4 The Slave King

Gemu slammed his body into Lucine, knocking him back several metres.

"You little shit. You won't get away with hurting my pride." Gemu's face was alight with malice, his golden eyes gleaming in the evening sun.

Lucine was forcibly reminded of the way Fugo's face had also looked mere hours before. Was glowing eyes some kind of demon expression of hate?

"Hurting your pride?" Lucine pretended to hold back a laugh. "Oh, I'm sure you have a lot to be proud of, like your brains for example."

He needed to run. There was a line between being brave and stupid, and he knew full well that fighting Gemu as he was now was plain stupid.

He glanced around, but a crowd had already gathered, blocking off all the escape routes he might have had.

The crowd's muttering was loud enough for Lucine to hear.

"Does he really think he's gonna win? This guy is fucking retarded."

"What can I say? He's a filthy slave after all. All of them have something wrong with them."

"He's half Servum as well. I wonder which parent was the normal one."

"Normal? Are you stupid? They're both piles of filth."

"Hey, Gemu! Give him our regards, won't 'cha?"

Lucine gritted his teeth His hands started shaking uncontrollably. Why were these idiots looking down on him?

His back straightened, his face contorted by utter loathing. His voice dropped to a dangerous low.

"You filthy animals. Why don't you come fight me yourself instead of getting Gemu to do your dirty work for you?" His face was cloaked by shadow, his golden eyes shining out of the dark.

"Let me show you what this filthy slave can do."

The crowd started howling in outrage, expressions of disgust and hate evident on every one of them, yet not a single one stepped forward to do anything else about it.

Lucine didn't know it yet, everyone wasn't acting like that cause he was Servum. But because HE was the dictator in this world. He was the Gemu Kolas of the demon world, a tyrant who ruled with an iron fist. No one was eager to get a dose of his wrath. Gemu had nearly beaten him a few days ago, and everyone was eager for the hero to throw down the king from his throne.

***

"Looks like Lucine is at it again." Lucina's eyes were narrowed in distaste. "Just cause he's the king of the school or whatever doesn't mean he's going to win against Gemu again."

Fugo sighed. He almost hoped that Lucine would lose. He was acting up for no reason.

Lucina tugged on his arm, her tail curling around his leg. " Can we just go home? I'm sick of watching him beat random people up for no reason."

"No can do, Lucy." He petted her head absent-mindedly. "I need to watch this fight. Hasn't Lucine been acting off lately?"

Lucina had turned a bright shade of red; embarrassed that Fugo would pat her head so casually in public. "W-well, yeah,sure, he has been acting strange, but who cares about him! Let's just go home."

Fugo turned to look at Lucina, surprised that she was as embarrassed as she was, but it was the perfect opportunity to tease her and he would never waste a chance like that.

"Aww, why're you so embarrassed, Lucy?" He started squeezing her cheeks together, her expression of cute outrage squashed. "Is this any better?"

"Shtop dat!" She blushed even harder, releasing herself from his clutches. Her tail wagged from left to right quickly as she muttered under her breath. "I swear if you do that again I'll prick your wings."

"Come on, you know that would hurt." Fugo brought his face even closer to hers, whispering into her ears. "Why would you prick them when you could have so much more fun with them."

"Shut up already!" She pushed him back, looking away . "Save that kind of talk for later..."

"What was that?"

She crossed her arms, blushing even harder. "Just shut up."

Fugo's laughs were drowned out by the commotion of the crowd, all of them roaring for Lucine's defeat.

There was a larger crowd than before, so much so that Fugo couldn't see the battle properly, a testament to how many people want to see Lucine get smashed into the floor.

Fugo grimaced, unfolding his wings. He threw his hair out of his face and took to the skies, to get a better view, pleasantly surprising Lucina, who fangirled in secret from down below.

***

Lucine's bravado from before was being eroded away with every punch that Gemu threw at him. He had to endure and evade every swing, constantly on the defense. The demon Gemu punched harder and faster than the normal one, making it a challenge to even find an opening to strike.

Gemu swung ferociously, forcing Lucine to block with both arms if he didn't want to have his skull caved in.

The impact shook him to his core. Gasping in pain, he stumbled back. His heart drummed in his ears, his body shaking as his eyes glowed. How dare he humiliate him like this? The crowd started howling even louder, a pack of animals celebrating over the death of prey.

Gemu threw his leg forward, knocking Lucine even further back.

Without warning, Gemu ran forward with terrifying speed, with his horns in front of him, as if he were trying to skewer Lucine. Images flashed through his mind of bulls locking horns in order to fight and assert dominance over the other. Surely Gemu wouldn't be trying to…

Lucine just about had enough time to ready himself as Gemu locked horns with him. The impact brought his feeble resistance to breaking point, his eyes widening in shock.

In a desperate attempt to beat Gemu, he tried using his own strength against him, by quickly maneuvering himself in the direction that Gemu was pushing him, and using the seconds of confusion to win.

Gemu tore through his tactics, his horn drawing blood across Lucine's face, stopping metres away from him.

He turned and lumbered back towards him, leering with murderous intent clear in his golden eyes.

Something within Lucine awoke, an animalistic fury, born of his spiteful pride.

"Tch. I don't know why you're celebrating." He put his hands over his head, in a stance comfortable for his demon body, ignoring the blood pouring out of his cheek. The muscle memory of the demon Lucine was very helpful in a situation like this "You'll be eating dirt soon enough,"

"Why don't you fucking shut up for once." He swung recklessly "You fucking dick!"

Lucine saw his golden opportunity. Gemu had left himself completely open, exactly like in the human world.

