"ROAR!"
An ear-splitting CRACK! resonated through the chamber as Shao Jin completed his assimilation of Balphazar's Solar Consciousness. A torrent of raw power, a swirling mix of golden flames and inky shadows erupted outwards, washing over the chamber in an awe-inspiring display.
"Ugh!"
Caught in the blast, Raphael shielded his face as he was thrown backwards. Dust billowed around him as ancient power radiated through his very core with immense pressure.
In the midst of their gory feast, the Shadow Bats were flung aside like scraps of discarded parchment. One bat, in its haste to swallow an intestine, ended up choking on the slippery morsel as it tumbled through the air. Its sputtering coughs and flailing wings caused Raphael to forget his fright momentarily and think to himself…
"Damn. That's funny."
As the dense energy dissipated, Shao Jin stood taller than before. The aura emanating from him now had an even more terrifying intensity than before. His golden horns had been restored to their former glory. Two large, imposing wings, woven from the darkest shadows with veins glowing bright crimson, had manifested upon his mighty back. These weren't mere appendages, but instruments of untold power, echoing the dominance he had forcefully claimed from the former emperor of those pitiful bats.
And it was in that moment of silent astonishment and dread that the remaining Shadow Bat army, upon witnessing those monstrous black wings upon their enemy's back, experienced a phenomenon they couldn't defy. It was as if their will was shattering against a superior entity.
In perfect unison, as if controlled by an unseen force…
"MASTER!" They cried out as they bowed their monstrous heads with newfound subservience.
Fear radiated from each shadow with waves of potent energy that moved across the vastness of that world hidden in molten ice and fires.
A sight for sore eyes and aching pride.
The result was perfect. His gamble of devouring his enemy's soul had paid off in spades.
"Hahaha! Those weak, foolish rats! Now they worship me." He chuckled darkly and with prideful satisfaction at his newly acquire dominance and control. "After millennia of beatings and humiliating defeats… finally, their loyalty is mine. And these… wings…"
He flapped them tentatively and winced slightly as a wave of intense energy rushed from each black appendage as they effortlessly pushed the very air aside. He started flying around the chamber, slowly getting accustomed to his new powers.
At first his movements were jerky, sending shockwaves rippling through the air and causing dust and ice shards to rain down from above. The entire chamber felt those sonic booms. The pressure was almost as if another being as strong as himself was fighting against the Golden Bull Thork.
But with each flap, his movements grew smoother.
WHOOSH!
In a matter of seconds, Shao Jin had mastered the art of flight and started exploring his newly acquired power with boyish exuberance. Then just as suddenly as he started flapping, he simply… disappeared.
BOOM!
Two massive dark claws slammed into the area where he once hover. This powerful echo of his movement sent the Shadow Bats fleeing in panic once more, causing debris to fall upon the pathetic figure hiding under the Bull's mercy, however that time had passed, and in his excitement and arrogance, the boy was now… nothing more than a meal.
POOF!
Shao Jin reappeared above the spot where he last disappeared.
"Hm. It's like my normal burst speed technique but instant. The speed and efficiency is… quite good but those claws leave a terrible after-taste." Shao Jin said, then with a mischievous look, he decided to experiment with those new appendages even further.
He extended his wings fully and focused his intent on them.
"Let's see what you can really do, you magnificent shadows..."
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
In a blink, he whipped them downwards with enough force to create two colossal tornadoes of dark, spiraling energy.
And out of these swirling vortices, more Shadow Bats materialized as they flapped their wings in a deafening cacophony, eager to serve their new master.
Shao Jin observed the process with a hint of pride… until he realized something amiss. His wings, moments before large and imposing, had shrunk considerably. The span was visibly smaller than it was earlier.
"Hm…?"
Before he could contemplate further, a cacophony of enthusiastic praise from his newly formed legion interrupted his thoughts.
"Master is powerful!"
"Master is mighty!"
"Master is strong!"
The bats, awestruck by Shao Jin's display of power and seemingly not noticing the size difference of their lord's magnificent shadowy appendages, showered him with compliments.
Shao Jin couldn't help but smiled. "Well, they are right. I am quite powerful, am I not?"
Shao Jin's ego grew even larger, then with a more serious tone mixed with concern, he questioned those magnificent black appendages once again, "But how far can I use these wings to teleport...? Or summon these fools… Hmm, maybe later."
