Chapter 13: I love you
Nearly an hour had passed since Kagami and Marie were sent to gather the remaining people. Their task came to an end and everyone alive stood at the temple which now had a roaring blue flame at the altar where Sho sat on the edge of. He looked out over the steps down at the people who looked back to him with hate and rage in their eyes. He stood with perfect timing of a lightning strike and walked down the stairs. The faces in the crowd portrayed emotions of the highest form, almost everyone wanted to dart forward and kill Sho with whatever they had near them.
"That face…That exact face is the one I started this conquest with. I know that feeling, that deep rage in your blood, screaming out to you to kill the one who brought you to that point. You all want to kill me now right? Well I welcome anyone to try it…Any takers?" Sho extended the invite with his hand stretched towards the crowd of people.
The sound of a war-like yell sounded from the rear of the crowd. A Young boy, no older than thirteen ran forth with his tiny dagger in hand and tears spouting from his face. He ran through the sea of people, stumbling a few times until he reached Sho where he stopped for a moment.
"This is for Mama and Papa!" He cried out, thrusting the blade forward.
Sho smirked, slapped the blade down and grabbed the kid by the hair. He lifted him up, pulling his body by the roots of hair attached to his scalp. Face to face, Sho laughed in the boy's face before throwing him to the dirt.
"It's funny isn't it, the bottom of the barrel shot forth before any of you supposedly strong types. Yet he couldn't do anything because he lack power, all he has is will." He looked down at the kid while talking. "For having no power with a heart filled with hate, he will not succeed, only die."
Sho bent down and picked the kid's dagger up. With a cold glare he threw the blade downward with a simple flick of his wrist. The blade pushed deep into the kid's back, going down to the hilt. He gasped for air, grasping for the ground below him to pacify the pain that coursed through his body. Though he tried, his life came to an end just like that.
"Let that be a lesson, that I hold the power here. That you are in my hand and you will obey what I tell you. You have hate, that's for sure, but you lack power. So from today on-." He lifted his hand to the sky with the Advent symbol glowing brighter than before. "I claim your life! I subjugate your every move. If I do not will it, you shall not act it. Today, I am your new God and The Advents is your new religion!"
The same slave marks on Kagami and Marie appeared on the ground in massive format. The glow reached up and tangled the people, marking their bodies with the exact same image. They were now property of The Advents, they had no choice but to follow what Sho told them. Everyone before Sho bowed down to the ground as The Advents stepped up behind him, looking out at their mass of followers.
"Yes Master!" They yelled out in unison, their spirits and wills instantly broken under the oppression of the guild.
Sho turned to his members and nodded, leading them back towards the fire. Kuroi sat atop a toppled pillar and folded his arms and legs atop it. Jinsei pressed his back against the railing of the steps and watched Sho walk on. Yumi followed Sho to the fire while Azu sat in the dirt on his legs and Salamander joined Kuroi. Sho reached the flames and turned to his men.
"You all should know well enough what's coming next. Kuroi, once I return it will be your turn to act. As soon as you spot your target, you know what to do. Sal, rally Three's men and prepare." Sho said while nodding to Yumi who opened a portal.
"But of course! I can only imagine how great this is going to be hehe." Sal said eagerly while rubbing his hands together.
Sho chuckled and headed into the portal, swiping his hand over his face before vanishing with Yumi into the portal. Sal jumped up with a playful kick and laughed. He clapped and made his way towards the entrance to the sanctuary where two assassin crosses stood guard. They moved to the side and allowed Sal to pass by where he spotted Three sitting among his men while sharpening his katars.
"He's gone, I hope your men are ready." He said with a twisted smile.
"I'm sure they are, it's been a while since they've had that kind of fun. To top it off, they're getting paid to do it as well so I imagine they're going to deliver one hundred percent."
"Gooood! Ohohoho, I can't wait!" Sal said.
In Prontera, the many stalls came alive with lights and signs that poked through the veil of night. Children ran through the streets, sporting their summer outfits and wearing home-made masks that depicted various characters, spirits, monsters and even the king himself. The streets came alive for the summer festival, a once a year event that made the citizens forget their worries and look forward to the festivities with their children and lovers.
Near one of the stalls, a delivery man knocked at the wooden door, holding his hat in his hand. He took a step back as the was opened by an elderly woman who's eyes were enhanced by the thick octagon glasses on her face. She smiled and looked up to the man, fixing her glasses to get a better look.
"Ah, how can I help you son?" She asked with a sweet and polite tone.
"Oh, hell mo ma'am. I have a wedding gift for a miss Elajia, I just need her signature and it's hers." He said, pulling a neatly wrapped box from behind him with a small note attached.
"Oh I see! Well, my granddaughter isn't here right now, she's at the church dear. I'll be happy to take the gift for her if that's okay." She said with a heartwarming smile.
