Chapter 56: Two Kingdoms, Two Kings, One Enemy
Que the Intro
(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)
Francian Border with Melromarc, two days after the marriage of Queen Mirellia and Emperor Tatsumi…
The border guards of Francia prided themselves as being the kingdoms best men at arms, in order to serve in the border guard one had to go rigorous training and had to have experience in combat but also a sharp eye and move swiftly along with the stamina to bare the finest of plate and chain mail the kingdom's smiths could produce. They also had a degree of arrogance that were a level above Francia's most esteemed knights, believing that no army could overpower them or was better.
Thus, is came as quite a shock when the disciplined army of Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom, the Golden Dragon Army which was equipped in turn with the best of the Empire's equipment and extremely experienced with only months of prestige, showed up looking even disciplined and well equipped then the Francians themselves. The Army stopped out of range and began to set up camp, a rider rode up to the central watchtower of the border fortresses that watched the borders of neighboring Melromarc, the rider carried with him the banner of Golden Dragon Emperor and a missive requesting an audience between the leader of the garrison and the Emperor of the Golden Dragon Empire. At this the captain of the troops outside was surprised and gave orders to call for his superior. The man in charge of the fortress was Baron Phillipe Montague and the noble was surprised by the request but nevertheless made sure to make a good impression.
Shortly he found himself before the Emperor himself. Tatsumi took a good look at the leader of the group, he was a man in his late thirties and his face was grizzled with stubble and a fine mustache, his attire consisted of a suit of plate mail overlapped with a heraldic tabard depicting a boar in gold on a green background, the man knelt with sword drawn, Pais read off Tatsumi's titles and introduced him. "Your majesty I'm honored to be in your presence, it is rare indeed that a monarch whether foreign or from our homeland graces the walls; you come with an army is this for peace or war?" The Baron asked.
"Peace, my army is just here because I need it to be, they've only just come off fresh from wiping out was left of an Orc horde and some rebels in nearby Melromarc, they'll stay there. I bring bad tidings, our world is on a brink of destruction, a horrid invasion of Demons has taken the Imperial capital of Melitine and destroyed the Old Empire, in the aftermath I being the rightful heir to the throne as the only son of Emperor Isshin II was declared the Golden Dragon Emperor by my cousin who abdicated the throne, I've since had to reunify and rebuild the Empire into a new Empire, I've been forming a Grand Alliance of any civilized nation and race that will fight against the tide of demons; I've already gained the support of many and as you can see not just humans, but Dwarves, Tsuwangdani, Centaurs, Giants, Yetis, Hob-Goblins, and others have joined my cause; I've courted a few of the western Kingdoms already and wish to speak to your king to warn him of this threat and ask that he join this alliance, he will keep his throne and his lands but will become an Imperial Vassal, this is a dire time and unity is needed I wish to settle this peacefully also I've word that the Cult of my greatest enemy schemes in your lands from my spies, I wish to speak with your king and warn him of this evil in person" Tatsumi explained, the baron stood up and considered it.
"Alright I have the authority to allow you entry into our lands and I will grant it, you must however do two things, leave your army behind taking but a token escort and you will have to ascent to an escort to the King, messengers will be sent ahead informing him of your arrival, fair warning while I believe your words about the demons I'm not sure his majesty will believe your warnings; the Kingdom is in a tense standoff at the moment his majesty is in sensitive negotiations with our neighbors the upstarts of Gilneas, the unchivalrous naves they are, for 300 years that duchy has been independent and broke away, they've kept their independence thru dishonorable means and thru cowardly tactics, hiding behind walls in keeps, and if they do come out on the field their knights in black armor don't meet the lance in a charge, instead fire foul what do they call them ah pistols at us, and I'm not going to speak of the cowardice behind lines of Pikes and Halberds, that's unchivalrous though worst of all shooting us with guns, a real knight engages one with a sword and doesn't hide behind a line of long sticks nor let the women fight in the line with them! Anyway the talks are delicate, his majesty King Charles is swift to anger treat him with respect; beware the conniving of King Greymane the man has no chivalry, he thinks it's stupid, but he may get along with you Imperials you have different views then us and share some- things with them; mind your actions around the king and there shouldn't be trouble, oh and keep one eye at all times on Chancellor Voltaire, the man is up to something and always has been or I'm not a Knight, the King however won't heed the advice of people like me that distrust him, mainly because he does a good job with 'administration' lower taxes on the peasantry what a fool, oh and keep the other eye on Minister Robespierre; that man would sell his soul to the devil, the repulsive leech, I've seen make eyes at his majesties daughters Princesses Joan and Repanse" Baron Montague explained.
"Thank you for allowing me to pass, oh and one more thing, if you see any black ruins try and destroy them, the demons come out of them" Tatsumi explained.
Meanwhile in Melitine… "YEAGH!" Teketh yelled as he impacted the wall of the throne room, Volgoth was quickly upon him and lifted him up.
"Useless FOOL! You had one job minion and that was to kill Tatsumi and you and your lot ran away before you even had the chance, I've lost all but one of my prized generals and I'm down to using human weaklings like you Teketh and what does that leave me? Nothing but weaklings; broken ruins and ruling over this broken city at least Socrathor tried to kill that pain Tatsumi" Volgoth ranted.
"I suggest you then push; leave the ruin and take more cities!" Teketh replied receiving a punch in the gut.
"URGH! You think I had not considered that? You know the reason I have not pushed out is because what does it gain me? Answer nothing you fool it doesn't get me closer to conquering Eden, there is no strategic advantage to taking those cities or those towns, all that I'd gain is useless land that can be taken by enemies, no what I need is to wait, that boy may be of use yet he'll draw all my enemies to one place and then we'll destroy them all" Volgoth replied, Teketh's bloodied face looked at him, Volgoth turned his back to the man, then drew his sword to block a strike from Teketh's trident.
"You called me weak I'm Strong! Valtor will reward me for proving my strength!" Teketh yelled and the two clashed, Volgoth let him think he was gaining an advantage even letting the general hit him a few times while those injuries pained him they were nothing it was after Teketh gave an aggressive lunge that Volgoth sliced his arms off, Teketh howled in pain as he slumped over. "You are a fool Teketh you've always been, you thought that your act of defiance would get you any sort of favor I own your soul, I'm the master to you bitch, you're nothing but my hound, no not event that you're nothing! And you have always been, I've been waiting a long time for your betrayal and you've outlived your usefulness you can no longer be relied upon" Volgoth bar rated then readied the Darkblade. "Welcome to Hell Teketh, give our master my regards" Volgoth said then brought the sword down on Teketh's neck his head flopped off like a chicken freshly chopped, Rel'Gov walked into the throne room. "Ah Rel'Gov, it is nice to see someone who hasn't failed me: yet" Volgoth replied, the Arch-Devil looked at him.
"General Tsunami has been punished?" Rel'Gov commented.
"Yes, for his failure and his betrayal, tell Lorhish to throw what is left of him to his hounds, minus his head I have a use for it I need to send a long-distance message; also do you have positive news for me?" Volgoth replied, the Arch-Devil stepped aside to allow Izel to walk in.
"I do father" Izel explained.
"Let me know all the details" Volgoth replied.
"It concerns the Primus Imperator, I've managed to make a crucial discovery apparently the construct is not as has been thought for centuries an Imperial Arm, it is instead a war machine not to different from the Dwarven Automatons, however the systems for it are being somewhat questionable the weapons systems are offline as are the shields, it will take about a month to get it fully operational but it can be done and when it is readied you will be notified; oh also I've made a number of breakthroughs on other fronts, the demonic test subjects you've provided have made my research a lot less time consuming" Izel explained.
"Excellent at least you haven't failed me yet; Izel take Teketh's Trident and see if you can make some use of it, I've no need for it" Volgoth replied and handed him the weapon.
"Yes, father I'll see what I can do" Izel replied accepting the weapon and departing.
"Any further orders Lord Volgoth?" Rel'Gov asked.
"Have Argardon and his elite troops moved to guard the Western approach of the city and inform him that if he sees that annoying boy Tatsumi to kill him, I'm fairly certain my son can succeed at that, Rel'Gov I'm tasking you with city defense, I know you're one of a mind to fight on the field but we don't gain anything by attacking any city in range, far better to let our enemies gather in one place and defend where we are strong" Volgoth replied.
"Yes, Lord Volgoth I'll see to it anything else?" Rel'Gov asked.
"Tell General Budo I'd very much like to see him" Volgoth replied, the demon grinned and while Rel'Gov left, shortly what was once General Budo walked in; well what was left of him, his body now was inhabited by a lesser devil subservient to Volgoth, the skeletal bones of Budo acted as a vessel in case is extremely fine demonic armor, unlike the other soldiers Volgoth had created using this black ritual Budo's body was now host to something- special.
"Lord Volgoth you summoned me" the dark warrior replied.
"Yes Mammon, I hope you are enjoying your new vessel, shame you couldn't have possessed him while he yet lived but such is the way this dying world works, each day it dies, with that in mind I've a new mission for you; with the defeat of five of the six Generals gifted to me by Valtor and the failure and death of that treacherous shit-stain Teketh I've need of a new commander for my armies; no more expeditions I'm tired of fighting Tatsumi by throwing away servants at him, I'll deal with him myself and when he comes here. With that in mind I've a message that needs to be sent and who better to send it then you General Mammon, Baron of Skullpit and marshal of the 38th Legion of House Abaddon, the new commander of my field armies, you will deliver the message specifically the head of the worm Teketh and a challenge, I will no longer tolerate games with this last Emperor, if he is to face me he'll do so, I've an ultimatum he has a month to return to Melitine or I will put every settlement near it to the mold, all those lives of his so-called subjects will be on his hands if he does not return, also inform him that if you don't return and I'll know this that I will carry out those orders in person, I've had enough games I decide the way this is played and he'll face me here" Volgoth explained.
