Chapter Fourteen

( AN : Before you begin, a small note. The chapter's last part features a soft crossover with WinterWander's book. I'll give you a basic , bland summary and you can pretty much understand most of it without reading the book ( though I'd suggest reading it, it's amazing. ) Ariel and Lucy are mother and daughter who are the queen and princess of the Kingdom of Selkies ( basically seals who can turn into human ) Ariel hates the protagonist of the book, who is her stepson and half human and blames him for everything ( even though it was totally Loki's fault. And since she tried to kill him, Rhadamanthus is now pissed and going to get revenge. That's about all you need to know. Oh and secondly, the chapter is pretty messed up, as if the last chapter wasn't enough..... Look, I'm sorry, but I need to establish Rhadamanthus's charecter. I wonder if I'll ever make a chapter without any deaths ? )

Location : Itsuka residenceTime : Early Morning

Shido was currently in the kitchen humming a tone as he chopped vegetables for breakfast and the lunchboxes. The television was still on as it showed the news. The anchor spoke in a professional manner as he said " Last night, a large scale forest fire broke out in the Aokigahara Forest in the Yamanashi Prefecture. The fire has devastated a large portion of the forest , however, luckily it seems that no lives were lost as no bodies were found. It is speculated that the fire was caused by campers as the workers from the fire department found buried in the rubble, multiple metallic skewers. The authorities repo- " Before the segment could be completed, Shido had already switched off the TV. He smiled in satisfaction, as he had gotten confirmation of his work.

However, despite his recent success, he had things to worry about. For example, today's date with Natsumi and kurumi. Sure , he had booked the tickets for the event at night for Kurumi, but he was clueless with natsumi. She was extremely uncomfortable in those formal sort of events so he figured it was better to just ask her where she wanted to go. Besides that, he also had to supervise the plant at night. Sure, the production process was working just fine but he at least wanted to give one personal visit and supervise the entire process.

After Shido had finished preparing and serving the breakfast, he turned to natsumi who was nibbling on her toast and asked ," Say , Natsumi ? Can you please suggest where we should go for our date today ? I do have a few spots in mind, but I do wish to hear your opinion too. " Natsumi was caught off guard by the question and hence was flustered because of it. She began to panic but calmed down when yoshino placed a hand on her shoulder, to calm her down, reassuring her friend that she was with her.

Natsumi took a deep breath and said, " Well, um , can we just have a walk in the park and then go to the arcade ? I know that you may have already visited those places and may be bored by them but I'm only comfortable there . Of course we can go somewhere else too ! I really don't want to - " She was cut off when Shido placed his hand on her hand and said in a gentle tone, " Natsumi, I am fine with whichever place you choose. I enjoy the time spent with you, not at a particular location. And so don't worry. I will never get bored as long as I'm with you. "

Natsumi was blushing while having a smile on her face. She knew that Shido truly did love her but being reminded of it from time to time felt nice too. She was snapped out of her stupor when kurumi giggled and said, " Ara Ara Shido-kun . Are you flirting with another woman so early in the morning ? And that too in front of me on the dinner table ? How bold ~ " Natsumi was flustered on hearing this as she blushed. Shido too did blush , but it seemed that he was quicker to compose himself. He then had a playful grin on his face as he said, " Oh ? Then would you like me to carry out these activities in the bedroom ? Perhaps you would like to join us too ? Hmm....... Not that I would mind it , youknow ? "

Hearing Shido's bold words, everyone was blushing like a tomato. Of course, the worst affected was Kurumi, who's mind seemed to still have trouble processing Shido's words. However, the tension in the room was quickly broken when the sound of muffled snickers spread through the room. Said snickers soon turned to full fledged bouts of laughter, both coming from Shido. Shido took a moment to compose himself and then said, " Sorry about that. I know you can tease others but aren't as good when it comes to handling teasing. And this was too good an opportunity to pass up. " Kurumi puffed her cheeks in annoyance while Kotori gritted her teeth and grumbled , " You have been getting quite bold in the recent days , haven't you , Shido ? " Shido merely shrugged and said, " Oh please. I don't think I have done something that crosses the line. Shido Itsuka is a good natured, law abiding citizen. Or do you think I'm some alien reptile who has replaced him and used his skin as my body, hm ? "

Hearing this, Nia had a smirk on her face as she said, " Oh that does indeed seem like a sound argument. I think we need to have some thorough inspections of your body, shouldn't we ? And I'm more than happy to volunteer for this extremely difficult task. So don't mind if I do ! " Saying this, Nia was ready to quite literally jump on Shido before she had to be restrained by the combined efforts of Ellen and Shido threatening her that if she didn't stop , he would stop cooking for her. Hearing this, Nia quickly and quietly got and sat in her place. Thus ended the seemingly hectic yet normal by every resident's standards in the Itsuka residence......

