The Sinner King
Delilah had only ever seen her mother, Lucius and his parents before. No one else had ever entered the Garden and to her knowledge no one should be able to. She had heard from both her mother and Acacia, when she asked, that the Garden of Eden was classified as an emperor grade treasure. It was a tier 10 ranked cultivation paradise made by Lucius' paternal grandfather and his maternal grandmother, who were both tier 10 experts at the time. Tier 10 was the Emperor stage in terms of cultivation and it was a major milestone that enabled one to leave this universe and travel to a higher plane of existence. Understandably so, this stage brought a tremendous increase in power and ability so once they had two Emperor rank experts collaborate on building an artifact it became the strongest artifact within this universe. Lucius didn't really know any of this since he was never interested in such a faraway concept like tier 10 but Delilah was insanely curious and intrigued by nearly everything so she had asked about it quite a lot. As it turned out, this treasure wasn't meant to be in the hands of Lucius but Acacia didn't elaborate any further when it came to this topic. Delilah had guessed that the fabled war that their parents were apart of had something to do with this situation but she put it to the back of her head as it would be a long time before she would reach tier 7 let alone 8 or 9.
Anyways, as I was saying at the beginning, Delilah had only seen 4 people in her life so seeing a stranger crying at her doorstep was a surreal experience to say the least. She was able to come to the conclusion that Lucius had probably let him into the Garden as he was the owner and thus the only one with jurisdiction over who could enter, but that didn't explain why the boy was crying in front of her door. She shook her head and decided that she could think all she wanted in her head but if she didn't ask she would never actually know so she walked up to him and shook his shoulder since he seemed out of it. He didn't even notice her presence after she opened the door.
"Hey, kid, what's the matter? Shall I get you some tissues or something?"
John was startled out of his daze and looked at Delilah, even through his blurry eyes he immediately noticed the stark beauty of the girl in front of him. He was amazed instantly as he never thought there could exist a girl more beautiful than his big sister. John became flustered and wiped the tears off his face and out of his eyes before trying to speak but realising his throat was sore and his mouth was parched from all the crying. Delilah noticed this and brought out some water from her space ring and handed it over to him. John drank half of the glass in one go and then cleared his throat and spoke out with a high pitched voice.
"Th-thank you for the water, I r-really needed it."
"It's okay, it's only water. How about you calm down and tell me why your crying."
"Y-yes! You see it was my big sisters wedding right and she was getting married to the crown prince right and you know she was always talking about the wedding and about the prince and she would always say about how powerful she would get an-"
"Stop, stop, stop! Stop rambling and get to the point. I assume Lucius is in danger right? We don't have all day to hear about your sister!"
"Ahh! I'm s-sorry, I'll be quick. Um so, like at the wedding feast they poisoned us and then my dad told me to get Lucius so I left the banquet and went to get him and when I did he sent me here with some blood thingy and then I walked to here."
"Hmmm, so your family was attacked by enemies using poison so you went to Lucius for help and then came in here? How strong are those enemies and how long has it been since you left Lucius?"
"Umm, there was uhhh 4 peak stage Spirit Condensers and then like 20 low rank Spirit Condensers and others. But if....if the King comes out it would be really bad, the King Jalal is a Elemental Ascension rank expert! And uh its been around 20 mins to half an hour since I left Lucius, I kind of fazed out when I got here. Haha!"
John explained and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. This was the prettiest girl he had ever seen but he had been bawling his eyes out for a first impression. He kept stammering and stuttering because of his nervousness. Delilah's domineering aura only made it even worse for him.
"Okay then, Lucius should be able to take care of the Spirit Condensers but I'll have to take care of the Elemental Ascension rank expert. You stay here, go into Lucius' room and wait there. Don't wander around ok! I'll be back soon!"
"O-okay!"