"Yes, Lord Volgoth I'll see to it" Mammon replied and Volgoth handed him Teketh's head but before Mammon could depart Volgoth placed his claw leaving a burning brand on the head of the dead traitor.
Shortly… Volgoth looked in the mirror. "You know resistance is futile, yet you won't die" Volgoth replied, in the mirror was the reflection of a defiant Honest in full battle regalia.
"I've still something to live for, you may have destroyed my body, ruined my image, sired many progeny in my name and committed all sorts of abominations but despite all your actions Volgoth my Children still live and more importantly I know that if I give in you'll destroy them and all of Eden, the man who I was who I Honest remain deep inside this wretched twisted body still lives and I'll keep living until the heart of this body stops, you can't break me because you'd have to break yourself too" Honest replied to Volgoth the demon looked at him.
"Defiance only delays the inevitable, even now for your actions you've failed your children, Eugene your second born child is like me now there is nothing left of him only Argardon remains and the more you refuse to accept your fate the more painful it will be, I have none of the restraints you placed on me anymore, if I see your children I won't hesitate to not just kill them but to break them, rape them and eat them, it will be all the more painful even more so considering how many of your issue I've turned to depravity 20 of your sons are monsters like me three of them rot in hell's embrace save one who escaped thanks to that whore Asha; your defiance for their sake will be nothing; they are striving against the inevitable just like you and perhaps seeing them fall will be enough; especially Leone; she may not have been the issue of your beloved Lillian but I see she has her spirit and ferocity I've seen your memories I've been in you your whole life since that northern raider spawned you evil exists in the hearts of all human beings; you and I are one and the same you cannot hope to escape" Volgoth replied.
"You and I are not the same; I'm just an old man, a fool who wasn't thinking when he saw a crown in a ruins I ignored the first rule of exploration and being a paladin don't touch anything without preparations: I regret everything since then I didn't want to do anything you wanted monster; you murdered Tatsumi's father, you murdered the royal family, you warped Nancy and many others, you used my body to commit rapes and other heinous atrocities, oh all that was sacred you defiled it, it was only thru my sheer will that I kept you from doing worse from ruining my children though I wasn't able to save the lives of my sons you sacrificed to warp my body and twist it in the image of your vile kind; your actions Volgoth are not mine and never will be mine; I'm a prisoner inside a body that is no longer my own and since you started warping it turning it into the abomination it is now I've no desire to reclaim it all I want is to die and leave this cruel world behind. As for us being inseparable you just wait until the time comes when death comes Volgoth you will find we are not the same and never have been! When death comes I'll return to my Lillian and Asha's embrace you will rot in Hell forever!" Honest replied Volgoth shattered the mirror howling in anger.
"FOOL! MORTAL FOOL! I AM IN CONTROL! I AM VOLGOTH UGOR! I AM YOU! AND NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU DENY YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THIS! THIS-!" Volgoth ranted then screamed as pain inside his mind, he fell over clenching at his head.
"You Volgoth are someone else, a human who forfeited himself, a demon spawn born of a long line of Priest Kings of an abominable Empire that of Old Yeen: You may have seen my memories but I've seen yours you are not me you are Tar-Esh-Tavani: the last and worst of rulers in a long line of monsters of Old Yeenkar, you think me ignorant Volgoth I'm not you and we cannot ever become the same as you are someone ELSE! You are Tar-Esh-Tavani! That is your true name and label you by it!" Honest replied at mention of the name Volgoth howled his body shook.
"Tar-Esh-Tavani! Tar-Esh-Tavani!" Volgoth yelled, it was soon that he had fallen to the floor and now convulsed about moving around as if having a seizure. "Tar-Esh-Tavani! Tar-Esh-Tavani! Yes Blood of Yeenkar, Blood of the Greatest Empire that ever lived, yes that is my name the name of who I once was, I the greatest of the Priest Kings of Yeenkar I who am a true descendant of the Dawn Empire, I was the Last of an old order but I am the first of new! Yeenkar shall rise again; I was Tar-Esh-Tavani once now I am Volgoth given the title of Ugor, and because of that power you have over me is weaker now Honest! You thought learning my true name would give you power of me! WRONG! It makes me only STRONGER! Vogka Etrapta!" Volgoth replied inside the mind Honest's soul was again bound only this time the chains were stronger than ever. "Foolish mortal! Foolish mortal! I will rule and your defiance will not be tolerated anymore" Volgoth replied and heard applause, coming out of the corner of the room was- Valtor.
"Hello, my servant; I trust that you have restrained the fool inside you once again" Valtor greeted.
"Yes, he gave me more power restoring my memories of who I was I Tar-Esh-Tavani! If he troubles me further milord seal him away" Volgoth replied.
"That I cannot do my dear Volgoth, you see that's the trouble of mortal vessels and mortal souls; you see we can only have as much power over them as they let us which is why the legions of Hell don't swarm over this world, even in the end the soul is something that cannot be fully grasped and our lord below cannot take the unwilling or those who've been forced to commit actions pleasing to him into the deep to be consumed because there is still the chance for salvation, the only way Volgoth for you to be free of that mortal is for you to either destroy him yourself or for you to have your bodies separated until then you'll never be rid of him" Valtor replied.
"He won't be destroyed he won't break until those that give him a reason to keep fighting live still" Volgoth replied.
"Then I suggest you wait, Tatsumi and those allied to him will return to this palace and then you will face him, either you will defeat him and his allies and thus break Honest or he will slay this vessel you are trapped in and separate your souls, thus allowing you to fully ascend, either way you will ascend and still get what you desired most" Valtor replied, that brought a smile to Volgoth's face.
"What do you suggest I do?" Volgoth asked.
"Wait for him to return, face him, wear him down even if he is stronger than this mortal body you reside in you'll have weakened him to a point then when you face hm in your true form he'll not be able to resist, at that moment you will either win or lose but in the end it won't matter if he wins or you do as I've won regardless Volgoth" Valtor replied.
"What do you mean you've won" Volgoth asked.
"Oh I have merely gotten what I wanted out of your world, that is you Volgoth and even if Tatsumi defeats you in this war you can never truly die and you'll still be my servant; now enjoy yourself I'll be watching the show" Valtor replied and then vanished. Volgoth had a feeling he was being made a fool of.
Castle City of Corronne, Francia three days later… Tatsumi stepped up onto the hill overlooking his destination and took a good look at the city of Corronne, the capital of Francia was a large and interesting fusion of a city and a castle with large looming bastions surrounded by the houses of the citizenry both behind an impressive set of two large stone walls in between which were the farms and residences of the peasantry, Tatsumi noted this event as serfdom was something that never caught on in the Empire because of the self-reliance of its people, while there were farmers, hunters and other people that lived in the countryside of the Empire, serfdom was never something that had been adopted as the Empire's large forests that were in between settlements made the control needed to enforce such a system impractical also the Empire had a very large middle-class along with a demand for raw materials that could not be impeded by nobles.
That being said Tatsumi considered as a whole the Francians backwards in terms of development and culture, the chief things that in his opinion that held them back were their rigged system of chivalry which prevented them from using new technologies out of a firm view that such innovations were either dishonorable or empowered the lower classes, the other as Tatsumi noted was their attitude towards women which digested him, in the Empire both men and women had equal rights and the ability to make whatever they wanted of themselves, merit was the deciding factor for a person's success not their gender, wealth or rank, the huge disadvantage Tatsumi saw was by denying women the rights Imperial citizens had they were essentially chaining one hand behind their back when it came to both manpower and potential; along with innovation too Dorothea would never be the genius she was if she had been born in Francia.
Tatsumi's party soon arrived at the city gates half-an hour later, the guards allowed them entry and escorted him to the central castle. When Tatsumi arrived he noted people that were not Francian neither in their dress or in their bearing also women were present and both genders of these people shared a hardened experience, both tended to wear clothing similar to in Tatsumi's opinion the ceremonial garb of certain Imperial regiments that Tatsumi had seen in books regarding the topic, floppy hats and striped pantaloons were standard and the weapons of choice tended to be pikes or Greatswords along with halberds and swords that tended to be decorated with unique guards that covered the hand that were called Katzbalgers, there were also dismounted knights each with pistols that were single shots, the armor was painted black and while it was plate armor it was of the lighter variety. After passing those soldiers Tatsumi was lead inside and noted again the sharp contrast of the architecture and decorations to other places he'd seen so far, granted at this point he'd seen all manner of variety with his travels so far but it was still refreshing to see new things for the first time; there was an abundance of stained glass windows each depicting a variety of imagery, also sets of knight's armor were displayed from all over the kingdom and from different eras of history but each set was finely cared for by the people in the palace having been lovingly maintained and polished over centuries of history and treated to ward off rust and rot. "Some of those pieces must be a hundred years old at least" Tatsumi thought to himself then noted the first of many paintings depicting past monarchs, the images were stylized and not with the detail work Imperial royal portraits were, more like early medieval then the current Imperial artwork. Even as he got closer to the throne room the stylization remained the standard for the artwork.
