Arthur Belmont (the hero)
"NO!" I shouted and lunged for Lina, but the fire was faster than my hand and I was only able to grasp the empty air. I looked around, as if still believing that she wasn't burnt, that she was merely teleported somewhere, or that she had dodged at the last second. Unfortunately everywhere I looked, I saw my scared classmates and the stone statues that once were my classmates.
I slumped to my knees and despair filled my bones. She is gone… Completely and forever. I thought then turned my lethargic eyes towards Isaac. Just as they landed on his grinning demonic mask, an incredible fury filled me, but, as soon as he turned to me, the fury dissipated as quickly as it came and I lowered my eyes.
This wasn't out of fear, or at least I think it wasn't, it was more like a realization and acceptance of the futility of fighting him. It would be foolish to get angry at a natural disaster like a tsunami or an earthquake. You could, but what would be the point?
Isaac Sygrim - this demon king whose power is equivalent to a god is like a natural disaster. No matter what you do, or how you struggle, there is no fighting it, the only option is to run and hide, then wait for it to pass.
But this Isaac Sygrim - this natural disaster - has a self. Unlike a true natural disaster, he understands himself and those around him, he has the ability to choose what he does and what he doesn't.
I gulped down my fear and despair and asked him a question. "Why?"
He turned to me and locked eyes for a while. His face was covered, but I could tell that he was amused by my question, I could feel the arrogance, the pride and the complete disregard for the lives of all those in the room from his gaze. "Why what?" He finally asked. "Why did I dispose of the trash that was cluttering my hall, or is there something else?"
"If you have all this power, why are you using it in this shameful way? Why not help the world instead?"
"Because the reason I gained this power wasn't for the world, but for myself. I gained this power, I was forced to gain it to survive. If I had been fighting for the world while trying to acquire it, if the prosperity of the world would have been my driving power, I would never have become as strong as I am today." He answered.
"But don't you have any morals?! What about a sense of justice, ethics, or…"
"And what about those useless things?" I was interrupted. "Alex once told me of a philosopher - I can't remember his name - that said something akin to 'someone that is truly powerful shouldn't follow ethics or morals, instead, he should have a strong character.' After all, ethics, laws, morals - they were all created by those that are weak for those that are weak, how do you expect someone truly strong to follow them?"
"So, because you are strong, you just do what you want?"
"Because I am strong, I make and follow my own rules."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Simple, I am kind to those that are kind to me and I am ruthless to those that attack me. If I deem someone guilty, I kill that person, if his guilt is severe enough, I exterminate the whole family, if I find someone that I deem worthy - someone whose strength I acknowledge - I help that person and finally, I never kill those that are free from guilt."
"Then what about them?!" I gestured wildly towards my comrades that were turned to stone. "Did they deserve death just for attacking you?!"
"They did not." The demon king answered calmly.
"Then why did you kill them?"
"I did not."
I was exacerbated. "Are you denying what happened?" I asked. "Look at them, look at the fear etched on their stone faces, are you saying that you weren't the one that did this?!"
"I was."
"Then what are you saying!" I shouted. "What? Are you saying that they are still alive in there?!"
"Yes."
"What?" I was taken it back. "What did you say?"
"Observe." Isaac's eyes flashed and a second later, cracks began appearing on the statues. Crack, crack, crack - the cracks spread all over their terrified faces until finally the stone exterior shattered like a shell around them.
My classmates - freed from their stone shackles dropped to the ground, panting heavily, crying and shivering. I looked them all over and made sure that none were injured, then sighed and turned back to the demon king.
"See?" His smug voice cut through my relief. "I don't kill those that do not deserve to die. Now excuse me, I must go kill." He turned towards the door and shouted. "Hey Pain, give me a lift to the Chelian kingdom, the little king disobeyed a direct order."
"Wait, you can't!" I tried to stop him.
"Oh?" Isaac stopped and turned his head over his shoulder. "Are you going to stop me?"
I shivered involuntarily and lowered my eyes. "No, I…"
"Lets make one thing completely clear, you all barged into my home uninvited, kicked the shit out of my dog." He gestured to the barely breathing Yama slumped by the wall. "Wrecked the place and you still think that you have the right to make demands?" His aura surged, suffocating everyone in the room. "If a single one of you has moved even an inch by the time I am back, I won't kill you… Just break your legs, arms and spine, is that clear?"
Everyone remained silent, daring to neither move nor speak.
Isaac looked over the room, then turned and walked out, followed by a pink haired girl.
Time passed - seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. My body ached, my muscles sore from standing in the same position, yet I dared not to make a single move.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Isaac casually waltzed back into the room, his black clothing now smeared with blood, his hand firmly grasping the blue hair of the last surviving person from the incident connected to Alex's death.
