"Y-yes, that's right...I am the King. I am the great King of Persona, Aress Diamond, and you hold your heads too high, Commoners," Stated the King, feeling a little less nervous with Lyra standing in front of him.
"I see...that's all I needed to hear. Time to die, you son of a-...," Began Ravella, before her eyes widened in surprise as Raven grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Before that...I have some questions. And you better answer, there's no point in playing dumb. Tell us about our mother...tell us everything you know about Virella Kyzer," Remarked Raven, narrowing his eyes at the King.
"I don't know anyone by that name, I-...," He started to respond, before abruptly trailing off as Raven's eyes glowed and a pair of rapid beams shot out, whizzing past Lyra's right side before she could react and grazing the King's right cheek, searing his skin and drilling a couple of holes in the wall behind him.
Cries of alarm rang out from the others around him, his three Queens, while Krest, the First Prince, slowly shuffled a bit further away from his father, who winced in pain as the skin over his cheek sizzled agonizingly.
"Th-that was so fast, those beams had already shot past me before I could even process it...," Lyra thought to herself as she glanced back at the smoking holes in the wall, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face as she gulped nervously.
"Just so we're clear, I missed on purpose. I won't repeat myself...and if you refuse to answer, that's fine, because I won't miss again," Stated Raven with a dark look on his face, as his eyes began gleaming again.
"N-no, wait! I...I wasn't lying, I really don't know that name, I-I swear! But I know who you're talking about...yes, the girl's resemblance to her is uncanny," Replied Aress, as he glanced at Ravella, before adding, "She must have changed her name after fleeing the castle about eighteen years ago or so, I knew her as Vira before that. I see, then you really are her children...so that's why she fled, I ended up impregnating her. I should have realized as much..."
"Huh, looks like that's news to the Queens, they look genuinely surprised...were they seriously unaware that he has a habit of violating Commoner women?" Frowned Celia, as she noticed looks of shock and disbelief on the Queens' faces.
The King had deliberately picked women he deemed to be unintelligent and dimwitted, so that he wouldn't have to worry about being opposed or spoken back to.
He had always feared and been paranoid towards women he saw as cunning and intelligent, so he decided to pick the exact opposite when selecting his Queens.
"I just need to confirm one thing...did you rape her?" Inquired Raven icily.
"What?"
"I don't think I stuttered, did I? Did. You. Rape. Her?" Raven asked again, through gritted teeth as he did his best to bottle his rage down.
"Y-you...you have no right to talk to me like that! You should be honored to have my Royal blood in your veins, you're nothing more than glorified steetrats! And that woman, sh-she should have honored to gain my favor as she did...her beauty was wasted on a Commoner, she was beneath me, a m-mere insect! And yet, I was so gracious as to bestow my seed unto her!" He snapped as the fear and panic got to him, before continuing his vicious rant, "A-and sure, she was resistant the first time, she was in tears while I made use of her body, b-but every time after that, all I'd need to do was summon her to my chambers a-and she would willingly submit! So, no, as far as I'm concerned, I never raped that women! And I can assure you, she thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, her moans were-...!"
"That's enough!" Snapped Ravella furiously, trembling in anger as tears of rage welled up in her eyes.
The King's face went pale as he realized that he'd said way too much, as he sensed the palpable bloodlust directed at him from the twins.
"H-how awful, you really committed such vile acts, father?" Uttered Lyra, acting like she didn't already know.
"Not a very convincing act...and looks like the First Prince was also aware of it," Celia thought to herself, as she glanced at them and narrowed her eyes.
"Tch...this is exactly why I ordered the church to have the Inquisitors execute any bastards I fathered as soon as they're born," Growled the King.
"I've heard enough. Die," Spat Raven venomously, as he spread out his wings and shot towards the King rapidly, whose eyes widened in alarm.
"I won't let you!" Exclaimed Lyra, whipping her spear across as the blade began glowing, firing out a rapid, slashing wave of light.
Raven whipped his head across while simultaneously firing out his beams, canceling out the light slash as his beams cut across it, before Ravella rapidly swing her whip across while extending it out, striking Lyra's left arm and wrapping around it before she could react, before Ravella swiftly retracted the whip as she simultaneously gave it a sharp tug, pulling the First Princess towards her as she let out an alarmed yelp, leaving the King defenseless.
The King began to scramble away in terror as Raven closed in on him, coating his claws in lightning and driving them towards the King's head, who quickly raised his right arm up, a ring on his index finger glowing right before a barrier formed around him, Raven's claws colliding against it but failing to break through.
"H-hah...hahahaha! Did...did you really think a lowly Commoner could actually kill me, you little freak!? Even if you do have my blood, it's tainted by the blood of your lowborn mother! This is an Ancient Magic Artifact, it casts a defensive barrier that's all but unbreakable! You can't touch me!" He exclaimed, as the Queens and the First Prince quickly got some distance away from him and Raven.
"Oh, that's fine...I don't need to be able to touch you in order to kill you. Let's see how long you can stay within that barrier without any air," Remarked Raven, taking a few steps back before opening his mouth and unleashing a massive wave of flames, the King's eyes widening as the flames engulfed and surrounded his barrier with a fiery purple flow, the air within the barrier rapidly getting burned up.