Tatsumi opened the throne room door himself his heralds stepped forward and Pais as normal read off his list of titles to the King of Francia. Said King was a young man about the same age as Tatsumi, he would be considered handsome were he not in Tatsumi's presence, the man was blonde haired and wore the garb typical of a feudal monarch, his sword which Tatsumi noticed had an ornately decorated hilt but Tatsumi wondered if it had seen use in actual battle instead of just on the Tournament fields; the crown was also in Tatsumi's opinion gaudy and bulky it covered most of the head of the monarch with his long blonde hair flowing out the back, were it not for his posture and lack of certain feature Tatsumi would have easily mistaken him for a woman.
Speaking of Tatsumi noted to the side of the king two beautiful woman, both brunettes with dark black hair and blue eyes, one had it in a bowl-cut and the other let it flow out and neither of them looked like they enjoyed wearing the dresses they were currently wearing they also didn't seem comfortable with the way their breasts seemed to be pressed back by some bindings; though they smiled to see him. "Welcome to my abode such as it is Emperor of the Empire, and to Francia as a whole; now my messengers tell me you wish to speak of diplomatic gestures and no I will not join the Empire, you may have been able to sway Melromarc and Leranse but Francia has a strong history of independence so if that is what you seek of this visit it will not happen" The King replied.
"I've introduced myself or rather my heralds have yet I've yet to hear you reciprocate so what is your name your majesty, also I've not come to annex your nation merely to seek an alliance against an enemy that is seeking to destroy all of Eden itself: this enemy is one shared by us all and sadly there are those that are in league with it" Tatsumi explained, he noted off to the side another monarch dressed in more Victorian style garb of the kind typical of Imperial nobility, he was an older man in his forties and his hair was greying and he had a modest beard and brown eyes.
"My apologies for not introducing myself, I'm King Charles of the house of Karling, fourth of my family name and rightful lord of all Francia" The King explained. "You speak of an enemy shared by all, Duke Greymane of Gilneas has told me at length of a cult of demon worshipers and demons that have been summoned by them I've heard similar tales from our neighbors yet we have had no such issues here in Francia; here we are at peace though that may yet prove not to be case if Gilneas does NOT accede to my demands as their rightful monarch!" Charles explained.
"Rich Words, Your majesty Emperor Tatsumi allow me to speak freely" the Other King replied.
"And you are?" Tatsumi asked.
"King Greymane of Gilneas, when King Charles refers to Gilneas as a Duchy he refers to it as it was 20 years ago, Gilneas in an independent nation in our own right and we have advanced while the Francians live in the past, we've outlawed serfdom, implemented numerous reforms both military and economic and our armies are more than capable of matching any of our neighbors in both a siege and an open field" The Older King explained.
"Pah! You Gilneans lack honor and standing, you let women fight your battles alongside your men instead having them stay at home where they belong, also you deign to use weapons that assassinate our chivalrous knights you even have no peasants what fools are you" King Charles remarked, this wasn't a smart thing to say.
"Shut up: by the way as an Imperial I take offense to that comment about women, in the Empire men and women are equal and free to make their own paths in life, we've plenty of strong women and I am protected and accompanied by a good number of them; besides by denying them the ability to fight you fight with half the strength you could fight in a war, and serfdom- well its little better then slavery and in the Golden Dragon Empire Slavery is punishable by death also I'll add that there is no place for holding back in battle if one hesitates in war one dies you can't let dogma blind you in war" Tatsumi replied. "Anyway this is all pointless, there is a Demon invasion literally on the verge of destroying our entire planet I don't have time to argue with idiots, so here's the memo, I need allies to defeat this enemy because if we don't defeat Volgoth Ugor and his Demon hosts we'll all be dead, or worse slaves to those monsters; I for one am not going to allow our world to fall question is while either of you" Tatsumi rebutted.
"I'm with you Emperor Tatsumi, the demon scum have had their worshipers run rampant in my kingdom I've thrown numerous cultists on pyres to burn, we need to stop this enemy for the sake of the survival of all nations on Eden perhaps in our whole universe" King Greymane replied.
"I'll not have anything to do with this foolishness is this some ploy by the Empire and my rightful vassal to take my lands over amongst themselves, if it is it won't work" King Charles replied.
"We can settle this diplomatically I can't afford a pointless war, besides what use is ruling Francia or any nation if Demons destroy the planet; there isn't, so to prevent unnecessary bloodshed I propose diplomacy; I'll investigate your nation and bring proof of the threat to you if I do that you will join me in this war and become an ally" Tatsumi replied.
"I accept your bold proposal, whether you do so honorably or not is beyond me; if you succeed I'll wed both my sisters to you and give up my throne; but the chances of you doing so are about the same as Gilneas surrendering themselves and to bow before the rightful lord of the land" Charles replied, Tatsumi smirked.
"Challenge accepted, by the way you'll also have to allow women's rights and abolish serfdom if I succeed" Tatsumi replied the king laughed and agreed, Tatsumi grinned knowing that the king would have to honor the proposal, it did however scare him that he was so easily manipulated because of his ego, if someone was keen and sharp enough they could have him doing things they wanted to the expense of others.
That in mind Tatsumi left the room King Greymane followed him out. "You know that you'd got a hard task on your hands Emperor Tatsumi, these Francians are stubborn as all hell, he's the worst of the lot when it comes to the matter so whatever evidence you bring has to be damning or he'll not believe it, I've brought my share of proof from Gilneas but he's so obsessed with wanting to take Gilneas back under his rule that his logic is focused on that point and no matter how many cultist journals and captive cultists from my homelands to demonstrate the truth makes things he refuses to believe" Greymane replied.
"Do you think he's in league with the cult?" Tatsumi asked.
"No; he's too stupid and set in his ways to be also if he were in league he would have invaded Melromarc and Gilneas at the same time, no what you need to do is look amongst those that stand the most gain if Charles is overthrown; that includes the lower classes unfortunately, we outlawed serfdom on independence but here in Francia it's still in practice, the weight on those poor souls has been a source of constant uprisings in fact I owe my kingdom's existence to one; trust me there is a firm rift between the peasantry and nobles of Francia and the nation is a powder keg and one the cult would have no trouble exploiting I trust you're familiar with the cult" Greymane replied.
"Quite familiar with it they've been trying to kill me and my family for months now, Volgoth is at the head of this cult; and the fact that it has spread outside of the Empire is seriously dangerous because that means there are more enemies I don't know about, also means that Volgoth's plans are completely global which makes things all the more dangerous as how far does his influence spread" Tatsumi explained, Greymane frowned.
"I doubt its limited to the lands on Adonai I'm willing to bet this cult has ties all over Eden and that nations all over our world are facing demon invasions, the only way to stop it is no doubt to kill Volgoth and cut the problem off at the source" Greymane replied.
"And even then that may not be enough; but all that is made worse by the cultists, are there any Blackstone ruins nearby?" Tatsumi asked.
"Nearest ones are about 40 miles away; I've kept detailed maps of all Francia in case of war; why do you ask?" Greymane asked.
"The ruins are those of an ancient Empire known as the Empire of Yeenkar, it once ruled the world and they worshiped the same demon lord that the cult does today; but its more than that those ruins act as nexi to some sort of global power field that allows demons the lesser ones anyway to manifest on our world, the stones seem to be made of demonic energy; destroying them sends the energy back to where it comes from though you need a fair amount of explosives to pull it off" Tatsumi explained. "If there is a cult in Francia those ruins would be a good place to look for cultists as they may use the old shrines for their monstrous rituals" Tatsumi added.
"I see; do you plan to look there first?" Greymane asked.
"Yes but I need someone to stay here and keep an eye on the court, I'm going to have to divide my group to search for signs; I'll head to the ruins but I'm not sure who I'll take with me or who to leave to investigate things here" Tatsumi replied.
Later… Tatsumi immediately called a meeting with his company in a location that was out of the way and secluded outside the city the reason for this was to avoid attracting the attention of any possible cultist spies, after much debating it was decided Tatsumi would take the Four Rakshasas and two groups of Dark Squad troops under Captains Yu Lan and Kylie respectively, other Dark Squad units let by Chelsea and Merraid along with their unit leaders would search all nearby settlements for potential cultists, these units would operate under cover of night to avoid detection, lastly Tatsumi determined that the diplomatically minded Spear and Najenda to handle negotiations between Gilneas and Francia to avoid a war starting between the two while they were busy rooting out cultists. But before Tatsumi set out he decided it would be a good idea to talk to the King's sisters to get their thoughts on the state of affairs of nation and on people they thought may be in the cult.
Tatsumi sought them out soon enough, Joan the first of the two was easiest to find as she took strolls thru the garden of the castle. Joan looked up to see Tatsumi and his three Sacred Swords, the three women to her looked resplendent and she could not help but be envious of their lot in life to her they had freedoms she never had or could dream of having under the current ruler. "Hello" Tatsumi greeted, she looked at him and sighed.
"Bonjour, so Emperor Tatsumi what brings you here to my corner of the castle?" Joan asked.
"I wanted to speak with you away from the prying eyes and ears of your brothers court it involves the state of things in Francia and any suspicious characters that may be connected to 'the cult'" Tatsumi explained.
"I see; well then I'd advise you to keep your ears open and listen carefully. There is indeed a cult, my brother doesn't want to acknowledge its existence but I've heard whispers of it, seen the aftermath, bodies torn and rent by dark rituals, a number of my servants have gone missing, my brother likes to think it's just the work of outlaws but he is wrong there is a method to the madness and when the bodies of my servants are found they always tend to have specific marks on the bodies or what is left of them. Also there are the whispers of my brothers ministers they keep raising the taxes higher and peasant uprisings have grown more frequent; some even bare the mark found on the bodies of the dead or similar to it; there have been all sorts of problems, my brother threw one of my handmaids into the dungeon on accusations of her being a witch the other day I've known Gilly for years and fell magic is not something she dabbles in she's my physician and- friend, a trial will be held soon and if she's found guilty she'll be burned alive; also there is another woman in there she was arrested for impersonating a man and a knight her name is Gabrielle and I don't want her to face that judgement so I'd much appreciate it if you could arrange an escape if possible" Joan explained.
