Chapter 32: Regicide
Zeboiim-Zoar- New Capital of the Center Evil Beings
The capital was abuzz with fantastic news- Vile had managed to wed the South Great One- Iblis' daughter, Malik Gatshan; Insidious had converted Shelley the previous Kaiserin of Berli into Sinisterly and also married the West Great One Dragula's daughter Carmilla; Malice had wed the North Great One- Ymir's daughter, Angrboda; and Pure had wed Tamano no Mae- the East Great One. The forces of the Evil Beings had finally been united under one banner- ready to take down the Divine Ones that protected humanity.
The weddings were a grand affair, held in the heart of Zeboiim-Zoar. The cobblestone streets were adorned with black banners and candles flickered from the windows of the ancient stone buildings, casting eerie shadows on the ground. The four heirs of Nefarious, the leader of the center Evil Beings- Vile, Insidious, Malice, and Pure- stood tall on a raised dais, each with their new spouses by their sides. The air was thick with the scent of brimstone and the distant echoes of the ceremony's dark incantations still lingered in the ears of the guests.
However, not all parties were enthusiastic about their Empire's direction. The White Faction, known for its scheming and convincing natures, had tried to prevent the birth of the heirs, having briefly succeeded with the capture of the mothers of the heirs- Lillith and Eve- by preying on the fears of the humans, keeping them captive and tortured with the heirs unable to be born for 500 years. They had taken advantage of Nefarious' despair by removing him from power to alter the Center Evil Beings, forced to live in the West due to the actions of the special weapons made of Danger Beasts, supernatural animals of which the Evil Beings evolved from, Teigu, Shingu, Meihou, etc. to put the Evil Beings in their place.
However, with the fall of the Empire of the Center, the Black faction had managed to take advantage of the mandatory tournament, the Kodoku, to infiltrate the capital to get back the queens with the help of an amnesiac Nefarious. From there, Pure, Malice, Insidious, and Vile were born, and the White Faction lost their influence over the Evil Beings almost entirely. It wasn't helped that the mastermind, the half-breed- Solar-Flor, the previous White Plant King leader had been killed by the Teigu user, Murasaki- the fusion of Akame and Esdeath- and later Tatsumi, along with Ignis, the former White Elemental King. Marli the White Sea-Life King had also lost the battle to the Teigu user, Wave, who later became a component of the fusion with Run/Syura- Wasyurun.
The once-mighty White Faction was now a shadow of its former self, with the few survivors watching from the sidelines with a mix of resentment and fear. They had hoped that the new heirs would be more susceptible to their influence, but the four siblings had grown up with a fierce loyalty to their father and a strong desire to restore the Evil Beings to their rightful place of power.
The heirs each individually possessed strong wills, political savviness, and the right allies to steer them away from the White Kings' influence, unlike the human kings that the White Faction also manipulated. The loss of Amanozako, the usurper of Tamano no Mae, had been killed by Pure, so they lost any external allies. Their secret weapons in the giant robot warriors that Solar-Flor alongside his Cadmus warriors had built in secret had also been destroyed by a combination of the Teigu users and the heirs in their own missions- unaware of the other's existence.
To add insult to injury, the Teigu users discovered that they had never been meant to fight each other to the death, but rather the Teigu users were meant to fight as one literally- with the 48 members- fusing in groups of 3, resulting in 16 warriors of yin and yang, capable of defeating almost any Evil Being below a King and Great One rank.
The Teigu user, Akame, had her Teigu- the Murasame, a sword that could cut through almost anything with the curse of a single cut to spell instant death, and she had mastered its deadly technique. Her fiery red eyes gleamed with determination as she watched the dark union from afar, hidden in the shadows. Alongside her, Tatsumi, who had the Incursio, the dragon armor able to infinitely adapt, and Esdeath, who had the imagination manifesting Teigu, Demon's Extract usually appearing as ice manipulation, had fused into the trinity hybrid- Murasaki.
