The Emperor saw his chance. Finally, after years of waiting, after years of planning, all his hard work was about to pay off. Hell Hound struck Full Monarch in the back, and her power kicked in.
Finally, this battle would be coming to an end.
His victory was near.
Full Monarch's eyes widened as he felt his energy suddenly leave him. The blue flame around him went out, and his strength dropped.
The Emperor let out a laugh, and to everyone's horror, he slammed his fist into Full Monarch's face hard enough to send the hero flying back.
"Yes!" The Emperor declared, and the other villains began to cheer and started to push the heroes back. "You're going to see! All my hard work, all my efforts, they will pay off! It's your turn to see what it is like! You'll experience the pain of being a mere mortal and fighting a god!"
The strike had sent Full Monarch spinning. He rolled across the ground, a large bruise appearing on his face. His flame had fully gone out, and he couldn't feel the fire within him. His hair was no longer golden, and his eyes lost their flame.
Most alarming of all, the voice of the Brightest Star had gone silent. His connection, the bond to the first Lord, the strongest Lord, was severed.
How?
Was such a thing possible?
Well, no, but with the Beast's energy currently filling the universe, the impossible simply became possible.
"Die!" Before Full Monarch could stand up, the Emperor's fist rammed into his face once more. The villain put his all into the strike, slamming Full Monarch's head into the ground hard enough to crack the ground. "This is my moment! My victory! Everything that I have done! All the effort! You're witnessing a plan that took years to build up! So what if there were a few hiccups? So what if things didn't go as perfectly as I might have hoped! None of that matters! Not in the slightest! Now, all that matters is that I defeat you and take my rightful place at the top of the world!" The Emperor rammed his fist out again, even harder this time, once again connecting with the side of Full Monarch's head. He began to lay strike after strike, unleashing devastation, as he beat on the number one hero. "This is what you get. This is what you deserve! Suffer! Suffer!"
The Emperor felt his energy spike and rapidly grow, and he raised both his arms up into the air and clasped them together. Thick energy wrapped around both his limbs, and like a hammer, he slammed them directly down into Full Monarch's chest, shooting him through the planet and sending out a massive shock wave that blew all the heroes and villains back.
Absolute chaos spread across the battlefield. The villains were confused and hadn't been drilled on what to do at this moment because there hadn't been enough time to set this victory into motion. On the flipside, the heroes were in a panic as they watched the symbol of hope, the strongest being that they all knew, be slammed around with ease.
Dread filled them all.
The Emperor stood over the hole he smashed Full Monarch down into, and he lifted his hand into the air. "Suffer." A ball of blue energy rapidly expanded out and puffed up. It grew in size, bloating and swirling, into what he held: a small building-sized ball of pure power, which he then threw down into the hole. "Suffer."
The ball shattered the ground, melting through it, and the planet shook, the ocean lifting, the ground tilting, and the sky rippling as the mass of power exploded beneath the ground, unleashing shock waves that could be felt on the other side of the world.
"Suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer!" The Emperor declared, and he began to fire more orbs of explosive power down. "Suffer! Suffer! Suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer!"
When the energy finally died down and the planet stopped shaking, the Emperor stood directly over a smoldering crater that was being eaten away by blue flames.
He was doing it. He was going to win.
Full Monarch is the fastest.
Full Monarch is the strongest.
Full Monarch is the most durable.
Full Monarch is the greatest hero.
If a villain found themselves facing this godlike being, there was a good chance they would simply give up. After all, how do you take out the strongest being in the universe?
The Emperor knew that when it came to an outright battle, he couldn't win if he fought Full Monarch. Currently speaking, the Emperor was confident that he could claim the number two spot, but being the second strongest wasn't good enough. He wasn't as durable as Full Monarch, nor as fast, as strong, or as skilled.
To compare the two of them would be like comparing a cup of water to the ocean. Full Monarch was in another dimension of power. A fourth-dimensional being in a world of third-dimensional fodder.
Because of this, the Emperor decided that if he wanted to win, he'd have to cheat. The plan had been simple when it was all broken down.
