Brann had awoken in a dark place. This was the second time he had woken up after being knocked out by an enemy, he did not much care for it.
"This is just a guess, but my connection to the Netherworld is being suppressed, right? Gnarl? Sindra? Kelda?" The sole crushing silence was all Brann needed to confirm his suspicion. His cell door opened by itself, and despite his better judgment, he walked out of it. He soon found some blue minions and used them to help him secure his fellow prisoners to dominate. Once he had fifteen blues, and about the same number of gladiators at his command, he heard the annoying voice of Marius begin to prattle.
"All hail the great Emperor Solarius, who has healed his people and this land with his divine blessing! And it is with great pleasure I, Marius, as the Emperor's official spokesperson, and my lady wife, declare these Arena games open! Now for our opening act, we have a real treat for you! He's a vile magic-user. A mass murderer. Ladies and gentlemen... He is the enemy of everything you hold sacred and dear! He's the Demon Lord of Nordberg!" Brann then walked out into the arena to the boos of a massive crowd of spectators. He passive-aggressively flipped off the public while his minions waved with stupid smiles on their faces.
"Now, let's rile him up a bit, there's nothing more amusing than an angry savage! Bring out his little imp friends!" Brann could look up at the Emperor's stand where he himself was only a little while ago, seeing Marius himself blathering next to what must have been the Emperor himself. While Marius continued to ramble like an ass, some imperial soldiers lined up the minions that were captured with Brann and killed them. Nun of the Emperor's men did not seem to notice or care that Brann quickly resurrected them mid-monolog.
"This despicable creature who hails from the depths of the earth itself, murdered my poor baby brother Borius! And subjugated our most honorable governess of Everlight! He is responsible for the great cataclysm and the magical plague! But here in this arena, ladies and gentlemen, the Demon Lord of Nordberg will face the consequences of his actions! However, we are not unsporting, ladies and gentlemen. We will even let him use his magic to serve as a warning against the vile practice! Much good may it do him!"
"Are you trying to bore me to death down here four-eyes? Because a little more rambling, and you might just succeed!" A small amount of the crowd laughed with Brann's outburst, Marius himself was not amused.
"Now, for round one! Straight from the slums, we show you what happens to bad slaves!" At his signal, four platforms popped up from the ground with armed slaves on them. Some fought one another, but most ran around in a cercal like chickens with their heads chopped off. Brann quickly used his evil presence spell and increased his forces threefold.
"Are you going to give me a challenge, Marius? Or are you content with just giving me more reinforcements!?"
"Right! Round two! Let's add some vile magical creatures to the proceedings!" Perhaps they can bring down the Demon Lord of Nordberg!?" Two unicorns then were sent out. Brann willed his minions to attack one and focused his might on the other. Neither lasted very long, only making Marius more frustrated.
"I SAID CHALLANGE ME, MARIUS! Is this really all the great imperial arena can offer!? This fighting pit is as pathetic as the rest of your doomed nation!"
"You know what!? FUCK YOU! Send in everything we have to kill this savage freak!" At Marius's order, three gargents, two unicorns, and an entire squad of suicide gnomes. Brann charged headfirst into the fray, slashing, hacking, and dodging his foes as necessary. Unicorn and mutated human blood mixed on the blade of his ax, as the explosions of suicide gnomes could be heard all around him. After a truly spectacular display of his might and power, Brann stood atop a pile of deformed corpses, screaming as he held his ax in the sky, declaring his victory.
"What! WHAT! You should be dead! Right... This should finish you off. Bring out the Yeti!"
"Oh, no! A yeti! What, is it going to cuddle me to death? Bring me a challenge, or I will climb up there and kick your ass!" When the yeti started tossing explosive barrels, his connection to the Netherworld suddenly reestablished itself.
"HA! I told you he was just fine." shouted Sindra in a boastful tone.
"Oh, don't pretend that you weren't just as worried as the rest of-" Kelda was then cut off by a loud slap, possibly to the face. Gnarl then took this opportunity to make his presence known.
"We were all very worried, sire... But we've got you back now. Hmmm, looks like you've found our old friend."
"Ya, good times, now get a fucking gate to my location this fucking instant!" Brann dodged explosive barrels left and right, one of the barrels hitting a door that lead into the stands.
"Now we can really cause some damage! Good luck dealing with this mess, Marius!" Brann then charged up into the stands, dominating every other imperial citizen he came across. The yeti still chucked explosives at him, and they were much harder to dodge in the stands. He then spotted the sport beams holding up the Emperor's personal stand, a wicked plan forming in his mind.
"HEY, YETI!" The yeti look at Brann, eye filled with rage. "You hate me for killing baby seals, right?"
"WRAAHHH!" The yeti roared in rage as it lifted another barrel to throw at Brann.
"Well he fucks them!" The yeti, in confusion, looked up to where Brann was pointing, right at Emperor Solarius.
"Reaw?"
"That's right; he fucks them! That sick fuck loves nothing more than to scoop up defenseless baby seals and rape them to death! He even stuffed one of the poor little fur-balls right before the match started!" The yeti went from being confused to being absolutely fucking livid.
"WRAAAHHHH!" The beast roared as he tossed two explosives at the Emperor's stand. Marius looked like if he had no already shit himself, he was going to.
"Guards, power up the-" Marius was unable to even finish his sentence before being consumed in a fiery explosion, gold rubble and blood getting everywhere. Jumping just in time to escape the fire, a baby seal of all things. Brann had no idea how a baby seal got all the way out into the imperial Heartland, but it pacified the yeti when the beats saved it from the fall. And right behind the big brute snuggling the fluffy rat was the blue hive, undamaged and unscathed.
