Chapter 587: Shadow Beast
The Emperor was fairly board today and nothing anyone did seemed to entertain him. While he had been at his seat of power for a long, long time, he realized it wasn’t often that he was bored. Mostly it had to do with the power struggles throughout the world that he was often interested in the way things happened. Seeing the rise of the North and the hordes of both man and beasts that had begun to spring up there made him feel like a kid a Christmas, wondering just how powerful they could become. Afterall, after the fall of the south and the surrender of the east, the Emperor began thinking maybe he was going a bit too hard on this land. After all, even a kid knew that you only destroyed your buildings in your sandbox when you wanted to play a new game. Sadly for the Emperor, this was the only game he could play within this world that he had found himself in.
’Ever since the their fall, it’s been chaos. At least they took those flaming bastards with them...’ The Emperor thought to himself as he brushed away one of his ’servants.’ With his current mood, he just wasn’t interested in playing those games today.
Looking around, the Emperor felt fairly lonely for a change, seeing the mass of spectators that watched the blood thirsty events with relish, like dogs eyeing a dying squirrel on the side of the road. How many generations of them had he seen come and go, with only a handful of them whose names he remembered. And even then, most of those names comprised of his enemies, not his people.
Then there was his family that had followed him since day one, even if they didn’t want to or didn’t know it. After the collapse of the universe, he didn’t have time to save everyone and the ones he could save ended up being asleep for thousands of years thanks to the toll things took on their bodies. He had used them as shields when things got bad, not that they remembered it.
Still, the ones who survived were the ones who listened, including his two daughters who were the only ones who ever came to the Arena for the fights. His daughter Artemis wasn’t surprising as she enjoyed a good military conflict and watching the small scale battles that took place were a good inspiration to her, having been too young to remember the massive space battles that took place before. As for his daughter Aphrodite, he just figured she was look for her next bedside companion from within the crowd. It also seemed to make her blood race when she saw the men on the field live or die based on luck, skill or the Emperor’s own hand.
’For one who inherited the mantle of the goddess of love, she sure is a bloodthirsty one...’ The Emperor lamented as he looked on uninterested.
As he was watching his daughters and thinking about both his wife and the other children who never came near here, he saw both his daughters sit up a little straighter in their seats as though interested in the final match, catching his attention. The organizers had said they’d had a little something special prepared today, but the Emperor just assumed it was a sea battle of some sort as that had caught his interest the first time they had done it. The second time didn’t work out so wall, but was somewhat amusing to behold. And when they had done the air based fight... even the Emperor couldn’t keep himself under control as he watched almost every slave fall to their deaths a bare few minutes after the start of the battle. Due to that event however, they had lost almost two full blocks of slaves and the following weeks of games were either postponed or were so boring the Emperor didn’t even both showing up.
Seeing their attention like this caused the Emperor to actually pose them a question, something he rarely did.
"Is this final performance really so special as to have the both of you interested?" He asked, eyeing them.
Considering he barely acknowledged them in normal times and would even engage in sexual acts with his servants while they were present as though he didn’t care, they both were a bit taken aback by his sudden interest in their actions, also only noticing now that they both were acting interested.
Artemis and Aphrodite look at one another in surprise before turning to look at their father.
"I might have had a hand in a small aspect of this fight and wish to see if my prediction was correct father," Artemis answered her father with respect.
"I just want to see what thing they plan to do this time... perhaps another air battle daddy?" Aphrodite lied as she spoke, which informed her father that she was hiding something even more clearly than if she had admitted it. Still though, he didn’t bother calling her out and instead turned to face the stadium.
"PRESENTING THE FINAL COMPETITION OF THE NIGHT, A BATTLE BETWEEN A DEMON AND THE BEAST!" Roared the announcer over the crowd. Even though he sounded enthusiastic, the crowd didn’t really react as it sounded like it was some sort of one on one fight that couldn’t be more boring to the standard spectator.
"PRESENTING: THE BEAST!"
One of the doors opened as sudden screams filled the arena, but it wasn’t the screams of the spectators. Instead, the screams were coming from the opened door, blood curling screams of pain and horror as everyone turned to the massive open doors where nothing could be seen thanks to the position of the sun.
Suddenly, a man came running out, his armor covered in blood as he yelled and fell, slipping on his own two feet. Before anyone knew what was happening, a massive hand reached out from the room, much longer than could have possibly come from any known beast, grabbed the man and yanked him back inside before a massive crunch was heard as his screams died out.