The delivery man smiled wide and nodded.
"Of course ma'am, I just need your signature here." He said, holding a clip board out to the woman.
He placed the box under his arm and held the board steady to get her signature. She leaned in close, signing her name in perfect cursive. He passed on the gift and tipped his hat to her.
"You have a wonderful evening ma'am and enjoy the summer festival, I certainly hope the gift is satisfactory, if not please notify our main office in Alberta via mail. Take care." He spoke to her politely before leaving by way of the alley.
Inside the alley the delivery man cheerfully whistled a tune while making his way towards the north east point in the city. He took a moment to stop and take in the sights. Children ran around him carrying sprinklers with their faces hidden behind crudely made masks. He laughed and grabbed a sprinkler himself and began running with the children, still maintaining his course. Once he reached the edge of the inner gate, he stopped and lowered down to their levels.
"Say kids, since it's the summer festival, how about I give you guys something cool?" He offered in a persuasive tone.
They immediately looked at each other, gathered around and held their hands out with eager bounces and shouts.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out pouches of seeds marked with different flavors. He handed them out to each of the kids, stood and dusted his hands off.
"Now then, don't go ruining your dinner hehe, but do enjoy them okay?" He asked as they thanked him and ran off to show their parents what they received.
As for the delivery man, he stopped just outside the church, waved his hand over his face and stepped in. Father Bamph stood from the small counter and smiled, holding his arms out.
"Ah, Seban, I'm so relieved that you're back from Juno, tell me, how was everything?" He asked.
"Oh father, would you believe it, it was all a joke. There was nothing wrong with Juno at all. To think that those cowards would ever attack Juno. It's laughable." Seban said, placing his fists to his hips with his head shaking.
"Oh thank the Yggdrasil tree! I'd been keeping my prayers up ever since I heard about it. I'm glad it was only a joke, though a bad tasting one I might add. Anyway, it certainly is great you're back, you must be here to see Elajia right? She's in the reception hall, filling out some last minute things." The father explained while sitting back at his comfy seat.
"Ah thank you father. Oh by the way, one of Alberta's delivery men was passing out these delicious seeds, I thought I'd share some with you." Seban said while handing a pouch of seeds to the father with a smile before walking by and into the door beside him that lead to the hall.
Sitting at the table with a few stacks of papers ahead of her and a tune coming from her mouth was his beautiful wife; Elajia. He snuck up behind her and placed his hands gently on her shoulder, causing her to jump in reaction.
"Seban!? W-what are you doing here honey?!" She asked in total surprise.
He laughed, pulled her chair back and swept her off her feet in a loving embrace. He looked her in the eyes and smiled in her face.
"The Juno incident was a hoax like I thought it would be. There's no way they could sink the entire city. So I hopped on the shop and rushed back to tell you the news." He said with a light chuckle.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled.
"I'm glad then, now we have the night to ourselves." She said with a little smirk.
He repeated the same expression and leaned in, kissing her softly.
"What about the festival?" He asked, gently pulling away from her lips.
"Heehee, we'll come up with our own events, maybe back at home, in the room, with the curtains closed." She teased with a devilish smile.
"Love, we shouldn't talk about it in the church heheh." He chuckled and went in for another kiss, but was denied as she turned her head way.
"Wait a minute… Since when did you start being so forward? You usually can't go more than three minutes without stammering around me…Especially when I tease like this." She said, looking in his eyes only to realize one of them changed colors.
She gasped and pushed back from the man who claimed to be Seban and ran for the door. The door flew open and she stumbled out, calling out for Father Bamph. She stopped in her tracks and gasped at the body lying in a curled position with vines sticking in and out of the body. It was father Bamph and he was in no shape to help himself let alone anyone else. She ran by and headed for the exit with great haste, stopping only to pull the door open. Outside she felt her body stop and sink into the ground. She panicked and tried to escape, but the hole only pulled her further in.
Seban walked from behind her, laughing all while he did so. He walked around and knelt down in front of her before waving his hand in front of his face. It changed along with his body type and clothing, revealing Sho's normal get up.
"Hello there love, why'd you stop our little plans? You seemed to be pretty worked up hehe, looks like you could use some dick eh?" Sho asked while grabbing her face and turning it towards him. "Don't worry though, we're still going to have some fun."
She opened her mouth to scream, but a jarring hit to the base of her neck caused her to black out in an instant. Her head tilted to the side and Sho stood up and whistled a specific tune aloud. Yumi came from the alley way and opened a portal, allowing Sho to life Elajia from her earthly tomb and move her into to portal. He stood and looked at Yumi.
"You might want to stay here and enjoy the festival, you don't want to be around the next phase lady, trust me hehe." He chuckled before jumping into the portal.
