to make that possible…
That alone would be quite the obstacle.
But perhaps...if he could find a way to harness the Chaos realm to his advantage, then it might not be impossible to achieve.
The only human individual he knew of that has successfully managed to interact with the Chaos realm without succumbing to its corruption was none other than Lysandra Vulcara, but there would be no feasible way to force her to do his bidding. She would annihilate him before he could have the chance to curse her into submission.
She alone has managed to collect three of the four known lost Tomes of Amaskia.
The Tome of Sol, the Tome of Vulcan, and the Tome of Armos…
She has made it her personal quest to obtain all of them so that no other would be able to fall victim to Chaos’s corruption.
But after having used the Bloodletter for centuries to further his ambition, Kayron has since learned that there are more than just the original four Tomes.
The knowledge of the four that were more well known amongst the people were due to them being written by Dagon’s four human sons.
As they were human, it was in their nature to write down what they knew and learned in tomes of their own.
Sol, Vulcan, Armos, and Jagur, the four demigod sons of King Dagon.
But Kayron knew of the existence of three others.
The Tome of Frieren, the Half Light Elf, the Tome of Vyklii, The Archdragon Child of Chaos, and the Tome of Dracula, The hidden shame of Dagon.
Kayron had been lucky enough to obtain ownership of Frieren’s own Tome during the Mordrinite War as he had met her in person.
He had proposed to use it against the Dark Elves that she hated as they had sided with Mordran at that time, and she agreed.
“Take it if you want. I have little need for it, but I have one condition. If you truly aim to use it for the purpose of this war, then be rid of as many of the wretched filth as you can manage,” she had said to him before tossing it aside.
In truth, he hadn’t been able to make use of it as he was not of Dagon’s blood.
Anyone who tried to ended up facing the corruption of the Chaos Realm since all of the Tomes of Dagon’s children were infused with the essence of Chaos.
Lysandra alone seemed to be compatible with the three she had found without any kind of drastic side affects.
If he could just find another descendant of Dagon’s like her with a soul strong enough to withstand the power of that tome, then maybe…
Then a thought came to him.
That one woman who had fought Marcus in the second round, Layla Vulcara he heard her name was.
She seemed to be of the same line as Lysandra as well as she had the same skin tone, eyes, hair, and shared the name too.
From what he knew, she had a grudge against Marcus due to the aftermath of Malthael’s breath hitting her town during their fight.
Perhaps he should go find her and recruit her. He might be able to use her grudge against Marcus to leverage her to his side.
Hmm…
He thought all of this over before he left his seating area and returned to his lodging.
Things seemed to be falling into place.
King Razel Aldia…
As the call was made for the end of Marcus’s fight, declaring him the undisputed winner, the Forrosan King’s hands were trembling.
Not from fear, or shock, or aversion to the man that stood firm with rage pouring from every word.
He trembled with excitement, with euphoria, with a sense of fulfillment at bearing witness to the true arrival of his lord.
He could hardly contain himself when he first heard the voice of his lord speaking through Marcus’s own lips.
Those words, spoken with a voice primal, teeming with wrath and righteous fury as he delivered his own justice upon that man…
It lit a fire within him.
A fire so vibrant and full of passion that no amount of doubt or sorrow would be able to quench.
He would see to it that his man would have his full support until Marcus could be fully realized as their true lord.
As Marcus himself heard the call for the match as won in his favor, he turned around and started walking in his direction.
Holding his breath in preparation for what he was to say, King Razel stood firm, unshaken as he waited to hear him speak.
But to his mild surprise, he looked at the Orc King who stood not too far from him and said, “He’s all yours. Do with him what you will.”
The Orc King nodded in response and grunted in response as a form of recognition before raising his hand and pointed two fingers at Julian.
Less than a minute later, two Royal Orc Guardsmen rushed entered the arena floor and took Julian into custody. He screamed and pleaded for mercy as they dragged him away by his arms, but knowing how brutal Orcish punishments would be, King Razel knew that there would be no mercy to be had for him.
Not long after, the people in the arena started to leave, but before King Razel could make any plans or address his people, he heard Azazel speak to him.
“I apologize King Razel, but I must leave for the moment. I’m...needed at this time,” he said as he bowed with his right hand resting over his heart.
Has Marcus summoned him? How curious…
“I see. Be well then. I shall see you when you return,” he said as he nodded.
Azazel nodded in return before vanishing in a puff of red mist while Nashandra, Camilla, and Frosk remained.
