Chapter 9.5

Positions

A young man garbed in torn tourniquet-like clothing coughed up blood onto the soil. His eyes couldn't focus, and all he could smell was the rotten soil beneath his feet. He lost his home, his family, and now, he was finally going to lose to starvation.

"Hello, Kurgan," A calm, collected voice rang in his ears, "I see you are having trouble standing," His voice was layered with genuine concerned, even though his words were full of vigor and confidence.

Kurgan's eight arms struggled against the ground. His voice wouldn't come out, and all he could muster was a faint "guhhh…."

"Don't worry, you'll be safe with me, Kurgan. I assure you this," The strange man dug his hands into a plain white sack, revealing a bright red appa, "Here, an appa. Fresh from the trees," Kneeling down, he gave Kurgan a chance at survival. "Make sure to eat it completely. Your body needs all the nutrients it can get."

Kurgan's weakly reached out to the appa, but the moment his hands touched the fruit, a sudden speed and strength overwhelmed him, and gobbled down the fruit without so much as a delay. Almost immediately, he regained his strength, and stood up with such force that the ground beneath him shook like an earthquake.

The man in front of him, though, appeared completely unfazed. "Nice to meet you, Kurgan."

"How do you know my name?"

With a sudden epiphany, the strangely-clothed man apologized nervously, "Oh, I….I'm so sorry, I didn't realize we hadn't met yet. I apologize sincerely. Sincerely so. I must've bothered you, but there's a reason why I'm here, so please, do listen, after all, you are in the position where you have to listen to me."

Kurgan's eyes narrowed as the man in front of him started to babble unintelligently. What the hell?

"Oh!" With an expression that totally said, 'I see, I see', the man spoke, once again, with vigor, "I am the Sin Archbishop of Pride. I wanted to talk to you."

"An Archbishop?! You mea-"

"Nooooooo no no no no, I rather you not put me in the same spot as those other guys, y'know?" He started to laugh somewhat nervously, "They are very, very, very rude. I don't like those guys one bit. In fact, I came here with a proposal, Kurgan."

"Proposal?" He noticed the Archbishop started to fiddle with several rings on his fingers. There was one he took particular notice of: one with a reddish-blood tint.

"Yes. A proposal," Clapping his hands excitedly, The Archbishop smiled widely, "How would you like to become a hero?" With another clap of his hands, Kurgan flinched. It was as if thunder emanated from the Archbishop's hands themselves.

"A…hero?"

Years Later…

"Regulus Corneas…I hadn't expected you," Kurgan snarled at the Archbishop of Greed, who barely paid any attention to him. Kurgan flexed his last two remaining arms and unsheathed two swords in dual-wield style.

Regulus scoffed, and as if looking at a spider giving birth, gave a queasy look, "Ugh, how disgusting. A filthy creature like you who lost nearly all of his limbs, looking at me with such contempt and hatred. This makes me feel uncomfortable. Do you realize your position, you filth? How annoying. When people annoy you, that means they are infringing upon your own valuable rights. MY RIGHTS. You don't see me going over to you and start to breath down your neck, do you?! Ugh, geh, I need to take a long shower after this. That's how disgusted you made me feel. It's even worse knowing you are the personal lapdog to that moron, Pride."

"Don't you dare insult my master, you bastardized overgrown child," Readying his stance and with a clear shot at the white-robed cultist, he said his last words, "I won't let you go through."

"Consider that your death sentence."

Short Chapter END

Author Notes

Ah, I heard about the new Archbishop, so I just had to write him. Stride Vollachia…I hope we get an illustration of him someday. He sounds really cool.

Anyways, so about the story: Would you guys rather I focus on one character at a time, or would you rather I do a 'chapter-by-chapter' format?

Example:

Week 1: Pride

Week 2: Ayamatsu-Emilia

Week 3: Pride

Week 4: Ayamatsu-Emilia

Basically, every other chapter we switch concurring arcs? Or would you rather I stick to Pride, finish his Zarestia arc, then move onto Ayamatsu-Emilia? Considering I've only been focusing on Pride so far.

….I have no idea how to explain it in simpler terms.

Anyways, thanks for reading!