"Alright, I'll see them; Balluck inform the Dark Squad they'll have to make a prison break tonight: do it stealthily and see that both targets are given Dark Squad uniforms; they'll slip in with my retinue and nobody will notice the difference oh and have them leave some cult markings just as a bit of evidence" Tatsumi ordered, Balluck grinned at the prospect.
"You know I was in the Dark Squad for a time Tatsumi dear, I'm fairly certain they'll be eager to take those orders; I'll take care of this right away; you in the meantime go see our jailbirds and get what you can out of them" Balluck replied and left.
"Don't worry your friend will be safe in the Empire with us; provided we defeat Volgoth because if not well I'll be blunt Eden will be destroyed and no one could stop the demon tide from consuming our world" Tatsumi explained.
"Thank you; now as to suspicions don't trust Minister Robespierre he's slime I've seen him following me he's got a sick crush on me were it not for the fact that my brother views me and my sister being useful for other pacts I'd have been forced to marry that slug; word of advice watch him closely" Joan explained.
"Alright; Womyn you stalk him; if he's part of the cult don't engage find out and report back" Tatsumi ordered.
"Yes, my dear Emperor I'll take care of it" Womyn replied.
"What about me?" Remus asked.
"You'll be with me and the Four Rakshasas your skills both as an Archer and a swordswoman are better served being at my side" Tatsumi explained.
"Yes, I get to be with Tatsumi-kun" Remus replied.
"Hey so do I" Balluck replied.
"Aren't we all supposed to be with you" Womyn remarked, Tatsumi frowned then looked at her.
"Womyn inform Sheele that she's to handle your mission you will be with me and the others checking out the ruins" Tatsumi explained; Womyn smiled, then whispered suggestively in his ear Tatsumi put an arm around her as she clung to him. "Thanks for the information Princess Joan now I need to tend some other matters before I go who do I speak to for accommodations?" Tatsumi asked.
"That would be Major Domo Louis, he's in charge of the guest quarters; you'll find him in the third room off of the main entry hall" Joan explained, Tatsumi nodded and took his leave.
Shortly… Tatsumi found the quarters he was provided- well modest when compared to his accommodations in Melromarc, but that had been the Queen's quarters he'd stayed in so it was not a good comparison; soon as he was inside Remus and Womyn had the door locked before Tatsumi could even turn; both kissed him and then helped him with his attire; they carefully undressed him and put his garb to the side; before removing their own clothing leaving all three of them naked. Womyn captured Tatsumi's lips in a tender kiss, Remus knelt and began giving him head; Womyn continued kissing Tatsumi he placed his hands on her breasts then as soon as she broke the kiss took the left orb to his mouth and began drinking; he was thirsty and drank eagerly Womyn began moaning loud while Remus eagerly blowed him taking his length deep into her mouth before alternating into the valley of her breasts. Tatsumi stopped drinking, had Remus let up and picked Womyn up entering her, Womyn wrapped her legs around Tatsumi as held her rump tightly and kissed her a far more lustful and passionate kiss then the initial one. Remus not neglecting Tatsumi tended to his balls and the part of his length not inside Womyn, Remus also fondled Tatsumi's rear then when not licking the balls of Tatsumi gave Womyn a rimjob; much to the enjoyment the later.
"Tatsumi- Tatsumi-" Womyn moaned smiling, her face consumed by bliss Tatsumi ran one hand thru her soft short black hair felt the softness then turned, Remus was surprised by this move, and placed her on the bed and held her in the missionary position until he released; Womyn moaned and came at the same time as Tatsumi who noted Remus looking at him spreading her butt cheeks.
Tatsumi needed little invitation and Remus's face turned goofy as he went in she pressed her head against a pillow and moaned as Tatsumi rode her, Womyn leaned down to Tatsumi and gave him a rimjob while he enjoyed the tightness of Remus's rectum; Tatsumi moaned audibly and Remus smiled; the stimulus was too much for him and he unloaded swiftly. Both Remus and Womyn then pushed him to the side Womyn obscured his face while Remus claimed his length. From then on Tatsumi continued as usual until all three of them were satisfied and they could get to the more serious work.
It took about an hour for Tatsumi to get his team that was going to the ruin in order and when he did the results were- not as many people as he'd like there were about 50 people with him counted and while a number of them were Teigu users including Esdeath, Tatsumi was concerned as he had yet to go into a ruin with a small force whenever he confronted the Blackstone Ruins or Hellstone Ruins it was usually with an army not a small strike team that meant there was an added level of risk if the nexus of the ruin was active and if that was to the case the cultists would be the least of his issues.
Meanwhile in Melitine… As Tatsumi was busy investigating the cultists in Francia, Volgoth was looking over the future of his ambitions; or rather a relic of the past; The Primus Imperator. The Ancient war machine was of a size that Volgoth was impressed; the head of the Imperator was easily twice the size of Argardon and the inside of it was even more impressive with all matter of gizmos and gadgets that went into operation; Izel had managed to get the basic systems working, power was not an issue as the reactor seemed to run on a fuel that according Izel was fascinating in at it never ran out of energy; though it was done using a source of energy unknown to mankind, not oil, not coal, not natural gas, not nuclear or any type of power that was theorized by scientists of the Empire no the power source seemed to come from a singular crystalized gem that let out a humming sound with active; if there was a comparison the crystal was similar to the kinds that were found in the lands of Gassarnels ones that Izel and other scientists theorized could generate power that could be both used for civilian power generation and to power weapons of the likes unseen; the crystal reactor was harbored deep inside the Imperator protected by layers upon layers of extremely strong alloys; the casing itself was a material that was strong enough to withstand explosives; Izel had only managed to access it with help of magic. "The power in this machine is power worthy of an Empire" Volgoth said to himself then noted the Dwarven runes along with instructions that were in the old broadering tongue and- even the current day Imperial script and writing; there was enough information to work with but the weapons systems had been completely shut down and while they could be reactivated acquiring enough munitions to rearm the Primus Imperator would take a month; the only weapons that weren't unloaded were the arms and legs of the Imperator which were more than capable of leveling the buildings and walls of Melitine himself, Volgoth had read histories about the weapon that said during peace time the Original Emperor of the Empire during the days of yore used the Imperator for construction purposes in fact the Imperator had been used to build the walls of Melitine and during the reign of Emperor Tatsumi the IV the Pearl Emperor it had been used to build the present day Imperial Palace.
Further exploration around the Primus Imperator revealed the Imperator was visible from outside the palace and had been disguised as part of the superstructure of the palace when it had been put into stand by after it was last used by the Brass Emperor 150 years prior; the Brass Emperor had even gone further and constructed a false wing to conceal the weapon. Volgoth had read about the Brass Emperor and previous rulers during his downtime since taking the throne as his own or as close as it could be with the rightful occupant still alive and fight for it, while he had read many tomes of history when he was still under the guise of Honest the books he had access to weren't complete histories, not the real reading was in the Imperial archives the area which was strictly off limits to those not of the royal family or the elite royal guard; even the Prime Minister was not allowed entry into that part of the palace.
Since however there was no one left in the city to stop him from reading the true histories of the Empire he decided to read them himself in between orgies both of the sexual kind and of the violent kind in which he used his new powers to level districts of Melitine exposed to make room for further projects that the demons were laboring all hours of the day including a giant statue of himself, a large pyramid made of black stone he intended us for burying Tatsumi alive in, a large temple complex to Valtor along with a gift shop for selling nice convenient sundries and soft-serve ice-cream for the demonic hybrids that would be populating the city in nine-months' time if all went to plan. With access to the libraries work Volgoth learned a lot of fascinating things about the royal family and the previous Emperors the most shocking to him was that his mortal enemy was the seventh with that name and that the Golden Emperor, Jade Emperor, Dragon Emperor, Pearl Emperor, and Brass Emperor had all been named Tatsumi almost as if the gods of Eden were mocking him; that aside he learned some juicy secrets about the royals monarchs, the true story of what had happened to Prince Corinth who had dead at a feast from poison and whose real killer was never caught for example well it turned out the killer had been Empress Merraid III who had killed her older brother to get the crown for herself, or even more spicy was the love life of previous rulers including one of those Tatsumis to be specific Tatsumi III the Dragon Emperor who had taken his half-sister Merraid II to wife and co-ruler or exactly how many women and men Merraid I the Jade Butterfly bedded; these secrets and more fascinated him; after finishing each book he'd read it again then put it back before issuing strict orders that no demon under pain of his wrath or anyone else for that matter was allowed into that library.
The most pleasant aspect of his rule was the sizeable harem he'd taken; with each member of it being broken and submissive; and some of whom were now pregnant with his spawn which left an interesting moral quandary for Tatsumi if he did win what would that silly boy do with all the half-demon children; it was such an interesting thing to wonder about that he almost considered letting the boy win so that he could watch that choice. "Some things aren't that worth knowing" Volgoth thought, he was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of a portal opening and to his surprise instead of Valtor another person walked in; the person in question was- well a succubus call girl followed by more and then to Volgoth's grin an incubus catamite and a few other demons of- indeterminate gender with Valtor coming out behind them. "My lord" Volgoth greeted and bowed. "What is the occasion?" Volgoth asked.
