As the omen of the RARF surged through the streets of the capital city, with Nya as the head of the movement, soaring in the air carried by large fiery red energy wings.
Once the omens were spotted leaving the omen labor camp en mass, civilians were immediately evacuated to emergency shelters, which just left the World Lord's military forces. The average soldier was not much of a match against an omen at full power, even with their weapon, but it was when the army adepts entered the fight that the omen were disadvantaged. That would be when Nya would intervene, dispatching any who crossed her path. Capture weapons and vehicles were seized by the omen and used to push the military even further. Soon, the capital city was a warzone, with rioting omen against the World Lord's army.
Nya landed in front of the World Lord's palace, greeted by a platoon of soldiers.
"Surrender or we—" the captain didn't even get to finish before Nya unleashed her blood aura on them, proceeding inside the large mansion.
As she went on her way, any who had the misfortune to try and stop her were cut down with a cold apathy as her stride was not halted in the least.
"It has to be in here," Nya mused to herself. Weeks ago, she had discerned the true nature of the psychic field. It was some sort of obedience wave that kept the populous docile and cooperative, even if they weren't content. If she could shut it off, the military would probably fall apart, no longer held together by a false reverence.
As she was about to absentmindedly kill a guard, an idea popped in her mind. She grabbed the woman by the collar and hoisted her to the ceiling.
"I'll give you two options," Nya told her as they hovered in the air, "one; tell me where the World Lord's transmitter is located. Two; learn what it feels like to be a nail in the presence of a hammer. You have ten seconds to decide."
The woman was visibly shaken, Nya could see the absolute fear in her eyes, and it didn't displease her.
"Th-the th-throne r-room," the woman whimpered, pointing weakly down one corridor.
Nya smiled pleasantly, "thank you." She then took the woman to the ground and let her run away. She briefly considered killing her, but disregarded the idea. Sometimes mercy was necessary.
Nya kicked down the massive doors to the throne room, barging in, with little regard for the guards that were on the other side of the door when it landed on them. As she walked over their broken bodies, their spilled blood began to float off the ground and flow towards her, mingling with the blood aura that currently formed her wings.
"World Lord Davos," Nya said, as she curtsied before the planetary leader and his assembled ministers. As if to add insult, she was still dressed in the uniform of his military, torn and stained in blood from her journey here.
"YOU ARE THE ESCAPED ABONIATION." He said still seated on his throne
"That's not a nice thing to call a girl who organized a global revolt and came all this way just to see you." Nya pouted.
"Surrender yourself, girl," one of the ministers decreed, "The World Lord holds the full power of Draxia Urma within his grasp! A pitiful creature like you could nev—"
He was replied with a blood aura tendril snuffing him out.
"I am not a child for you to speak down to!" She roared at the amassed ministers, "anyone else condescends to me again and I swear to whatever gods exists I will burn this city to ashes using you all as kindling!" The fury that burned beneath the being before them terrified the ministers.
It was at that moment when a dozen women appeared to surround Nya, they all wore a variation of the World Lords military uniform and had a special emblem on their uniforms
"The royal guard, huh?" Nya mused. She had heard rumors of them, the World Lord's most elite soldiers dedicated to protecting him above all else and at any cost. "I'll admit; I was conflicted about encountering you."
"EVEN YOU FEAR THE MIGHT OF MY ROYAL GUARD?" The World Lord mused, "THEN IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN OVERESTIMATED."
"I'm not scared of them, I heard they were the best. It'd be a shame to have to kill warriors of this caliber just to get to you." Nya corrected as her red wings receded into her back. Shifting her footing and strengthening her legs, she leapt forward with such force, she cracked the tiles beneath her feet. Shooting forward like a bullet, she closed in on the World Lord, only for an invisible force to intercept her, slowing her down and, like a rubber band, snapping her in the other direction. She crashed through a marble column and indented herself into the wall.
When her vision cleared, she saw a new person standing with the rest of the royal guard.
"Kiva? What the fuck?" Nya demanded as she pulled herself out of the wall.
"You shall not touch the glorious World Lord with your filthy omen hands." She snarled and her eyes glowing with mana energy.
"YOUR ELF FRIEND PROVED TO BE TOO GREAT AN ADDITION TO PASS UP FOR MY ROYAL GUARD."
"Elf?" Nya wondered, so that was why she was in hiding?
The royal guards formed a loose ring around her, about to engage, when a command from the throne made them all kneel.
"GIRL, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" The World Lord asked her, his voice booming from the other side of the enormous throne room.
