Dawn- An age of Darkness

Chapter 158 - The Tables Have Turned?

Though dull, the sword went in smooth. The lion clawed my face, my chest, and my legs; but, nothing happened. It's rotten, cold blood spewed on my shirt, and face but I didn't care. My vision remained firm and straight. After severe agony, it fell on its knees. It groaned. I wasn't even the least surprised to see this crystal monstrosity move. Who cared!

But it changed shape and became a solid chunk of crystals instead. It died? That easily? This wasn't even worth the trouble. The God I fought that night was a hundred, no thousand times stronger than this thing. 

There were all sorts of whispers in the crowd. I looked back and the people closest to the walls jumped back in fear. What were they so afraid of? I didn't want anything to do with bystanders. My beat was with the emperor and his scums. 

"What's wrong, emperor! You're not scared are you?" I snorted. I knew I was going to die here. There were just too many of them. I already knew how strong Jowy and Lianne were. Just imagining how strong the emperor might have been, gave me depression. And to cope with that, I just shouted and tried to stay sane.

He jumped from the top of the royal camp; he broke through the wall like it was nothing. Along with him descended all of his children, apart from Jowy and Lianne. However, there was an extra one among them. He was in black and I recognized the mask he wore. 

"Ha ha haha. Aha haha!" My mind broke and I burst into laughter. "I'm not even surprised anymore," I said.

Gorgan came for me. There was no mistaking it; I could never forget his spear. 

"I know I won't be able to even keep up with all of you, but please be aware that you won't get away unscathed," I said, while I laughed at my own fate. I beheaded the ground kissing monstrosity's dead head (top of the crystal) with one hand and glared at the rest of them.

"Is that all? Bear in mind that I really thought of you as a friend of my children. I thought you were a destined hero. But I was wrong! You were after my family! I will shred you to pieces and feed you to the fish," The emperor made a fist and then declared in anguish.

I grunted and glared. "Fish? How fun! You can quit playing all innocent now."

"Don't talk rubbish. I'll end you right here right now!"

He jumped forward. His sons stayed back. That damn emperor was faster than the fake liongator or even the God. He had two swords in each hand. His swings were faster than the eye could see. Naturally I couldn't even block them let alone dodge. My shining shirt gave me protection but even so, I was being shredded: literally. The emperor was a man of his word after all. 

But my hands made a fist as well. It wasn't like I'd just sit back and let him attack all he wanted. I swung my sword but he dodged it: it was an obvious ploy but now there was distance between us. One of the princes handed him a longbow. He took his aim.

"Oh how brave!" Seeing how futile it was, I tried taunting. My chances were slim but I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"I have no mercy for you. You have killed my son," he said.

They were spewing nonsense from a long while back. Were they the same people who made me feel blessed this morning?

"And you think I was capable of that and got out unscathed?" His eyes gave off doubt. For a second I saw him waver. So I pressed on. "Don't you think it's odd? I'm this wounded and yet your son died by my hands but I didn't receive any new wounds. Even the old ones never reopened. Don't you think this is even a little odd?"

"My son was the greatest warrior after me in this land. And yet he was found dead being stabbed from both sides," He wavered. "And there was no sign of struggle…" 

"You're just realizing it now?" 

Just what the hell is wrong with these people?

"Oh…! I thought you'd finish him for me but I guess we need to make our move now, don't we?" A voice intervened. It wasn't a pretty voice rather a mixture of a man's and a woman's. A very ugly voice.

"Wha-what is this? I can't move!" The emperor couldn't move. The princes looked dumbfounded. Yet again a familiar scent floated. It was her.

"So, Bitch, it was your plot yet again?" I said, chuckling a little.

"I did tell you that, I'd sort things with you, remember?" It was that demon. "Oh and please try to be a little more polite. I do have a name you know."

"My memory is a bit hazy. All I remember is you being bitchy and nothing more," I said.

The thing glared at me. It wasn't happy.

"Araan what are you doing?"  One of the princes asked.

She wasn't Araan anymore: both of the eyes were pure red. She went close to the Emperor and monsters appeared in every corner of the amphitheater. The people panicked and ran wild. There were monsters behind the princes as well: mostly goblins. So they were busy with their own shit. 

In one fell swoop chaos descended. 

Roar! A roar came from behind me. It was the undead of a tiger. What was it with this world?

And were elves just pure morons? Didn't they consider the possibility of something like this? Why the hell did they have to have their fun in the middle of the night?

But before the undead of the tiger could even get close, it was stabbed by a spear but not just any spear. It was stabbed by Gorgan. 

More monsters appeared and his back hit mine.

"What are you doing," I said.

I was ready to skewer him in a moment's notice.

"Didn't I tell you? I'll forever be your friend! And what sort of holy knight betrays his friend? If I wanted to do that sort of stuff, I'd rather have been a dark knight instead."

He marched forward and dealt with the monsters behind me. I didn't buy it. He was in it for my throat just moments ago. But the main problem remained in front of me. 

"Why are you doing this?" The emperor tried to get out of the paralysis. He used his magic. It was infective.

"Hmm, why I wonder?" Araan was just an apple's distance from the emperor. "Sorry lord father but this is it." It was as if he was singing. 

"You're not Araan are you? He'd never-"

"Oh I assure you, I am the Araan you know." His one eye became blue and the other remained red. Both were there.

I chuckled. I should have known. Of course they were in this together. "You two are in this together?" I said.

"But of course. When I went to kill the prince that night, I felt malice within him and I was also disturbed by a certain someone, thus I refrained from doing so. When I met with him later that night, we made a pact and the rest you know-"

"You bitch! I knew you were a bitch but didn't think the prince would be one too!"

There were more and more monsters incoming and they were just manifesting out of thin air. Not just small goblins but even hobgoblins and goblin mages.

Veins bulged in the forehead of the emperor. A fiery aura surrounded him and it was clearly visible. I could even feel the heat from a distance. "Argh!" The emperor roared and was almost free. "I suppose my anger was dumbfounded and misguided!"

A wave of fire almost disintegrated all the smaller goblins around us without harming us even a little. 

"I shouldn't have expected any less from the emperor of fire. You really do live up to your name. To think even ten years' worth of manabinding wasn't enough to confine you!" Araan chuckled haphazardly.

At that moment a pillar of flames appeared around the emperor and he broke free. In a split second he cut Araan but he dodged it at the last moment. Araan escaped with a loss of an arm. I'd say he got out easy.

At this point everyone was basically just ignoring me. 

"Rgrh!" Araan screamed in pain and clenched his shoulder. It felt good. But the situation wasn't good for me either. We were surrounded by monsters and every single one of them were my enemy. They betrayed me and tried to kill me: I tried to kill them. I didn't care if they were manipulated or not. But they were my enemy.

"Well, you reap what you sow." I glared at Araan. I wanted him dead.. That was it.