Chapter twenty two

Chapter Twenty Two

PLAN COMMENCES

BOOOOOOOM

The humongous, sun-blocking metal rods, or arrows, easily broke through the heavily reinforced glass dome that surrounded the palace. Dionysus, who was sitting on a bench right outside of the palace, had his back to all of it, but he still had a really nice view of everything, or at least it satisfied him.

Meanwhile, everyone in front of him, including the kids running around the water fountain, were either cowering or staring straight at the palace. No matter who it was, their attention belonged to what was going on behind Dionysus. In fact, Dionysus wouldn't be surprised if he got labeled a weirdo for not paying attention to what was going on behind him.

Of course, he actually was paying attention, and the general populace was too focused on the palace to give him the time of day.

'Fear, awe, shock, despair . . .'

As Dionysus scanned the crowd in front of him, he could see so many different emotions that he could've sworn he was discovering new ones as well. With a satisfied grunt, he stood up and walked on the drawbridge towards the palace. Almost all of the forces belonging to the palace were focused on the current invasion, and only one or two guards were watching the drawbridge. However, thanks to the ongoing commotion, they weren't even paying proper attention to it.

It was only when Dionysus arrived right before the sealed steel gate that one of the guards noticed him from up on the tower that they sat on.

"Hey you, hold it!"

'. . .'

WHOOSH

Dionysus paid them no heed, only walking through the curtain that had suddenly appeared in front of him. And then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared right after he walked through it. The guards were somewhat shocked, but they decided to just drop it and rushed towards where the metal rods had dropped, as they felt they would be of more help there.

This would turn out to be a fatal mistake.

--- SEQUENCE 2 ---

"Quick, rush in, first unit!"

"YEAHHH!"

"HAH!"

Many of them resounded with cheers similar to the two that were just heard, all while charging. They had all landed right outside of the palace, on what could be considered its front yard. Within the dome, a mini forest, hedge maze, and garden were located at the back of the palace. At the front were neatly trimmed bushes and grass, along with some fabulous statues.

However, unlike the back, which could be somewhat confusing to maneuver, the front was so simple that they could all simply rush at the palace.

"Go for the steps!"

Daphne herself wasn't any good at combat, the only reason for her being here to help lead the group. For that reason, she planned to stick to the back of the angered Bloody Droplets.

'Damn, things aren't going too nicely for the Bloody Droplets already . . .'

Dionysus was observing the group as a whole using his ability, Behind the Curtain. By doing so, he began to realize the holes within the group. If someone were to randomly look at them, they would deem the group a threat. Dionysus could see them for what they really were though, which was a disorganized mess.

'They have morale, but there is no organization. They're all over the place, and all it takes is . . .'

THWAM

'. . . Yeah, that sounds about right.'

The second he was about to think it, an explosion randomly took place deep within the angry mob of people. Indeed, this was what Dionysus has deduced to be their weakness. Because they were all over the place, with no real order, they would be susceptible to attacks that covered a large area. Of course, it would've been worse if they were all gathered into one location, but even with this formation, they took a large amount of damage.

From just that one explosion alone, Dionysus came to the conclusion that around fifteen percent of their forces were already dead or injured for the long run.

'. . . I wanted to see if Daphne had come up with any new idea to win against them, but it was pointless to show up. As if they could beat the empire's royal family . . .'

Dionysus was half-tempted to turn tail and get out of here. In the end, he convinced himself there was nothing more to see, but something caught his eyes right before he had turned around.

To be more specific, someone caught his eyes.

'Hoh, the moron showed himself a bit early.'

Standing in front of the mob was a red-haired man. His eyes were fully black, and his grin was wide enough to reach the moon. Dionysus could recognize him from anywhere, as he was one of his closest friends.

'Of course you'd be here, wouldn't you Cerberus?'

A smile that Dionysus didn't think possible to make anymore appeared on his face, but this wasn't a smile of happiness or nostalgia. Well, at the very least, it wasn't fully nostalgia.

However, the main component of his smile was regret.

"I suppose . . . I could watch the battle for you."

Dionysus took a seat on the glass floor of his ability and stared at the man known as Cerberus. The mob was making a mad dash towards him, no fear available for them to consume. However, Dionysus knew that, soon enough, fear would be created for them to consume.

'Indeed, that's the type of person Cerberus is . . .'

--- SEQUENCE 3 ---

'Who are all these people? Why are they after the head of gramps?'

Cerberus was still getting along well in life. He had been promoted from one of the king's limbs to his left hand, though the position of his right hand was taken away by someone. However, no matter how anyone looked at it, he had been working hard.

To him, the king wasn't a figure of authority that represented the peace of the world or something like that. No, the bond he had with the king was something more akin to that of a grandson and grandfather.