“Uh…, what should we do right now?” Camilla asked nervously as she had been following Azazel around ever since she aided in reviving Marcus from his temporarily deceased state.
Nashandra as well seemed as equally confused as she had been doing the same since being struck by the scarlet bolt.
Only Frosk seemed unbothered by Azazel’s absence and said, “You shouldn’t have to worry about waiting for Azazel to know what to do next. Just go about your day as you normally would. He’ll come to you if he needs-”
Before he could finish his sentence, Azazel reappeared in front of him and looked at the three of them.
King Razel chuckled as he found the timing amusing.
“Marcus wishes to speak with the three of you,” Azazel said, to which they just stared at him blankly.
“W-what, right now?” Frosk asked.
“Yes, now. Although, he said only if you are currently available to do so. If you are preoccupied with something else, then-”
“No! No, now is fine,” Frosk quickly said, failing to hide his very visible anticipation at talking to Marcus after now knowing his true identity.
Camilla and Nashandra as well seemed to share in that excitement as they stepped forward as if to join him.
Azazel smiled and said, “Very well, let us be on our way.”
Then, with a snap of his fingers, the four of them vanished, leaving King Razel to his own devices.
It seems that good tidings are on the horizon…
Queen Hylla…
Having watched the conclusion of Marcus’s fight against Julian play out, she, along with King Arobynn Aphstadd, felt an immense sense of anxiety at the untold depths of his power. Though clearly, their feelings of anxiety were for different reasons.
Arobynn was obviously nervous that he would not be able to leverage this immense power to his side in any meaningful way due to how relations between Marcus and Captain Dean Smith were strained.
The former seemed very averse to following the Brotherhood captain’s lead and it looked like any day now he might leave the kingdom altogether.
From what she could observe, King Razel Aldia had some kind of agenda involving Marcus Wright and she needed to know what that was.
Looking down at Marcus as he was addressing the Orc King before Julian was hauled away, she wondered if perhaps she could make a deal with him.
Taking this moment to act now, she stood up from her seat and made her way to the Orc King before he could leave.
Followed by her retainer Geirolul, she found the Orc King and called out to him, “I request a moment of your time, if you would be willing to spare it.”
Hearing her voice, the Orc King turned around to face her with a look of puzzlement clearly present as he said, “The Queen of Brunhildt...being polite? And asking something of a man? How amusing… What do you want?”
Despite his brutish nature, the Orc King is still quite intelligent. He can clearly see right through my false niceties…
“I want to discuss the custody of that man Julian,” she said plainly, as approaching he subject with a polite approach would seem like a waste of time to the Orc King standing before her.
He raised his eyebrows curiously, which rubbed against his horns protruding from his forehead, and rubbed his chin as he asked, “You are aware of the crime that he has committed against me and my own daughter, are you not?”
“I am.”
“Then for what reason, and what manner, do you intend to persuade me to give up custody of the man, to you?”
“I’m sure you are plainly aware of how we Amazonian women punish men when they commit an act of the same ilk that Julian has. No punishment could befall that man more brutal than what we might come up with. I fear that...he might suffer less under your care,” she said.
Upon hearing that, the Orc King broke out into wild laughter as he said, “Indeed! No other kingdom has such a capacity for cruelty than the women of Brunhildt do for their own men. That is a fact I must admit to, however...what is it you truly want from that man?”
“I want information from him, that which pertains to Marcus himself. He knows him. He has personal history with that man, and could provide me with the necessary leverage I need to develop countermeasures in the event that Marcus might...ally with an enemy of my kingdom.”
Upon hearing this, the Orc King went silent as he leaned forward towards her, towering over her, setting his gaze so that he was looking down upon her.
It was an obvious attempt to intimidate her, and much to her regret, it was working, but she would still stand firm in the face of it.
She did not look away from him as he locked eyes with her before he pulled away and said, “I’m considering it, but...I’m afraid you still need to sweeten the pot. I may only want to punish him further, but if you say that he has value beyond the fact that his flesh can now endure any amount of torture I intend to administer, then I suggest you make an offer beyond your women’s capabilities.”
Resisting the urge to swallow from nervousness, she asked, “What is it that you want?”
Without skipping a beat, the Orc King responded, “I, personally, want nothing from your kingdom. There is little within your lands that I have need of or interest in. My daughter Layla, on the other hand, has been fascinated with your Valkyrie wings ever since she was a little Orcling. From what I gather of your, now apparent, lacking authority, you still yet have the ability to grant women such wings.”
“Y-You want me to give your daughter Valkyrie wings?”
