Chapter 10: Emperor Fenrir vs The Masked Man

The masked man strolled into the city, passing through the carnage without a flinch. Six guards charged in an attempt to attack him, but the masked man lifted his arm and shot six tendrils from under his sleeve. Each one impaling the guards' skulls. Their bodies hit the stone floor, the masked man walking over them as if nothing happened. He leisurely made his way toward the stairs that would lead to the Palace Museum, now turned into Emperor Fenrir’s home. Just as the masked man got to the stairs, he locked eyes with the emperor himself standing at the top.

He, like the other clones, shared similarities in facial features with Ferral. His expression was cold and sinister, with long obsidian colored hair that went all the way down to his back. He was quite handsome, and yet, no one dared approach him, put in fear by his icy presence. Those who did always felt their legs shake as they approached. The emperor wore jade colored robes with gold around his collar and around the ends of his sleeves. They were a gift Laura had made him in her early teens, saying they were fit for an emperor who resided in what was once China. Fenrir graciously accepted, and they had been his main attire since.

Emperor Fenrir glowered at the masked man; his fierce crimson eyes burned brightly in the night. “So, you chose me as your next target?” Fenrir asked. “Me? Heh, what a joke.”

Fenrir took a few steps down, never taking his sights off the masked man. He continued, “I’m not weak like my brother, so don’t believe for a moment this will be easy.”

Hidden under his mask, the masked man’s lips curled into a sinister smile. His eyes widened, and his body lightly shook. As if he could barely contain himself from wanting to cut down Emperor Fenrir.

With a flick of his sleeve, Emperor Fenrir got into a fighting stance. “Well?” He beckoned, “Come, I will kill you quickly.”

The masked man’s grin grew even larger, chuckling through clenched teeth. He squatted down and, in a fraction of a second, burst forward at Fenrir. The emperor blocked the strike, the impact creating a shockwave that cracked the stairs beneath them. Fenrir went for several kicks, but the masked man blocked and dodged most. One connected across his face, Fenrir spun around and punched him in the stomach. The masked man was sent flying back, hitting and rolling across the inner courtyard. He finally got himself up, but Fenrir had caught up, the emperor’s arm already cocked back. The masked man only had a second to react, so he went for an uppercut as a counterattack. However, Fenrir was fast; he dodged the attack, leaving a faint red streak in the air from his eyes. Fenrir socked the masked man square across the left cheek and sent his head slamming into the ground.

A small crater from the impact was where the masked man’s head rested; his body lay motionless. Emperor Fenrir pulled his robes down, straightening them as he stared down at the masked man. His attention was abruptly changed when one of those red beats charged toward him and lunged for an attack. Fenrir dodged it effortlessly, slicing the beast in half from the waist in one swift swipe of his claws. The halves of the beast fell limp onto the floor. As Fenrir turned back to face the masked man, he was caught off guard when he saw his assailant going for an upward slash with his claws. The emperor barely had time to dodge out of the way, getting his robes and the bottom of his left cheek cut.

Fenrir jumped back, then wiped the blood from his cheek. The masked man smacked the dust off his cloak, motioning with his finger for the emperor to come. Fenrir sneered, bursting off the ground and going for another punch. The masked man pushed it to the side, blocking the several others that were sent his way. The masked man went for a kick that Fenrir stopped with his leg. They went on a back-and-forth of attacks and parries, Fenrir slamming his palm into the masked man’s chest and launching him back. Purple blood spewed out of the mask, staining the stone floor.

As their heated battle continued, the small city around them was still in turmoil. No matter how many of the beasts the soldiers would take down, more would simply take their place. One of them had finally noticed the tree in the forest creating the beasts and called for some of her fellow soldiers to help take it down. However, when they tried to leave the city, the flying spawn of the masked man swooped down from the sky and pushed the soldier back. He dragged her into a wall, his massive left hand crushing her ribs. She coughed up blood after her ribs pierced through her lungs and heart. The soldier’s body slid down against the wall, and the other soldiers were mortified.

“None of you ain’t goin’ nowhere,” The spawn said, cackling as he lunged at the rest of the group.

Emperor Fenrir grabbed both the masked man’s ankles in the air and slammed his body into the tile roof above one of the walkways. The masked man managed to pull one of his legs away and kicked Fenrir away. He slid across the roof, stopping himself a few feet away from the masked man.

Fenrir spat out blood as he panted heavily. Slowly, he was becoming exhausted, but the same could not be said about the masked man. He never seemed to run out of stamina. Fenrir grit his teeth, knowing he needed to finally put a stop to the fight. He transformed into Super Full Power, his being completely identical to Ferral’s. The masked man was in shock; the very sight of the form stunned him stiff. Titles beneath Fenrir as he took one powerful step and lunged at the masked man. Still frozen still, he had no chance to react, and Fenrir blew the masked man’s entire left arm off with a kick.

His body fell to the ground, lying sprawled out as purple blood oozed from the wound. Fenrir jumped down, letting out a relieved sigh. He had won. He began walking off, needing to go help the others. As he did, there was a small noise by the masked man’s body that caught his attention. He turned to see what it was, and the fallen body had started softly laughing.

It started quietly, but picked up more and more until the masked man was letting out almost a shout rather than laughter. Fenrir was taken aback by why he was laughing, the masked man slowly picking himself up. The blood from his wound had stopped, and several long, thick tendrils sprouted out from the wound. Fenrir was stunned at first, but was ready to stop him. However, when he moved, his feet were stuck by something. He looked down, seeing his feet and ankles had been held down by tendrils that had sprouted from the ground.

