Chapter 41: Chapter 44 – Suzerain Subjugation

“Aries, it’s your time to shine.”

Aries remembered Theseus’s smile as he faced down Suzerain Lord Scorpius.

After a year of stalemate battles and a slow-moving crawl towards Taurus’s capital city, Aries was the one to instigate the final battle, starting with Lord Scorpius, who was stationed as the general of the army outside the city.

“At last, we will have our fated battle!” Lord Scorpius giggled. Apart from fighting Lord Taurus, Scorpius was most excited to face his old friend, Captain Aries.

“Lord Scorpius, we meet again.” Aries responded as the battle raged around them. This was the first important step of Theseus’s plan.

“Why have you betrayed Oceanus?” Aries was unamused by Scorpius’s enthusiasm.

“Betrayed? No, I just think I could get more battles by teaming up with Darkin.” Scorpius shrugged and then looked at Aries with extreme bloodlust, but Aries made the first move.

“Skill: Tier 2 Shade Rune, Shade Eclipse!” Aries roared with electric aura that glowed red and purple from the mixture of the Shade and Runic magics.

“Impressive! Skill: Brutality!” Lord Scorpius roared.

Blood gushed all over Lord Scorpius. Cuts slashed across Lord Scorpius from the self-inflicted wounds. By injuring himself with his skill, he temporarily increased the output of his Shade Core’s aura. This was a Shade Skill Aries despised but reluctantly taught Scorpius when he was in the Phaunus Forest. Aries’s Shade knowledge was deep, but he disdained lots of the more brutal skills like Brutality.

Blood oozed down Lord Scorpius’s twisted face as he laughed maniacally.

Aries’s new Runic Ability, Shade Eclipse, boosted his speed significantly but made his sword  move slightly slower than the rest of his body, causing an illusion of his main body moving slightly before his sword.

As Aries closed the gap and swung at Lord Scorpius, the Suzerain Lord blocked according to what he saw and felt, but nothing hit him.

“Huh?” Lord Scorpius had braced for the attack, but it didn’t come. About to back away, the slash hit suddenly.

Coughing up blood, Lord Scorpius was slashed right across the stomach and was sent flying backwards.

“Shade Eclipse, where the Shade’s movements eclipse the attack…” Lord Scorpius muttered to himself. Although he took heavy damage, he was not beaten yet. Both he and Aries were at the D Rank with similar foundations. Aries had a stable core whereas Lord Scorpius did not.

In the end, it was a battle of control versus aggressiveness.

Now that Scorpius timed the strange, mistimed attacks of the Shade Eclipse, the battle came to a standstill. Aries slashed repeatedly while Lord Scorpius deflected each attack with his fists. As a pugilist, Lord Scorpius was a true brawler.

“There’s no way! Scorpius is timing the attacks with his battle sense alone!” Aries exclaimed inwardly. Such a feat was something even Theseus had trouble with during their training!

“Skill: Savage Bloodlust!” Lord Scorpius raged with aura once again. This was his trump card. As he was damaged, his aura would rise.

“Skill: Demonic Pressure.” Aries tried to control Lord Scorpius’s movements with his own trump card, but with great difficulty, Lord Scorpius moved with great trembling through the pressure zone as more gashes appeared on his body.

“As the battle goes on, I will just grow stronger!” Lord Scorpius exclaimed, delighted with the fight. Lord Scorpius was smothered with blood, but his blood-stained teeth shone white as the gravity tried to force Scorpius to the ground. With every step forwards, Scorpius’s aura grew stronger and more out of control.

“Fuck. I guess I have to use it,” thought Aries as Scorpius was about to reach him.

“Skill: Reverse Shade Possession!” Aries yelled and tore off his shirt, revealing a runic ritual inscribed into his skin. The ritual glowed purple and caused Aries great pain. Aries disappeared from sight, and Lord Scorpius fell to the ground in agony.

The Reverse Shade Possession, a skill invented by Theseus and Aries in collaboration, was created specifically for Lord Scorpius. As someone with a unique Shade Core, Lord Scorpius was semi-possessed by the former Suzerain Lord Eris. At this point, Eris had almost fully taken control of Lord Scorpius’s core unknowingly, and his sanity was on the brink of total collapse. What made the Reverse Shade Possession impractical for normal combat was that a Shade would enter another soul’s Shade Core with the purpose of removing another Shade Possession instead of initiating one.

