"What the hell, talk about being a poor sport. Is that even allowed?" Dego jumped up enraged.
"Won't they disqualify them for something like that?" Beth looked truly horrified.
"Not likely." Nee stated flatly.
"I dunno, killing isn't exactly against the rules but the match was obviously over." Sael didn't sound that sure. The Duke's son hadn't seemed worried at all and right then the woman that had stopped him was glaring at him but not making any moves.
"I agree with Nee. Humans are disgusting and their nobility is the worst. They won't see any punishment." Ara sounded certain.
"The fairies aren't wrong sadly. Things here aren't like on Earth. If you are rich enough or lucky enough to be a member of nobility. Rules and laws don't apply to you, there is no such thing as equal rights here. Slavery may be illegal now in the human kingdoms after the last war, but there are grey areas with it. You've seen the slums right? Innocent until proven guilty? Freedom of speech? All that stuff we took for granted doesn't exist here. Everything is about power and wealth. You haven't seen much of this world from what you told me. It's not a nice place for most people. But, since you're a powerful Arrived and human things will be easier for you." Becket glanced sidelong at the fairies and even Peter. "Just keep your non-human friends close."
The duke's son glared at him until he disappeared into the tunnel leading out of the arena. "You should kill him when you fight." Nee's cold statement sent a shiver down Sael's spine. The fact that no one seemed outraged or argued against the statement should have bothered him. Mostly he was bothered by the fact that instead of feeling disgust at the thought he… agreed. It made him feel like his old self for a brief moment, that did make him feel disgusted enough to speak up.
"I'm not a murderer." Even he heard the whine in his voice as if he was looking for an excuse and barely finding one. Still, everyone let the topic drop as they watched healers rush up to the mage before shaking their heads. Soon he was being carried away out of the arena. When he saw the worker coming he started to move Nee out of his lap but the man rushed forward. "Um no need to interrupt your… um…" he was looking at the fairy sitting contently in his lap and the red headed one hugging his arm tightly with a mix of shock, confusion, and awe. "Break? Your next challenger has forfeit. The guild masters have declared a short intermission as to well… " He swallowed. "...clean up the arena."
Sael glanced at the group and shrugged "Want to grab something to eat then?"
"Should you really be eating at a time like this? You're going to be facing off against the Amazon next you know. Should I check you for a tail?" Dego shifted to check the small of his back as if expecting a monkey tail.
"I didn't say I was going to pig out. I just figured we might as well eat. The rest of you aren't fighting either. I don't just think about myself Dego. Gah." He hadn't thought about the negatives of eating just before a fight and was just hungry. But since he'd been feeling cocky he didn't want to admit that.
**********
"The actions of your son are unacceptable Duke Kindle. One of my most promising students was murdered by him." Sele's stern face glared through the mirror at the duke.
"Deaths happen during the ball every year. I don't see why you are making such a big fuss about it. Especially going so far at to call it murder." Duke Kindle played dumb despite having watched his son's fight, including his temper tantrum at the end.
"Accidental deaths yes. But what your son did was against the rules. We will be disqualifying him for it!" Sele's eyes were shimmering with power yet the duke remained perfectly calm.
"Now Guild Master Sele I highly doubt you want to start any trouble over something so simple. That is something your predecessor would have done." He made his subtle threat. "I will arrange a donation to the mage guild in the name of the poor soul that ACCIDENTLY died today. I'll also provide his family with some compensation, say a year's worth of his earnings out of grief for their loss. I am certain that will resolve this satisfactorily?" Duke Kindle gave her image a cold smile and waited to see if she would dare rebuke him.
Sele watched the smug face of the Duke and wished for nothing more than to reach through the mirror to throttle him. She hated being threatened, hated him throwing his wealth and noble status around, she was furious that one of her best students had been killed in a child's tantrum, but most of all she hated that she was going to let him get away with it all. 'It would almost be worth going to war with the kingdom just to see him get his just desserts.' Still, the mage had her family to think of and for as bad as Kindle was the region he controlled had been thriving. Being forced to weigh the benefits of such a monster vs the cost of killing him sickened her, but in the end she cut off the communication without another word.
"Ya know. I've got some promising assassins in my guild." Dinn had been sitting across from her the entire time. Unlike her he had no family and far less to lose. If he thought he could arrange the Duke's untimely death without risking Sele he would. 'Let's see how the Duke feels about accidental deaths during a ball when it's his son.' Dinn seriously considered arranging an accident.