"Why your demonic birthday of course; I thought I'd splurge and send my favorite mortal servants some of the best things house Abaddon has to offer, a couple of my sisters are in there: my treat also I'd like to inform you that I'm- disappointed in your having lost five out of the six generals I've sent you though let me be honest Volgoth I don't care at this point if you take Eden I've already won as far as I'm concerned" Valtor explained.
"What do you mean you've already won; Eden still is free" Volgoth replied slightly irritated.
"What I wanted wasn't this planet Volgoth what I wanted was you, do you know how hard it is to get another Arch-demon to work with you even if you're married like I am to Delab everyone has their own agenda so I went about finding a way to create an Arch-demon that would be loyal to me, who has no stake in the games of Hell one who can be relied on to follow orders to the letter and act in places that I can't be; I've already gotten that in you, now this is a trial run to see what your limits are, I'm just waiting on your ascension and from there I'll have what I need; Eden doesn't matter in the grand scheme Volgoth there are many, MANY more worlds out throughout the multiverse and Eden is but one; albeit one that was essential; you know Volgoth I've never found a world where humans are more inclined to give into their evil natures to take their decadence and excess to such amazing extremes of villainy and evil; tis a joy and more importantly a world big enough and with enough evil to create an Arch-Demon using the Contract of Infusion; added to a program of breeding to create the perfect creature with demon blood in a demonic body; all that boiled down to one man named Tar-Esh-Tavani the last Priest King of Yeenkar who caused death and destruction on a scale your world hasn't seen in eternity to infuse enough energy to ascend to demon hood and that he did becoming you Volgoth, but alas I underestimated the inhabitants of your world; they got lucky and trapped you inside a crown, I couldn't break the seal all I could do was wait and centuries later the human whose body you resided freed you, you were like a child memories gone sealed away, only to return with time and with the right stimulus, soon you will possess the power and knowledge you had when you were free; soon the time will come when you will face your first real battle; Tatsumi has been training and improving himself since you two last fought, he is no longer the young man that you humbled in combat, he has become a battle hardened warrior with feats beyond the ability of normal human; no he has power but you will destroy him; wait for him and weaken him from afar you have the power to influence his mind in his dreams; make them painful" Valtor replied.
"I will make that boy suffer; he has escaped being killed by me since he was an infant I will not lose him and I will break him: as satisfying as it would be to kill him nothing would be more satisfying then to see him broken , to make this war cost him those he loves and when he is defeated force him to live the rest of his life knowing his failure; or I could go one better, take the one he loves most and kill her, that would break him and kill him" Volgoth replied, Valtor frowned.
"I've bigger plans for him, why both killing him or leaving him a broken man, no far better would be to twist him and make him like you Volgoth; a demon subservient to you for all eternity" Valtor replied.
"NEVER! I'll not spend eternity with that- that- you know- my mortal nemesis I would throw myself into the deepest depths of Hell before doing so" Volgoth replied, Valtor smiled..
"Good; just don't let your hatred and desire to see him destroyed blind you, if you do you'll neglect your surroundings and more importantly those who fight alongside them" Valtor replied, Volgoth grinned.
Meanwhile… Tatsumi took a hard look at the black ruins of the city of Skaravak, the city had some 4000 years ago been a major settlement before the fall of Yeenkar Empire, ever since then the ruins lay abandoned no man or woman that lived in the lands thereafter had settled them. At least was what it looked like on the service; taking point Cassandra and Esdeath to either side of him and with the Four Rakshasas follow his lead in their combat stances Tatsumi began to search the ruins and found signs of recent activity from people; or rather the grizzly aftermaths of dark rituals; human beings or what was left of them strung up and left for any carrion eater brave enough to go into the ruins, though not even maggots could be seen; Tatsumi's was well- disturbed by not surprised he had seen enough of this kind of shit to not be surprised. The real thing that sickened him was the way that the dead had been desecrated. The dead men had their genitals and feet with their bones broken and bodies contorted as if kneeling in some cases others were like they huddled to the ground in terror before dying, while the women had suffered worse some only had the upper half of their body remaining with breasts either cut off or mangled by cruel brands, their faces frozen in terror, but worst of all were the remains of about 10 small children aged between 3 to 10 who had been violated and dismembered in vicious and horrible manners and on the alter outside the main temple was a baby the innocent life snuffed out by having its poor heart removed.
"You know it never surprises me the lengths of evil humanity is capable of, but it always makes me sick and disgusted" Cassandra replied. "I'm grateful we haven't had lunch, yet heaven help me I'm sick to my stomach; lets bury these poor souls they deserve that at least" Cassandra added.
"We don't have time, burn them on a pyre" Esdeath interjected.
"We're burying them; Kylie take a squad and have them collect the dead and bury them a respectable distance from this place; Yu Lan have another squad set up explosive charges all over the city; this place will not on Eden to see tomorrow" Tatsumi ordered, the two groups nodded and Esdeath looked at him in annoyance.
"Time is urgent Tatsumi" Esdeath commented.
"It is but so is making sure the dead are buried we can't give them a funeral but they can be buried also I'd not risk aggravating the locals by burning the dead; I'm betting they'd find it sacrilegious and I'm not going to waste time killing zealots" Tatsumi replied; he looked for answers amongst the dead specifically who they were, he found one; clenched in the hands of an unfortunate man was a pocket watch Imperial make too but it had a familiar symbol; one that he'd seen before; that of the Canallia Family. "No way" Tatsumi thought; something was up, he then opened the watch and found a photograph; colored and taken about 10 years ago of a few people some which looked like Mine and in fact he could see Mine amongst them by her expression of annoyance. He then sought out Mine to confirm what he found, and her eyes went wide. "I know that watch; it belongs to my Uncle Jasper; he- must have been one of the people sacrificed" Mine explained then immediately rushed to where Tatsumi found the body, which had been in a fetal position, face down. Mine turned the body over and- shed tears. The man bore features similar to Mine's and his pink eyes were open, the body was fresh, and he could not have been dead for more than a day.
"Uncle Jasper! NO! He- was my favorite Uncle he was so caring and- OH THOSE MONSTERS WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THEM I'LL RIP THEIR FUCKING EYES OUT AND MAKE THEM SWALLOW THEM!" Mine yelled then broke down holding the dead man in her arms; Tatsumi got on the ground and held her in his arms. "We'll avenge him Mine; we'll avenge all them; now I want you to take a close look at the other dead bodies and see if you recognize any of them; also did your parents have any enemies in Francia" Tatsumi asked.
"Not that I know of; you're right though I should look over the dead see if anyone else here is someone I know" Mine replied; they did, Mine recognized a couple of people they had been employees of her uncle's shipping compony it was a relief to know that none of Mine's other relatives had met this gruesome end but still didn't soften the blow of losing her beloved uncle. Tatsumi and his group explored the room further, they didn't find more bodies but they did find a dagger with the head of a lion engraved on pommel; more exploration turned up other finds too; an abandoned wagon that had been picked clean of anything bar the symbol marking it as belonging to the late Jasper, the torn fabric of a red robe that had been torn off by one of the victims in a struggle, a pair of glasses with smashed lens something which alarmed Sheele, a dead snake and a bottle of what was a luxury vintage of Chatteu le Bonaparte wine which either had belonged to one of the cultists or was from Napoleon's lost cellar; not that Tatsumi knew who Napoleon was or why the name had any importance; part of his mind wanted to open it and drink the contents but Tatsumi crushed that part of his mind with a sledgehammer the contents may not be what was advertised. More exploration turned up nothing more than the traditional glyphs and carvings of the Yeenkarai and a few bodies that had sense rotted to skeletons, these had nothing left of the people they once were and Tatsumi simply had the troops add them to the mass grave being made a good distance from the city. Tatsumi was about to move on when one of his Dark Squad patrols reported a shrine that had recently been built and was unsurprisingly made of Hellstone.
When Tatsumi arrived at the shrine he noted the centerpiece a large Hellstone head made in the image of Volgoth complete with his demented grin and diabolical eyes along with Ephialtes; offerings were lying about surprisingly however none of the human variety; the sacrifice on the alter in front was a large wild boar and the offerings were of the kind offered usually to a deity of hunting; a search revealed nothing further but Tatsumi couldn't help shake the feeling that the demented idol of his demonic enemy was watching him so being Tatsumi he stared the idol down and it didn't move which was reassuring.
However something inside him demanded a close examination of the stone head; and he examined the idol; Sheele saw him doing it and came over getting a similar idea; soon careful examination revealed an oddity as the head's material was too fine for it to be a mistake; nope he leaned on the oddity and the ground began to move; the idol's eyes closed and the jaw opened up revealing a set of stairs leading into the darkness, at this the rest of his expedition at hand rallied to him. "No one here is afraid of the dark "Tatsumi asked rhetorically; the Dark Squad members laughed.
"We are the Dark" Yu Lan remarked, Tatsumi laughed, then took the first step down into a dark and twisted place.