It was then a more delectable treat, one he hadn't tasted in millennia, came to mind. His gaze drifted towards the shivering form of the young man cowering beneath a mountain of fear and hope against that icy wall.
And with an enormous, satisfied grin stretching across his visage that caused shadows to tremble in fear, he slowly began to descend.
WHOOSH!
Those powerful dark wing flapped lightly as the ground shook and shadows trembled. The bats swarming around Raphael instantly parted ways as they realized that their new emperor was coming closer to feast, but not on them.
A few meters from his new meal, the bull landed heavily on all four, with an earthquake echo to accompany his majestic landing as those new powerful wings vanished instantly like they never existed.
Shao Jin's strength was on another level now, it felt almost unstoppable… at least in that tiny, hidden and frozen world.
THUD! THUD!
The fear was thick enough to melt those icy floors as the rhythmic sound of approaching hooves resounded in a sickening manner within a young man's ears. He instinctively pressed his backside against a solid wall while desperately whispering in defiance…
"Y-you… you… can't eat me! W-we… We made a d-deal. Y-you promised to s-spare m-me if I helped y-you. Remember? You're a noble Golden Bull Thork, right… You keep your word! You have to…"
"Hahaha. A deal? You and I made no such agreement, little morsel. This isn't the time to be delusional about your worth. This time, the one making the demands is me, hahaha! Besides. It has been a very long time… Almost seven thousand years since I've tasted… human."
And without any further deliberation, the massive entity licked its lips, ready to claim the succulent human prize.
It would appear as though Raphael's attempt to reason with the bloodthirsty and power-hungry Calamity had backfired.
"Save the bones for us, Master!" a hungry bat voice screeched.
Another one yelled out, "I want the fingers! They look so juicy and succulent!
It seems this conversation didn't go as planned, or perhaps his words of power had vanished after the wings disappeared. Whatever it was, in this hierarchy of terror, the Shadow Bats still couldn't even stand within ten meters of their target without fearing the Golden Bull Thork's overwhelming might, even though he seemed calm.
His patience, if any, was obviously wearing thin.
Shao Jin turned his imposing gaze upon the annoying creatures behind.
"Silence! This meal is mine! Mine alone!"
And as if by decree of an iron fist, their whispers died off instantly. Their eyes lost all hope of tasting something they never gotten before, human meat, or perhaps those meaty scraps in particular, because their newly ascended Emperor claimed the main course as his prize for them to only watch and drool over, how unfair, such bad luck.
"P-Please. I don't taste good. Really, really bland… And my meat, it…it might be toxic, a strange family curse we inherited." The desperate hope resonated within those last ditch pronouncements, but luck wasn't coming his way that day. The odds, as it always was, was stacked against the "dog".
He was the dish of the day. A main course of a starving, power-hungry and monstrous Calamity. How fun, especially since they were now indoors and alone.
"Hmmmm…"
That ominous "hmmm" vibrated throughout the chamber before it finally settle into its final resting place which caused those blood filled eyes of Raphael's to go wider. That sound mirrored the now heavy and labored heartbeats against his shivering chest!
THUD! THUD!
Those enormous hooves steps were coming closer with each step. They sounded as if the very world wanted him to die! They were closer now, slow, almost rhythmic but extremely painful and terrifying in their cadence. It was like an eternal march of suffering coming for him alone.
And each time those mighty steps moved, they perfectly mimicked his own heart's thump as the Golden Bull Thork's cold words vibrated in a bone-jarring rhythm that promised excruciating pain in mere moments…
"You will taste divine, little morsel."
Step…
Thump, thump, thump…
Step…
Thump, thump, thump…
Step…
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP…
Step…
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP…
Step…
"ARGH! NOOOOOO!"
Raphael could almost see a golden smile that promised pain and deliciousness which was amplified by his own imagination! This night would be his last! This place would be his grave, at least he had died doing something slightly heroic, right?
Thump, thump…
But just before death came knocking…
"NOOOOO! PLEASE SPARE ME! AAAHHH! "
Raphael let out a deafening shriek fueled by dread, apprehension, panic, desperation and an unhealthy dose of disgust, then silence filled the chamber as those terrified pronouncements of deathly terror echoed towards that ceiling of fire.
All sound ceased.
Those rapidly pumping veins shut down; his blood-soaked heart stopped beating... and his blood ran cold.
Silence prevailed…
Dead…
Or maybe...