“What’s happening to me!” Lord Scorpius cried out, causing nearby soldiers to tremble in fear.

***

Meanwhile, Gemini was tasked with a solo mission. Like Aries, he would face a Suzerain Lord, alone. Sneaking into Lord Taurus’s palace while the armies fought, Gemini and Taurus stood face to face, alone. Facing the old man, Gemini awkwardly declared his intentions.

“While Theseus and the other Elders fight Darkin, I’ve been tasked to fight you!”

“Hmm, I thought they would send Lord Aries, or at least another Suzerain Lord. Who are you?” Lord Taurus asked, bored. As a D Rank Suzerain Lord slightly weaker than Lord Scorpius, he felt insulted that Theseus sent a little kid to face him.

“I am Gemini, Elder Theseus’s Apprentice! Join us, and your sins will be forgiven.” Gemini boldly declared.

“Why should I join a farce like Oceanus? Your territory is too young, and your foundations are too weak.” Lord Taurus mocked the kid.

“I’ll show you the true power of foundations…” Gemini whispered.

“Skill: Gemini Twins.”

“Skill: Gemini Twins.”

“Skill: Gemini Twins.”

“Skill: Gemini Twins.”

“Skill: Gemini Twins.”

“Skill: Gemini Twins.”

Six Geminis formed and surrounded Lord Taurus.

“A child at the F Rank Royalty Realm? Theseus is no normal Suzerain Lord…” Lord Taurus was honestly impressed that a kid like Gemini could create six clones that were all around the rank of a low-level Suzerain Lord or Head Captain.

“Skill: Twin Sacrifice.” One of the six twins casually muttered. The closest twin dissipated, and a surprisingly big blast of air type aura flew into Lord Taurus, catching him off guard.

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“What?” Lord Taurus flew into the wall of his throne room and was shocked by its devastating power.

“Skill: Suzerain Sovereign.” Lord Taurus had minor cuts from the air blast. Created by the former head of the Suzerain Alliance, Lord Antaeus, Suzerain Sovereign could only be used by the Suzerain Lords of the past Suzerain Alliance.

Theseus was not the only one who could create Unique Skills, and most people would typically create their own Unique Skill at the Royalty Realm and above. However, Suzerain Sovereign was nowhere nearly as complex as Oceanus Founder, or even the Reverse Shade Possession, for that matter. Simply put, Suzerain Sovereign strengthened the old Suzerain Lords according to how strongly they exemplified their Deadly Sin. Lord Taurus’s assigned sin was Greed, and his horde of wealth as well as his selfish nature was the crux of his aura capacity.

“Skill: Twin Swap.” The Geminis all chanted, and all five of them appeared to change their positions, creating extreme afterimages that swapped and moved in disjunction, yet in unison.

“What the Hell?” Lord Taurus couldn’t tell what was going on. Each Gemini was moving so fast along with a teleportation skill. The afterimages were confusing to watch, and the miscellaneous weaker skills from the Geminis smashed into Lord Taurus, who couldn’t tell where the attacks were coming from.

“The knowledge needed to create and use a skill of this complexity is unprecedented!” Lord Taurus thought. To be able to coordinate every clone in complete harmony like this was insane, even from the perspective of one of the strongest Suzerain Lords.

“Just how strong could Lord Theseus be if this is his apprentice?” Lord Taurus exclaimed out loud.

“I am nothing compared to him.” The Geminis spoke in unison, sending chills down Lord Taurus’s spine.

“Skill: Greed’s Embrace!” Lord Taurus yelled. He had to use his trump card. He wasn’t called the Suzerain of Greed for no reason. By amassing a large swath of resources that were stored in his Shade Core, he could freely use them to stabilize his core as well as a suitable material for aura. These resources ranged from the souls of his subordinates to Artifacts and herbs.

Raging with an aura of green and red, Lord Taurus exploded with a pulse of energy. Two of the Geminis were instantly shattered into nothingness. Three Geminis remained, but Lord Taurus was near his limit.

“Submit to us, the younger generation. I’ve been told you are like a relic of the past. You cling to the Suzerain ways and are afraid of change. Oceanus is the future!” The middle Gemini declared passionately.

“I will never submit to Oceanus…” Lord Taurus said, but he sounded unconvinced by his own words.

