Longitudinas was a man of adaptability.
When faced with a decision, he was able to quickly and decisively take action, accepting the situation as it was and moving forward without hesitation.
"Minister Longitudinas, we are merchants from the South. We are..... partners in business, so to speak. We rushed here as soon as we heard the news that the Indeterminant would be stepping out for..... his own business."
Longitudinas currently sat in the throne of the Emperor, acting as the leader of the nation while it's current Emperor was gone.
Standing before him were three sly men who rubbed their palms together with a moneymaking glint in their eyes.
"And for what reason would you rush here on the knowledge that the Indeterminant has left?", Longitudinas questioned, raising an eyebrow as he sat forth.
"Well, certainly you must understand yourself, minister. With a hero acting as a politician, there are certain... traditions which have been thrown out the window."
Looking up with a grin, the man eyeballed Polonius as he spoke.
"Traditions which have a long history within the realm of politics."
Understanding what the three meant, Longitudinas flashed the three an opportunistic grin.
"I see. You are correct. There are certain traditions which have been disregarded. Perhaps then..... we should reestablish some?"
"If you would be so kind, minister."
The men nodded to one another, to which Longitudinas held out his hand.
"So? What is it exactly that you have come for? Speak your terms."
With an overexaggerated bow, the man standing at the front nodded in agreement.
"Of course, minister. You see, the three of us have been working in many fields of trade throughout the Southern region of the Empire, however a large portion of our suppliers and customer base have suddenly disappeared. How terrible it is that so many men had to die in the war which was spurred so recently, but the past is the past. Those customers will not return. Therefore, we decided that we would establish new businesses elsewhere- particularly so here in Turak. However... there have been a few... issues."
Speaking carefully, choosing each of his words with caution, the man glared around him- suspicious of even the guards who stood around this palace.
"It would seem for whatever reason that certain people may be opposed to the establishment of our businesses here in the capital. Therefore..... we would need someone powerful..... such as yourself.... to ensure that those who may oppose our businesses do not take any extreme measures."
Stroking his beard, Longitudinas found himself smiling with a chuckle.
"So you come to me with such a proposal? And for this reason, you wish to reestablish a long term tradition within this nation?"
"Of course, minister. What do you say?"
"I'll accept your proposal. For the sake of the preservation of our culture."
"We are grateful."
With another bow, these men headed off, strolling down the hallways in casual manner.
The men were already counting their coins in their minds, lathering their palms together as they exited.
Longitudinas was a man of adaptability.
Having gone through three Emperors in the course of just over a month, the fact that this man remained as the minister of the Vythguard Empire was a testament to this.
And the fact that he sat on the throne right now, despite the fact that a hero had taken the spot as Emperor, was a further testament to this fact.
Longitudinas was a man who was able to make the best of any situation.
While many politicians complained and griped about a hero taking the throne of the Emperor for himself, Longitudinas was not among these men.
Because Longitudinas was a man who was able to make the best out of even the worst hand.
'Brutus was quite in over his head. He had his hand in far too many controversial incidents, and was unable to adapt to the ever changing landscape. When the young Emperor took his position as the new Emperor, Brutus was forced into a corner, to which he was ruined as soon as the hero appeared. However.... I will not fall into the same pit.'
Longitudinas was an older man.
Having lived his life by the side of the Emperor, he took very little risk during his early years as a minister.
He played things by the book and came into the good graces of Percius IV as a reliable minister.
When Percius IV died and his son took over, Longitudinas acted as the voice of reason, however he ensured not to overstep his bounds towards the young Emperor.
Even as the hotheaded leader ordered many unreasonable and irrational things, Longitudinas stood by and waited- for he understood his own position.
Speaking out against the young Emperor would only serve to hurt him, however he did try to give the young Emperor advice when he felt he was able.
This of course ended in failure, but Longitudinas remained in his position as minister nonetheless.
This was because of his neutral stance.
Longitudinas held no loyalty nor any enmity towards a particular ruler, and this allowed him to mold himself about the current system.