And now, the White Kings were being hunted down as targets by the Teigu users...
Feline's Castle
Feline, one of the White Kings, specifically over the Beast legion that contained all the non-marine mammals lived in a skeletal mansion with a cat motif, known as Feline's Castle. It was nestled in the heart of an artifical forest, a place where darkness and secrets were as thick as the ivy that wrapped around the ancient trees. The castle loomed over the landscape, its spires reaching up to the moon like claws yearning to snatch it from the sky. Inside, Feline, the once-powerful leader, now sat in his throne room, his face ruffled with anxiety.
Feline is an average-sized male who resembles a fair-skinned human on first glance, he has combed back white hair and is wearing a white business suit that is segmented like most White Faction members. He had black pupils with no irises of visible light, being pits of pitch. He has a white cat tail emerging from his backside and his cat ears infrequently appear.
Feline- White Beast King.
He looked at his current lover, a mouse girl dressed in white segmented garbs, one of his latest victims to succumb to his charms. She was trembling slightly, her wide eyes revealing her fear. The whispers of his former allies' downfall had reached even here. He knew the Teigu users were closing in, their newfound unity a stark reminder of his dwindling power. Feline had always been the master of deception, but even he couldn't deceive fate.
"A-am I good enough?," the brown-haired mouse girl asked, wanting to please her master that had flattered her to raise her low esteem. This is Feline's modus operandi, preying on others with little acceptance from their peers through encouragement and flattery. For a person to really see them and acknowledge them.
"Of course, you just need to prove yourself in this new regime.," Feline said with an assuring smile that contrasts his usual bored look. He didn't really value her as a person. The compliments and positive comparisons he made to her compared to others were just a lure.
"Yes, they're people who can allow our neighbors to finally stop bickering and get along.," the mouse girl noted, her large incisor teeth peaking out of her upper lip, whiskers on her face, mouse nose, and mouse tail, but Feline was more focused on her buxom body.
"No. That belongs to the smartest person in the room who can use and divide them into squabbles for amusement while bringing order from chaos.," Feline argued, revealing his narcissism. "But if they're too strong, we'll find a way to make them see reason via guile." He knew that the four heirs had their own agendas and alliances, and it was only a matter of time before they turned on each other because there's no way that they actually cared about each other from his mindset. The White Kings had always been about the survival of the fittest, and he intended to be the one standing at the end of the day.
"So you know what others want and not them? You're not making good decisions, but I do. You don't know what I need, but I do.," asked the mouse girl, which irked Feline. She was being uncharacteristically argumentive and not fawning over his words like she would normally. Not fully falling for his pretend flattery of an unhealthy controlling mindset.
"This isn't like you...if you're even you.," Feline noted as he poised to attack in case this was an imposter or even if it was her, a woman backtalking him was unthinkable from his misogynistic point of view.
"You take power via fear and rely on their insecurities to give up their freedom for stability when all you're doing is luring mice to a trap while you feed on them. Isn't that going against your kind's core Akujin code of not killing fellow Akujin unless they break the code?," the mouse girl acknowledged as she subtly poised for a crouching feline pose. She was aware of the manipulation, having seen the change in him as three of the White Kings fell.
"You're no mouse, you're a cat in mouse's skin.," Feline said as he generated a hairball, but it was much more imposing than the usual affair, a white-furred orb with a skull face.
"Jinx Bomb!," Feline declared as the projectile collided with the mouse, which exploded. To his shock, the mouse girl's form morphed to that of a woman with blonde/light-red hair with black twin-tails, irises with golden-pink-black colors, and a black sailor uniform top that was too short- revealing her toned midriff. The scarf was adorned with a red checkered pattern, wore detachable white sleeves with gold bands, and white pants with an opening revealing black panties. A combination of tomboyish womanly charm, a young woman's cheekiness, and a demure girl's grace.