"Nya Crimson," Nya replied, "Why do you want to know now?"
"NYA CRIMSON, YOU ARE FAR MORE CUNNING THAN I HAD ORIGINALLY EXPECTED OF YOU, THAT I HAD UNDERESTIMATED SOMEONE OF SUCH VALUE IS UNUSUAL." The World Lord admitted.
"You aren't the first to underestimate me, and it hasn't turned out well for the others too." Nya shrugged
"I WILL NOW RECTIFY THAT MISGIVING; NYA CRIMSON, JOIN ME." The World Lord decreed,
Nya was taken aback, "What?"
He stood from his gilded throne and approached, speaking as he walked, "YOU POSSESS GREAT POWER, POWER THAT WOULD FLORISH BY MY SIDE AS I EXPAND MY DOMAIN. I SEE NOW, THAT WITH YOU, MY AMBITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE."
"Are… are you still offering me a job?" Nya asked unsure
"NO, YOU DESERVE BETTER THAN JUST BEING IN MY ROYAL GUARD, OR EVEN BEING MY ADVISOR. YOU DESERVE TO BE MY CONSORT, TO RULE AT MY SIDE AND BARE MY HEIRS! I HAVE SEEN IT!" The World Lord now towered before her in his impressively advanced armor. He took a knee and looked at her, "NYA CRIMSON, MARRY ME AND TAKE YOUR PLACE AT MY SIDE AS THE QUEEN OF THE COSMOS!"
The entire throne room was silent when he had started speaking, but now it was dead quiet. Everyone present had a look of utter surprise on their face, most among them was Nya. She had come expecting a fight, maybe at some point he'd offer her a job in the royal guard, but she had never expected him to propose to her. She was left unprepared.
She looked around, the eyes of the ministers and the royal guard where on her, waiting for her response. The World Lord was on his knee in front of her, he considered her his equal, the next few moments would have very big repercussions for the World Lord's government.
Internally, she considered her options, if she accepted the World Lord's offer, she would essentially be queen of Draxia Urma; most of her post revolution plans could probably be met with even less effort, plus she'd get to avoid the upcoming fight, and she'd probably have a degree of authority and freedom within the government, so she could stop the mistreatment of omen, it was incredibly tempting with serious benefits. However, it also meant that she'd be married to him, the World Lord, and he'd probably expect her to submit to him –and she doesn't do 'submit'— and plus, there was that whole 'bare his children' part. She didn't even know if she could have children with her body being the way it was, she was still basically a vampire after all.
The room waited with baited breath for several moments for Nya to agree.
"No." Nya said,
"I SEE." The World Lord said as he rose to his feet, the punched her in the face with his armored fist. She slammed through the wall, leaving a large gaping hole.
"IT APPEARS THAT YOUR WILL IS STRONG FOR YOU TO REJECT MY OFFER. BUT YOU ARE AN ASSET I CANNOT LET GO TO WASTE. ROYAL GUARDS I ORDER YOU; BREAK HER WILL!"
"Yes, your glorious majesty!" all thirteen women said at the same time before following her out the hole.
"YOU WILL BE MINE, NYA CRIMSON. ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN PROPERLY TRAINED, YOU WILL BE A FINE CONSORT, FIT TO BE MY WIFE."
* * *
Nya had never been punched so hard in the face in her life before, it really hurt. The World Lord's fist came at her with the force of a speeding car. And Now she had to content with thirteen utterly brainwashed warriors who all seem motivated to turn her into punching bag.
"What is the deal with you chicks?" Nya asked, as she blocked a punch, "does he have a fetish for being obsessed over by strong women?"
"Don't you dare mock his majesty." One of the women said as she threw a fireball at Nya's face.
These women were well-versed in different aspects of combat; some were brute fighters, some used concealed weaponry and deception, some were adepts, and there was even an omen among them. The leader of them was Marshal Amara, makes sense. They were all tough opponents, and Nya's only saving grace was that they didn't seem to have any coordination in their attack. They just looked for openings, which was bad for them, but not so much for her.
"So, did he make the same pathetic proposal to the rest of you?" Nya said, "I mean, I know he's scared of me, but does he really expect me to fall for that?"
"You dare!" the leader screams and she attacks from the front, while another guard charges from behind.
Timing it perfectly, she dodges bother assaults, forcing them to collide into each other.
"So, I guess he didn't propose to you guys, huh? I can't blame him; I wouldn't want sorry excuses like you guys to be my queen." Nya taunts again.
