Thunder echoed in the distance. Before the eyes, only the twilight covered the place. A large main hall with several entrances. Decorated with flags and banners made of fine fabric, red as blood and with golden engravings. Cold, as if one were at the peak of a desolate and icy mountain.
The sound of footsteps from a small girl echoed throughout the hall.
The large, sturdy windows were covered, even though the sun couldn't pass through the heavy clouds that shrouded its brightness. The light sources came from small colorful and shining stones, enchanted with magic, and torches lit with blue flames that would not go out.
In front of the large door leading inside, a long red carpet, made of what appeared to be very expensive fabric, stretched to the other end of the room. At this other point in the large hall, a few steps led up to the throne. And on this throne, surrounded by a dark and oppressive mist, was a being seated upon it.
Imposing and motionless, like a statue. His image did not even move, yet his presence was something that could not be ignored.
Dressed in black regal attire, a crown resembling thorns almost fused to his head, a vacant gaze staring at nowhere. There was no breath. His ancient name, long abandoned, was inscribed in a smudged and nearly illegible script, just above his throne of stone and bones. It was the only reminder and remnant of humanity left of what was once a mere mortal at some point.
Before him knelt the girl, alongside three other monstrous beings of sinister and imposing aura, comparable to her. The three beings, along with the girl, kept their heads bowed, not looking directly at the well-known and feared Demon King, who showed no reaction to their presence. Beside the king was another being.
With an appearance resembling that of a butler, yet with a slender aspect, almost as if someone were trying to imitate a human, dressing and behaving like one. However, there was something that caused strangeness. Tall, thin, and with a face similar to that of a rabbit, marked by scars on the face, along with a serious and piercing gaze. His right ear had been cut off, apparently by a violent bite. Somehow, he gave the impression of someone who should not be disturbed.
This butler then leaned toward the king, as if he were listening to his orders. The king's eyes shone, but it was not possible to hear his voice. After a while of listening, the butler then addressed those who were kneeling.
"Hello everyone. You have been summoned here at the request of our illustrious king, commander, creator, and conqueror, the legendary Austero! The god of the new world! The prince of darkness!"
He said these words with a strength and pride that were very characteristic. His voice was powerful, yet also cautionary.
"You must know your obligations as guardians of our territory and the preservation of our military power, a role you have executed very well for many centuries; however, today we will discuss extraordinary matters that have occurred in the past few weeks. Lesser vampire, step forward!"
The others in the room made no sound. A tall vampire, with long hair and pale skin approached the throne and knelt a step in front of the four kneeling guardians. She too prostrated herself and began to speak without raising her head.
"Nana, servant of Rubedo at your service!"
"Well, Nana, your job was very simple, to get rid of an intruder. You allowed him to cross the whole of Bloody Marsh, Katharterio until he entered the castle. Do you realize how many of our servants have been destroyed? How much it will cost us? You weren't even able to hurt him. So why waste our time feeding a dead weight like you good-for-nothings?"
"I did my best. He was very strong."
"SHUT UP!!! Don't raise your voice in front of a superior..."
At that moment, a small movement was felt coming from the throne. At the same moment, the rabbit that had raised its voice bent down with all its might to the ground, as if reacting to that evil aura. Powerful, brutal, merciless, oppressive. It was as if the aura itself was holding down the throats of everyone present, preventing them from speaking.
"You dare raise your voice in my presence. Are you defying me?"
The voice, which resembled the rumbling of thunder, questioned them both. None of those present opened their mouths, frozen, paralyzed with fear.
After a few minutes, the king returned to his previous position. Seeing that it was safe to continue, the rabbit spoke again.
"I'm sorry, my lord. But coming back, we don't need weak servants. Our well of souls can create more useful servants than you. They at least die trying to finish off the enemy and you're not even good for that. At the first opportunity, you ran away. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Nana was terrified and knew she had to be careful with her words.
"He was very strong and agile. That sword hurt me so much. I tried everything I could and I would have been killed if it hadn't been for him deliberately cutting out my heart. That's the only reason I'm still alive."
When Nana spoke, her voice was low and trembling, full of fear and worry. At this, the rabbit no longer seemed to be interested in her and looked at the little girl as she walked down the steps, approaching Nana.
The rabbit then put its hand on the adult vampire's head and squeezed as hard as it could, while looking at its master, who wasn't moving.
"Stop, please... it wasn't my fault!"
His hand pressed harder and harder on the vampire's skull, while he didn't even look at her, who was wriggling desperately, trying to get away from the blow. The rabbit could easily have destroyed her skull, but that wasn't its aim.
"What's wrong Rubedo? Aren't you going to do anything for your girl? You brought this useless piece of shit into the castle just to waste space, so at least give me a reason to not crush her like a disgusting insect, which is what she is."
Rubedo then looked up in the direction of the rabbit, which was about to kill her servant in front of her. Even so, Rubedo showed no reaction, just spoke casually, with a disinterested face.
"Kill her. She's useless even as a warrior. But don't forget the consequences..."
Rubedo said this while looking down again. The rabbit then let go of Nana's head, which fell to the ground, wounded.
He then straightened his collar and slowly approached Rubedo, who didn't move.
"Rubedo, I'm starting to doubt your loyalty to Our Majesty. You, who have a privileged place with us, have been raising suspicions. The first of these concerns your mocking and arrogant attitude. The main reason everything got out of hand was your incompetence."