When he first created the persona of the Emperor, he used Golden God's power to travel through space and to skip through time, to rapidly cross the universe. This process would have still taken hundreds of years to reach the edge of the universe, but because they set out when the Beast had first woken up, he was able to supercharge Golden God with his Imaginary Energy, allowing the impossible to happen.
By using his portals, Golden God's travel, and Storymaker's teleportation, all amplified by the Beast's energy, which defied logic, they were able to cross the entire universe in only a year.
Sadly, he didn't know what was at the edge of the universe, as he had been forced to use Storymaker and switch out with Nier when they neared it. He had heard something about the Lordians, but Nier was often quiet and simply wanted to see the edge of the universe for himself.
In the end it didn't matter. He only needed the spot to be a place Storymaker could send someone to. By visiting this spot, Storymaker would be able to send someone there.
Normally, this wouldn't have been possible since Full Monarch was way too strong. His own body would negate the field and make it impossible for him to be sent away; however, four years ago, the Beast had woken up, and, using its energy yet again, the Emperor combined that with his own. Even still, it was truly impossible to send Full Monarch that far naturally due to his sheer strength, and so instead the Emperor sent Full Monarch as far away as he could by targeting the Lord's Ego within him and sending the Ego, which was connected to Full Monarch, to the other side of the universe.
This process would cause Full Monarch to take many years in order to fly back to Earth. During that time, the Emperor would wait until the Beast woke up again, and then he'd use the energy to absorb Max and then absorb Nier. By holding their energy within his body, his own power would skyrocket greatly. He had gotten a massive boost from defeating Sini and absorbing him, so he was confident he could then defeat Full Monarch.
Just in case, he had a backup plan.
The Emperor stepped forward and allowed gravity to carry him down. He fell, and he fell, and he fell, going deep into the planet. The temperature started to rise, and lava began to flow, and a cavern near the center of the core opened up.
An ocean of lava and flame remained down below, and he found Full Monarch. The hero was ankle deep in the lava, his costume torn in several places, and his face was covered in dozens of bruises. His hair was filled with sweat, and he finally looked tired. Like a normal human.
Without the Lord of the Sun and Cosmos, the Brightest Star, Full Monarch had been pulled down, going from a god to a mere Super.
It was all thanks to his backup plan.
Hell Hound had been created specifically to deal with Full Monarch. Subconsciously, when Nier tried to revive his dead daughter, he created a being that could sever the connections between a Lord and its host.
At the time, it was likely he did this in some effort to defeat the Beast. It wasn't a conscious choice he had come to. Instead, it was the founding of an idea that had wormed its way into his brain, perhaps brought on by the Prettiest Flower or maybe even the Beast itself.
In the end, Hell Hound couldn't affect the Beast, as it wasn't a Lord and was instead a different being altogether. Her power could connect with the other four Lords, however. Since Full Monarch was so powerful, severing his connection would have been impossible. Still, he had grown tired and weakened greatly from trying to fly back to planet Earth after being teleported away. Due to the abundance of Beast energy that was scattered across the universe's molecular field, his power was able to be temporarily weakened.
For one hour, Full Monarch would lack the power of a Lord and be a regular Super like everyone else.
That was the Emperor's plan and his trump card. He would inherit three Lords, tire out Full Monarch, use Storymaker to set up the perfect chance for Hell Hound to drain him, and then, with Storymaker, beating Full Monarch should have been child's play.
This plan ended up not working out since Full Monarch had been teleported early due to Max, and the Emperor lost Storymaker and hadn't yet absorbed Nier, so he lacked three Lords within himself. Even so, Full Monarch was currently lacking the power of a Lord, while he possessed two.
It was possible.
He could win.
No.
He was going to win.
The Emperor landed in the lake of lava, and he began to walk toward Full Monarch. He took his time, like a spider that trapped a creature in its web. The butterfly was finally caught.
"Do you hate me?" The Emperor asked mockingly.
Full Monarch looked back up, and even without the power of a Lord, his gaze still held a light. One that would seemingly never fade. "I pity you more than I hate you—"
"Die!" The Emperor brought his fist down, but then, to his shock, Full Monarch caught the blow. Full Monarch held tightly onto the Emperor's hand, and the sound of metal denting began to fill the vast cavern. "What?"