'I cannot underestimate the Indeterminant, however if my affiliation with those men is nothing more than receiving their checks and turning a blind eye to their businesses..... which will be well hidden within the city either way..... then there should not be an issue. After all, the hero will become more and more busy with the battle against the monsters soon enough, and he will not have time to even realize that the trash was piling up... right underneath his nose.'
The Indeterminant was a charismatic leader, and one far more intelligent than Percius V.
While the young Emperor could be said to have no supporters within the Empire, the Indeterminant was almost the complete opposite.
With a rare few aside, there was almost nobody in the New Vythguard Empire who didn't support the Indeterminant.
And it was that support which would further secure Longitudinas' position.
A politician was needed in order to rule a nation.
As heroic and popular as he was, without Longitudinas the Indeterminant would never be able to hold this large nation together.
Longitudinas had swiftly taken care of almost all political matters which the Indeterminant was blatantly inexperienced with, and as such the New Empire had run smoothly to this point.
Unless his own personal opinion differed, the Indeterminant had allowed Longitudinas to work as the effective Emperor- though the hero of the Sultinate had butt in at many times, causing the Indeterminant to reevaluate his political decisions.
'It would certainly be wonderful to get rid of that woman. She is distrusting beyond belief, and it is that distrust which has exposed a number of things, preventing me from making as many moves as I would like. However to get rid of a hero.....'
It was basically impossible.
Even so, Longitudinas would remain.
He would continue from his position as minister, ruling as he wished while the Indeterminant acted as a puppet- though a powerful one who could theoretically enforce his desires should he wish to do so.
In the last years of his life, Longitudinas had no intention of shriveling away into nothing.
'Therefore..... I believe it is time to reestablish the old tradition..... that is, accepting funds in exchange for overlooking..... certain undesirable practices.'
As he thought this, Longitudinas watched as the three men exited the double doors of the throne room, taking their leave quickly before the doors were shut behind them by the guards.
A few moments passed, and soon enough the doors opened once more.
'Ah..... have more guests arrived? I suppose the more the merrier.'
However as these doors opened, the two guards who stood by them looked over in confusion, stepping back as they witnessed the four figures who entered.
"Wha-"
"How....."
Grabbing hold of their spears, the guards quickly blocked the path before these four figures could pass through the opened doors.
"Stop right there, monsters!", one guard shouted.
As he heard this statement, Longitudinas looked up, his eyes glancing to the entrance where the commotion occurred.
As he looked up, he saw it.
"Wha..."
Standing at the head of these four figures was an orange demon with red spiked hair.
He had an expression of chaotic playfulness in his smile, and he glanced towards Longitudinas in a way which shook him to his very core.
Standing behind this demon were three people who took humanoid forms, though their features were those of rodents.
The first was a gentlemanly ratman- one who wore a monocle and a tophat, and used a cane to feel out the ground before him as he walked forth with a confident smile.
The second was a diva wearing a red dress and heels, with a pink fluffy scarf wrapped around her neck. Her eyes were bright red, and she smiled in a way that was deviously human, as if she were some form of temptress.
And the third was a being whose eyes were so devoid of life that even the demon standing before her paled in comparison to this monster.
Half her body was made from a silver colored metal, her arm and leg having been replaced with oddly silent mechanical limbs.
She wore leather suspenders and her outfit was oddly industrialized, however sticking up from the sleeves of her jacket were two blades.
And sitting atop these two blades, were two heads.
Laying atop the finger of the orange demon, was a third head.
The heads of the three merchants who had just now exited the palace, their necks dripping with fresh blood.
"You..... you monsters..."
"Coming right into the palace like this..... how dare you!!"
"Minister Longitudinas, please escape! We will fend off these fiends!!"
One guard shouted this out to the man as a number of guards gathered to take on the four.
Standing up, Longitudinas was reminded of a time long ago- a time where invaders had made their way into this very palace.
The young Emperor had stubbornly refused to flee, claiming that if he did so it would put a mark on his reputation as a ruler.