One day, when Cerberus was still a kid living on the streets, the king had been part of a parade that was going through the whole of the capital. At the time, there was one bakery that was willing to give Cerberus a loaf of bread per day so that he could continue to live. During the time that he was getting his loaf of bread, the king himself had walked into the bakery, a gentle smile that not even the wind could carry away on his face.

Of course, being the child that Cerberus was, he was in awe of the king, but didn't let it get to him. He didn't let the king cut past him in line, forcing the king to wait on him. Even the baker behind the counter was nervous at the time, but he was smart enough to understand that to respect the king would be to give Cerberus his loaf of bread as soon as possible so that he could tend to the king.

"My, My, are you also a fan of cute little bakeries?"

The king had struck up a conversation with Cerberus. Many of the guards who were inside the bakery to accompany the king were in shock, but one or two people didn't have a face of shock, but in fact a nostalgic smile on their face. Dionysus would grow up to know them as the king's right hand and captain of the guard. At the time, they understood just how nice the king was.

"No, he just gives me free food."

Not bothering to watch his manners, Cerberus replied in a very carefree manner. Once again, the guards were somewhat shocked, but the king still had a flexible smile on his face.

"Ohoh, that's good to know."

After that, they continued to talk for a bit, all until the baker brought out Cerberus' bread. He waved bye to the king and then took a seat at one of the bakeries tables before happily chowing down on his loaf of bread. After a minute or two, the king and his right hand also asked to sit with Cerberus, who said yes with a childish grin.

One thing led to another, and Cerberus was adopted by the captain of the guard. Part of it was the king convincing him, but later on in Cerberus' life, he had been told by his new father that he also saw something in him.

Now, Cerberus constantly stood at the front lines, and was one of the most influential beings within the whole empire.

And here he was, once again, proving his worth.

"RUN HIM OVER!"

A lot of people rushed at Cerberus, so much so that he wouldn't be shocked if over half of them were attempting to mow him down. A slight chuckle emerged from his mouth before he looked over all the people as if they were cockroaches.

"Ants should stay down."

THUMP

Almost every single person that was rushing at Cerberus was crushed into the ground, with an overwhelming majority flattened to a degree that a pancake would be. The few people who were still standing were all looking around in confusion, unable to continue since they would be walking over all their allies.

BRMMM

The whole area was still vibrating, with two more 'armies' of people going to the left and right of Cerberus. Although he was powerful, Cerberus was skilled at fighting only a few people, not a crowd. The only reason that he was currently dealing with such a large number of people was because they were all weak to a degree that they would allow him to do such a thing.

"Well, I can't take care of the rest of your friends, but someone's bound to. As for you, who's stuck with me . . . let's play a game."

Midway through the sentence, he had placed his hand on his chin and began to rub it in a similar fashion to that of an old man with a humongous beard full of wisdom. Even now, the pressure was still intensifying, and only one or two people were left standing. Soon enough, it had intensified to such a level that the ground was beginning to cave in, and only one person was left standing.

"You!"

Cerberus pointed at the one person standing who was currently staring daggers at Cerberus.

"Even if your knees are wobbling, that's fine, though you probably can't speak up. You and I will fight to the death, and if you lose, this whole crowd has to agree to back off or else . . ."

SLURP

He licked his tongues.

"I'll kill each and every single one of you."

Although the person who was still standing couldn't speak, Cerberus could tell that he had nodded. His knees were shaking, but he was still the strongest one in the whole unit of people. It was most likely true to a certain degree that he understood Cerberus could very well kill everyone.

"Alright, let's have fun!"

Cerberus went around and kicked everyone else away, creating a circle around ten meters in diameter. He was on one side of it, while his challenger was on the opposite side.

"P-P-Pres-sure . . ."

He couldn't get out everything that he wanted to say, but Cerberus understood. He let up on him, resulting in the man immediately dropping onto his knees, his nose and mouth cooperating to grasp any air that they could so they could shove it into the lungs.

���Alright, stand up. Put up a good fight, you're the representative of your unit."

HAH

HAH

HAH

He was still breathing roughly, but he was standing now, at the very least. Cerberus gave the man some credit, as he knew just how rough it was to stand up when he applied such a pressure.

"I'll let you throw the first punch. I won't even try to dodge, just throw one! It can be your most powerful thing, a kick, a grapple, anything!"

Cerberus stood in front of the man and held his hands out. The man seemed to be middle-aged, his hair somewhat silver, his eyes a piercing dark brown. He gazed at Cerberus with a look of fear in his eyes.

"A-AHHHH!"

Bam

He threw a punch that let out quite the sound, though it also let out one of Cerberus' teeth. Cerberus wiped off the blood from his mouth using the back of his fist, and then proceeded to bust out a wide grin. He also happened to spit out his tooth somewhere along the way, and it was currently lying on the paved path ground that they were on.

"Alright, my turn!"

BAMMMMMM