"You took my Lord power? So what?" Full Monarch shifted his footing and punched out with his free hand. His fist rammed into the Emperor's destroyed armor, breaking more pieces off. "Why would something like that be enough to make me give up!"
The Emperor felt himself recoil back, and he was sent flying through the cavern. Before he could stop himself, Full Monarch burst forward with blinding speed and appeared behind the Emperor. He raised his foot up as the Emperor reached him and kicked the armored man up into the air.
The roof of stone and dirt shattered as the Emperor was kicked through the planet and thrown out of the cavern. He spun through the air and then crashed down on the ground. Seconds later, the battlefield erupted again as Full Monarch came jumping up, shoving his way through the crust to reach the Emperor. He threw out another strike as hard as he could, and the Emperor attempted to block it with a hasty barrier, but the shield shattered.
The Emperor's other horn cracked and snapped off, and he was beaten on from all sides. Their battle had gone through the entire planet, and they were out of sight of the villains and heroes, so no one was there to see as the Emperor's armor was reduced to atoms and he was torn apart.
Every strike he threw out was deflected. Every block was destroyed. He couldn't even keep up as Full Monarch ran circles around him, sometimes literally, beating him with nothing but pure brute force and martial arts.
Full Monarch had never shown off such a level of skill before. In all his fights, he finished things in only a handful of blows or a simple wave of his palm, and so the Emperor had wrongly assumed that when it came to a brute force fight, he would have the advantage, as he had learned various forms of martial arts and trained his body.
To his horror, Full Monarch was using the exact same martial arts he was, as well as dozens more. The man's style of fighting was simply flawless. He tried for another punch, but Full Monarch caught his wrist and kicked his feet out from under him. In the next instant, the Emperor felt himself being tossed through dozens of mountains as he was thrown away.
Full Monarch had indeed gotten weaker. Before, a single full-power punch would have been enough to deal with the Emperor. Now that he had lost his Lord powers, Full Monarch's style of fighting had totally shifted. Gone were his lazy strikes, and instead, he showed off everything he actually knew.
These skills were rarely brought out, and when they were, it was only against the Beast, for that was the single being that could truly force Full Monarch to go all out.
The Emperor's notion of Full Monarch being a simple-minded brute was completely off. What he had failed to consider was that Full Monarch was a soldier. A man who had grown up during a time of war. Full Monarch wasn't always the best, nor was he the strongest. There was a time when he was like everyone else, and it was during this time that he had trained and worked his ass off, developing skills and ways of fighting that would allow him to keep up with those who were stronger than him. It was this fighting style that allowed him to beat Nier back in the day and even go toe-to-toe with Lucifer.
That was okay, though.
The Emperor wasn't freaking out yet.
It was true he made a mistake, but he could still recover from this and easily win. After all, this didn't have to be a battle of pure skill.
The Emperor jumped back onto his feet as he finished crashing into the final mountain. Already, Full Monarch was on him, the man kicking off the ground to reach him. The Emperor narrowly dodged his strike and then slapped out with his hand, unleashing a powerful wave of energy that melted the ground and ignited the air.
If Full Monarch could beat him with raw physical stats and skill, he'd simply use his natural-born gifts to blast the man away and reduce him to atoms.
The beam of energy smashed into Full Monarch, and the mountain they were on exploded and melted. The power of the attack burned away part of Full Monarch's skin and costume, but he struck through it and jammed his fist into the Emperor's face.
More of the Emperor's mask shattered and broke away, and he began to stumble back. Every bit of his armor was gone, the clumps of metal sliding off of him. Now all that was covered in was a black skintight power suit that held his energy within him and fueled him with every cocktail of drugs and steroids that existed to push him over the edge.
As the Emperor's helmet fully shattered, Full Monarch finally came face-to-face with the greatest villain. It was as he thought and feared.
The Emperor was a kid. A young man barely in his early twenties. He had messy reddish-brown hair and a pair of blazing blue-and-black eyes. His nose was shattered and broken, and his lip was split. He was bruised, and the black suit he wore beneath his armor was starting to tear and break, but the Emperor still didn't give up. He had to win this fight.