“Fine. Twin Sacrifice.” The Gemini on the right-hand side exploded like a tunnel of air into the debilitated Lord Taurus. Gemini hauntingly stood over Lord Taurus.

The younger generation had risen above the Suzerain path.

“I’ve lost…” Lord Taurus croaked. He could no longer move. If Gemini wanted to, he could kill him, but the boy hesitated.

“When you’re ready to change your mind, I will be waiting. Theseus says your experience is necessary in the coming years.

I’m already late enough to fight Lord Darkin as it is. If he wins, the Oceanic Realm will fall into the hands of Lord Darkin. Even as someone as greedy and desperate as you must know that Lord Darkin’s plan is to consume everything, even you.” Gemini seriously lectured and then burst out of the room towards the designated spot Theseus told him about earlier.

“Am I really a relic of the past? Am I really necessary for the coming years?” Lord Taurus lay crippled, thinking about his loss to someone younger than any Suzerain Lord he had ever seen. Gemini was just an apprentice and the F Rank, while he himself was at the D Rank. Through extreme foundations and complex skills, the Suzerain Lord of Greed was defeated by a child.

***

“Get the Hell out of there, bitch!” Elder Aries tore Lord Eris right out of Lord Scorpius’s Shade Core.

“No! No! My love, let me back in!” Lord Eris clung to Lord Scorpius, who lay down on the ground in confusion. For the first time in decades, his mind felt clear.

“Holy Hell, it actually worked.” Aries gasped, exasperated. Rummaging through the Shade Core of Lord Taurus was fear inducing, even for him, but in the end, Theseus’s skills were top notch. It was to be expected especially since he was involved as a Shade and Runic expert. Something as dangerous as the Reverse Shade Ritual was only possible because of Aries’s newly founded skill with Shade Runes, but even Aries was surprised Theseus could analyze Shade Runes and tamper with them to make a new rune with an assistant as unhelpful as him.

“Get off of me, bitch!” Roared Lord Scorpius, striking down Lord Eris with all his remaining aura. The bloodied mess of the former Lord Eris splattered everywhere. The Reverse Shade Ritual was enough to temporarily cripple Lord Scorpius, since Lord Eris’s possession became permanent years ago, but he did not care.

“Thank Lord Theseus for me, Captain Aries.” Lord Scorpius bowed his head to Aries in respect, from one warrior to another. Although it would have been easier to kill him, Theseus fixed his Shade Core. Even if it was ultimately for selfish motives, Scorpius would not forget this kindness. For now, his aura was crippled down below that of a Captain, but he would recover with enough time.

“Thank him yourself.” Aries scoffed. Scorpius looked up from his bow with curiosity.

“Come on, we’re going to face Lord Darkin.” Aries winked and grabbed Scorpius’s arm, dragging him towards the true battlefield. Lord Scorpius blinked. Would he really be able to help?

“Yeah, here, Theseus gave me a scroll. Memorize this skill.”

***

“Lord Theseus, you’ve arrived.” Lord Darkin grinned sinisterly in his dark and rich voice. In the heart of the battlefield, the two leaders finally met.

One on one, Theseus faced Lord Darkin.

“Surely, you can’t be trying to face me all alone?” Lord Darkin laughed.

“No, but I’ve come to give you one last chance. Join Oceanus.” Theseus stared squarely into Lord Darkin’s red and black eyes.

“You should surely know it’s too late for negotiations.” Lord Darkin was resolved after the initial declaration of war.

“I’ve given your two Suzerain Lords a way out. Maybe they’ll take it.” Theseus explained.

“If you get Taurus and Scorpius join you, they deserve to die for betraying me.” Lord Darkin laughed out menacingly.

“It was worth a try…” Theseus trailed off. In reality, he was buying time for the others to dispatch of the stronger Captains quietly.

Lord Darkin smiled. Theseus was worth his time. Although Lord Darkin knew Theseus was stalling for his friends, he played along. There was no way they could win anyways.

“Now!” Theseus yelled out of nowhere.

Surrounding Lord Darkin, six Suzerain Lord level powers appeared out of the shadows.

Leo, Capricorn, Jezebel, Virgo, Scorpius, and Aries got into position. Along with Theseus, it was as if they represented each territory of the Oceanic Realm. It was as if Lord Darkin was about to take on the Seven symbolic Suzerain Lords, alone.

Lord Darkin laughed passionately, clearly amused.

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