Momentarily… If Tatsumi thought he couldn't see anything more hellish and outrageous then what he'd seen so far since the day he left Karsawa he was wrong; what he discovered in that dark evil place underground led him to title the place by an apt name: the Black Hole of Eden. Using flashlights and oil lamps the insides of the entry hall were ghastly he could smell the bodies before he saw them and when he saw them he wished he hadn't these corpses were fresh recently killed and propped up and they were mangled beyond comparison; Aria too was aghast and she had seen inside the meat locker that Richard had wanted to throw Tatsumi into back in Melitine when life was much easier; these corpse had been mangled and tortured beyond compare and what made it worse was about two of the victims were alive: barely being hung from spiked chained hooks with brands marked on them naked their bodies scarred from abuse; the two that yet lived were a young woman who under normal circumstances would have been beautiful but her eyes had been put out and her body scarred with lacerations, she had blue hair, her skin was dirty and covered with dry blood; her breasts were bare but still intact though they bore a tattoo with the mark of a tear under the mark of Valtor. The other survivor was a child a girl about 9 years old and she too bore the mark and the signs of abuse, but she had both eyes and she looked at them with a look that was half wonder half-shyness. "Do my eyes deceive me are you-" the girl began to say; Tatsumi approached her, Cassandra took a look at the hook that was secured to belt that was latched to her that couldn't be seen from a distant though it was more a cord of metal then a belt; she drew one of her blades and cut the metal cord which gave way and caught the startled girl with her extra arms, she then moved over and freed the young woman, both were now confused by the turn of events.
"Esdeath take a squad of troops and get these two the nearest safe place possible and get them clothes; don't ask them any questions until I'm back; Aria tend to their injuries quickly" Tatsumi ordered.
"Can do; here" Aria replied and took off her traveling cloak which was made of fine blue silk cloth and wrapped it about the woman Tatsumi followed suit with the little girl. "You're safe now; bring me some light people I can't work in the dark" Aria ordered, two oil lamps were brought over and sleeping bags were laid out, Aria opened her black bag and fetched out the things she needed to treat the two liberated captives; making sure to clean off any blood and clean out infected wounds soon they were stabilized and Aria instructed Esdeath's team to carry them just in case of any broken bones and because they didn't have any footwear; Esdeath acknowledged this and took a group back up the stairs; Tatsumi and the rest shouldered on breaking down the locked door. Inside was the true horror; straight out of hell itself was a sight that took the levels of human depravity, cruelty and excess to an extreme; bodies were everywhere locked in all manner of torture devices, hanging from hooks, caged huddling rotten wounds; the smell of waste, urine, sex, sweat, blood and all manner of foul odors emanated from the room in addition all sorts of effigies made of human skin, statues of human bone and even chairs that were made of human bone and covered with human skins add to that paintings depicting carnal acts most frequently with children and beasts, filth of all kinds every evil obscene thing an evil cult worshiping demons could to was there in plain view for everyone to see and walking into the main room from the opposite side were cultists.
"Intruders kill them! Take the women alive they will make great offerings to- wait that's him Volgoth will reward us great for his head kill that False Emperor! The False Emperor must die!" One of the cultists boomed and they came charging towards them; Tatsumi drew his sword.
"The only False Emperor is Volgoth and you traitors will be only ones dying here!" Tatsumi boomed across the room drawing both blades and dawning the Dragon Armor, Tatsumi then did a power leap towards the charging mob of cultists and held out his arm towards the enemy "Flames of Ruin!" Tatsumi declared and a cascade of fire flew towards the mob of cultists setting them aflame, the cultists dropped their weapons and began running about the room screaming, those that didn't catch flame began to run in terror; their fears were justified but didn't help when their pursuers did this kind of work for a living and were faster and stronger the cultists who when cut off begged for mercy; Tatsumi ordered their robes removed and under them were about 2 dozen noblemen, some quite inbred and others fat as pigs; these cultists were a far cry from the kind Tatsumi had ran into Melitine; for starters these men, and men they all were and not a woman was among them but that was to be expected with Francia's system of government, were older and not remotely in fighting shape, secondly they were dressed way better than any of those assassins had been under their armor, in fact none of these men wore armor.
"I've questions for all of you; here's how it's going to be you either own up to everything you've done and the location and identities of everyone else that's part of the cult right now or I'll turn you over to my darling Aria and she'll extract the information the hard way, either way you die but this way at least you'll die quickly" Tatsumi explained, the nobles spat at his feet. "I'll take that as a no Aria do your thing; put their tools to good use and get the information we need then give them a drawn-out death.
"With pleasure; boy are you prick out of luck and trust me this will hurt you A LOT more then it will hurt me in fact I'll be enjoying this" Aria explained then smiled dementedly. For the next hour the room was drowned in screams as Aria worked her magic; the nobles of this cult were completely broken by Aria's efforts as despite the fact they had tortured numerous innocent people over the years they were not prepared even remotely to be subjected to their own devices especially when Aria was used to doing this; Aria's efforts got information easily as Aria knew exactly where to maximize pain and what to use for any given task; Aria's efforts were aided by Nui and a couple others who were experienced in this field along with a fair amount of Dark Squad members; Aria soon had extracted everything that needed to be known; the identities and locations of various cult members, the plans for the organization that numbered 200,000 at minimum mostly from the disenfranchised lured in with promises of power; Aria's efforts were intensified when one of the nobles complained about Aria being concerned with the victims, the man had said 'They were hicks from the countryside!' which resulted in an angry beatdown from both Aria and Tatsumi who weren't going to put up with that shit.
Eventually though Aria had gathered enough information; Tatsumi gave the orders to kill all but one of the cultists, that sole survivor would be brought before the king; Aria interceded and convinced him to keep about five more alive for the same reason and that was agreed to, the rest of the cultist however were put to death by being simultaneously executed by Dark Squad swordmasters and Tatsumi himself. Further exploration was made of the Black Hole of Eden, more rooms for even more horrible sights were found as these cultists delighted in all manner of methods for causing pain and had invented a few of their own, they were so innovative with their instruments of torment that even the Skaven or Goblins which were races renowned for their cruelty would have backed off and said "That's going too far" that being said Tatsumi ordered most of these contraptions destroyed. The exploration revealed also some surviving captives that were malnourished but still alive along with captives that were recently brought in, as the noble's comment early suggested most of the prisoners were ordinary peasants snatched from the countryside to be tortured for amusement by evil nobles; Aria was disgusted by the practice. And to top it off they also discovered an underground tunnel network that stretched for great distances and came out in the homes of nobles; their families were largely surprised by passageways and horrified by the news that their relatives had been part of a death cult.
The expedition to the ruins had proven quite fruitful and Tatsumi now had a lot of evidence of the cult's existence in Francia. This evidence was added to by the efforts of his Dark Squad units under Chelsea and Merraid who had extracted and found a good deal, with Shadow Commander Cena the leader of the Dark Squad managing to find out about a plot to overthrow the king and replace him with one of the Cults own members; 25 of the King's Ministers chief among them Minister Robespierre were in on the plot and were ready to enact it soon but the arrival of the Imperials had set back their plans: the amount of evidence Tatsumi had was outstanding and now he needed to only present it to King Charles and King Greymane.
Later that evening in the King's hall… Tatsumi stood before the entrance of the door to the throne room then in traditional Tatsumi fashion barged in and walked in in grand fashion, beside him was his honor guard along with 6 shackled cultists, behind him Merraid and Chelsea walked in accompanied by Dark Squad troops including their leader Commander Cena who along with Captain Chidori and Captain Jag had been placed under command of the Oarburgh sisters; they had with them large amounts of paper work they had 'appropriated' along with a fair few more cultists in chains, that sudden arrival stopped negotiations which were starting to go downhill with Najenda yelling "He's back!" which was right in time as Spear was about to punch King Charles in the face for insulting her status as a woman with extreme power in the Empire and having made insults with regards to her fidelity to Tatsumi.
"Indeed I am and prepare to be amazed King Charles as there is indeed a cult abroad in your country and they were plotting overthrow you and I have A LOT of evidence to back up my claims including criminals caught in the act, documents detailing their plans to overthrow the monarchy of Francia and to top it out gruesome first-hand accounts from the victims first and foremost these two people" Tatsumi greeted, then indicated to the four Champions to move aside, the little girl who was named Renette and the young woman who was named Nadine stepped forward now in fresh clothes and with Nadine's empty eye sockets concealed behind a blindfold, both walked with crutches and while they had been cleaned up their faces still showed signs of abuse; they were followed by about 20 more survivors both men and women who while they had been cleaned up also bore the scars of the abuse; Tatsumi also nodded to his Dark Squad soldiers Yu Lan and Kylie first among them who threw the shackled cultists whose cowls had been removed to display their identities to the floor in front of the King who rose to come over to the display in front of him; the young man had his jaw dropped in shock as despite his upbringing that Tatsumi was able to root out a threat to his rule and prove him wrong was too much for propriety to bare.
"Great Scott" King Charles exclaimed. "What in the name of all that is clean before the gods have you found? What happened to these people my- subjects but to see them like this what happened!?" Charles continued he then walked up to the first of the Cultists who spat at his foot. "DOG!" Charles exclaimed and kicked the man. "Bow before the Rightful Lord of this Land or I will smite you where you stand dog!" Charles told the cultist and drew his sword, the cultist knelt in fear, Charles recognized him. "Marquis Montalbont; by what right do you wear this vile robe, I see the hands of men wrapped around your neck and this robe reeks of urine and blood" Charles interrogated, the man quivered in fear. "Answer me!" Charles demanded.
"Mercy! Mercy by Saint Gilles's name! Spare me I admit everything lest I face your wrath and torture on top of the torments endured by the blonde Angel of Death! I know now what has happened; I admit I have sinned gratefully in the sight of the Gods and saints; I have forsaken our rightful gods and taken to worshiping demons! All of those that where these robes and even some of the men in this room worshiped the dark lord Valtor and his chosen Dark Messiah Volgoth Ugor! We are all damned and doomed, I've committed great crimes abominations before the gods I raped children and viewed myself above those who did no wrong I ate human flesh and burned the dead in mockery of the gods: OH, I've sinned! The Golden Dragon speaks true! Monsters in human skin like myself scheme to plot your doom even your most trusted advisors are in on that plot: in fact, the leader of our Cult stands right there!" The Cultist replied pointing a trembling hand at a black-haired man in his forties wearing sky-blue garb and glasses and with a pronounced handlebar mustache.