He had to show that it was possible.
The Emperor let out a roar, and from his mouth, he fired another beam of energy. Full Monarch narrowly dodged to the side, some of his red hair being burned away, and he smashed out with his fist. The Emperor dodged to the side and created a blade of energy, which he swung out, attempting to slice Full Monarch's head clean off his body, but the hero caught the blade with both his hands and twisted it out of the Emperor's grip.
The Emperor went to slide back, but a fistful of his hair was grabbed, and he was forced forward face-first, smashing directly onto Full Monarch's fist.
"You're seriously just a kid." Full Monarch twisted his arm and sent the Emperor's body twisting, and then he smashed him directly into the ground. "A child. I wonder how much of your father's plan is yours. I'm willing to bet none. You're just lashing out and doing what you want because you had a bad life, aren't you?" The Emperor slammed his foot into Full Monarch's side, but the hero caught it and twisted, snapping his ankle. Then Full Monarch picked him up and swung him off of the shattered mountain.
The Emperor was flung through the air, and he slammed headfirst into the ground. His body was buried in it, and his legs poked out. He felt blood filling his lungs, and he struggled to breathe through his broken nose.
Before he could even attempt to rip himself out of the ground, he was dragged out by Full Monarch, and the hero once again began to beat on him. Over and over again, the Emperor felt his bones shatter and crack, and his flesh tear. Each blow caused organs to rupture, and even with his energy, he couldn't fight back.
It wasn't fair.
He had done it all so well. He nerfed Full Monarch, took his Lord power away, and even absorbed two Lords. If he had Nier and Storymaker, he might have stood a chance. There was no way that would be possible, though. Full Monarch would never let him reclaim those items or run away.
He had pissed the hero off, and now, Full Monarch wasn't letting him out of his sight. The Emperor was slammed back into the ground, and he lay there motionless, his body twitching and his brain struggling to think. Through the daze, he heard Full Monarch begging to speak once more.
"It kind of makes me sad." Full Monarch wiped some blood away from his busted lip. "I always get sad when I see villains. I wonder why they decided to be evil. Why didn't they use their powers for good? In your case, I know why. I don't think you're evil. You are a bad person, though. You've caused a lot of people to be hurt, even if you weren't the one doing it. Indirectly, your actions have harmed more people than they have helped. Maybe… Maybe you were right. Maybe there was some bit of hatred I did hold toward you, but I think more than that, it was directed at myself. You're strong. I wonder how good of a hero you would have been if you were good. Maybe if I did save you, things would have gone differently. I think I am to blame for some things. You hold that blame also, though. You didn't have to make these choices or be evil, but you did." Full Monarch let out a weak sigh. "No. Never mind. It doesn't matter. Sorry. I'm done playing."
'Playing?'
Was this just a game?
The Emperor's eyes snapped open. One gushed out a wave of blue fire while the other crackled with black lightning. Rage began to surge inside of his veins, and his wrath grew.
'Playing?'
Full Monarch was playing? No. No, no, no, no, no! This wasn't fair. This couldn't be the case. He refused to accept it. None of this was a game. None of this was something that could be described as a child throwing a tantrum. This was his plan. It was real life.
It wasn't a game.
He wasn't playing the role of the villain.
He was evil.
He was the Emperor!
The Emperor's strength rapidly began to rise. A wave of fire and lightning suddenly exploded out of the ground he had been smashed into, and a sickening, tearing sound filled the air. His body began to expand. Muscles and bones snapped, and his blood started to boil. All his energy suddenly started to force its way into his body.
Full Monarch took a step back and watched as the Emperor began to stand back up. His body was changing. He was growing. His flesh tore, and his bones shattered as he pumped his muscles full of power. He was swelling. Like a balloon that was about to pop. His neck, arms, and legs grew, expanding out.
He wasn't creating a construct. He was becoming an actual Giant.
The Emperor grew until he was nearly twenty feet tall, forcefully lengthening and snapping his body as he drew in even more power.