He was going to slice the tendrils off, but was stopped by the masked man, who used the ones coming out of his wound to grab his arms. He was lifted off the ground, another tendril wrapping around Fenrir’s neck. The emperor thrashed around, trying to break loose, but it was futile. The masked man held back his roarious laughter, keeping a massive grin plastered on his face. The tendril around Fenrir’s neck slithered upward and around his mouth. Each tendril wrapped around Fenrir began pulling on the bandage they were holding. The emperor screamed in agony, but no one could hear his muffled cries. With one quick motion, the tendrils tore off both his legs, both his arms, and his head, letting his body fall to the ground. Blood poured from the body, forming a large, crimson pool. The masked man discarded the severed parts into the river that was underneath and around the city.

The tendrils finally formed back into an arm, and the masked man calmly walked out of the city. He saw his flying spawn flinging the corpses of the soldiers he manned around. The masked man whistled, drawing his spawn’s attention. He obediently ran over. The masked man snapped his fingers and pointed at the ground.

“You want me to hold down the fort for ya, pops?” The spawn asked.

The masked man silently nodded, walking past his spawn.

The spawn gave a salute and replied, “Can do!”

The masked man headed to the forest, where the beast-making tree was located. All of its eyes looked down at its creator, releasing a purr-like growl. The masked man sprouted his wings and launched himself into the air. He looked to the north and took off, leaving his creations to defend themselves, leaving behind the infested city.           

Laura and Berus walked leisurely back to the mansion. After having seen the comet and taking Cello home, the siblings were now wide awake and in no rush to go back home. It was still very dark; lanterns illuminated the streets of the village. Laura had just finished telling Berus about her encounter with Anthony. The young prince couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

“Laura has a crush,” He sang, then burst out laughing.

Laura’s face became flushed, and she embarrassedly punched his shoulder. “Shut it!” She barked. “I don’t have a crush on him, okay? I just…have admiration.”

Berus curled the side of his lip into a smug grin, raising an eyebrow and replied, “Oh yeah, I’m sure you want to admire more of him.” He laughed more, holding his stomach as he did.

Laura, irritated, shoved him to the side.

After Berus calmed himself down, he looked at Laura and asked, “So hey, did they finally end up letting you into the defense force?”

Laura was taken aback by the question. She turned her head, biting her lip, trying to come up with an excuse. Eventually, she sighed and decided to simply fess up.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Berus,” She said. “I…didn’t actually pass the application test.”

“What?!”

Laura nodded and continued, “They said I just wasn’t physically strong enough, even though I passed the majority of it. In the end, it just wasn’t enough.”

Furious, Berus stomped his foot. “Outragous!” He raised his voice. “You’re way stronger than most of the bozos in that force. I’ll give whoever’s in charge a piece of my mind!”

Laura chuckled and said, “I don’t think that’ll go in your favor. It’s fine, I’ll try again next year.”

Berus humphed, placing his hands behind his head as they walked. He glanced again at Laura. “Hey sis, can I ask you something?"

Laura had hopped onto and balanced along the top of a bench when he asked. She turned to Berus and replied, “What’re you asking?”

“I’m not going to stomp on your dreams or anything,” He said, “but is it really necessary for you to join the force?”

Laura rolled her eyes upon hearing this question. “Oh, great, now you too?” She sighed. “Didn’t know I was talking to mom.”

“Now hold on, let me finish,” Berus pleaded. “Why join the defense force as proof of your combat prowess? You’ll be empress soon, so the people will naturally assume your strength is to be reckoned with.”

He gave her a moment to let the words sink in. Then continued, “Aren’t you just adding more stress on yourself to be in the force rather than focus more on how you’re going to help the people? That is what they care more for, realistically.”

Laura hopped off the bench. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “Yeah? And how do you know?”

“I asked,” Berus said. “Not just the people in this village, but around our whole empire. Unless you have a child or God forbid you die, I’m next in line, so I had to know if I, too, should pursue joining the force. I needed to know what people want out of a leader.”

Laura walked in silence, thinking about Berus’s words. He was right, she thought. You can’t protect your people with strength alone; you need to know how to keep them safe from accidents and overall live peaceful lives. It really put into perspective just how bent she was with simply becoming a warrior and not a ruler. Yet at the same time, Laura couldn’t help but cringe at the thought. She didn’t want to sit around at a desk all day or deal with pointless meetings. She wanted to be free and protect the people as a hero. It was truly quite the impasse she found herself in.

Seeing Laura becoming too deep into thought, Berus changed the topic.

He said, “You know, when I’m emperor, I’m going to give us colors.”

Laura looked at her brother, confused. “Colors?” She asked. “What do you mean?”

Berus continued, “You know, colors that represent our empire. Ones that you could put on a flag or uniforms for our troops. I know we have our Tri-Claw Mark insignia, but that’s boring. I was thinking of making the colors red and gold, to match our Papa’s eyes when he would go into battle. With elegant flames emblazoned on the backs of uniforms as well as the Tri-Claw Mark.”

He looked at Laura with a smile and asked, “Sounds cool, right?”

She thought about it and raised an eyebrow as she grinned mischievously. “You’re right, that does sound cool,” She said. “I’m going to do that when I’m in power and take all the credit.”

“What?!”

Laura nodded her head and continued, “Mhm mhm. The people will say, “Oh wow! Such amazing uniforms, who designed them?” And I’ll reply with, “Thank you, thank you. It was all me.”

She burst out laughing, Berus pushed her, and she almost fell to the ground.

After calming herself down, she patted Berus on the back. “Don’t worry,” She said, “I’ll give you some credit.”

Berus humphed and replied, “You better.”

Laura giggled, and the two continued joking and teasing as they got back home.