"Emperor Lucian! I herby declare you no longer fit to sit upon the Holy Throne!" Her loud voice filled his ears. She pointed her sharp blade at his heart. She had such a righteous face that it made him want to just peel it off.

He had a vacuous look as he stared at the righteous figure before he erupted into a cacophony of snide cackles. He even started spluttering blood, but he paid no heed to it. "Do you rightly consider yourself to be deemed laudable to judge this honourable one?" Although he was beaming, it didn't reach his eyes.

"Emperor Lucian, you are a corrupt Tyrant whom has no regard for the commoners' wellbeing but instead use your God-given powers to indulge yourself!" Her voice was filled with agitation. Of course, he could hear it, but it only fueled his enjoyment of the situation.

He slowly tried to get up, but was shoved back down to his throne by another member of the righteous leader's party. The hard surface acted to inflict more injuries on him but he didn't even flinch, only again cackled in their faces. "Do you truly believe yourself to be of enough importance to sit upon this heavenly throne? I'll consider giving you mercy if you are to bow down before my heel."

Aggravated by his words, the hero waved their hand, causing a burst of energy to assault his nose. Water flowed quickly from his eyes involuntarily. He stared directly into the hero's eyes, likewise the hero looked into Emperor Lucian's eyes.

His eyes were ruby red that contrasted with his pure black hair that was left to sway in the wind, and an outfit that fitted his physique perfectly. On his hands were leather gloves that contoured his slender fingers. His pale face was plastered with bruises and injuries, and yet still couldn't hide his ethereal appearance.

But the hero's appearance was on the complete opposite spectrum. She had short silver hair that only reached to her shoulders. Atop of her was a pure white armour adorned with runes of mysterious origins. Her dark skin gave her an even more beautiful appearance when the distant gaze of the moon lay upon her figure. Her eyes were a pearly blue colour that reflected the poor health of Emperor Lucian.

Sighing, he looked defiantly at her. "Truly fools will not know what is best for them. O Hero, you have truly underestimated my abilities. Do you not truly think I had not have multiple strategies for this war?" On his left hand, the glove peeled off with a flash of light. Underneath was a spell formation engrained into his flesh.

The hero's eyes grew wide. She hastily struggled to seal the formation, but was just a moment too late. The intricate lines of the formation had already been filled with black translucent liquid. His eyes were filled with pure madness. In them was no longer the previously respected and revered Emperor Lucian, but a shell of the man he once was.

The hero's party immediately got into battle formation. The dull colours of the once grand palace illuminated, showing the same pattern on his hand. Although it seemed it was a small-scale formation outside of the palace, was chaos. The roads paved over the years shown an ominous light that replicated the formation on his left hand.

He cackled widely at their apprehensive faces. "I shall once again reign this Empire in glory." He lifted his left hand into the air and began chanting words that were disastrous in the ears of humans.

"This is the Empire's forbidden spell!" A member of the hero's party immediately knew where this spell belonged to. "We need to stop this! If not, Emperor Lucian may sacrifice all citizens, whether or not they consent to it, and gain any wish he so desires."

A sharp gasp filled the chaotic room.

The hero swiftly stood valiantly in front of her part members and chanted. "As the Hero of Jaerifum, the God of Oaths, Light and Wisdom. As the Sword of The Sacred Peak Church. And finally as I, Vainira Sarabeth, will the heaven's to bend to my might and wisdom." She dug her blade deep into the ground, pouring all her dedication, will, love, compassion, power. All that made her, her.

But nothing...

The spell continued on.

"Kakakaka!" He watched her futile efforts at trying to put a stop to his plans. But the moment this formation was inlaid upon the soil of this Holy Land, he had not only won the battle, but even the war. Just thinking about sent him into another fit of laughter. "Oh, you poor Hero. Your incompetence is not your fault, but your teachers that have led you along this fruitless path. But worry not. With this spell, all shall be put in its rightful place. And I shall rule over it in glory."

The expressions on the members were was a wide range, but the most prominent emotion was one delicious thing.

Despair

Using the remaining energy in his midst, he broadcasted across the entire Empire. The slums. The red district. All houses of nobility. "To all inferior entities, your worth barely amounts to myself, so feel jovial, for I shall grace you with greatest honour. I, Emperor Lucian, herby declare all underneath myself deemed worthy to be used as sacrifices." On his face was a demented grin plastered, his eyes were like pools of blood threatening to spill out of their socket.

Before any citizens could react to it, their skin cracked and floated into the atmosphere. Shrill shrieks of agony filled with the empire, their voices filled with despair filled the bottomless stomach of the formation. Their eyes cried fountains of red fluids, their exact origin was too gory to determine.

The face of the Hero quickly turned grim. She rushed towards him, but was distracted by the strident screams of her fellow party members. She was conflicted on whether to comfort them in their demise or vanquish the evildoer. Her head felt like it was splitting apart. She couldn't focus when her teammates the ones she had gone through thick and thin with.

Thoughts of just abandoning everything appeared in her mind. But she pushed those thoughts away and filled her soul with retribution, knowing that all the citizen's hopes and dreams were on her back.

A seed of despair wormed its way into her heart. Knowing that this is what she was trained for her entire life, she stared at the elegant yet insane individual.

Decisively standing up, she dashed at him. She gripped tightly at the hilt of her sword, twisting the sharp blade towards the heart of the evildoer. Her eyes filled with vengeance, she steeled her heart and pierced his heart.

She collapsed, causing her to notice the tension in her body, but before she could truly relax, she peeked. But what she saw in front of her was not what she expected. The veins of the formation were still discernible, and the main individual was still standing straight, staring down at her defeated figure.

That's when the seed of despair truly sprouted in her heart. The irrevocable step to completing the formation. She broke out into a fit of sobbing and sniffling.

He sniggered wildly. And finally, the formation was complete. "I, Emperor Lucian, ruling Monarch of the Vetha Empire. Decree that I shall be reborn anew. In a body fit for my status; it must be mighty, allowing my power to be used to the fullest. Fresh, so honourable, one needs not to fulfil any desire left by the original. Beautiful, to allow the masses to be enchanted with it. High status, I must be treated with utmost care of my guardian." He demanded, his mouth almost salivating at the thought of being able to achieve what he has so longed for.

The formation, in response, shown with such a splendid light that it would blind any that witnessed it. It coveted his ethereal physique.

In the background, a faint whisper entered his ears. He looked at the fallen hero, only to be shocked by the aggression that clouded her eyes. His eyes widened as it finally registered what the words were saying.

'Allow me to follow and vanquish the wicked soul of Lucian Vetha. He shall be held down by all souls that once resided in this Holy Empire. The souls he has caused to fall underneath his feet shall drag him down to the depths. His words may reach the ears of whoever is listening, but he will never come to gain what his heart truly yearns for. Unless his wicked heart is purified.' She whispered solemnly. 'But everyone knows how impossible someone as wicked as you could never be purified.'

He struggled to rush up to her, but before he could grasp her filthy mouth, another blinding light covered her. He cursed in annoyance as he was whisked away by the torrent of the spell.

.

.

.

His eyelids fluttered open, letting the piercing gaze of light in as he first squinted. Unblinkingly, he surveyed his current location and his eyes grew even redder than they were already.

All around him was pure white, not a singular colour was visible. He looked around aimlessly and ascertained the spell had indeed worked, but not in the way he had originally willed it to be...

Slowly, his gaze lowered itself and what was in front of him made him want to vomit blood.

Hands.

Small, dainty, puny hands.

Not a callus in sight. His hands vibrated violently, as it all made sense of what he had become.

A child.

***