"Full Monarch!" His hair was on fire, lightning coated his arms and legs, and he had more energy than blood in his body, igniting into a mass of blue energy as he lunged toward the hero. "Suffer!"
This time, his strike landed. A blow that ignited the area around them and sent Full Monarch recoiling back.
"Suffer! Suffer! Suffer!" He slammed his palms out and began to smack the hero around, hitting Full Monarch over and over again. "Suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer!"
The Emperor swung his fist out as hard as he could, but his blow was deflected by a glowing blue barrier. His mad eyes widened in shock, and he stumbled back as crackling blue energy started to flow out of Full Monarch.
"I told you." Full Monarch raised his hand, and on the tip of his finger an orb of energy flowed out. "I'm not playing anymore."
It wasn't fire. It wasn't lightning. The hero's Lord power was still sealed. This was something else. Something the Emperor knew very well.
This was Imaginary Energy.
"Bang." Full Monarch flicked his hand as if it were a gun, and the energy fired. It rammed into the Emperor's stomach, and his eyes bulged. His feet dug into the ground as the attack began to spin and drill into his gut. The energy was like a million punches to the stomach, and it caused bile to rise up in his throat.
That wasn't all it did, either.
The Emperor felt the energy begin to invade him. He felt it connect with something inside of him. Then he felt it begin to do the impossible. The Beast's energy surged.
The Emperor vomited. His jaw nearly unhinged and expanded, and the bile dripped down his chin. From his vomit, two metal orbs forced their way out of him, dropping to the ground. The pods. The very same that he had shoved Max and Sini into.
The pods were covered in filth, but even so, they glowed and beeped, and the Emperor finally dropped to his knees, his power starting to rapidly leave him. He stared at the pods in horror as he shrank back to his normal height.
"What did you do—"
Full Monarch's fist was covered in more energy, and he slammed it out, smashing it directly into the Emperor's chin and blasting him back.
The Emperor landed flat on his back and stared up at the sky. It was over. He lost.
Full Monarch is the fastest.
Full Monarch is the strongest.
Full Monarch is the most durable.
Full Monarch is the greatest hero.
Full Monarch… Full Monarch. Full Monarch. It always came down to Full Monarch. Full Monarch this, Full Monarch that. Full Monarch is the best. Full Monarch is the only one who matters. In a world filled with superpowers, where power is all that matters, where abilities are everything, Full Monarch stood at the top.
Why?
Why is Full Monarch that strong? What made him the best? Was it because he is the Lord of the Sun and Cosmos?
No.
There have been Lords before, and yet no previous Lord has been able to reach the level of power that Full Monarch has.
So then what is it? Why was he so much stronger, even compared to other Lords? Was it because he was the first vessel to awaken the Lord within him? After all, before Full Monarch, no other Lord was able to connect and wake up the Lord's Ego that hid away in their body. Only Full Monarch was able to do this.
Yes, in a way, his being the first to do this is what made him strong, but it was not the power itself that allowed him to reach the top of the food chain. The Brightest Star was indeed the strongest Lord; however, when it came to raw power, the Brightest Star could not defeat the Beast. Yet Full Monarch could?
This was because, to put it simply, the power Full Monarch had went beyond the level of the Lords. Even the Rulers. None of it could hold a candle to Full Monarch. Truly, he was perfect. A being of power that defied all logic. And it was all thanks to the natural ability that he had been born with.
The power known as Imaginary Energy. Lords could become Supers and gain their own ability. No one knew when this power truly awakened, not even Full Monarch himself, but one day, he woke up with an ability that allowed him to do the impossible.
Full Monarch could imagine the ideal world around him. It, of course, wasn't perfect, and this world was truly lacking, but with this power, Full Monarch was able to create a Path in which he had the power to save everyone in front of him and defeat any foe.
This was the hellish power that the Emperor was now facing. The power that he thought he would be able to best.
In the end he couldn't do it. He did everything he could and got every advantage he could think of, yet it wasn't enough.
Full Monarch was just too strong.
Weakly, the Emperor- Alpha, looked up as Full Monarch once more appeared before him. The hero stared down at him in pity. Pity. Not rage, not anger. Pity.
"Are you done?" Full Monarch asked.