Kara - the mage in his hand was struggling to break free, continuously firing spells at his back, yet Isaac wasn't even flinching. As he came near, he pulled the defenseless girl forward and addressed Jane Jones. "This is the last one, we treat her the same, I presume?"
Jane nodded indifferently.
"Good." Isaac turned to the rest of us. "Any objections?" He asked.
No one dared to utter a single word.
Kara stood up, panting heavily. "You bastard!" She shouted. "Prepare to…" She wasn't able to finish her thought, when a burst of black flame with purple hue engulfed her body. A moment later, there was nothing left.
"What… Did you do with the king?" I hesitantly asked.
"What do you think?" Was the answer I received.
"The guards? The servants and ministers? What about the royal family?"
"All those that stood against me died, all those that fled - survived. Probably… I'm not actually sure since the castle is no more, but if they were lucky, then probably."
"I see…" I lowered my eyes in defeat. "So the Chelian kingdom is no more…"
"I wouldn't say that. There was this annoying girl that kept pestering me while I was destroying. Viva, or Vintage, or something like that…"
"Videre! You mean princess Videre?" I asked. "What happened to her? Is she…"
"Oh, she's alive." Isaac answered. "But her fate might be worse than death. She was so annoying and persistent that I decided to saddle her with the responsibility of taking care of the Chelian kingdom from now on. With the state of matters there, I wouldn't be surprised if she offed herself in the very near future. That will teach her not to annoy me…"
"I see…" I sighed in relief, then asked. "What now? What will you do with us?"
"Donno. I can't very well kill you, since I made a deal with the goddess of this world that I wasn't allowed to take more than four of you, but, if I let you loose, you might cause me trouble in the future."
Isaac went quiet for a while, thinking of the best solution, every second of anticipation grinding my nerves. Then he finally spoke. "You guys, wanna go home?"
"?"
"I'm serious, having you here is a bother, so I might as well just send you back."
"Yes please, if you would." I answered as politely as possible, trying to hide my excitement - anything just to not anger the being standing in front of me and holding the lives of everyone in the room in his grasp.
"OK. One month." The demon king said. "I'll take the first batch of you back in one month."
"A batch? Why not all of us?"
"What? Do you think that I'm unable to take you all back in one go?" Isaac said, his voice dripping with venom, I didn't dare to say more. "It's just that… Reasons. Yeah, I have a really good reason not to take all of you at once, so shut up and behave."
He turned his gaze towards the black haired demoness. "Carnal, give them a few rooms to stay in." The demoness bowed gracefully in acknowledgment. "And while you're at it, make those fuckers fix the mess they made." Isaac added.
"It will be as you wish, your highness." The demoness bowed again and answered.
Although the castle was huge, we were all taken underground. The deeper we went, the more dilapidated the rooms became. "Um… Lady Carnal…" One of my companions said. "Is this really the right way?"
"It is." The demoness answered and continued walking down.
Finally we reached the lowest floor and what we saw were rats, chains, bars and mold - an underground prison. The demoness turned to us with a light smile. "Dear guests, due to the unforeseen damage to the castle, I am regretful to inform you that this is where you'll be staying from now on."
"What? This can't be!" Someone protested.
"Yeah, this is no place for someone to live in!" Another added.
"Isaac, I mean the demon king clearly told you to give us a few rooms, not cells!"
"And what are you going to do about it?" The demoness's smile didn't waiver. "I am at full liberty to assign housing and chores to you all, if there is something that you find lacking, then, well, we could go even deeper."
"Lady Carnal." I tried to smooth the situation. "I noticed that you were the one that prevented Isaa-I mean the demon king from killing all of us outright, so I assume that you are either impartial or on our side."
"Your point?" She asked.
"From the current state of thing, it is clear that you do not trust us, therefore wish to imprison us to prevent an uprising, but I assure you that we have no more need to fight you, since our goal from the very beginning was returning home and we are going to reach it by staying nice and quiet for some time here. In other words, there is no need to lock us up."
Lady Carnal laughed out loud. "But there is…" She said after laughing.
"What could it be, we…"
"Yama - the previous demon king - is my only son." Lady Carnal interrupted me, her voice now cold as ice.
My blood went cold as I recalled the sorry state of the person whom she called her son. "I am sorry, I am truly sorry for hurting him so badly, I…"
"Because of you, my son lost the current demon king's favor." I was interrupted again. Her smile nowhere to be seen. "Do you know just how much effort I had put into raising Yama's standing in the king's eyes? All that effort just went down the shit pipe because of you lot." Lady Carnal seemed livid. "So yes, there is a reason to lock you up here. It's for my amusement."
"Oh…" She added. "I believe that I could advise his highness on who should go first… In other words, your asses are mine."
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