Her taunting seemed to really infuriate the royal guards.
"I know his majesty wants to wed you, but I don't believe he'd mind if you aren't in one piece." The captain of the guards screamed as she swung with her sword at Nya.
From there, the fighting became even fiercer, with the royal guards using lethal force, and Nya found herself being overwhelmed. She was attacked with mana, stuck at with swords and other melee weapons, shot at and mauled. She summoned daggers from her Crimson Void to retaliate with, but they were still pushing her back.
"I gotta admit, you guys are better than I gave you credit for." Nya said, spitting blood from her split lip, "but I can keep going as long as I need to."
"Enough of this," the leader snarled, "restrain her."
They all wore special gauntlets and at that moment, decided to use them, cables shot out of the gauntlets and wrapped around Nya, binding her tightly.
"Wow, you could've done that from the very beginning?" Nya questioned, it seemed like a wasted opportunity to her, and she hated waste.
"The World Lord wanted you broken, but it doesn't matter now," the captain said, "we have you captured, we can take out take our time breaking you."
"I will agree that you have me tied up, but it just so happens that I have you all right where I want you."
"What do you—?" the leader didn't get a chance to finish her question as a single jerk backwards was all it took for Nya to drag all the Royal guards attached to her into a spatial distortion.
* * *
As the World Lord and his ministers waited in the throne room for the royal guards, the World Lord was already making wedding plans.
"GET IN TOUCH WITH THE LOCAL CHAPLAINCY TO HAVE AN OFFICIATE FOR THE CEREMONY. SHE WILL ALSO NEED A WEDDING DRESS FIT FOR A QUEEN. COMMISSION THE FINEST ARTISANS TO CONSTRUCT A STATUE IN HER LIKENESS AND HAVE THEM GRACE THE FUTURE GARDENS OF THE PALACE, THEY CAN USE THIS IMAGE AS A REFERENCE." A holographic projection of Nya when she entered the throne room was displayed.
"It will be done, my lord." One of the ministers said
"We will begin preparing for the royal wedding." Another said as he took off.
"Should we cancel research into the samples my doctors acquired?" a third asked
"NO, I WANT RESEARCH TO BE GIVEN TOP PROIRITY. I WANT THOSE SAMPLES ANALYZED AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS DRAWN UP." The World Lord answered
"At once, my liege." The third minister bowed.
It was at that moment that Nya suddenly appeared at the entrance of the throne room, looking battered and beaten, a cable wrapped around her neck and she had a sword stabbed into her right shoulder.
"Y'know," she started, unwinding the cable at her neck, "when I first got here, I just wanted you to surrender. I know it sounds impossible, but that was honestly the naïve best-case scenario I was hoping for." She pulls the sword out of her shoulder and it clatters onto the floor. "But then you had to go and demand I marry you. Then you punched me in the face and sent your royal guards after me –who are all very attractive women, by the way. So, World Lord Davos, I fiercely reject your proposal of marriage, it just wouldn't work out between the two of us. And, to prove how much I've come to dislike you, I'm going to fucking beat you to death!"
As she said that, her arms glowed with an infernal red hue as she activated her blood aura.
"MINISTERS, TAKE YOUR LEAVE." The World Lord ordered
"But sire—"
"SHE BESTED MY ROYAL GUARD, SHE IS AN OPPONENT ONLY I CAN FACE, AND I NEED TO DO THAT ALONE." The World Lord informed them, "GO, MAKE READY THE WEDDING PLANS. ONCE I HAVE CONQUERED HER, THE CEREMONY SHALL BEGIN SHORTLY AFTER."
"A-as you command," The ministers all said at the same time before the went out through a second door.
"JUST YOU AND ME NOW, NYA CRIMSON."
"I don't even know your first name," Nya said, it had just occurred to her that all she knew him as was World Lord Davos.
She could hear him chuckle underneath his helmet, "IT IS JOSA, JOSA DAVOS. YOU ARE NOW THE THIRD PERSON TO KNOW MY TRUE NAME SINCE MY ASCENSION, BUT YOU NEEDN'T USE IT, YOU SHOULD GET USED TO CALLING MY 'MY LIEGE'."
"Funny," Nya said, then she charged him, rushing forwards at inhuman speed, her glowing arms, casting mirages in her wake.
Despite being in large and, assumingly, clunky armor, the World Lord's movement was clean and fluid. He easily dodged her first strike and proceeded to counter and parry the following ones.
"Who made that armor? It's pretty solid stuff, might even look into getting a set for myself." Nya said during the brief reprieve.