John nodded shyly while Delilah dashed out and left for the Cultivation room, stepping onto the formation in the middle and asking it to take her to Lucius directly. Usually the formation worked by teleporting the person to the closest place at the desired world but it could be fine tuned if you had the proper co-ordinates. It also, however, was able to travel to anyone that was linked to the Garden. If anyone had been connected to it by Lucius they could then be travelled to so Delilah was able to arrive right beside Lucius instantly. When she arrived the putrid stench of blood, death and poison filled the air as she retched as soon as she got there. She turned around and vomited out a ton on a spot on the floor without a body. She quickly utilised some techniques, washing her face and covering her nose with an air shield, stopping the smell from getting to her. She was then able to have a proper look around and noticed all the bodies. She noticed the regular soldiers and captains and such that had fought each other as some still had weapons in them and some had stuck weapons into each other died in each others arms. It may have been romantic if it weren't for the fact that they were grown men with despair and horror on their pale faces. She then looked over and saw a trail of corpses in the middle that weren't like the rest, mostly because they were nearly all beheaded. The ones at the end looked like they were brutally ripped apart and the last was a young man that had his ribs poking out and his throat stabbed through. This sight alone nearly made her puke again but she held it in as she saw the estranged pile of meat and the standing sword. She saw her best friend, her little brother, clutching the sword while crying hysterically. Instantly she had felt something she had only felt when her mother had to leave her, intense pain in her chest. Seeing him cry made her tear up herself as she ran straight over and hugged him tightly.
Lucius had been crying for only a few minutes when Delilah arrived. When she dived at him he didn't even notice since he was that tired and out of it. He looked at the white haired girl in front of him and as soon as he saw her eyes he knew that this was Delilah, he would never mistake her eyes whether she was in elephant form or human form. Knowing this he cried out even more as he hugged her as tight as he could.
"I was too late Delilah! I was too fucking late! They're gone! What am I supposed to tell John? Why did they have to die Delilah, they were so nice! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE! Uwaaaan"
"It's okay Lucius, it's okay. Calm down now, calm down okay."
Delilah was lost, she didn't know what to say or what to do. She could only hug him and console him. She hadn't met John's parents but she could understand that they must have meant a lot to Lucius. She then remembered the crying kid at her doorstep and she felt bad for shouting at him and hurrying him along. She felt angry at herself for being insensitive but then the more she thought about it she started to realise that there was still someone she could blame! Someone she could vent this newfound anger! Someone to unleash her inner fire on!
She hugged Lucius until he calmed down and told him to go back to the Garden. Lucius nodded and then disappeared from her view. Delilah then dashed through the venue and explored the rooms, searching for the King. At the end of her search she had found the nuptial chambers at the very end of the venue. She walked inside and found Rebecca on the bed, completely naked. She walked over and couldn't hear any breathing so she walked up and felt for a pulse hoping she was still alive but unfortunately she was already gone. Rebecca had been stripped of her very essence. A qi realm cultivator could extend their lifespans to 150 years from the regular 100 years, while a spirit cultivator could make it 200 years. Rebecca was only a Qi Condenser so when Hugart had extracted her cultivation, he had also extracted her blood and life essence too, as in the lower levels they were linked intrinsically. She had her life span reduced to being able to live for only 10 to 20 years more. Rebecca was still alive but once she woke up and understood that her fabled prince had stripped her of her future life she was so shocked she had a heart attack in that instant, perishing pitifully. She had lived a fulfilling life in a family of people that loved and cared for her but she had betrayed them for a simple prince and then in the end that prince betrayed her instead. Such a pitiful life.
Delilah shook her head then left the venue. She jumped up to the highest tower and looked around and saw the volume of the palace to the north was the greatest, immediately heading straight for it. Within 3 mins she was able to cross the distance that Lucius had to take 15 mins to travel. She reached the entrance and read the imperial sign of the royal palace. She smacked the guards asleep and entered. She rushed through, knocking out anyone that got in her way or tried to stop her. She flew through and saw various different palaces and buildings but once she broke through them she saw three big buildings. The one in the middle was bright gold and also the biggest palace she had seen yet. She instantly thought that that would be were the king was. The two palaces to the left and right were respectively Hugart and Jamal's but she disregarded them and dashed straight for the central palace. Once she reached the entrance she noticed that everything in the palace was made of pure gold!
She dashed through and noticed that there were no more guards or anyone, not even maids or butlers that were taking care of the place. She dashed even faster as she felt a sense of unease wrap around her. She ventured deep into the castle and started to hear moans and screams. She heard two different voices and immediately sped up further, getting to the end of the palace and seeing big double doors. She burst through the doors and entered a big bedroom. It had a massive bed in the centre and stunk with a stench of death and filth.