“If that is too much to ask, then…,” he said, with his voice trailing off as it was obvious he was holding all of the power in this negotiation.
“I can allow that much. If that is the extent of your demands, then it is hardly too great a price-,” she tried to say, but was cut off quickly as the Orc King interrupted her.
“I want you to give her the same golden wings that you have,” he said, staring at her once again, as if daring her to say no.
With golden Valkyrie wings, Layla would gain the authority to give other women wings as well.
However…
“As...much as I would be willing to provide those to her, it is not in my ability to do so. Only those with platinum wings have the authority to gift amazons with golden wings, which in turn, can give lesser ranks of wings to them. I may have golden wings myself, but I can only offer silver or bronze wings to Layla. Those with silver and bronze wings cannot gift others with wings like gold and platinum can,” she said truthfully.
It was the one thing she could say with wholehearted honesty to work in her favor.
“I see…, then silver wings for my daughter will suffice,” he nodded as he could tell she was speaking truthfully.
“Are we in agreement then about Julian?”
“We are. I will have my guardsmen deliver him into your custody within the hour. But before you can collect him, I’ll have you fulfill your obligation to my daughter to conclude it,” he said before waving to another of his guardsmen to go fetch her.
Hylla let out a sigh of relief that things were able to conclude as peaceably as they have.
If a conflict had arisen from this, then she would have further lost more support from her own people.
She couldn’t risk Camilla Lykos gaining any more ground from her initial declaration of war against her.
The way things stood, she was now the single greatest enemy that Hylla faced.
If only her explosive growth in strength and power shown in her fight against Artemis was enough reason to be wary, then her involvement with Forrosa was far more alarming.
To add to that, Hylla had seen the look in Geirolul’s eyes when she witnessed the platinum wings appearing on Camilla’s back.
True, her allegiance to the thrown has always been unquestionable, regardless of who it was that sat in it, but still.
If even a single sign of her fealty wavering appeared, Hylla might have to be rid of her before it could turn into something worse.
Camilla…
Her heart was racing since the moment that Azazel told her that Marcus wanted to speak with the three of them.
If she hadn’t learned of his identity as the God of Wrath beforehand, she might have brushed it off as she knew that his involvement with Moyako was not her business, but after knowing, she wouldn’t dare say no.
Azazel snapped his fingers and the four of them vanished from the arena and reappeared in a field far in the outskirts of Lycea.
“He is waiting for the three of you just ahead,” he said as he gestured with his hand the direction he was in.
They then started walking in that direction and several thoughts started running through her head.
Her initial thoughts when she first heard his name and his feat of felling Marcus single handedly was of mildly impressed.
If she, or Moyako, had fought the Arch Dragon, then they likely would have killed him without much trouble.
Perhaps with less trouble than he had due to the destruction that had followed his revival.
She figured that his victory over him would catapult him into notoriety, spreading his name across the kingdom and fame would surely follow with it.
But that had been the extent of her thoughts towards him at the time.
Simply another hero to appear to uplift the people and nothing more.
But then she heard from Moyako herself that he meant something truly meaningful to her.
That he was like family to her.
That he alone was the reason she had come to this world, in search of him.
Learning that had changed her entire perspective on him into something more than just a legend, but someone of such personal significance, that Camilla herself might look at him as family as well.
If Moyako, her own godmother, looked at Marcus that way, then it was only natural that Camilla should share that sentiment if she met him in person.
Having helped revive him from death and witnessing Moyako’s reaction only served to cement that feeling even further.
But then again, having seen his fighting prowess in his previous matches, she concluded that he was obviously trained and somewhat experienced in combat, but preferred to overwhelm and demoralize his enemies.
She witnessed the barbaric way in which he had ripped Raime and Julian apart, with the latter of which he had given him a fate worse than death for reasons she was unfamiliar with.
All those who saw that battle had heard clearly how Marcus had erased Julian’s entire bloodline over an unknown grudge between the two.
Yet even after hearing something that would have otherwise horrified her, she had pledged her allegiance to the God of Wrath under her ignorance of his true identity.
She would not let that dissuade her until she learned of his true nature.
She would find out for herself if this man was truly worthy of her fealty.
When the sight of Marcus finally came into view, she took in a nervous breath, expecting him to act just as similarly to how she had seen him during his battles.
Noticing their arrival, Marcus turned around and met their eyes.
To her shock, he seemed uneasy as he stood up from the rock he had been sitting on and said, “Thank you for coming. Why don’t you three have a seat. We have a lot to talk about.”