"Kusealeo!," Feline acknowledged the fusion of Kurome, Leone, and Chelsea- warriors with the Lionelle belt of regeneration as well as a cat form/Gaea's Foundation cosmetic kit of shape-shifting/Yatsufusa's sword of necromancy. Her form was a perfect blend of the three, her eyes now a mix of Leone's fiery gold and Kurome's icy black, with a mischievous glint that mirrored Chelsea's playful spirit.
"Don't worry about your buddies. I took care of them.," she said as she plopped the heads of a lynx, a civet an Oncilla, a bobcat a Palla's Cat, a margay, a serval, a Caracal, a kodkod, and a bay cat. Each of the heads had a distinct look of shock frozen on their faces, their fur matted with blood and dirt. "Your reign ends here, Feline.," Kusealeo announced as she cracked her knuckles, the sound echoing through the chamber.
These were his ten commanders, the elite of his Beast legion, and she had taken them down with ease. Feline's eyes widened in disbelief and rage, his claws extending from his fingertips, ready to tear into this impudent imposter. But before he could make a move, Kusealeo dashed forward with the speed of a cheetah, her new form allowing her to move with unparalleled swiftness. She swung her sword, a black katana blade that crackled with necromantic energy, leaving a trail of dark light in its wake to strike him
However, it was an afterimage generated by his Energy of the Soul that Feline had generated as he appeared a distance from Kusealeo, his usual bored expression replaced with a furious scowl. "You dare to deceive me, Kusealeo?!"
In over 3500 years, I, Feline, have never left behind even a single scrap of evidence to expose my tendency to go overboard with my victims. And now some brat of a mere two decades is trying to end me... Like I'll let her., he thought.
"Seems like the cat's finally been corned. Ironic since we're a cat too.," Kusealeo remarked.
Leone/Chelsea/Kurome's past
Three women stood in a circle, each having a shared history with the others. They had fused already, but they had the option to defuse at any time.
Leone- a young, curvaceous woman. She had short blonde hair with two long tufts that framed the sides of her head and golden eyes. She wore a revealing outfit with a black tube top, detachable sleeves with what looked like gold bands, pants with an opening to reveal her black panty, brown boots, and a white scarf around her neck.
Kurome- a young girl with black twin-tail hair, wearing a midriff-exposing black sailor uniform, a red belt, and a miniskirt with long, black socks and shoes.
And Chelsea- a young woman with pale skin, light red hair, and pink iris eyes. She wore a butterfly headphone accessory on her head. She wore vocalist-like clothing consisting of a white, long-sleeve shirt with the collar tied with a red ribbon under a black vest, a red, checkered miniskirt, and black leather below-the-knee boots.
"I'm still not feeling up for this.," Chelsea remarked looking at Kurome. Kurome had killed Chelsea and left her decapitated head hanging on a pole in the streets for onlookers to see while the rest of her body was eaten by her colleague, Seryu's dog Teigu, Koro. Needless to say, she was not thrilled with permanently merging with her killer.
"We had no choice.," Kurome said flatly, "The world was falling apart, and we had to act quickly. Plus, you and Leone are both strong, capable fighters. Our combined strength could be the key to stopping these monsters that have been controlling our lives from the shadows. And it's for me to atone."
"We're all killers that's what you're saying.," Chelsea argued, but knew she was one to talk as she and Night Raid would kill people with families and bystanders who got in the way no matter how heinous their enemies were.
And she had been informed by Leone that the Revolutionary Army that had been formed to fight the corrupt Empire was founded by Solar-Flor, a demonic weed who took on the guise of Free, but was also responsible for the corruption of the Empire- essentially playing both sides. Murasaki's killing of him was retribution for the lives he manipulated and took for his sick games.
"Let's talk about the positives. We'll be joined in one body to have amazing strength. And we'll be able to make a difference.," Leone argued. Chelsea then sighed as she looked at Kurome.
"You feel guilt huh?," asked the light-redhead to the brunette.
"I see the ghosts of those I've taken, but if I fight for the real freedom of the world, then those voices seem to finally move.," Kurome argued as she looked to see the phantoms of her victims finally being quiet for once.