Delilah trembled as she witnessed the scene in front of her, an old looking man was on top of a girl that looked to be only 10. He was pounding her while choking her neck, her face was red and she was gasping for air. Delilah then looked around and saw many young girls scattered around the place, most of them with pale faces and Delilah immediately noticed that she couldn't hear them breathe at all. At that moment, in the same way that Lucius had snapped once he saw the meat pile with Wolves Fang in front of it, Delilah's sense of innocence was destroyed. She immediately pulled out a spear that Lucius had forged for her, it was only a peak tier 1 spear but it was fine for this job. She bent her back and stretched her legs before throwing with all her power and force. It was only then that the decrepit King turned his head as he had been too engrossed in choking the girl to notice Delilah's arrival. Just as he turned his head, the spear had instantly reached his face and with the full force of Delilah, who had reached the third tier of body refinement, it demolished his head as the spear pierced through the wall and carried on through, blasting open just like Jalal's head.
Delilah heaved and gasped as she tried to control her anger. She had just killed someone at the same stage as her with a single blow! Delilah had completed the metamorphosis which instantly made the person who undertook it reach the third stage of body refining, the steel stage. The steel stage corresponded with tier 3 of energy cultivation so he was instantly killed. Delilah was over raged at the scene in front of her and couldn't help but use all her strength in that attack. The girls scattered around the room like garbage were all younger than her. She felt just as sick as when she first saw all the dead bodies around her in the banquet hall. She even saw a girl lying on the floor with a bulging belly, she was pregnant yet she was dead.
Hugart himself had actually been born from a 11 year old girl, she had died during the child birth. She was actually considered as an anomaly as most of the girls died before they even got pregnant or sometime during the pregnancy. Jalal had gone through thousands of little girls in his 147 years of life but had only produced one son in all that time. He had produced some daughters but had brought them up the same as these other girls he had used as toys. Most of his daughters died before they could even turn 13. If Delilah had known of this sick bastards past discretions she wouldn't have given him such a swift death. He deserved to be tortured everyday until his life expired!
Delilah walked up to the bed and tried to help the girl out but unfortunately her neck was broken already. At the time of him turning to see the spear Jalal had used too much force and consequently snapped her neck just before dying himself. Delilah checked the rest of the girls and they too were already dead. She felt ashamed of herself for letting her emotions take over her, if she was lighter before than the girl might have lived. She felt fatigue wash over her. Physically she was perfectly fine and energized since she had just broken through but mentally she was tired enough to collapse right then and there!
She noticed a desk in the corner that had an incense holder on it. The incense was an aphrodisiac so Delilah quickly destroyed it with a wave of her hand. She walked over to the desk and noticed a book on it. The book was very thick and had around 2500 pages. She skimmed through it and realised it was a record of all the little girls that bastard had raped. There were detailed accounts of how he raped, murdered and sometimes even burned and tortured these girls. She read through with tears in her eyes for the girls and read the parts on how he had brought up his daughters and then puked all over the floor. Delilah had read many fictional stories but even in those stories the villains where never this vile and disgusting. She couldn't deal with it anymore and released a fire technique, burning down the entire room. Cremating the corpses of the girls.
Delilah left the room and walked through the gold palace, burning everything on the way. Once she had left the palace she went back to all the people she had knocked out previously and then burnt them alive. These guards were in the know of the vile things that happened and where the main force that collected those girls from the various houses in the kingdom. They had took them from families and brought them to their king to defile with smiles on their faces since they would receive rewards. Delilah frowned constantly as she ran through the capital and burnt alive all of the people that the Kings diary had spoken of. This included merchants and high ranking military men that hadn't attended the wedding. She then returned to the banquet hall and burnt the entire thing down.
The Capital city of Golden Heart was in havoc as all the high level officials and even the royal palace was lit up within a few hours. The people were restless and they began to escape quickly. They fled the scene and with them they spread the word. Then began the mass migration of people away from the Gold kingdom that would change the landscape of Bakre for generations to come. Delilah though, didn't give a rats ass about any of that as she went back to the Garden. She was too tired to be bothered anymore.