"I hope the Twilight King slaughters his boy while he sits in his mansion watching from afar, helpless." Dinn let out an impressed whistle at Sele's angry declaration.
"Damn Sele. I haven't seen you this furious since you caught your first husband cheating on you. Want me to give the Twilight King a few pointers? Make sure it gets done right?" Dinn chuckled but his eyes were serious.
"No, and both of us should shut up before we get accused of treason." She let out a sigh before leaning forward to rest her head against the table. "Did you ever think we would end up like this? Stuck playing politics?"
"Hell Sele you know me. I never thought past my next drink let alone the future. But I hear ya. I kinda miss the old days where we could solve everything with a sword or a spell." Dinn leaned back, his eyes staring off into the past.
After a bit he shook himself out of his nostalgia filled daze. "Might not even need any pointers. That Twilight King didn't look too impressed by the duke's bastard's actions."
"It seems the Duke's Son has a grudge against him of some sort too. One could feel the animosity coming off him whenever he looked at the Twilight King. He does it so often I'm shocked the focus of his ire hasn't noticed. I wonder if there is a history between them?"
"Damned if I know. I looked too but can't find any connection. I've got no clue why he has a stick up his ass, of course considering who his father is, he was probably born that way." Dinn shook his head.
The two old guild masters drifted off into thoughts of the past and future as well as daydreams of a simpler world.
**********
Sael entered the arena after the intermission feeling refreshed. Still, looking around the arena he couldn't forget about the last fight and how Godslayer had killed the man. He'd shown the same disgust and outrage as the others out of habit. But when he was truthful to himself he didn't really feel anything. He hadn't known the mage or the armored fighter, their death didn't impact him in any way. It annoyed him that no matter how hard he faked it some things still hadn't changed. Before he could get lost any further in dark thoughts his opponent made her entrance.
At a towering height of nearly seven feet tall she was an imposing figure. Her complexion was that of someone very fair who spent a great deal of time in the sun. This was easy enough to spot since she wore nothing but a loin cloth and what looked like a tube top stretched tightly over her chest. Her entire body was covered in huge muscles so heavily defined they went beyond normal bulk into the territory of the almost inhuman look of those ultra roided out body builders. Glistening with oil that just helped to enhance the look of their overly defined body she strutted into the arena. Focusing on her face Sael had trouble keeping the shock from showing. He now understood what Min meant by a face that didn't match the body.
When looking at her face the first thing that came to mind was delicate. She had dimpled cheeks with a tiny button nose. Her small mouth hosted a set of perfectly pouty lips while her small eyes were icy blue. Her face looked more like what one would expect to find on a doll than a hulking woman. Even her head being mostly shaved except a strip down the middle pulled back into a ponytail did little to dampen the shocking appearance.
"Staring at me like that? Did you fall in love? Ha!" Her voice was booming loud yet still somehow feminine. "So, You're the Twilight King that broke my brother in the first round? How about we make a bet then." She crossed her arms over her chest which did nothing to enhance her bosom but did show off even more muscles.
"How's your brother doing?" Sael hoped to smooth things over since the woman seemed to have a grudge.
"He's doing GREAT!" she roared. "Can't stop gushing over finding someone able to defeat him. He practically begged me to have you come see him."
Sael felt a rush of relief, 'ahh that must be what's behind the whole bet thing. Glad she isn't mad.' Smiling he called out. "So you want me to come see your brother if you win? Don't worry I had planned to come see him after I beat you!"
She smiled just as big. "Naw, that's not my bet. Well you'd have seen him either way when you came to pay up. How about when you lose, you father my children! I've been waiting to find a worthy warrior!"
"Sorry I already promised to father someone else's kids. So I have to pass. Besides what do I get if I win?" Sael shook his head a bit.
In the stands Ara and Beth gave each other an accusing glare only to be shocked seeing the same thing in the others. Suddenly they both turned to Nee who was staring intently at the arena purposefully ignoring them.
"Cheater!" Ara cried
"Really??" Beth seemed truly shocked.
Back in the arena the Amazon gave out a bellow of a laugh. "Fine in the highly unlikely scenario you win. I'll LET you father my children!"
Sael rolled his eyes "That's the same thing! And I give the same answer!" Sael gave the amused looking moderator an annoyed look.