Leone nodded with understanding. "I get it, but let's not forget who we are fighting for. We're not just pawns in a larger game.", she said, referring to their previous battles where they had been used by the White Kings.
"Fine. but what we become isn't gonna be totally dominated by others.," Chelsea said as she sucked on a lollipop.
They glowed and united into a single figure- Kusealeo.
Present
Kusealeo did leg stretches and arm stretches as Feline continued to play cautiously. "You think you can beat me with brute strength alone?" he mocked, his tail flicking in annoyance.
"We were worried about being one, but it feels like we're a person finally coming back to who we were supposed to be.," Kusealeo spoke, her voice a blend of the three fused individuals, a harmony of power and conviction. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on Feline, who was now pacing back and forth, his claws retracting and extending as he contemplated his next move.
"Reaper Lion Roar.," she said as she generated a leonine-shaped sound blast with skeletal motifs at the White Beast King. The blast was a mix of Leone's roar that could tear steel and Chelsea's shape-shifting ability to manipulate sound into weaponry.
He dodged, but it was enough for him to finally calm down as Kusealeo took a combat pose, anticipating and curious of his next move. Feline took a deep breath, his stare at her, causing her hair to stand on end.
My name is Feline the White Feline King. I am 4500 years old. I used to live in the heavens where there were many clouds before I came to earth to move place to place... I am not married... I'm a ruler of beasts. Each evening, I return home no later than 8 PM. I don't smoke. I drink, but only occasionally. I go to bed by 11 PM and always get at least 8 hours of sleep... Before I lie down, I drink a cup of warm milk and do 20 minutes of stretching to relax my body... With that routine, I find that I sleep soundly until morning. Like a baby, I awake with no fatigue or stress. And at my last checkup, I was given a clean bill of health... I'm explaining so that you'll understand that I'm a person who wants to live his life feeling at peace. I refuse to create dilemmas—or enemies—that will disturb my thoughts and keep me up at night worrying if I'll win or lose... And by maintaining that approach toward society, I have found that I can attain happiness. Of course, if I were to fight someone, I would never lose. Before you talk to anyone else about my habits that I keep under wraps, I will erase you.," Feline explained to his fused enemy.
Kusealeo smirked, "You think your habits are interesting enough to keep a secret? They're just a bunch of boring, lonely rituals.", she said as she continued her stretching, her eyes never leaving Feline. "But I suppose that's what happens when you live for so long, you start to think every little thing you do is some grand strategy."
"Want to be my latest fling? We can ignore our factions and have a great time.," he said. His voice was as smooth as velvet, but the malice beneath it was as sharp as a serrated knife.
"Sorry, but I got rumors that you're a real ladykiller.," replied Kusealeo. Her tone was light, but the underlying threat was palpable. She knew Feline's tactics all too well. "But we're not here for a rendezvous. We're here to make sure you can't keep playing your games anymore.", she stated firmly, her blade at the ready.
"A shame. You could've avoided this hell if you only acted like a good little kitten.," Feline remarked as he generated an ink-black aura that engulfed his form.
"Time to use Gula since you're clearly someone of greater power than my usual output. Gula: Deceptus.," he said as the darkness enveloped him, turning the room into pitch and featureless before it condensed back into his new form- a visibly muscular humanoid feline with two cat ears standing upwards on both sides of the top of his head, his eyes comprise of yellow sclera with black cat-like vertical pupils. A feline face that was expressionless and wore just white boxers with the top shirtless, shoeless with feline-toed feet, and a tail emerging from the backside. The form had an eerie pink outline, which made it look eerie.
Kusealeo was unfazed. "Is that your true form? It's not exactly the stuff of nightmares.," she taunted, her voice dripping with sarcasm while hiding her obvious fear.
Feline without saying a word, utilized Limbo- the hellfire technique combined with Luxuria- the hell-lightning technique to generate plasma cat claws to strike at the fusion of Leone, Chelsea, and Kurome.