"That beast is in the way of the hive! Subdue him, or kill him outright!"
"I think I'll keep him, if nothing else, he will make a good laborer." Brann then walked down to the yeti, killing anyone that got in his way. As he used his evil presence spell on the monster, he felt something strange. The spell was acting differently. Instead of just dominating the beast, it started to shrink it as well. When it was at about eye level with Brann, he stopped, looking down to his casting hand with confusion.
"Well that... Was different. Questions for later, time to get the hive back to the Netherworld!" As Brann willed, the minions obeyed, carrying the hive to the waypoint gate that had just popped up in the arena. In a mear moment, he was back in the tower, and the two women he loved most rushed over to hug him.
"Fucking hell, Brann! That was the second time you were disconnected from the Netherworld! If you ever fucking scare me like that again, I will kill you!" Kelda screamed, small tears began to form in her eyes as she hit Brann's chest.
"Calme down, you hysterical ginger! Do you really think even a small army could take this hunk out? You worry too much." Sindra chided her fellow mistress before pulling Brann down so she could whisper to him. "Seriously though, I will hurt you if you worry me like that again." Brann nodded as he broke away from the hug and walked over to his throne.
"Personally, I think your little excursion went quite well. Not only did you retrieve the blue hive, but you killed the Emperor and his second in command! This calls for a celebration!"
"Your right Gnarl. Sindra, tell the knights and minions that now is the time to spring the trap. Slaughtering all those imperials should be great sport. Kelda, you deserve a treat as well, how about you find the biggest thing in my Dark Domain and kill it for the victory feats. And someone get the band ready. I want this party to cause such a racket that they will be making a noise complaint in heaven!"
"Yes, sire!" Everyone said in a rather happy mood, except for Gnarl, because he genuinely hated Quaver's music.
...
Rose felt like she was about to lose her mind. First, her, oh so clever husband captured her son. She had mixed feeling on what to do about Brann, but throwing him into the arena ended just as badly as she knew it would. Second, he decided not to tell her about it. If he had, then she would have advised a much wiser course of action, but no, he wanted to watch the savage squirm.
"That stupid, egotistical, petty, small-minded fool! Now, what the fuck am I supposed to do!? I can't just make another Soularius illusion and pretend nothing happened!" Rose moved her hand to rub her forehead, she was going to be in for years of hell. Every ambitious senator, general, and enemy of the empire would make their move to seize power for themselves. The empire that she had spent almost twenty years building from the ground up was about to crumble to dust in weeks at most. Suddenly there was a frantic knocking on her door, and a familiar voice accompanying it.
"Mother! Can I please come in!?"
"Yes, Meranda, please do." Her daughter did not was any time rushing in. From the fear in the poor woman's eyes, Rose knew why her child was there.
"Is it true? Please say it isn't true! Please tell me that this is some horrible joke, please!" Tears rolled down Meranda's cheeks as she trembled before her mother. Rose never hated her husband more than she did at that very moment, for his impulsive stupidity broke her little girl's heart.
"I'm sorry, Meranda... Your father is dead. The Demon Lord of Nordberg slew him and the Emperor when they tried to execute him at the arena." All the strength in Meranda was sapped away in that very instant. She collapsed onto the floor and wept at Marius's passing, which was more than he deserved as far as Rose was concerned. She then moved over and held her child in her arms as she cried, comforting her as she had done a thousand times before. Wondering just what the hell she was going to do now.
...
Fay was given the good news and had mixed feeling about it. On the one hand, the empire was going to be much more manageable of a threat. On the other, the Overlord was proving to be too dangerous to leave alone. Her only hope would be found in Lilly's laboratory, a place that, while used for light magic, was still a somewhat unnerving place.
"My queen, it's very nice to see you. Come, I have just finished the first of the Spell-born." Fay looked upon the creature that Lilly had birthed with her magics, and it was hideous. It looked like a rat on its hind legs, half the size of an elf, but wrong in many ways. Instead of fur, it had reddish-green scales similar to the salamanders that dwelt in the deepest parts of the Sanctuary. And what parts of it that were not scaly were extra blue and slimy and with two oozing eyestalks very reminiscent of the magickly charged slugs that roamed the Wasteland.
"Does... Does this lifeform understand speech?"
"Indeed he does, First, address your queen." The Spell-born then hurried over to Fay, bowing to her.
"By your orders... We live... The Spell-born give thanks, and obey." Fay felt sick to her stomach just thinking about the horrible thing her archmage had brewed into existence. Every bone in her body telling her that this was a mistake, but it was far too late to turn back.
"You... Are not slaves. You are my subjects, but are free to do as you please. So long as you do not use your freedom to infringe upon the freedom of others."
"Yes, my queen... We will go... Make nest strong... Help nestmates..." The horrid little thing scampered off. Fay then turned to Lilly with disgust.
"How many of those vile things did you make!?" Lilly looked confused by the question.
"There are twelve of them, six males, six females, more than enough to begin birthing a new workforce and army. They should breed at a high enough rate to rival the Overlord's minions in numbers."
"That's... Great. Keep me informed on them. If they show any singe of corruption, we will need to deal with it quickly." Fay then rushed out while trying not to look like she was rushing out. Feeling like she was going to vomit, doing everything she could to remind herself that this was all for the greater good.