Meanwhile, not too far away in the treasury...
Ravella fired out a rapid light arrow, before Lyra responded with the same, their attacks canceling each other out before Lyra swung her spear across and fired off a slashing wave of light.
Ravella swiftly ducked under it before cracking her whip towards the Princess with a sharp flick of her wrist as the light slash zipped past the top of her head, the whip slicing through the air towards Lyra's legs.
As the whip began to close in on her, she quickly fired out a blast of light, hitting the whip before it could reach her and deflecting it away.
"Strange...it feels like she isn't fighting me seriously, she definitely isn't trying to kill me. It's more like she's putting on an act or something, she's just matching my pace instead of trying to actually beat me...but why? We didn't have enough information about her to determine whether she should be a target or not, but since she isn't trying to kill me, I'll refrain from trying to kill her," Decided Ravella, as she eyed the First Princess warily.
Back to the King...
"I-I...I can't breath...!" Gasped the King hoarsely, sweat pouring down his face as Raven continued to fire out his flames, all the air in the King's barrier burned up.
His throat and lungs were painfully heated, his vision starting to spin as he lost focus, despair starting to envelop him as the barrier abruptly faded, as he was no longer able to maintain it with his concentration wavering.
He cried out in pain as the flames seared his skin, his body sizzling excruciatingly before the flames suddenly dispersed, as Raven stopped firing the instant the barrier disappeared and shot forward.
The King quickly began to run his Mana through the ring again, but he was too slow, as Raven closed in on him and whipped his claws across, slicing off three of the King's fingers, including the one with the ring on it, before he could activate the barrier again.
He screamed in agony as his fingers fell off and hit the floor with quiet thuds, blood pouring out of the stumps before Raven kicked away the finger with the ring and slammed his fist against the side of King's face, knocking out a couple of teeth as flecks of blood sprayed out of his mouth.
"I could easily have just let you burn to death, but I'd much rather kill you with my bare hands," Uttered Raven in a cold fury, before swiftly stabbing his claws into the King's shoulders, his arms slumping to his sides as blood gushed out of his shoulders and ran down his arms, dripping off his fingers onto the floor as he cried out in pain, tears streaming down his face as Raven pulled his claws back out with a violent twist.
He then let out a sharp gasp as Raven slammed his foot onto his stomach, the King coughing out blood with an agonized wheeze before Raven's fist collided against the middle of his face, breaking his nose with a loud crunch as blood poured out of his nostrils, his front teeth severely cracked.
He then proceeded to unleash a flurry of strikes against the King, holding back just enough that he wouldn't kill him too quickly.
With each hit, he targeted a different spot, his fists slick with blood as he broke more and more of the King's bones with every strike.
He stepped back and let out a strained exhale as the King collapsed onto the floor, his body severely bruised and bloodied, his face immensely swollen up as he cried out incoherently.
As he shrunk back against the wall, Lyra glanced at him, narrowing her eyes before turning her attention to Ravella, briefly meeting her gaze before lowering her spear and stepping aside, Ravella's eyes widening in surprise before she turned her gaze towards the King.
She then shot over in that direction, tightening her grip on the handle of her whip before furiously swinging it forward with all her strength as she extended it out, the tip of the whip slicing across the King's eyes, blinding him, blood pouring out and streaming down his face as he wailed in agony.
"Don't leave me out...I want to kill him just as much as you do," She stated icily, as she walked over towards Raven.
"Yeah, sorry...I couldn't help myself. Let's finish him off together...I'll go for the head."
"Alright, then I'll go for the heart," She nodded as she formed a blade of light along her palm.
No longer able to see, the King's terror and despair only confounded, his body stricken with fear upon hearing the twins' murderous words.
Raven then drove his fist forward as he coated it in lightning, unleashing a pressurized burst of flames from his elbow to generate as much force as possible, as Ravella rapidly extended out her light blade, piercing into the left side of the King's chest before she gave it a sharp twist right as Raven's fist slammed onto the middle of his face.
A sickening crunch rang out as Raven smashed the King's face in upon impact, blood and bone shards flying out and splattering across the wall and floor from the force of Raven's strike, putting the King out of his misery once and for all.
"Unless I'm mistaken, killing him wasn't your main objective in coming to the Capital today, is it? So, now that you're done with this, please leave this place and get back to what you came here to do," Remarked Lyra as she approached them.
"H-hey, uh, maybe don't antagonize them, sis?" Stuttered Krest nervously.
"Relax, we aren't going to kill anyone else. Unless any of you wants to try and avenge your King?" Inquired Celia as she looked around at the Queens and the First Prince, before adding as they all vehemently shook their heads in unison, "Good, then we'll be on our way. Come on, you two...we can't afford to spend any more time here, time to get back on track."
"Yeah...yeah, alright," Nodded Raven, as he turned around and walked over while shaking his hands to get the blood off.
"Wait for me," Called out Ravella as she jogged after her brother, casting a brief, suspicious glance at Lyra as she headed out of the treasury with the others...