Kusealeo sensed the attack and swiftly dodged to the side, her eyes glowing with a mix of Leone's golden light and Chelsea's pinkish-red light as she anticipated his moves. The plasma claws scraped the stone floor, leaving behind a trail of sizzling marks. "Is that all you got, Feline?," she teased, her voice a symphony of the three personalities now intertwined.
He generates Avarita to pin her down, not wanting to prolong the fight, the cat-girl looks up at her impassive-looking enemy, looking inhuman and soulless.
"I'm not like those Black Faction punks. I prefer helpless as I skin my prey. Nobody can track me. Nobody knows the truth about Feline. That is, nobody will, after I get rid of you. And I will never face your so-called justice we manipulated easily.," Feline explained as he sharpened his claws.
"Are you sure the dead are ok with you running free?," asked Kusealeo as she emitted an aura of wailing souls, animating her body to his shock. The room grew colder as a sense of dread filled the room, the dead spirits that Kurome had encountered whispering in her mind, guiding her actions.
"We've killed people, but they want us to live forever to make up for our sin of turning our blade on humans and not the devils such as you.," the fused girl explained as she got up as wraiths hovered around her, lifting her slightly off the ground.
Feline used his tail to attempt to thwack the ghosts away, his usual annoyed expression turning to one of shock as the spirits clung to him, weighing him down. "How...?!"
"We're two girls merged with a genuine grim reaper's daughter. Dad's gonna have to deal with our situation.," she said as she snapped her fingers after she sheathed her sword. The souls of the innocents Feline had killed swarmed around him, whispering their grief and anger into his ears.
Felis' body became loose, becoming paper-thin as he escaped the clutches of the ghosts and the gravity-defying force of the fused Teigu users. "What sorcery is this?!" he hissed, his eyes wide with horror.
"The power of the Reaper Lion Trickster: Ghost Guilt- it summons the dead of the victims of the sinner to drag them down to oblivion.," she explained.
Feline used Haeresis- the black threading technique to hold them in place so he could use his pink-coated energy beam Ira to blast through them, but they were intangible yet tangible enough to hold him earlier.
He attempted the rotting technique, Vehemens, but it didn't work on the grounds they had already died. He attempted Fraus, but they clung to him, Proditio to freeze them, and finally, his Hubris- Cat House: a cat-themed bachelor pad filled with butcher tools to skin them. However, Kusealeo kicked the dimension apart.
I Feline, just want a quiet life, but these shitheads keep getting in my way! Damn you! For me, it's not really about winning or losing. I just want to survive. I want a peaceful life. It's just that it's in my nature to kill. I will have my happy life! I really want to show Feline's true nature to stupid women... I want to reveal my deep desires to them... I'm dying to touch their thin neck with my hands... and choke them to death. It's my happiness!," he begged.
Kusealeo snapped her fingers as they released him. "Your happiness comes at the cost of others' lives. That's no happiness at all," she said with a smirk. "Now, let's see if you're as good at fighting as you are at lying to yourself."
"If you win. I'm giving you one chance as a former angel. Go back to heaven and beg forgiveness and never do this again. As a fellow sinner, I can offer that liberation. If you do it again, I'll have to hunt you down.," she said.
"You want me to leave my happiness? To live in fear of pursuers, constantly looking over my back without any tranquility or peace?! You should know better than to suggest that to me! I will never leave this my happiness!" he screamed out of pride.
"You just have bad luck.," she said, candidly as she pulled out a lollipop. "You're the only one that can't get laid without someone dying.," Chelsea's cheeky side of Kusealeo joked.
"No, just you.," he said with a smirk as he lunged at her with a speed that surprised even her
Suddenly, she felt her legs break as she fell to the ground and the spirits dissipated. She wasn't worried oddly enough. He then laughed with a smug grin.