"Sorry the crowd seemed to enjoy it. After the last match…." He trailed off and shrugged before starting the countdown.
As soon as he said start, the Amazon charged forward. Grinning to himself at how similar to her brother she was he prepared for her to throw a punch or a grapple. Instead he found himself leaning back to dodge the sweep of a hand that had become a giant bear's paw complete with inches long claws. His feet went completely out from under him causing him to fall back to splash into mud. The sand all under him had turned into slick mud so quickly he hadn't even noticed. Above him the Amazon was literally pouncing on him with two bear arms.
**********
Nine giant columns of silver veined obsidian were arranged facing each other in a circle. The inner side of each column was cut so perfectly smoothed they formed a mirror. Within eight of these columns shadowy figures of different shapes could be seen. They ranged from giant monstrous forms to vaguely humanoid ones so small they might have been a child. Only their eyes seemed substantial and each mirror hosted their own strange set of eyes.
A beautiful rich female voice came from one of the mirrors containing a tiny humanoid shadow. "So, Drezzel was slain?" Her voice was filled with mirth as if talking about a fellow Demon Lord being slain was something joyous.
"It seems you were wrong, Bremmic. I hear told he was slain invading the Summer Castle. Did you not boast of how the Summer Queen would be easy prey for him." The deep rumbling voice came from a mirror completely occupied by a giant yellow slitted eye.
"It is true. I have confirmed it." A voice like rusty chains being chains being dragged across stone added.
"Do we know who the new lord is?" A shadowy blob that changed shape constantly asked in a watery voice.
"He had one surviving general. It was most likely they who is the new lord. He had no successor as far as we know." From the depths of a mirror that looked to be occupied by a tornado of shadow came a voice like the buzzing of an angry swarm of bees.
"If they are the general of one as weak as Drezzel there is no real need to even invite them. After the title changes hands a few dozen times I'm sure someone who will stick around for a while will appear." Another inhuman voice added sounding like the howling of wild winds.
"The real question is what are we going to do about this?" Asked the beautiful voice as their owner's eyes narrowed to glare cruelly towards the humanoid shadow with legs and arms seeming to stick out in random places.
"Are you done trying to rile me up Seelie. Perhaps I should come pay you a visit in person if you have such a problem with me. I'd say you could come to me, but none of you have left your lair since the last war. Tell me then this, do any of you plan to actually do anything or are you wasting my precious research time with posturing?" Bremmic asked with the only normal voice in the room.
No one spoke up and the tiny humanoid shadow belonging to the female voice seemed to shrink back until it was barely visible. "Unless you all are willing to go to war against the nine crowns again I am done with this meeting. When you all get tired of wallowing in your sloth let me know. Until then I have things to do." Bremmic's shadow disappeared.
Seelie's shadow rushed forward the moment he was gone. "Asshole! Argoant Asshole! How dare he speak to me in such a manner!" Her beautiful voice was twisted with rage and hatred.
Chuckling the mirror with the huge eye spoke up. "Brave you are to speak as such only once he has gone."
"Shut it Inrag. You dislike him as much as I." She spat out.
"But he is not wrong, nor is Bremmic. I am still recovering my forces. I am not yet ready to go to war again." As the raspy chain sounding voice finished speaking it's owner's shadow disappeared.
"So we are just going to ignore the death of a Demon Lord? Even a worthless specimen like Drezzel being killed shouldn't be left alone. I say Seelie should take care of it. She's been the most outspoken and it will give her time to reconnect with her family. After all my sources state that it wasn't the Summer Court alone that killed him, but that a Winter Fairy was involved.." A voice like bubbling mud spoke up.
"How dare you imply I am of any relation to those oversized hags who falsely claim to be of the Winter Court. They are nothing but pasty summer fairies pretending." Her rage filled her voice making it a physical force that cracked her mirror before it instantly repaired. "But… Perhaps it is time I made my move. I could use some more subjects." Without waiting for any kind of response her mirror went empty. After that each of the other mirrors went empty as the shadows occupying them departed.
Bremmic stepped away from his mirror annoyed at the other so-called Demon Lords. They had interrupted his project for a second time for mere posturing. Out of habit he opened his system menus to double check on the progress of his latest toy. "Well now. I wonder if you will do better than Drezzel. Do try and entertain me a bit more. Administrator override…"