"You disgusting hare, what did you say?"
The moment he offended her, Rubedo stood up, looking the rabbit in the eye. Nana seized the moment and stepped back, sensing the danger of two forces clashing vehemently.
The other three guardians just watched, until one of them, a large being, with a huge scythe on his back, wearing black armor, stained with blood, rust and stuck to his flesh, almost as if it came out of him. His face was not visible under a sturdy helmet, which covered his entire face. Only his glowing purple eyes were visible. He then said.
"You dishonor your majesty by acting like this. Ty, stop provoking your allies and hurting servants for no reason. Rubedo, you let the enemy live. Explain yourself!"
Said the guardian with the scythe, in a low voice, muffled by his helmet, but guttural and sinister.
"That's right. As Makora said, you were in charge of that region, which means you were supposed to eliminate him, but you let him get away with it, destroying many of our servants. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Another of the guardians, a being whose body was covered in a torn black cloak and whose skeletal arms were the only visible part of his body. In fact, it looked as if the cloak itself was part of his body, while he seemed to float a few centimeters off the ground.
"Shut up, fools. What I do is only my business. I have my own way of sorting things out. And as Necro said, I'm 'in charge of the region', so I'll take care of it any way I want."
As she said this, all three of them glared at Rubedo angrily. The only one who didn't speak up, whose body resembled that of a shadow, remained still and silent.
However, it was then that the throne once again caught everyone's attention. With the flick of a single finger, the Demon King's aura rose again, this time covering the entire hall. The place began to pulse and twist, like a living form. The aura was so powerful and oppressive that it made everyone fall to their knees again until their faces hit the ground. It was as if the weight of their bodies multiplied several times over, drawing them violently to the ground.
Then the king, so far oblivious to the conversation, spoke up.
"Rubedo, why did you leave the intruder alive? 1 minute is all you have to answer. If I don't like the answer..."
"Okay, okay…!!! please…!!! I have a plan, okay!!! A plan…!!!"
The moment Rubedo said this, the aura ceased and everyone could move again. She remained on her knees.
Noticing that the silence was the cue for her to continue, Rubedo then began to explain his plan.
"Look, we always kill the intruders who use that magic sword as soon as they enter here so that they don't get stronger. But they always come back stronger than before. We don't understand the nature of that strange sword, or how it 'chooses' its bearers. We've killed many marked children, and yet they keep coming back. What if we could trap one of them here? If we could break the cycle?"
"We've already tried that. They're immune to our enchantments and if they're zombified, the sword still comes back the same way."
"I know it, stupid."
Ty the rabbit said in reaction to what Rubedo was saying, but was rebutted rudely.
"The core of my plan is to make him one of us without killing him. He can't be vampirized, but that doesn't mean he can't be corrupted. He's a young boy, full of pain and doubt. His heart is filled with hatred, bloodlust and lust itself. We can seduce him and bring him over to our side. That's why I need my handmaidens."
While Rubedo was saying this, someone unusually answered her.
"No, this plan won't work."
"Your Majesty? Why?"
Rubedo explained his plan, but the Demon King, who seemed to know something else, objected.
"There is one more piece of information, which is the real reason for this summons. The echoes of the valley whisper Eryndor, the name of the Fallen Hero. The intruder is still alive. I can feel his aura growing and moving. But he's outside the castle. I assume he was helped by someone who allowed him to escape. Betrayals are not tolerable."
As the king said this, a servant was brought in. His appearance was like that of a human, but his skin and whitish eyes showed that he was a corrupted being.
"My king, forgive me. I didn't help him, I swear. He just passed by my house and I couldn't do..."
As the man begged for mercy, in an instant, a great sword appeared in the king's hand, cutting through the space where the neck of the corrupted human who was still talking stood.
"As I said, betrayals are not tolerable. Get rid of the body!"
As the king ordered, the servants removed the decapitated body of the one who had been accused of treason.
"And here's the information: one of our contacts, the tree demon, stopped updating us a few weeks ago. A scout's job is to keep us abreast of what's happening abroad. If he was killed, it was by a magical weapon, so I can formulate a few hypotheses. 1) A user of holy magic exorcised our scout. But this is unlikely, given the region, which is isolated and has few humans living near. 2) He disowned him. However, our informants said that this scout was loyal to our cause and wasn't intelligent enough to think of a plan to escape from us. 3) The most unthinkable hypothesis, there are two users of the Holy Sword."
When the king said this, everyone's eyes went wide. The king then returned to his original position and remained silent.
"This is an anomaly... I don't know what you've done, Rubedo, but now you'll have to clean all this mass. We had a plan and you threw it all away playing seduction games with men. I don't care about your fetishes or your crazy plans. Now we don't know what's going on and you're going to sort this whole mess out yourself."
Ty said angrily to Rubedo, who didn't reply, just clenched his fist.
"Go to Bloody Marsh and get rid of the intruder. Don't let him escape. No plans this time. Just do your job. You're all dismissed."
Rubedo left in silence, accompanied by Nana. As they left the Lobby, *pah*, Rubedo punched one of the walls as he walked without saying anything.
"Come on, Nana, there's nothing more for us to do here."
"Are you going to obey the orders you've received?"
Rubedo then looked at Nana with a fury in his eyes.
"Nobody tells me what to do..."