"My trump card: Reversal of Fortune allows me to exchange good and bad luck. That power was very scary, but from now on, I'll be able to live my life in a peaceful mood. I matured this fight, all because you cornered me...rather, I felt a truly powerful will radiating from you last night... You even managed to threaten me, but There's nobody you can talk to! Nobody who can investigate me! I didn't struggle simply because I didn't have a taste for battle. I dislike combat because it runs counter to the tranquil life that I desire. Winning a single battle is simple, but stress builds up in anticipation for the following battle. This fight has been settled.," Feline gloated before he was pinned down again, this time by the claw of living fossil dinosaur, Death Tagool, one of Kurome's old reanimated puppets, emerging from the ground.
"It's not over yet, you sick bastard.," Kusealeo said through gritted teeth as she popped the lollipop into her mouth, the sweetness contrasting with the pain shooting through her legs. She knew she had underestimated Feline's cunning, but she was far from defeated. Due to being half-undead and Leone's regeneration, she quickly restored herself.
Feline's eyes widened in shock as the spirits that had vanished moments ago swarmed around him again. "How?!" he yelled, his fur standing on end. The room grew colder as the pressure of the dead's anger bore down on him, the very essence of his own fear manifested in a way that made his heart race and his fur stick to his body.
"Please I have things to live for!," he begged, the clutch of the creature, negating his greater powers.
"The lifespan of a human is certainly way too short, something you'd never understand till now. That's why you've got to make the most of it and live your life to the fullest because it can end at any tine. You've lived on autopilot for too long, taking so many lives without caring, and now you're scared that it's ending. Endings are too short by definition. Bye-bye.," she said in Kurome/Leone's dual voice as it crushed him without any dignity.
The room grew colder as the spirits of Feline's victims, now under Kusealeo's control, closed in on him. Their whispers grew to a crescendo, a chorus of anguish and betrayal that pierced his very soul. Feline's eyes darted around the room in panic, his tail lashing wildly as he struggled against the invisible bonds holding him in place.
He recollected his fall from heaven and the atrocities he committed as he said his last words-
"When I was a young boy, I remember discovering a portrait of the former East Great One, Izanami while leafing through a tome of the photos of leaders. It was my first time laying eyes on her! The beauty before me, well, it aroused something in me... it gave me a rock-hard Boner!"
Kusealeo gave him a comedic disgusted look as he faded to ashes. "Pervert," she said with a sigh. "Now, that's one down. We've got more to deal with.", she murmured to herself as the room grew silent once more. The spirits of the slain animals dissipated, their voices fading into the abyss, their souls finally at peace.
She then left the house as she went back to the base of her comrades.
Chapter 33: Nefarious- with four White Kings gone, Nefarious decides to investigate the Teigu users himself while knowing that the White Kings intend to assassinate him.
Author Notes: Kusealeo combines the wit and trickery of Chelsea, the macabre nature of Kurome, and the ferocity of Leone. It's something I intend to explore with the other members of the fused Teigu. Feline is a total Yoshikage Kira inspiration, being a serial killer who's totally out of depth with a fused fighter. Now that the heirs have been introduced, the Faction interactions will get more complicated.
Now to talk about the fighting techniques of Evil Beings/Akujin
The normal Hell techniques are as follows-
Limbo- generates hellfire
Luxuria- generates black lightning
Gula- allows an Evil Being to turn into the form that embodies their soul
Avaritia- gravity manipulation based on the number of sins the target commits
Ira- an offense purple energy beam emission, unlike Limbo and Luxuria, it is meant to be a finisher with only prodigies like Process being able to apply it into conventional combat.
Haeresis- generates black strings used to paralyze targets, manipulate them like puppets, or repair one's body
Vehemens- generates a black liquid capable of rotting targets, but it can also be used with Limbo to make it a mist to cause insanity-causing illusions.
Fraus- allows for intangibility to avoid attacks or possess a target's body
Proditio- generates ice from the depths of hell.
Hubris- the ultimate technique of a normal Akujin, though not all elites can do it as it involves generating a dimensional space representing the mind and beliefs of the target, which most would rather avoid.