"No!" Alpha tried to stand, but his body gave out, and he collapsed. "I'm not done."
"Why?" Full Monarch asked.
"I have to beat you!"
"Why?"
"I must!"
"Why?"
"I—"
"Why, why, why?" Full Monarch shook his head as if he was disappointed. "Why can't we just stop it here? Why do these fights always have to be to the death?"
"You don't understand." Alpha spat out.
"You're right. I don't."
Alpha glared at the hero. "Of course you don't. You don't know what it's like to suffer. What it is like to be at the bottom. You'd never understand!"
Full Monarch looked like he was about to retort, but he stopped. He lifted his hand again and shaped it into a gun. The orb of energy began to rapidly appear at the tip of his finger, and he pointed it at the man's head. "Do you give up?"
"...Never."
Full Monarch nodded. "Then it's over."
"...It's over."
The energy reached its peak.
Full Monarch fired.
"Bang."
Alpha stared it down. He waited for death. He kept waiting as the energy missed him. It flew past his head and slammed into the ground next to him.
Full Monarch spared him? Alpha barely had time to process this before he watched as Full Monarch turned around and began to walk away.
"W-Where are you going?"
Full Monarch didn't even bother to look back at him. "I'm done."
"What?"
"I told you earlier. I'm done." Full Monarch kept walking.
"Why?" Alpha felt his anger double. "Are you mocking me?"
"Did you think I wouldn't notice?"
"Notice? Notice what?"
Full Monarch let out another weak sigh. "I'm selfish. I'm not a pure-hearted person. I'm not a saint. Perhaps that was why Nier was able to get away with so much. Because I allowed him to. Because I don't want to see my friends or family die. That goes to you as well."
"I'm not your friend!"
"No. You're not." Full Monarch shook his head. "I'll think of what to do with you. I'll figure something out. This evil stuff has to stop, though. I beat you. So quit. At least for now."
What did that mean? What was Full Monarch saying? He was letting a villain go? He who always killed his villains? Why? Alpha wanted to scream. He even wanted to cry. He didn't have the strength. He was tired. He was powerless. He was weak. He was lost. More than anything, he was confused.
It was during this confusion and this despair that something finally snapped.
Alpha managed to get on his knees, and he tried to aim a blast of energy at Full Monarch, but he couldn't muster up the strength. "Get back here."
Full Monarch didn't stop.
"Come back."
Full Monarch didn't stop.
"Fight me!"
Full Monarch didn't stop…
"Kill me!"
Still no reaction.
"Why do you hate me!" Alpha tried to stand up, but he slipped and collapsed onto the ground in a pool of his own blood. His fingers clawed at the ground, and he howled like a wounded beast, but even that didn't get Full Monarch's attention.
He watched as the hero just walked away.
'Look at him.'
"What?"
'Isn't it sad? Don't you feel anger? Despair even? You've done so much. Come so far. None of it matters, though. Not to him. Not to the one person whose attention you wanted the most. After all, you know who he is, don't you?'
"Who's speaking?"
'You need more. More power. More skill. More anger. More hate. More… everything.'
"What are you saying?"
'I can give you what you want. I can make sure his attention is focused on you. You want your father to stare at you, don't you?'
"My father?"
'All you have to do is let me in.'
Alpha suddenly felt an intense chill as his shadow lifted and swallowed him whole. That got Full Monarch's attention. The hero turned around just in time as he felt a sudden surge of power.
Then he saw it.
Until now Alpha had been fighting him as a Super. As a human.
"Suffer." The shadows twisted and shaped and broke down his form and turned him into his true self. "Suffer."
Now…
He was about to fight a Ruler.
"You will suffer."
Alpha had transformed into his Ruler form.
He no longer looked human. Instead, his body had swelled just like before, but his human form was totally gone. He looked like a giant caterpillar, one that was the size of a bus. Red fur covered his form, and his head was shaped like a skull, jutting out the front, looking closer to the helm he wore when in his armor. Horns jutted out, and his eyes were blazing with fire. Each of his many legs ended in human hands that clawed at the ground.
The Ruler of Destruction and Creation.