"Oh? This is new..." The Emperor said, leaning back with a smile on his face.
The beast then made it’s way out of the open door as a cloud suddenly covered the sun light of both suns.
"QUICKLY, MOVE!"
"I WANT DOUBLE... NO TRIPLE THE AMOUNT OF SEALERS ON THIS, NOW!" The organizers who had just gotten reports of what went down were moving to enhance the seal around the arena that ensures that nothing can get in or out from the designated area.
The beast that came into view was massive, double the size of a normal horned bear with arms that seemed to be twice the length of it’s body and parts of it’s fur missing, instead being covered by some sort of black pasty substance that seemed to wiggle and move, independent of the rest of the body. Even part of it’s massive head was gone, replaced by the black paste as a purplish fire burning in what was once it’s eye socket, but now was nothing but an empty hole.
"What in all the hells is that thing?" Artemis said, standing up when she had first seen it, fear suddenly inching it’s way into her head.
Even the normally smiling Aphrodite was sporting a frown as she hugged her voluptuous chest as if to stop herself from shaking.
"That... is not a thing that should be here..." The Emperor said as even he sat up a little straighter, checking out the situation for himself.
"Raphael!" The Emperor said, getting the attention of his head guard who had his hand currently on his sword.
"SIR!"
"Go find out everything about this beast. Where they found it, who captured it... everything. Hell, have men dig up it’s nest if you have to, but I want those answers by the time I wake up in the morning," the emperor ordered, his voice more serious that anything his head guard had heard in his many years of serving the Emperor.
"YES SIR," Raphael responded, leaving one of his juniors in charge of guarding the Emperor while he went to organize the investigation team himself, dragging several of the organizers with him who looked so scared, they might have pissed themselves if they hadn’t been afraid of offending the Emperor more.
"Daddy? What’s wrong?"
"Father? Will you stop the fight?"
Artemis and Aphrodite quickly asked their questions, wondering just what had gotten their normally unshakable father so riled up about.
"I can’t. As soon as the barrier goes down, that thing will escape even if I kill the spiked bear it’s attached to. And once that happens, it will be impossible to find again until it’s ready to be found," the Emperor said, knowing far more than any of them just what that shadow beast entails.
"Can’t you just enter the barrier daddy?" Aphrodite asked wondering why the old man looked a little annoyed.
"I’m the one who created the barrier... Of course I can’t enter it... I kind of designed it that way for a reason..." The Emperor said, actually seeming a bit embarrassed.
"But why?"
"Because that’s the only way I would allow him to put on this stupid display," a female voice said behind all of them, startling them.
Standing there in a black, almost see through gown was the mother of the girls along with the husband of the Emperor, the one person in this world he created that he feared.
"Mother!"
"Mother!"
Both girls showed respect to this woman, even more so than their father.
"So you sensed it as well?" The Emperor said, looking down at the beast who was lumbering back and forth, as though waiting for something.
"How could I forget that bastard from all those years ago. How often have a wish he had a name just so I could curse him into nothingness for all of the shit he pulled. And now this? How dear husband? How the hell did one of his shadow beasts come to find this world? What the hell aren’t you telling me you foolish man whore?"
Perhaps other’s would fear the Emperor, but his wife did not. She was also not ignorant to his inability to keep it in his pants, if he ever wore any. As far as she was concerned though, she wasn’t about to sleep with him, so she didn’t really care what he did. Still though, although she spoke, there was no way for anyone other than their family to hear her words. She wasn’t spiteful enough to embarrass him in front of his own Empire after all.
"That I don’t know, but I sent Raphael to find out," the Emperor replied, clearly not bothered by her words.
"He is competent, more so than the last one. I wish to know of his report as well. So then... what poor slave shall have to die to appease the rules of the barrier and force this beast back in it’s cage?" Hera asked, looking towards the other door.
"I don’t know. It was something special arranged I guess?" The Emperor said, looking as well.
Not knowing anything of what happened, Laz strode through the door into the blackened Arena before spotting the beast in front of him. Before he could even figure out what the hell it was, his blood began to boil as his body started to rage almost out of control, luckily Kat was able to settle him down.
"Soon baby. Soon. But for now you must calm yourself."
Back up in the Emperors private box, both him and his wife suddenly screamed out as their own power went out of control for a moment threatening to destroy the the the entire Arena.
"WHAT?"
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