Yumi watched him take her, already having a clear view in her head as to what was coming. She could only gulp hard and walk away slowly into the main parts of the city. She stopped at one of the stalls and picked out an outfit to wear during her stay. She knew that Kuroi would be arriving soon, so she wanted to enjoy at least a little bit of the festival.
Inside one of the many changing stalls, she quickly jumped into her loose fitting summer outfit and looked around at the smiling faces. She felt conflicted seeing as she was a woman of the church and was now helping the most wanted man in Rune Midgard. With a heavy heart and a sigh she sat on a bench and just enjoyed the peaceful view.
A small troupe of people passed by her, causing her to sit up and stare. It was the royal guards who were in charge of watching Alan and Elena who were in the center of the troupe. They kept close proximity to the royal kin who carried bags filled with various things given to them by the stall owners. Yumi suddenly felt a sharp coldness run through her body. She felt her breath short and knew exactly what it was. She didn't even have to turn to see Kuroi out the corner of her eye. Everything seemed to slow down as she watched him approach the guards with his fist balled up.
"Aw come on Alan! We're going to miss the play! Will you pick up your feet!" Elena yelled to Alan who was grabbing a bite to eat at one of the stalls with some of the guards beside him.
"Just a minute! Goodness, it doesn't even start for another hour!" He yelled back while biting into a meat filled bun that assaulted his tongue with flavor. "Oh that's good!"
"So what!? I want a good seat! Move it!" She yelled back to him while stomping her sandaled foot to the ground.
As Kuroi approached, each step he took seemed like hours to Yumi as her mind raced around what was about to happen. He waited until he was closer to the princess to summon his spirit spheres. The guards reacted immediately, drawing their swords and spears. The spheres vanished around Kuroi as lightning took their place. Yumi began to breathe harder as her vision grew blurry from the tears forming, she didn't want this to happen, but she had no choice but to watch.
One of the guards ran for Kuroi, blade drawn and power surging about the blade. He swung, but Kuroi was nowhere to be found. The guards picked up quick, forming a barrier around the prince and his sister. Kuroi on the other hand put them right where he needed them. He snapped around the people out in the city and positioned himself behind a stall. With pinpoint accuracy he flung multiple spirit spheres into the air and guided them down one by one into the guards until they all fell to the ground. The people began to scatter and get as far away from the area as they possibly could.
In the castle, word had already spread to the king, causing him to storm out of the castle and into the city. Kuroi stepped from behind the stall, the lightning still surging about his body. With five more spheres he dashed forward towards the princess with an intense killing intent around his body. Alan jumped before him, armed with a dagger that he always carried with him. He shot forward, angling the blade for Kuroi's throat but missed when Kuroi snapped around him, keeping his target of the girl in sight. She backed away and tried to get help, but her guards were already taken down around her. Kuroi approached her, grabbed her by the hair and looked her square in the eyes.
"……………..Asura Strike……" He just barely whispered as his fist made contact with her face, each moment completely slowed down for Yumi who was still watching.
All of Kuroi's energy poured into his fist and erupted into her skull, having nothing to stop it from exploding, pieces of her head splattered around the area onto the guards, her brother and onto the ground. Kuroi pulled his smoking fist back and looked down at the ground. His energy collided with her blood, causing it to form kanji in her blood and brain matter on the ground. He turned coldly towards Alan, said nothing and opened a red portal before stepping in and leaving everyone to take in what happened.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the king had been watching at that same moment. He could just stand there, staring at his daughter's body that stood in place without its head. He found his breath short and his chest tightening. He grasped at his robe and fell to one knee trying to yell out for his daughter, but instead met the ground and passed out during his heart attack. Alan fell to his knees immediately, swearing and beating the ground until his fist bled profusely. The guards from the castle ran out into the streets, grabbed the king and formed a blockade around the princess' body that would not move no matter how much they tried to. A strange force held it in place that drained the energy of anyone who entered the area.
Yumi returned back to Rachel after the public was released proceeding the search. She sighed as she walked up to the altar where the flames stood before. She couldn't believe what she had witnessed and she knew it was about to be a lot worst when she spotted Elajia bound and unconscious with bruises, blood and semen covering her body. Yumi's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped and fell backwards down the stairs into the mud below. She recovered and looked up at Sho with wide teary eyes.
"So…How was the festival?" He asked while biting into a large taffy like candy he'd gotten from the festival.
"Y-Y-You raped her?!" Yumi asked in surprise.
"Come on now, you knew what was going to happen to a smokin' hot piece of meat like that. Now that it's done, I'm going to enact the last part of this plan right about now." He said, looking at the altar.
A red light shined bright for a moment then died down. Yumi stood and ran towards to find Elajia's body gone. She looked back to Sho, still wide eyed which now began to mist over with tears.
"Where is she!?" She screamed, feeling supreme hate well up in her body.