"Lies! This man is mad!" The man remarked.
"He tells the truth! I've seen you; you raped my daughters in front of me then slowly tortured them to death and ate them in front of me!" A battered former captive yelled the man was missing teeth that had been yanked out by the cultists, other survivors pointed out other criminals and backed up the claims; Tatsumi smiled inside.
"Knights! Seize them!" Charles boomed and several full armored knights grabbed and dragged any and every accused man, some of which tried to flee and one of which was killed by a halberd wielded by a knight when the man drew his sword and attempted to fight him. Soon the conspirators were dragged forward. More witness testimonies were brought forward as those who had been seated at the diplomatic table joined the onlookers and in Spear's case the security, papers were handed to Charles who looked them over his temper rising; with each fact made clear to him; soon he'd had enough. "Enough! I have seen enough! It is obvious to me know that there has been a conspiracy to overthrow me and that the nobility have forsaken their duties to protect the peasantry and have instead hunted them for sport, eaten them and done other such abominations to them: as the King I have two things to say; first an apology to Emperor Tatsumi to whom I now pledge my sword and kingdom to for refusing to believe the truth; I see it now in plain sight and to that comes the second thing I have to say. That is that every one of you traitors are dogs and varlets; whores to demons and liars and monsters that only cared for your own sick desires and lusts who dabbled in Secret Combinations and strived to bring my nation down; for that I as the highest authority in this land find you guilty of high treason, oath breaking, varies crimes that are affronts before both our laws and our gods, failure to uphold your oaths as vassals and conspiracy to destroy all Francia but most of all find you guilty of worshiping demons one of the most vile crimes before us and proving you are no longer men but animals no beneath animals as even the stupidest oxen would not stoop so low as you; for that I sentence you all to death; take them to the dungeons make known throughout the lands this pronouncement; also let word go out of the declaration of a tournament where these men will be forced to fight to the death for the joy of the crowd and where we will execute the masterminds of this vile combination of plots and crimes in plain view for all to see but also to celebrate the formal joining of Francia to the Empire, abolition of serfdom and the wedding of my sisters to Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom Seventh of his name, most courageous of all heroes whom I now declare High King of the Westerlands and Francia let it be known he is the greatest of all monarchs and let us sing many a song in his honor and to celebrate this most glorious of all unions!" King Charles declared. "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Golden Dragon!" The King declared and was joined in rejoicing.
King Greymane approached Tatsumi "I recognize you Emperor Tatsumi as an honorable military and economically to the kingdom of Gilneas; you've proven your mettle in my eyes; you've done in hours that which took me a month to do, and managed to convince even the most stubborn of men to realize our true enemy" Greymane replied and drew his sword before sheathing it and offering his hand to Tatsumi the two shook hands gave each other a firm hug then smiled. "I look forward to fighting by your side, you may be young and full of youth but I still have some fight left in me and know a fair few things; we'll learn from each other and hopefully become good friends; I've a fair few daughters for you to choose from to take to wife to seal our pact and hope you will stop by my wonderful kingdom and further our pacts" King Greymane added.
"Don't worry I'll be stopping there next; how long with the Tournament take and can I participate?" Tatsumi asked.
"It will take a day to organize and last three more days, as for participation unfortunately only knights may participate but because you are now High King that goes with it the title of Paladin of the Golden Lion order and thus allows you entry; I look forward to meeting you on the tourney grounds let us see who proves the greater warrior even if I lose I still hope to have proven myself, also every knight and man at arms of Francia will take up arms to fight at your side against the unholy threats" King Charles explained.
"Good to hear after the tournament King Charles I want you and your armies to head to Melromarc and join up with those of Queen Mirellia I'll be gathering troops to march east after I've manage to get what allies I can we need everyone" Tatsumi replied suddenly a door opened and in walked a tall figure in black and red armor carrying a familiar trident and- wearing a familiar set of Gauntlets the figure marched towards Tatsumi and pulled out letter with a seal on it.
"Who are you to barge into my hallowed halls!" King Charles asked the black armored figure.
"A Messenger I bring a message to Tatsumi Gildenstrom" the armored figured declared; he opened the scroll and began reading "Dear Tatsumi in the name of Valtor, I the Great Emperor, the Tar-Esh-Tavani Volgoth Ugor of New Yeenkar I send to you this messenger with this warning to you; you now have one month to return to Melitine or the population of the surrounding towns, cities and villages will suffer my wrath; this is your first and only warning; also do not attack this messenger or I will carry out the attacks immediately" Volgoth had written Tatsumi glared at the black armored figure then at the Gauntlets.
"Those aren't yours they belonged to a man who was loyal to the royal family I assume to his last; those belonged to General Raiko Budo of the Imperial Royal Guard, the leader of it and a firm friend of my father, uncle and caretaker to cousins; you demon dishonor his memory by wearing those" Tatsumi remarked.
"I do no such thing; this body was once his; I dwell in it now I am General Mammon; also my master Volgoth offers you this gift in warning" the figure now identified as Mammon responded and held out to the shock of everyone in the room especially that of Tatsumi and Shastavi a severed head but not any head the head of General Teketh Tsunami which he dropped at Tatsumi's feet. "Let that be a warning to you, Teketh thought himself superior and that he could betray and kill Volgoth; my lord dispatched him with a single blow; let this show you what happens to those who oppose him; I take my leave now" Mammon explained then vanished thru a black portal.
Tatsumi picked up Teketh's head and stared at his visage frozen in dismay; Shastavi took it and spat on it. "You weren't really that superior at all father; serves you right for what you did to me, did to Kyoko, did everyone you sullied; you were a weakling after all" Shastavi commented, Tatsumi looked at Teketh's face wondering how quick his death had been; then shed a tear of anger not for Teketh's death but that his mortal enemy had robbed him of his rightful vengeance he then bottled that away; revenge would be his still but on Volgoth who had taken another thing from him.
"I've heard from afar the name Teketh Tsunami we hold him up as the example of whom true knights should strive to fight and destroy; to know that he met the end not at the hands of a righteous warrior but at the hands of a greater monster is- frightening, a reminder that evil will never triumph over good not because good is faultless but because evil fights itself, it is like two-headed dragon with one head bent on evil acts and the other bent on betrayal; this is an important lesson to you my Emperor, don't forget it" King Charles remarked.
"I won't not after Volgoth robbed me of my rightful vengeance, that man did horrible things to my adopted daughter Kyoko, he raped her and impregnated her, to know that my mortal enemy who murdered my father, aunt, uncle and many others both of kin to my family and subjects of my nation has taken one more thing from just makes me all the more driven to end this, not for vengeance but to stop him from taking more from me and everyone else on Eden including our very world" Tatsumi replied he then handed the head to Shastavi. "Burn this putrid afront to nature I don't want anything remaining of Teketh he was a man so evil that nothing should be left of him on the face of Eden" Tatsumi ordered.
"With pleasure" Shastavi replied and smirked eager to fulfill the task.
The following day at the Grand Tourney Grounds of Corronne… Tatsumi had traded his imperial garb for a suit of Francian style tourney armor plate-mail complete with team heraldry. The execution of the traitors was going to be held after the jousts and melees along with the archery tournament the sole exemption where anyone who could string a bow was allowed to compete while the former two were restricted to the nobility Tatsumi considered changing the rules but decided against it as the contestants were required to supply their own mounts and their own weaponry for the fights traditionally he was the exception to this rule as King Charles had given the finest armor his smiths could craft as a gift and for the tournament, while not on par with the Dwarven forged armored suits that he'd been wearing since he'd first drawn Smaug it was still formidable and Umber actually had praise for the master blacksmiths of Francia saying that they forged about as well as the journeyman Dwarven smith which was high praise from a Dwarf. That being said Tatsumi was looking forward to proving himself to the people of Francia further and testing his mettle against some of Eden's best warrior who held events like these for great occasions and to produce some of the best heavy infantry and cavalry in the world of Eden; the Triple-Forged Titanium Plate Armor worn by these knights was trouble for average ammunition used by Imperial firearms to the point where Tatsumi considered phasing out lead rounds for much harder materials that could crack armor; firearms had their merits but Tatsumi still believed in combined arms using every weapon possible though standardization of weaponry and equipment was something that would become prominent in the Golden Dragon Empire in the future but peace time would be needed to implement such reforms on a grand scale with that in mind Tatsumi worked with what he had to work with which expanded daily.
Spear walked into his tent followed by Shadow Commander Cena both of whom were in armor; Tatsumi had fought for hours to allow those of his honor guard who essentially held the Imperial titles equivalent to Knighthood to compete and after persuading King Charles to knight them they had been allowed entry, the only condition was that they were not allowed to use their Teigus a rule which was acceptable by Tatsumi and everyone else because Tatsumi thought it would be unfair and potentially lethal to use them; Susanoo was peeved at being left out of the Tournament because he was a Teigu, but he was at least allowed to watch. "You looking forward to this?" Spear asked.
"Yep; I haven't competed in a tournament since- well Esdeath's back in Melitine" Tatsumi replied. "Those were simpler times" Tatsumi remarked.
"Yep, this is going to be fun I find it funny how many looks I'm getting from the Francian nobles; they'll be a lot less smug when I beat the stuffing out of them in the events" Spear replied.
"I second that; I wonder how many knights we'll beat" Cena added.
"Every Francian, though it's me you're going to have to worry about" Tatsumi remarked.
