Dawn- An age of Darkness

Chapter 157 - Fool Me Thrice, Shame On The World

I looked around. My vision was yet to adjust itself but I saw the royal camp. The lights were artificial, this was night. The emperor and the princes; even Lianne were there. They were atop the audience seats, glaring at me.

So they were all in it?

Araan had a wicked smile on his face, but Lianne and the others didn't. They seemed pained. I could vaguely see tears in her eyes. It didn't take a lot of processing to understand what I'd gotten myself into. They were about to execute me. 

"This man was declared a friend of the throne but!" with his emphasis on the word 'but' the announcer continued, "He has betrayed us by slaying the crown prince!"

"What?"

I couldn't believe my ears. The crowd rebelled in severe anguish: they wanted me dead immediately. 

The crown prince is dead? 

I knew they'd frame me for something like attempted murder of the emperor or something but this was much more extreme. Even I was shocked now. 

"What do you mean by 'what'?" he ridiculed me and added, "You killed him, we found him dead with your sword and knife!" 

I checked my belt. My knife wasn't there and my sword was supposed to be in Jowy's possession. I was wearing my usual shirt and that was it. Meaning, I'd been had: again!

Could it be, he had betrayed me as well? But wasn't the crown prince his own brother, and weren't we comrades?

"I-I was in my room and- and then."

"Don't pretend to be innocent, we know!" The announcer had hatred for me in his eyes. "Not only did we find your weapons there, we also found you unconscious by his dead body. As for punishment our lord Grabizzio, the kind emperor has deemed you worthy of dying by ToaBe: the beast of despair."

"But that's-"

He didn't listen to me, nor did anyone else. Everyone was against me. I was betrayed yet again. And I was alone. "Tell me one thing. What happened to the other two?"

"There off no concern to you anymore." The announcer smirked devilishly and his expression grew dark. Veins popped in front of his forehead. But that gave me answers. If he was unwilling to talk about it, it meant he didn't know about them. 

An iron door opened in the opposite direction, followed by a metallic clang. It was big and then a roar followed. It was a bone-chilling roar. 

"Of course, his excellency isn't without mercy. Thus he gave him the blessing of retaining this sword." He threw a sword at me, aiming to cripple me, but I dodged.

"This is dull!" I picked it up, it was rusted too.

"Yeah, so?" He jumped out of the stage and a wall made of steel arose within the stadium. Another roar of the beast followed. With the dull sword in my hand, I turned around. 

Roar!

It was a lion, with an alligator's head attached: it looked very similar to the one that attacked us. 

What is it doing here? 

It was smaller and looked enraged. Of course, it'd be. After all, I was one who stabbed it so much that I passed out from exhaustion. But if it was some sort of controllable monster then Jowy, must have known it from the beginning. On the other hand, it was supposed to be a grand monster. So it couldn't have been possible. I doubted it was the same one. I squinted my eyes. I still couldn't focus. 

"Hey, you! What are you doing here?" The monster didn't respond. And its eyes looked awfully yellow and cold. Moreover, the skin looked weird.

Something was different. But one thing was now clear: the monster in front of me wasn't the God that attacked us. 

  And yet!

"Jowy! You're out there aren't you!" I screamed.

"Yes, what is it, Daarc?" He answered just outside the wall. He was behind me this entire time?

He was calm and looked sideways.

"Why? And-"

"But of course I have my reasons. Why else did you think I didn't use the full potential of my magic that night?" I hadn't asked him about that. He answered it of his own volition. He said something that literally shook me.

"But, Brenda…" My voice quivered.

"The goal was only to cripple you and that was it, but it was a tragic incident that she died. I wanted to take her to bed at least once," he said banging his hand on the wall. He was serious. Those eyes, those pale crimson green eyes…. He was serious.

"Ho-how can you say that with a straight face?" The earth beneath my feet shook. It was as though the whole world had turned against me. Was it because of the monster? Was it because of his words? I didn't know. I didn't know anything, not anymore.

"Why not? But shouldn't you focus on what's ahead?"

I looked behind. The monster was eyeballing me. "Was Lianne on this too?" I raised my sword.

"That girl has issues of her own. So I wouldn't count on her too much," he said and started walking.

"I see. So the whole damn family was corrupted from the beginning. And since the crown prince was the only one sane, you joined hands to get rid of him. And since I was the perfect cover, it all went according to plan, correct?"

"You're pretty smart, huh? But let me correct one thing for you, I don't give a f*ck about this family. All I want is the throne and soon I'll have it." His voice became hoarse. "No matter what!"

The throne? I guess he had his reasons too. Everyone had their reasons. I was the same. But we were different. I was different. 

"Is that so?" I couldn't help but chuckle at fate. Fate really was cruel. To think I'd be betrayed not once, not twice, but thrice? How gullible was I?

I dashed forward. If I couldn't depend on anyone, then I'd depend on myself and carve a path.

However, there was a soft whisper, "Don't die."

Why would he care if I ended up dead? That backstabber.

***

The lion was already in the center, eyeballing me. 

This sword is dull but I could sharpen it with my magic, but if I do that, then they would know. 

If people actually knew I could use magic they'd be even warier of me. I tried to think of a way of how to get out of the situation without magic while they were still underestimating me. But if Jowy betrayed me, then there was a possibility that they might already know. 

I thought about it and decided against not using magic. The old man was cunning and that's why I didn't need to worry about him. Besides, my troubles were a bit more severe than his. 

I knew the geezer wouldn't betray me. But what just happened, I couldn't be so sure.

The monster in front of me looked smaller and less fearsome than before. I could feel that it wasn't the same monster. This was more like a chimera than a god. But then again I never saw chimeras outside of games, to begin with. So I didn't know better. 

My heart was already on the brink of collapse and I hadn't even recovered from the last time I fought. Then there was the problem of equipment. Armor aside, I needed a good sword. 

The fake liongator dashed around. It wasn't attacking me. Was it being cautious? What's the point of being cautious against a wounded, worthless man?

"I should have known, from the beginning. I was too absorbed in self-pity and wanderlust. I was too engrossed in friendship. But reality is hard. Everyone is born alone and must die alone." I hissed as I glared at the monster: the monster circled me and glared back. "So, from now on, I don't care if you're the emperor or a God: I'll kill you without mercy if you betray me." My voice was hoarse and I brimmed with hate. I'd never felt so much hate in my entire lifetime. Even when I fell from the ship, I wasn't even half the angry I was now. 

The crowd went silent. 

My mind was made up. I charged in like a foot soldier who sought death. The liongator lifted its paws and clawed my chest. It didn't even reach as I was channeling my magic to my shirt: the crowd was in awe. My shirt and sword glowed. Who cared if they saw? Chances were, they knew already. 

I would slaughter the royalty, my mind was made up. if I was going to die trying, so be it.

I don't want to be betrayed anymore. 

So the only way to stop that was to show them an example of what'll happen to people who would betray me. 

In the end, I'm no different from them…

It was either kill or be killed. And I had no intention of dying.

I didn't budge, I didn't fall down. I stood firm. I bled from the impact on my wounds, but I stood. 

With one hand, I thrust the sword deep. There was a metallic clang and then the sword went in. Though the color was similar to the God I fought before, this one definitely was made from crystals.

  I was right…

"I SWEAR BY TRETORTA, I SHALL END ALL WHO HAVE BETRAYED ME!" I screamed and the crowd stayed silent.. In a moment's notice panic could have swarmed the amphitheater.