Black with Gold Cracks

A strange man walked through the streets. The sky was red. The eclipse always overhead staring down at the city. Some took it as a sign of the end, and evidently ended themselves. Others, however, had a different way to cope. Many local taverns were filled with business. Local drunkards and new ones popped right in to enjoy what they thought to be the end days.

The strange man walked fully covered in strange armor. It was completely black with visible cracks. And each crack was covered up and filled in with pure gold. His whole body was like that. Every imperfection in the armor was turned into a striking display. By his side was a sheathed, pristine blade. His helmet covered his entire face. Pure red eyes shot out from the slit. It was difficult for anybody to tell where he was looking. The man looked as though he came from the east - a land very far from here. But in these times, nobody really cared. The sun had gone black. That's all that mattered.

He strolled past many taverns, but one caught his eye. It was more of an illegal gathering - most likely a private party by some criminal organization. There was a guard outside so vigilant even as the world seemed to be ending. A well-trained dog, the man thought. He approached without any hesitation. With one hand, he gripped the handle of his black blade without unsheathing it. The guard was about to stop him, but before he could speak, the black-armored man hit him once in the stomach with the pommel of his blade - still unsheathed. The guard was out cold. The man barely struck him, but wasn't surprised at how weak they were compared to himself. He intentionally held back. The only thing he was surprised was that the guard was still breathing, but he didn't care and walked right over him.

He entered into a crowded party with so many floating, magical lights everywhere that blinked on and off. Bards sung tunes. Mages played with fire and tricks. High-end gamblers played with mercenaries. Many men dressed up for the occasion, while the women dressed provacatively. But out of everything, the most important detail was the pink mist surrounding the room.

The armored man just scanned through every single soul in that room. He took one step into the mist, and the whole room went silent. They all stared back at his soulless, red eyes. Both the men and women smiled in ecstasy. And then as if nothing happened, they all went back to drinking and laughing. Some began to rip each others' clothes off passionately on the tables.

"I know you're here, Libidine," the man cried out in a hoarse voice, "Why don't you just show yourself?"

"And if I do?" a man called out in the back on the party-room. He was a handsome man with flowing hair. He was covered with women who had their tongues removed.

The armored man took one more step before the entire crowd of partygoers turned into a loyal army between them. The music was completely gone. The lights were illuminating, but no longer blinking. There were knights, mages, thugs, prostitutes, and just regular townsfolk all under Libidine's spell.

"Whore demon of lust, Libidine. Do you not recognize me?" the armored man asked.

"Of course I do, Superbia. Or would you rather be called the demon of pride? Or just Pride for short?"

Two demons spawned by the eclipse at one location. It didn't take long for Superbia to find him. Afterall, they were closer than family.

Libidine inquired, "I wasn't expecting to see you here. We all went into seperate directions. Then again, I can also sense the others. I suppose it's fate that brought you here, then?"

"No," Superbia replied. He took out his blade - a sharp katana with red ridges.

"Hah. You want to prove that you're stronger than the rest of us? Is that it?"

"Of course. I am stronger. I know this quite well. It's time for the rest of you lot to know this as well. You'll just be the first."

"I always thought of you as the most annoying. You always flaunted yourself. You always wanted to make sure everybody knew how much better you were at everything. You think you can just walk right in here and come after me?" Libidine mocked, "I seduced all of these men and women. Some of them are even children. All of them - they're my slaves in bed and on the field. You'll have to kill all of them to get to me."

"None of them stand a chance," Superbia replied.

"Would you really stain your own pride in killing worthless-?"

"Don't worry. I'll go easy on them. I'll even give them the honor knowing that it was my blade that killed them. It will be the last thing each of them -and you - will see."

"Hmph. Annoying," Libidine said as he flicked his wrist. As soon as that happened, the whole party turned into a massacre. One of the bards sung a fast-paced tune on the side. Superbia cut through them with ease. No warrior could match his speed or strength. No mage could do anything to pierce or break his armor. As just regular townsfolk, children, and prostitutes attacke dlike wild animals, he cut them down without a single bit of remorse. Men. Women. Children. It didn't matter to him. It was no different than stomping on ants.

It didn't take long for him to reach Libidine who just watched the mayhem as three tongue-less women were feeling around his chest. The floating lights had gone out. Only the standard candles lit up the room. The bard kept singing only to please Libidine. None of them were afraid to give their lives to Libidine. They all loved him. And he loved them - but only for their bodies.

Libidine smirked. "Well, it seems you've beaten me. I know my pink mist doesn't affect any of us demons of sin, so really I don't have much advantage in fighting one-on-one."

Superbia was about to cut him down in one fell swoop, but without even giving any orders, the three women began to attack. It wasn't much of an attack, but it gave Libidine just the advantage he needed. His nails began to grow into sharp, red claws. They pierced straight through the women, and aimed straight for the golden cracks in Superbia's armor. It would have worked, but Superbia was just too fast. He cut through the women and straight at Libidine's hands. Each claw missed their mark by an inch.

And the moment, Superbia saw Libidine's unwavering eyes turn to fear, he closed in. It was a swift strike into heart. He stared straight into those fearful eyes until they turned dead. And with that, he took out his red katana from Libidine's chest. The pink mist went back inside of Libidine's body.

Superbia said only one word. "Disappointing." But he did believe that he was going to win anyways. It was just a fact to him.

The bard who was singing a tune froze in fear. He had no idea what happened, but as soon as he saw the bodies, he began to run away. His whole body was covered in blood as he screamed for help. Luckily for him, it wasn't his own blood.

As for Superbia, he watched as Libidine's body melt away like pink tar. Then, the tar itself began to morph into a specific shape. Superbia wasn't expecting this. The body had left behind a red ring with a heart-shaped star ruby on it.

The demon of pride picked up the ring without knowing what it was. It began to melt into his armor until it attached itself onto the ring finger on his left hand. He looked at it strangely and wondered what it was.

As guards began to investigate the area, they came upon Superbia and the dead bodies.

"Stop," one of them commanded in a shaky voice as Superbia slowly turned around. His red eyes looked at those city-guards like they were nothing. He could no longer sense any of his kin in this town, so it was time for him to leave.

He took some steps forward planning to just kill them quickly and move on. Even ants were annoying in their own sense. But the ring had other plans. He could sense Libidine still alive within that ring. Without even thinking about it, the ring began to protrude pink mist that went directly into the guards' lungs. With the blink of an eye, their entire attitude changed. They looked at Superbia with wonder and amazement. They thought he looked so handsome and beautiful.

But Superbia didn't care what they thought. He walked right past them without even looking. They were less than nothing. Just like all other life in existence. Superbia believed that every single being in existence was less than him. The pink mist faded away, and the guards were left there to wonder what had happened. All they could remember was the samurai dressed in black with cracks filled in with gold.