"Yeah right I taught you how to do most of the things you know Tatsumi-kun bring on the challenge winner gets to do whatever they want next time we get in the marriage bed" Spear remarked, Tatsumi noted she was three months pregnant now but that was not going to stop Spear from fighting; in fact it added a layer of humiliation that a pregnant Empress could beat the flower of Francian Chivalry even with their rules in place.
Tatsumi though was ready to show off his ability to his new subjects both to demonstrate his skills but also assure them he had their backs. Cena looked at Tatsumi and then at Spear and winked, Spear nodded and left her with Tatsumi. "My liege" Cena replied and Tatsumi looked at her confused. "I've a request I've been meaning to ask for some time; would you consider well- a relationship with me" Cena asked.
"I'd be down for that; though I thought you weren't one for politics being an Empress is no joke" Tatsumi replied.
"Oh I know but I'd still be the leader of the Dark Squad in a new administration it's a rather apolitical job it has to be otherwise the unit would waste time killing the rivals of other nobles rather than real threats; so nothing would change much other then I'd be able to do it without whining idiots who think my department is a waste of money those idiots would have to complain to you and then they'll shut up when you tell them no; and the benefits include being a wife to the most powerful man on the planet, being able to have the family I never was able to have and be able to root out the last of the diehards in favor of euthanizing failed operatives; also you are rather handsome and well I'm beautiful" Cena explained, she then kissed him. The two momentarily found themselves naked and behind a dressing wall; Cena took one look at Tatsumi's length and grinned. "Well you are larger in more ways than stature and life" Cena remarked and began blowing him she was inexperienced but Spear had given her advice, that advise showed when she assumed the 69 position and Tatsumi proceeded to use his magic tongue to take her to heavenly bliss noting she was indeed a virgin, she intensified her own oral efforts using her ample breasts to massage his length, she soon came from his efforts and it took her a few minutes to get the same result, she then was pushed off and Tatsumi spread her legs; Cena moaned loudly as Tatsumi took her anally the tightness of Cena's rear was impressive he spread her legs and went all out, his hands caressing her breasts as he did his best soon after a matter minutes and the time came for the main show Cena stopped him. "I'm saving that for our wedding night: you've given me an amazing experience, but we need to be ready for the tournament" Cena explained.
Tatsumi nodded and they helped each other redress; Tatsumi then left the tent and went to tend to his raptor; it had taken some negotiation to allow him to bring his raper Calex into the competition as a mount though the tournament rules allowed him to do so in the end as it had been worded that the rider would provide their own mount rather than horse. With that in mind Tatsumi made sure Calex was well fed so that the raptor did not get any ideas to feed on the competition either rider or horse. "Alright my good friend it will be soon time to go and do our best" Tatsumi remarked, he then left to check around when one of his soldiers walked up to him and asked him to come with them for a surprise.
Tatsumi found the surprise was a number of his men with local girls hired for a pre-game celebration which didn't mark the tournament but his efforts as a commander who had led them so far; Tatsumi was flattered by the gesture and noted the pretty blonde prostitute looking at him with interest, he shrugged his men helped him out of the armor and he found himself naked alongside a fair few of his soldiers both men and women; being who Tatsumi was he wasn't particular in favor of sharing women but given that these soldiers of his retinue were doing so out of respect for him and to endear them to him further he participated in what became a consensual gangbang, Tatsumi boned all the prostitutes they had hired and a fair few of his own soldiers, those women who fought for him were eager to prove their loyalty. This session lasted about an hour Tatsumi was warmed up by the end and had to hurry to make sure his equipment was in order for the Tournament.
The Tournament began about an hour later and Tatsumi rode Calex up to the first of the events; the Jousts; there were 26 competitors up to joust and each would do so in order; Tatsumi was the first up and his opponent was a Francian knight by the name of Sir Levee, this joust was something Tatsumi wasn't unfamiliar with as he had used a lance extensively during his battles against the Revolutionary Army and during his fighting against the arms of Bokassa, but this was a former joust rather than a battle where there was a system of ranking for points and where the weapons didn't kill also his use of a lance had been mainly against infantry so he rarely faced a cavalry charge.
That being said his opponent wasn't a master of the saddle by any means he was what was called a Knight Errant which was Knight that had recently become a knight but hadn't yet finished his training and thus wasn't a full on Knight of the Realm; thus it was a reasonable fight to start a tournament off. The rules were explained and both contenders were handed their lances, essentially they had a point system in case neither contender scored a knock off, they would go at it for a number of tilts until a knock off was scored or one scored 10 points to win, where the lance hit marked the points the only sure fire way of victory was for a knockoff. "Joust!" an official shouted and both riders charged, Tatsumi aimed his lance for his opponents midsection while his opponent aimed for chest, the impact force from Tatsumi's angling of the lance knocked Sir Levee off his horse to cheers from the audience while Levee's lance only shook Tatsumi up, fortunately the man got back up ok and gave Tatsumi a thumbs up for a good job. The next rounds alternated and competitors were eliminated eventually it came down to a- crazy match up; Tatsumi would joust against Esdeath who had just unhorsed King Charles and King Greymane in two separate bouts; that worried him, given the fact that Esdeath had made it all the way to the end meant he was not in for a fun fight and prepared for pain but also altered his tactic a bit with regards to his lance the reason being that he had so far aimed for either his opponents midsection or their upper chest; Esdeath rendered both of these moot as Tatsumi wanted to avoid hurting their unborn children so when the time to joust came he had to aim for her shoulder which was a smaller target to hit.
The two looked at each other and shrugged. "Really? Really Tatsumi we have to joust against each other?" Esdeath remarked.
"Hey, it's not my fault the two of us both are too good for the rest of the competition to beat, I'm going easy on you by the way for the sake of our kids" Tatsumi replied.
"You do that I won't go easy; I never do" Esdeath replied and the two readied their lances the referee signaled "Joust!" and the two charged, their raptors moving rapidly towards each other, Tatsumi then decided to alter his tactic ever so slight and aim for Esdeath's legs, the two charged neither scored a knock off and thus it came to another tilt that resulted similarly Tatsumi was down 5 points while Esdeath had 8 this tilt which meant he had to knock her off or lose by points but to do so he'd have to risk aiming for her chest which meant risking hurting his unborn children so Tatsumi decided not to change strategy and hope for luck.
The two looked at each other and jousted, Tatsumi aimed for her shoulder but Esdeath had the lance out for his chest; impact came and Tatsumi felt a hard impact and followed by another; Esdeath had unhorsed him. Esdeath had won the joust and that meant she had won that part of the Tournament to yells and jeers from Francian nobles which required Tatsumi and King Charles to intercede and warn them any attempt to harm any women participating by any member of the audience would result in them being sent to the gallows alongside the condemned; that shut them up; Esdeath was awarded the prize for the competition that being a large sum of money, a fine crafted sword which she took a liking to and replaced the blade Aria had gifted her for the time being, and a royal thoroughbred chestnut brown mare which she named Heidi. From there the Tournament proceeded with the Melee and Tatsumi found the melee was more open with about 48 participants which the first round being four teams of 12, the rule being that the teams would shrink in size thru subsequent rounds until only two combatants were left to duck it out in the field to decide the winner. This fight began and Tatsumi found himself fighting hard with a wooden sword overpowering all challengers that came in his direction; he didn't pay attention to who he was fighting as everyone had their face obscured by a helmet; eventually only his team was left standing and the officials then went about removing those who hadn't performed well and narrowed down the next wave to four teams of 6 and each round persisted as such until it had been narrowed down to two people; those two people were Tatsumi and to his surprise King Charles.
"Are you ready to face me one on one?" Tatsumi asked.
"Indeed I am, may the better swordsman win" King Charles replied and the two locked blades the slashing and clashing of wooden blades was not an epic noise to hear but both struck hard knocks on the other whenever they got an opening, Tatsumi however shrugged of those he received and focused on parrying Charles blows, these strikes he parried were bold strikes and they did leave openings that Tatsumi was able to exploit chaining in a series of blows that put Charlee's on the defensive something that he was unused to as he favored a more offensive fighting style Tatsumi then side stepped strikes and struck hard into his opponent's stomach that winded him Tatsumi then struck overhead knocking Charles out and winning the Melee. Tatsumi was offered a large prize with a number of fine gifts, these he handed out to his retinue, the money was something he did not need, the weapons offered were not of inferior quality to his own and the suit of armor well- it was again lesser quality.
With the melee done the executions of the cultists began; jeers were thrown out by the gathered crowds as the first of many condemned to die was brought up, he was then drawn and quartered by four horses; this punishment was shared by many of the lower ranking cultist leaders; the high ranking ones suffered a worse fate they were thrown into a pit that had a number of hungry bears with naught but a wooden sword; they were ripped limb from limb by the bears; last came the head of the conspiracy Minister Robespierre he was strapped to a wooden stake coated with tar, oil, turpentine and feathers before the pyre beneath him was set alight he'd die a slow death being burned alive which was a punishment reserved for the worst criminals in Francia as this fire would not be put out until nothing but ash was left of the condemned; burning the dead was only allowed in this case other than that burial was mandatory in Francia.
Tatsumi was then wed to both of King Charles's sisters before watching the archery contest which had to go three extra rounds in the final bout as Sayo and Remus matched arrow by arrow into the targets eventually however Sayo who had used a bow since she was five years old won out but barely. That evening a great feast was head and Tatsumi hadn't had a meal of its like for a long while and which was followed up by a honeymoon; that night was long and full of banging with Tatsumi being worn out however that night he didn't sleep well and the reason why well you'll find out soon enough