Ducking under death, he released all of his rage in a single uppercut to his chin, clamping his mouth shut and sending a shake throughout his head. But Lucine wasn't done. He was going to make the most of this chance.

He punched again and again, letting out all of his hate and frustration in the barrage of pain he sent his way. All his troubles over the past few days had resulted in so many suppressed emotions that he let out in that moment. But was it the right thing to do? Lucine's mind started filling with doubt. Violence was for brutes, wasn't it? It was uncivilised, not elegant, not refined. What he was doing right now was against his own beliefs.

So why didn't he stop punching? Why did it feel so good to hurt someone else, to beat all of his bottled up emotions into the wall that stood in his way.

Because it was just defence. He was just trying to defend himself, that was all.

Right?

Taking advantage of his doubt, Gemu lashed out at him with his leg, knocking the wind out of him. A sharp pain spread through his chest, and the crowd cheered as Lucine gasped for breath on the floor.

Gemu grabbed his head and shoved it into the ground.

"Who's eating dirt now, huh?"

This was too much. His face was rubbing against the dirt, as Gemu lifted his face up just to bash it back down. Blood dripped out of his nose, tainting the ground crimson. He fought to keep his composure and have his rage under control.

He had only gotten into this situation because he had given into his disgusting anger.

He got up and repetitively struck Lucine, not giving him a single chance to get up. Every thump knocked a little more mercy out of Lucine, and fueled the fires of his vindictive hate.

This only happened because he let himself get violent.

Gemu lifted him up by his left arm, apparently done with kicking someone who was on the floor. Lucine glared at him defiantly, despite his entire body being battered and beat to exhaustion. He would not bow to an animal like him.

"This is the arm you hit my chin with, right?"

He clenched it harder and harder, painfully crushing the bones in his arm.

Lucine gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to scream.

"You…surprise me a-all the time." He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing his pain as Gemu clenched harder and harder with each passing second. "I hit you...w-with my right arm, you iDIO-"

He heard a crack and the scream erupted out of his mouth without his consent. He was dropped to the ground, kneeling, cradling his arm. Heat surged through it, as if it was on fire.

"I got the wrong arm?" Gemu tilted his head, leering maliciously. "I'll just have to do it on the right arm this time."

He couldn't let that bastard off for doing this. His breath was ragged. His exhausted body was shaking in rage. He slowly rose to his feet, seething with bloodshot eyes, wiping the dirt off his mouth

"Oh? You still want more?" The crowd howled in laughter as Lucine's legs nearly gave way beneath him. "Look at this twat! He can barely stand and he still wants to fight."

Lucine breathed heavily, looking for a way to win this fight. Gemu was right; it was taking all of his efforts just to stand.

Cold drops of rain began to fall. A relief from this hell had come down from heaven.

He looked to the skies, looking hopelessly for an angel to take him back home.

His eyes widened.

An angel was there, hovering in place, powerful flaps from his wings keeping him above the battlefield. It was Fugo, trying to get a clear view of the battle.

A look of shock was on his face as he saw the pitiful condition Lucine was in. Fugo caught his eye, trying to gesture to him whether he needed help or not.

Lucine painfully grinned back, feebly putting his thumbs up. He didn't need any help. He had found his exit.

An expression of human determination over took him. His eyes were a dull shade of yellow as focused on his target. He was going to win, no matter how scummy his victory would be.

He shook his hair out of his eyes, taking a deep breath in, his arm limp at his side.

He wasn't going to run.

He was going to win like the filthy slave he was.

Gemu scowled at him. "What the fuck are you doing? Stop looking at me like that, you freak."

Lucine knew what he had to do. Before, he had let his wrath get the better of him and make him attack recklessly.

But if you want to use the power of a beast, you keep a leash on it, and release it at the right moment.

Gemu had no idea what he was planning. Maybe if he did, he would have been more cautious. But, in his eyes, Lucine had no chance of winning, not in the state he was in.

The rain poured down.

Lucine took in a deep breath, hoping to heaven that this was gonna work.

He darted forward as fast as his legs would, closing the distance between him and Gemu. It was all or nothing.

Gemu was caught off guard, but there was plenty of time to prepare for the attack. Expecting another horn lock,he tensed himself and put out his arms infront of him, ready to catch Lucine and crush his other arm.

But Lucine wasn't stupid. He wasn't about to jump into his arms for a hug.

He unfolded his wings, jumped, and flapped his wings as hard as he could, the muscle memory guiding his movements.

He was clumsy, and inefficient in his flying, but it did what he wanted to do; he was now a few metres above Gemu.

Time seemed to slow down as Gemu looked above at the demon descending from the sky, his eyes wide in realization. The crowd watched as Lucine brought his leg straight up in an axe kick, and mercilessly slammed his heel down on Gemu's head

The giant fell with a thud, already unconscious. But Lucine wasn't done yet. What was it that Fugo had said yesterday? That Gemu had body slammed him 10 times while he was unconscious?

He walked onto Gemu's body, to the shock of the crowd. It would leave a bad taste in his mouth if he didn't pay him back for everything he'd done.

Eyes glowing like spotlights, he let the demon take over.

He roared, stomping on every part of his body his feet could reach, his face, arms, chest, until Gemu was reduced to a sack of meat groaning on the floor.

Golden, gleeful eyes looked up to the skies as the tyrant Lucine Fastus threw back his head and let loose a guttural shout of triumph, his foot on the head of the fallen hero, Gemu Kolas.

"You really did put me in my place! It's just a shame that place was on top of you though." He pressed his feet into Gemu's face, to the disgust of the crowd, leering haughtily. "You'll be my footrest, won't you? I'm sure that's such an honour for a bitch like you."

The Slave King reigned undefeated.