Ahab sat at the terrace that Solomon leaped down from. The terrace was different now than it was during the days of Solomon. Intricate gold carvings protruded from Ahab's palace walls, and the design. Led the onlookers eyes to Ahab, who was sitting in a large throne-like chair. The palace stood out more. Not that Solomon's palace didn't stand out. It's just that... Ahab's palace was a display of power, while Solomon's accented the city from the highest point. The base of the hill leading up to Solomon's palace flourished, while Ahab's base was riddled with holes.
Projections flickered.
Human figures with dead eyes stared up at the terrace to see Ahab staring down upon them, while chaos sweltered in his eyes. But then, the chaos settled, while Ahab lowered his head and panted. He raised his head to see the projections form.
"Soon," Ahab said, "Soon it will all be worth it. Isn't that right Bazeel?"
The eunuch arrived and said, "Why of course your majesty. Everything is going smoothly."
"Sometimes I forget you're a projection, Bazeel. It's then that I remember I'm the only living human in this city. Soon it will all be worth it."
"But sire, wouldn't it be better to execute a different prisoner? We have that fellow Barabas who murdered women for pleasure. Wouldn't he be a better choice then your father? The nobles might react adversely to his execution."
'The nobles are just projections, you fool,' Ahab thought to himself: he then pondered, 'If only Raynark was willing to serve me. He's the only projection that maintained his autonomy and awareness of the current state of affairs in the world. Hah, what a shame indeed.'
Ahab remembered that Solomon came into contact with Raynark. He knew Solomon was scheming something, but that fact didn't matter to Ahab. To Ahab, Solomon's wisdom was useless. Without resources, what was wisdom. Without the means, with out the power, without the position of king to pay the price for revolution, Solomon could do nothing.
'A king with no people? How laughable!' Ahab thought when he fed the citizen's souls to demons many years ago, when Solomon had no grey hairs upon his head.
Solomon had no power. Solomon had no wealth. Solomon lacked the respect necessary to sway Kings and Queens of other lands to aid him. He was stuck. He was destitute.
But, he had wisdom.
Ahab stood over the city from the terrace. He literally stood while Solomon was led in shackles to a platform outside of the city gates. Ahab didn't want Solomon's blue blood to spill on the courtyard after all.
Standing, Ahab said, "Here lies Solomon in all his wisdom! Father! Save yourself with your wisdom if you can, for I know your secret. Without the necessary resources to sacrifice to the Supreme Fairy, your wisdom is useless! When you die, all of your schemes will perish beneath my sword.
Ahab took a few steps back, and with a running start kept from the terrace. He used wind magic to stop his fall and land with grace before the platform. He jumped over the gate with his leap, and was quite pleased with himself, for a passing moment.
He walked up a set of stairs attached to the platform and stood above his Father.
He said, "I hated you, Father. How many women were you planning to have children with. Why so many wives? If I didn't take things into my own hands, the kingdom would collapsed from internal struggle between your various heirs...."
Solomon said, "I was the wisest in the world, and I knew that was not a wise decision too, but I felt... the world was all too meaningless. I saw the poor flock to my city because other kingdoms were unjust. I saw the limits of my power. I couldn't save the world without shedding the blood of thousands. How much war would I have to wage for the world to gain true peace? And even if I did accomplish world peace, justifying the lives I sacrificed to get there, once I died, it would all come to ruin one day of not the very next. For the world is filled with inequality. One man says, 'Why must my neighbor have more than me. I work twice as hard for a simple meal, yet he inherited wealth from his parents.' Yes, inequality drives the world to destruction. It's not just between individuals. Villages fight with other villages. People groups fight with other people groups. It's all so meaningless. I just wanted to enjoy life, while I could. It seemed right to indulge myself, if it was all so meaningless. I-I-"
Ahab interrupted and said, "Oh, save me your excuses! Today, you die, and once I kill you, I'll end everything you've ever cared about. Yes, once I'm free from these demons, I'll enjoy peace knowing I removed any memory of Solomon from the world!"
"I've said my piece," Solomon said, "Now do it."
Ahab grinned with one side of his mouth rising higher than the other. He gathered a clump of mana and shot a blade of wind at the neck of his Father.
All was silent as Solomon died.
Ahab collectes himself and turned toward his palace for rest.
The clouds parted. The wind began to swirl. The sides of the city walls disintegrated as the wind pillar descended upon the city.
Lightning flashed. Large streams of lightning poured down upon the buildings. The lighting was so large that it vaporized the city. Ahab tried to escape, but he died in an instant.
A large shadow hovered over the ruins of the city. The sun shone in the epicenter of the wind pillar, while the wind pillar was active.
Outside, Leo had buried himself underground with the flickering earth magic circle Solomon had placed upon him. He took a deep breath and left one long thin tunnel for air (Leo used his mediocre wind magic skills to draw air through the hole and out).
Outside of the wind pillar, the sun was nowhere to be seen. Inside, a gargantuan figure appeared. A long scaly body, that resembled a serpent coiled in the air, while white feathery wings covered the diameter of the city. The Supreme Fairy cast large void magic circles the size of Ahab's palace and dropped lightning upon the epicenter of the wind pillar with a liberal use of mana. Nothing would survive.
After confirming that everything had been exterminated, the Supreme Fairy left the city and ascended above the clouds. The sky returned to its normal cloudy state, and Leo climbed out of the hole he had dug to protect himself.
He used his arms to prop his body up, and then he raised his head.
"The children..."
Leo screamed at the sky.
He realized that Solomon meant exactly what he said to Raynark. He would destroy the city. Nothing would remain.
Leo contemplated the life energy he saw on a few of the bones, and he realized that though the bodies were mere bones, the souls of a few were left untouched.
'That was a storage center! Elizabeth!'
This enraged Leo. He realized that the demons were treating her soul and many others like dessert.
The clouds rolled on and on. The grey canopy frustrated Leo. He howled at the heavens, while he wondered what he would do next.