"She's being taken back to Prontera where they can find her with a little gift from us all. I wonder if she'll have a kid hehe." He said without any form of care while eating the candy still.
"How could you!? HOW!? This is not what I feel is right! Everything I've been taught is being tested with you! I don't like this feeling Sho!" Yumi yelled as she started towards him.
Sho stopped eating and stared her down with eyes as dark as chaos' themselves. He dropped the candy and made his way towards her, tilting his head a bit.
"Excuse me? Did you question my method?" He asked, putting one hand in his pocket.
"How is any of this going to benefit in your plan!? HUH!? Tell me! This is all pointless violence and then…then…you raped a man's fiancée!! Two days before his wedding even!" She shouted, unable to hold back the tears.
Sho approached her, grabbed her by her hair and flung her to the side of the altar, causing her head to bleed. He stood over her body and held his blade to her throat.
"I will not tolerate this nonsense from you Yumi, nor will I allow you to set me back! Do you understand me?!" He demanded to know, pressing his knife into her skin enough to draw blood.
"Hmm, what's going on here?" Salamander's voice sounded as he came from the main city with Jinsei.
Sho turned to them, looked at Yumi and grinned. He released her and looked at his men.
"Seems someone has a problem at what The Advents are doing. She feels she's betraying her holy father by assisting us." He turned to her. "Well answer me this Yumi, if your holy father were truly there, would he allow such things to happen like this? Why doesn't he stop me hmm?"
She was unable to answer. She tried to form words, but they were forced back down by the harsh truth of Sho's words. She looked up and him, but was spit on by her leader.
"I hope you aren't hoping that this is going to blow over…You challenged me directly and for this, you will be made an example out of." Sho warned as he snapped his fingers.
Subtle movements went off around the area as the assassin's guild arrived around him from seemingly nowhere. Her eyes were even wider, knowing she was next for their sick pleasure. She tried to scramble to her feet, but fell backwards when she ran into the body of Kuroi who snapped in her way after his swift delivery. He pushed her back down to the ground, allowing the guild to close in on her. Yumi screamed and kicked, anything she could to try to be released, but they were too strong. One of the guillotine crosses poisoned the tip of a small needle and poked her in the throat, effectively cutting her holy abilities off. Sho snapped his fingers again while walking towards them. They held onto her body, displaying her to Sho.
"S-Sho! Don't do this! Please! I beg you!" She screamed with her eyes closed tight to try and wish it all away.
"Tell me boys, which one is going first?" Sho asked his men behind him.
Salamander licked his bottom lip and walked up rubbing his hands.
"Weeeelll Since you're offering boss Ohohoho!!" He laughed while walking towards Yumi.
"Salamander! No! You can't!!" She screamed, still resisting.
"Oh? Why not? You got yourself into this mess, might as well have a little fun." He said with light chuckles as his hand traced around her breast through her clothes.
"N-No! I only joined for you!! For you!!...I love you! Don't let them do this! Please!!" She pleaded and cried.
"Love me? Are you serious?" He asked, pulling his hand away.
Sho stepped up with his arms folded and smirked.
"So then Sal, you wanna join her in the hot box then?" He asked.
Salamander looked at Sho then to Yumi. She stopped kicking for a moment and smiled to him, seeing a thin sliver of hope. She nodded to him, hoping he would fight back at this moment for her. Salamander grabbed his stomach and let out a spit filled laugh right in her face.
"BAHAHAHAHAH!! I don't care about you, hell I was waiting for you to screw up so I could experiment on you anyway! You must be crazy to think I have feelings for you. Though, I will enjoy this opportunity at such a fine woman Ohohoh!!" He laughed again.
From behind Sal a small bundle of embers flew into his back, knocking him forward slightly. Everyone turned towards the attack, arming up quickly. Kuroi summoned his spheres, Sho drew his knife, Sal pulled a vial of acid out and nearly all of the assassins drew weapons. Jinsei stood at the end of their gaze with the flames dying down on his hand. Sho lowered his eyes and tossed the blade to his other hand.
"Oh so we have another person to jump ship huh?" Sho asked, planning to take Jinsei down in record time.
"No….I'm going first…I owe her a little bit of dept for getting me locked away…." He said with a confident grin on his face.
The others smirked and made a path for Jinsei, causing Yumi to scream out for her release, but it was of no use. The remainder of the night, every man and some of the women in the assassin's guild took their turn with Yumi, taking her innocence away from her in a single night. Even her beloved Salamander took great pleasure in hearing her cries for help while they passed her around until day break where they hauled her into one of Kuroi's portals and tossed her in with a note to be found in Prontera.
Sho sat at the altar with the most satisfied look upon his face. He twirled the blade between his dirty fingers while looking at the sun rise. Today he would go to Prontera, knock on the door and graciously put his boot into King Tristram's ass.