The King

Irnis' eyes widened in disbelief as that spaceship descended from the sky.

It passed through the barrier like water, and its imposing presence made the environment tense.

The spaceship's sleek, angular design and menacing weaponry radiated an aura of raw power and made it clear that this was no ordinary ship.

The dust of destroyed ground flew up as the spaceship landed.

Someone came out, their presence commanding attention and inspiring awe.

Every Dramon, including Irnis and the lieutenants, immediately bowed down, their heads bent in respect and deference but more in fear.

Meanwhile, the entity lost his sadistic smile upon this newcomer's arrival. Instead, he was angered.

 Unlike Irnis, the Princess did not bow but her eyes were fixed on that person with a mixture of fear and wariness.

Irnis, remained bowed down, her curiosity and confusion getting the better of her. So, she broke out.

 "Why are you here, Lord Saevus?! This isn't a place a King should be present at....." Her voice cut through the chaos, her words laced with a hint of disbelief and fear.

He smiled.

Irnis talks to him in dramonic language, in a low voice.

"Lord Saevus, why have you come to this... desolate place? A king shouldn't be in this place. Your graceful presence is too good for this place." Irnis narrowed her eyes as they shone with fear.

"Or perhaps, Your Highness, you have finally come to look for a battle... Either way, I don't think you should be here."

As much intimidating as he was looking, Saevus's smile remained on his face.

"You can't tell me what I should or shouldn't do… or do you think yourself superior to me, Irnis?" His voice was like the venom of a snake, laced with subtle malice.

Irnis' words gave a hint of urgency and she only looked at the ground.

"O-of course not, your Majesty." 

She paused for a second.

"I beg of you, this is not a suitable place for you to be. The power of this enemy is enormous and I cannot guarantee your safety. Please leave this place."

Her eyes locked.

"Do not test the fates, Your Majesty. The consequences would be catastrophic."

The atmosphere was tense.

But there was a dry enjoyment in Saevus' voice.

"I am only here to take Princess Rem back with me. As for 'him', I have complete faith in your powers, Irnis. You, my most trusted warrior, will surely control him."

His gaze seemed to bore into her soul.

It felt like his words were a velvet-wrapped whip reminding Irnis of her place and so, Irnis' words faltered.

"B-but, Sir...We can't just..."

She kept looking here and there to escape his suffocating gaze.

And he didn't even give her a little time, "I know that you've been bullying Princess Rem for quite some time now, am I right? Obey my orders and I'll overlook your crime."

His eyes gave out his cold personality, leaving no doubt that mercy was not his thing.

On the other hand, the Princess's face was a mask of resignation, her eyes empty and her steps inattentive and looked like her soul had been extinguished and only a hollow shell was left there.

She drifted into the ship like a ghost, her head was down and she didn't even look back.

Meanwhile, the entity was doing something.

He had one hand on Nandak's blade while the other was on the hilt and looked like he was powering Nandak up.

An evil smile appeared on King Saevus's face, his eyes glowed with a sinister light as he looked at the entity and he responded to him with a fierce glare.

As the two locked gazes, their eyes clashed like swords in a silent duel.

"I was wondering why there was so much shazolf concentrated at one point in this area... You know what? I already knew it, haha. Being in a sword for millennia must have sucked for you. Am I right, Taraka?"

Nandak turned bright red. 

Taraka was ticked off and rushed at him with ridiculous speed. Even his shadow was left behind. No one knew when he crossed all of them and reached Saevus to kill him.

A clean hit!

Or probably not.

Nandak just passed through Saevus's body. 

Saevus looked at him with his eyes that shined with a knowing light.

" 'A name that sends shivers down the spines of the brave.' 'A demon who lived among the gods.' ' The most powerful warrior who ever lived.' How ridiculous!"

A strange barrier was pressured from the inside and pushed Taraka back.

Or at least was trying to do so but Taraka started walking toward that powerful pressure and started pushing the spaceship back by force!