"MY ARMOR IS MADE FROM REFINED URM, ONE OF THE STRONGEST MATERIALS IN THE COSMOS!" Josa boasted, "FORGED BY THE FAMED SURTR SMITHS OF VALANGANTR! IT IS NIGH INDISTRUCTIBLE!"
"Nice, I love that 'nigh' bit at the end," Nya said, cracking her knuckles, "almost unbreakable still sounds breakable to me."
She continued to throw attacks ramped up to unimaginable magnitude by her blood aura strengthening. Every punch carried a shockwave, every kick cratered the ground. And she wasn't the only one aiming to do damage, Josa matched her violent strength with his own, powered-up by the armor. The two of them punched and kicked and smashed and threw each other all over the throne room. The proud statues of the World Lords ministers that stood three stories high were reduced to rubble, the ornate murals depicting the World Lord's gallant victory conquering Draxia Urma with his united forces was smashed to oblivion. Gold was crumpled and jewels shattered by the raw might of the two powerhouses.
It had been over an hour and the fighting still hadn't settled. Their fight had extended to the entire palace, not just the throne room, and anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in their bout didn't last long. Their fight had taken them to the other end of the palace and up one of its tall towers. When Nya had been thrown into a spare room, she saw the fighting outside the window also hadn't died down, the omen were still fighting the military for the sake of their freedom. That thought renewed her drive to win and relit her fighting spirit. She rocketed out of the room, to meet Josa at the foot of the stairs coming up.
She clenched her fist, drawing out as much power as she could muster from the echoes of her slain. She felt her already enormous strength double, and then triple, but she knew she couldn't hold it for long. She charged at him, ducking under his right hook and landing her fist square in his chest. What happened next seemed incredibly surreal, reality seemed to warp and bend around the impact point of her fist as the World Lord was flung backwards, crashing through the floor and sinking further down. Her punch had thrown him clear across the entire palace, depositing him right back in the throne room.
As Josa came to his senses, he was shocked to see that the breastplate of his nigh indestructible armor had been crumpled by her punch, and there was even a perfect indentation of her fist permanently stamped onto the compromised armor piece, which sparked with arcs of energy.
"What did I tell you?" Nya asked as she arrived in the throne room, "almost unbreakable is still pretty damn breakable."
"IMPRESSIVE, NYA CRIMSON!" he bellowed in laughter, "TO THINK THAT YOUR STRENGTH WOULD SURPASS THAT OF URM! YOU ARE INDEED A TRUE PRIZE!"
"Right back at you," Nya chuckled, "I'm honestly surprised that you're still alive after all that punishment, even with the armor on."
"I GUESS WE ARE BOTH JUST MONSTROUSLY RESILIENT." He said, "BUT I THINK WE SHOULD BRING THIS TO A CLOSE, MY PALACE IS IN DIRE NEED OF REPAIR AND PROLONGING THIS BOUT WOULD SURELY BRING IT DOWN ON OUR HEADS."
"I couldn't agree with you more." Nya said as she channeled her power into a single fist again. This time she was going to aim for the head, even if the armor held, hopefully the shock would kill him.
She shot forward, readying her fist to deliver the coup-de-grace. But then his fist raised up to meet hers. The collision of their fists sent a shockwave into the air as the full force of both titans clashed.
But this time, Nya was the one who was pushed back, she turned her tumble into a roll and came to a stop a several feet away. Her right arm was devastated, she could see it bleeding, bruised and definitely shattered. It was far worse than any of the other injuries she had sustained, and it didn't seem to be healing.
"Aargh!" she cried out when she tried to move it. "What was that?"
"APOLOGIES FOR THE ARM, BUT IT IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR ENDING THIS FIGHT." Josa said as he raised his fist, which was crackling with power. "THIS SUIT DOES MORE THAN JUST AMPLIFY MY POWER. IT IS DIERCTLY CONNECTED TO THE MANA TRANSMITTER ON MY THRONE, WHICH IS KEEPING THE WORLD UNDER MY POWER."
"Mana t-transmitter," she flinched in pain
"MY BENEFACTOR GAVE ME AN ARTEFACT THAT CHANNELS MANA ENERGY. WITH IT, I CONTROL THE DISTRIBUTION OF AMBIENT MANA ON THE ENTIRE PLANET. AND THAT MANA POWERS MY ARMOR AND PROTECTS ME."
"Like creating a psychic field that keeps the entire world under your thrall?"