'Yet that was when the cause of such chaos was a mere group of criminals..... humans who can be reasoned with. And these are no mere criminals.'
Standing up, Longitudinas immediately prepared to leave.
'I am no fool who will stick around to be killed.'
"Ah..... you're gonna be pissed at me bout entering your palace? But hasn't a monster already entered this place before?"
The demon spoke these words as Longitudinas turned to flee, stopping the man in his tracks.
It was then that the guards rushed forth to attack.
"Get him!!"
"Slay them here and now!!!"
As soon as they said this however, these men fell to the ground.
It was not their bodies which fell.
Rather, cubes of meat.
These men had been instantaneously sliced into pieces, and these chunks tumbled to the ground like diced ham being poured out of a package.
Blood covered the floors, and a dozen men were killed in an instant, to which Longitudinas looked over to see the robotic gerbil-woman standing in the center.
"Enemies of her eminence have been eliminated according to procedure. Proceeding with next set of eliminations."
Without a single emotion, this robotic girl made this statement, however she stopped as the ferret called out to her.
"Wait just a minute, Fina. We need to at least have a conversation with that man."
Looking over to Longitudinas, the woman stepped forward with a smile.
As she looked the man in the eyes, he felt as if he witnessed the red gems glowing for a moment.
'Hm? Was it my imagination? They were brighter for just..... a moment... huh?'
Longitudinas felt strange.
His body was not responding to him.
'I have to escape these monsters. What's going on? I need to get out of here. Am I..... could it be? Am I... paralyzed with fear?'
Once again trying to move, the man now furiously attempted to run, sending as many brainwaves to his limbs as he possibly could muster.
'Move! Move move move!!! I have to escape!!! I have to escape or those monsters will kill me!!! How did they get in here!? No, there is no point thinking about that!! Being as powerful as they are, that is obvious!!! Then, it's even more obvious that I have to run!!! Shit!!! And when the Indeterminant wasn't here of all times...'
As he thought these things, the woman seemed to approach him slowly.
'When..... the Indeterminant..... wasn't here?'
Coming to a realization, a horror dawned on the expression of Longitudinas, though his actual expression did not change as he was frozen completely.
'Did these monsters..... plan this?'
[Bingo.]
It was then that Longitudinas felt as if his very chest was exploding in fear.
The demented voice of a female entered his mind, filling him with terror beyond anything he could even imagine.
[Everything is going according to my plan. This entire world..... everything within it will soon be mine.]
It was then that Longitudinas understood.
The being of terror speaking to him who inspired physical pain due to her words alone was the Queen of Evil.
She was a being of chaos destined to attempt to envelop the world in suffering.
'You... how can you.... you will never get away with this..... the Indeterminant..... he will defeat you...'
Longitudinas thought these things as he stood frozen, the ferret having finally approached him.
"I see that her eminence is speaking with you. Fina. Will you be a dear and take care of the other pests around?"
"Understood."
The robotic girl soon disappeared from the sight of Longitudinas, to appear once more with blood covering her blades.
"They have been eliminated."
"Wonderful."
Longitudinas watched as this happened, becoming aware that in that moment- an unknown number of people had been killed.
He did not know who.
He did not know how.
He did not know how many there were, nor where they had been killed.
He knew nothing of what had just happened.
In that single moment, how many had died?
Hundreds?
Thousands?
Millions?
The one thing he did know, was that it was not something he would want to find out.
[The Indeterminant will defeat me? Ah..... so we're going back to that old trope. Justice will always defeat evil? Hahahahaha...]
The woman laughed, her chilling voice filling the mind of Longitudinas.
[If you think it will go that way, then I ask you to watch. I'll become the first being of evil to ever defeat every force of 'good' which has been thrown at me.]
With this statement, Longitudinas felt an excruciating pain as if poison was entering his body, tormenting him.
It was painful enough to make him scream, however he was frozen stiff and as such could not.