"Taraka, you are more naïve than written legends. This..." he said, pointing to himself, "...is merely a projection, a shadow of my true self. This is how advanced we have gotten in those few hundred years... From dust..."

He kicked Taraka which combined with the force of the pressure and threw him out.

"We have achieved so much in this small time that those sacrifices almost feel negligible...Hm? Oh~ I think I opened some old wounds." He laughed.

His words were full of sarcasm and poisonous taunts.

And then he looked at Irnis.

His voice rose and started echoing like a divine command. "I BELIEVE...YOU WOULD NOT DISAPPOINT ME...IRNIS..."

Saevus's words acquired a hypnotic tone that resonated deeply in the mind of the Irnis.

It was like a leash, tugging at the deepest parts of her mind, awakening a dormant loyalty that replaced all reason and free will.

Her eyes blanked with an unnatural light. Her body straightened with an almost militaristic alertness, as she nodded with a shaky, puppet-like motion.

"Yes... Your Majesty. I would... not... disappoint you. I... will defeat... him," she said, her voice devoid of any emotions. 

She slowly stood up.

Then Saevus's attention went to Taraka.

"I don't even know how many times you have fallen for my plots, my cunning, my techniques.... and now..." His hologram began to fade, a sly smile lingering on his lips. "Now, I will leave you to ponder your own foolishness."

The spacecraft vanished, leaving behind a faint engine hum echoing in the park.

Taraka's anger was boiling like water in a cauldron. He could have vented his anger on the fleeing spaceship, turning it into a burning ruin, but for some unknown reason, he did not do so.

On the other hand, Irnis, now a mere puppet, has her mind imprisoned by Saevus's orders.

Her voice said out orders that were not her own.

"VALORE EPETHISI!"

That voice was spreading the effects of hypnosis and contaminating everyone who heard it and so, every Dramon soldier started moving in mechanical movements.

Irnis stood there like a statue and commanded all the soldiers into a battle formation.

With a roar, the soldiers ignited their armor's thrusters, flew into the sky, and created a fire vortex around Irnis.

They charged their weapons and slowly created bright white plasma above themselves. Together, their attacking formation created a symphony of destruction. The ground trembled beneath them, and the air cracked with lightning.

••

In a place of complete darkness, with no sign of light of any kind, anywhere, K's consciousness was hanging in nothingness.

He opened his eyes, of his consciousness, but couldn't see anything since his senses were numb.

He strained to perceive something, anything - a flicker of light, a hint of sound, even a whiff - but there was only the oppressive weight of void.

Although his eyes were open, they did not see any darkness, because darkness means the existence of something that can be darkened. But there was only the absence of everything.

He tried to understand the nature of this place.

"Where am I?" That question was the most obvious one that can be said by a person in this situation.

He couldn't feel anything in this place.

This was somehow more uncomfortable than it seemed as it was making him feel suffocated while he couldn't even breathe.

"I remember being hit by that thing... Is this what the so-called afterlife looks like? ...Doesn't seem like it." 

K tried to look around, only to find nothing.

Though there was not a sign of air, he sighed, in his mind. "This crap is frustrating me, huh? The type of shit I hate....what is this place?"

And then he heard a voice that sent a shiver run down K's non-existent spine.

"A void." 

"Huh!?" K 'tried to' look around as soon as he heard this voice.

"What was that?" He tried to find the source of this voice.

"What do you call a place which is supposed to be everything while being nothing?"

A strange voice came out and it sounded like a screaming whisper of an approaching person.

"I... dunno. I am not good at riddles after all." K calmly replied to that voice with the most casual answer one can.

He heard a laugh.

"I don't think that was supposed to be a joke." 

"Ah, my apologies. You are just as I expected you to be." 

"What do you mean? I wa- Wait..."

"Hm? What happened."

"Wait a minute, who are you?" He asked too soon.

"The King."