"YOU NOTICED DID YOU? YES, EXCEPT FOR THE OMEN. YOUR RESISTANCE TO MANA MAKES YOU IMMUNE TO THE FIELDS EFFECTS, WHICH IS WHY I HAD TO SUBJUGATE YOU." He said, "IT WAS AN UNFORTUNATE MEASURE TO SECURE MY REIGN."
"But what about that omen that was in your royal guard? She seemed completely brainwashed?" Nya asked
"ONE OF MY MINISTERS HAD RECENTLY BEEN WORKING ON A MEANS TO COMPEL THE OMEN USING MORE 'DIRECT' REEDUCATION METHODS, SHE WAS THE FIRST TEST SUBJECT AND IT SEEMS TO BE—" Josa answered, "YOU ARE TRYING TO KEEP ME TALKING TO BUY YOURSELF TIME?"
"And it's also a good way to extract information from you," Nya smirked as she charged him again.
The World Lord sighed, "I'D HOPED I WOULDN'T HAVE TO HURT YOU ANY WORSE THAN THIS." He then readied himself to counter her attack.
But she didn't attack, she was aiming behind him, aiming for his throne. The mana transmitter.
"No transmitter, no psychic field, no power." She said as she maneuvered around him. However, her right arm had gone limp, and had become useless to her, but he used it as a leash to grab onto her, then, still holding onto her limp arm, he flung her like a ragdoll around the room, before dropping her in a heap on the floor, beaten.
"FORGIVE ME, MY DEAR. OUR FIGHT IS OVER, PLEASE WAIT WHILE I SUMMON SOMEONE TO TEND TO YOU. AFTER YOU WILL BE SENT TO THE REEDUCATION CENTER TO BE REHABILITATED, SO YOU WILL BE MORE RECEPTIVE OF MY AFFECTION."
Nya just laid there, too drained to do much else. She hurt all over and had pretty much lost her drive after getting flung around.
'Maybe I should just cut my losses and agree to marry him?' she thought, 'He actually wants me, which isn't a bad thing, and the reeducation sounds like it would relieve me of some of this higher thinking that never lets me rest.' She closed her eyes, resigning herself, 'maybe submitting to him isn't the worst thing?'
Then, she heard the shrill hissing of her prime crest in her mind, the pain it brought her was lost amid the other pains she was currently experiencing, but she still felt its presence.
Suddenly her eyes snapped back open, fierce and alert. 'what am I thinking?' she chided herself, 'I am Nya. Fucking. Crimson! I do not DO submit!'
Mustering all the strength of her will, she rose to her feet, attracting the World Lord's attention.
"YOU STILL HAVE THE STREGNTH TO STAND, TRULY ADMIRABLE." He complemented.
She remained silent, popping her dislocated right shoulder back into place, then setting her elbow and finally aligning her wrist. It was still horribly mangled and she was in immense pain now, but her hand was still barely usable.
She ignited her blood aura, with only her right hand burning with blood red energy. She blocked out the pain raging through her body, blocked out the sound of the palace crumbling, and blocked out the sounds of the battle going on outside. All that mattered was the World Lord, and her fist going through his heart.
Her blood wings sprouted from her back and allowed her to hover above the floor, then she shot forward, with the last of her strength she struck at the World Lord, passing her blood aura through a small crack that formed during their fight, and into his armor. If she couldn't break him from the outside, she'd do it from the inside.
The World Lord screamed as the inside of his armor was burning with Nya's blood aura, the systems and mechanisms that controlled his armor were overloaded by the surge of raw unadulterated power that tore through them.
On the throne, a panel on its monolith glowed and burst open as mana in its purest form surged towards the World Lord. He seemed to be channeling the entire planet's mana just to keep himself alive.
"STOP!" he screamed, "YOU'LL OVERLOAD… MY SYSTEMS! CAN'T TAKE… THIS MUCH MANA! THE TRANSMITTER WILL… EXPLODE!"
"DIE! JOSA DAVOS!" Nya screamed as she forced her fist into his chest, she could feel her arm tearing itself apart as mana and her blood aura mixed and reacted, violently. The last thing she remembered was a bright light emanating from the armor and completely losing the feeling in her right arm before everything went black.
The explosion that resulted from her final attack destroyed the entire throne room and sent a surge of power through the transmitter, overloading it. Before it blew out, it sent a pulse of power across the entire planet, reaching every living being, even the omen. Every single denizen of Draxia Urma felt a psychic shockwave that felt like a primal scream of dominance, and for a single moment, every person on the planet, felt the exact same thing; dread.