[I hate politicians, but even more so, I hate people who believe themselves to be a force of good without seeing the suffering they create around them. At least you understand well that you are not on the side of good nor evil, but rather on your own side. Therefore I will spare you of punishment beyond this. Even so.....]
The poison which spread through the veins of the man felt like raging flames, tearing apart his body as he writhed in torment.
While he could not move, tears begun to flood from the eyes of the man, who was not even able to vent his suffering.
[I have no intention of letting you get off that easy. Heh..... suffer.]
It was at that moment that the redhaired demon snapped his fingers.
"Boom."
And then, Longitudinas exploded.
The explosion was only a few meters wide, but it was enough to make the foundation of the palace shake.
A rain of blood and chunks of flesh poured down on the four, who merely watched as the scene of destruction unfolded.
However, this was not the only explosion.
All around the city of Turak, explosions occurred in a chain reaction.
"And now the class 2 specimens have been put out of their suffering. Fina, collect the survivors if you will. It it time that we head back to the Capital.", Ramrod stated.
"Objective has been defined. Proceeding."
With this, the gerbil woman rushed off, and the three turned around to exit the now empty palace, which was left with blood, guts, and rubble everywhere.
As they walked out the doors of this palace, the building collapsed behind them, smashing violently to the ground with nothing left but chaos.
"Your eminence. Our work here is done."
----
[Time Log]
[10:00 AM- An orange demon and 3 ratmen storm the palace of the Empire, slaying all soldiers in their way and paralyzing the minister with a strange magic.]
[10:04 AM- The minister of the Empire is killed]
[10:05 AM- Explosions cover the landscape of the human realm. The capital of Turak is left in ruins.]
----
All around the world, in every city, within the span of 20 minutes from 10:00 AM to 10:20 AM, monsters appeared.
Within these 20 minutes, every single human in the world was either killed or taken captive by these monsters.
Within the Alliance, black holes were said to envelop each and every city, taking all of their inhabitants with them.
In the course of 20 minutes, there was not a single human, elf, or dwarf who had not been subject to the chaos which was spread through the world as a result of the orders of the Determined.
She was the Queen of Evil.
She was the producer of chaos.
She was the origin of suffering.
Yet this woman, known as the Queen of Evil, suffered more than anyone else.
'Claire..... why don't you turn that off?'
'I... won't.'
Her arms trembled.
Her grin was both malicious and pained beyond measure.
Her eyes were filled with madness, and her demeanor was a horrid mix of good and evil.
Yet as the origin of suffering, she experienced all suffering.
The pain of each and every death was implanted into this woman as if it were a memory of her own.
'You could just set a condition on yourself to stop it. So why don't you?'
'Because... this is what I have done to them. Heh..... heh... hehehe...'
The suffering which was endured by millions of people flooded into this girl.
Enough suffering to kill a person a million times over.
Were she a normal person, she would have gone mad far before reaching this state.
However this woman was the origin of suffering.
Therefore, she was already lost in her own madness.
The woman continued to tremble, smiling with malice to herself as she experienced death after death as if it were her own.
'Heh..... heheheh..... hahaha.... HAHAHAHA!!!!!'
'Claire..... you're losing it. Turn it off.'
'Can't you see, my evil self? Heh....'
With horrid whispering, the girl thought inside her own mind, replying to herself with a deluded tone.
'It is my duty to receive the suffering which I have caused..... so that I may not feel guilt for having caused it. Therefore..... heh.... I will suffer..... and suffer.... and suffer... and then, after having suffered so much... I will grant him a fraction of this suffering..... heh... Clarice, let me ask you something. Do you think a man as pampered as him would be able to handle even a small percent of this suffering?'
The woman spoke with all reason having been lost from her voice, yet her thoughts were perfectly clear and coherent.
'I suppose so..... heh.....'
Checking the time, the woman looked to a watch made from bones which lined her demonic wrist.
'Ah..... will you look at the time. The antiheroes have bought me this much time so that everyone around the world could be slain... and now it is finally time to end this.'
With a wicked smile, the woman stood up from her demonic throne.
'It's time for the final battle, hero.'