Location : The shopping district

Shido and Natsumi were currently travelling through the shopping district. Natsumi was still a bit shy and reserved due to the crowds, but Shido was trying his best to encourage her. Natsumi asked him nervously, " Um , Shido ? Can we go to the arcade ? I know that you have probably visited it multiple times with the others on your dates , but it's one of the only places I really enjoy. I know that you might be bored by it, so it's understandable that..... " Before she could continue however, Shido placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair to which she let out a cute yelp.

He then turned to her and asked in a curious tone , " Hmmm.... Then let me ask you this. I cook for everyone everyday. If I'm not making some new dish , then it's a rather monotonous task. Honestly, I should be bored and tired by cooking so much food everyday, three times a day. Yet , as even you can see, I'm more than happy to do so everyday. Why do you think that is ? " Natsumi folded her arms and seemed to be in deep thought over Shido's question. After a few seconds had passed, Shido smiled and ruffled her hair and said, " It's because I enjoy the experience rather than the product. The product is merely the food. Food which I'm sure that despite Tohka's enormous appetite, Ratatoskr is capable of paying for. However, I truly do love seeing the happy faces of all of you enjoying the food that I make. And I'd even go so far as to say that I have indeed started to enjoy cooking ! Sure , in the beginning I was pretty neutral on it , but I really do enjoy it now. That's what I'm trying to say. You think I don't come to the arcade often ? Despite that , I'd be happy to come here everyday if it was alongside you. Because I enjoy the time that we spend together. To me that's precious. Nothing else in the world can even come close to its value. "

Natsumi blushed as she said, " Geez.... Saying such things so boldly. You're quite the earnest one, aren't you ? " Shido smiled on hearing this and said, " Of course. I believe that whatever job you're doing, you should truly enjoy it. Otherwise, you won't be able to give your best. That holds true for my new job too. " Natsumi looked at him suspiciously and asked, " New job ? Is that why you're out even on holidays ? I've seen you slip away after the school ends and you disappear until it's time for Chiyome-san's training. What sort of job is it ? "

Shido gave her a confident smile and said, " Don't worry, it's nothing too taxing. I just have to do a few odd jobs for my employer. Picking up stuff from somewhere, taking out trash etc. I'm just an errand boy of sorts. Don't worry, he's not a bad person though. Bit of an over dramatic and annoying guy, but not bad per se. '' Natsumi asked him curiously, " And what's his name ?'' Shido replied nonchalantly by saying, " He has a lot of nicknames but he goes by Ahtu. He has a bit of a bad reputation due to certain rumours which he himself was partly responsible for, though he took it as a joke back then , but he's ultimately not a bad person. He's even paying me well despite my current circumstances and past experiences. '' Natsumi nodded in understanding at this. Shido was still a student, so it would make sense that not many people would hire him. On top of that, he would have no work experience due to his status, so finding a job much less one which had an employer who Shido spoke so well off was a miracle in and of itself. Besides, from what she could assume, this Mr. Ahtu was just making Shido do odd jobs, nothing serious or labour intensive. Besides, just How bad could just a few errands be ?

Natsumi gave Shido a playful smile and said, " You're talking about this Mr. Ahtu in quite the positive manner. Not exactly common that you see an employee talk about his boss in a good light. He must be quite the capable person . " Shido scoffed and said, " I said he was a nice guy, not a capable guy. Sure , he can and does indeed do some of his tasks , but most of the time, it's his partner Mr. Ashura that does the job most of the time. And while I haven't met him personally, from what I have heard, he's quite dedicated to his job, a stark contrast to Ahtu-san who takes things at his own pace. " Natsumi sighed and said, " Why do you always get the weirdest people ?..... " To this Shido merely chuckled.

As Shido was smiling happily due to the date , he thought in his mind, " Such an amazing time I'm having. I hope no one interrupts this date otherwise I'm definitely going to blow up a major city ! " Unfortunately for Shido ( and the world ) fate genuinely did hate him. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a woman's voice as she nearly screamed, " So here's where you are you bitch ! I kept searching for you all these days ! Well, at least you took my advice and are putting that ugly body of yours for good use ! " Natsumi immediately froze in shock and terror upon hearing the woman's voice. Shido had already identified the woman as Natsumi's mother. Natsumi hid behind Shido who himself was barely restraining his killing intent from leaking out. He had to be careful, after all , he was surrounded by regular people around him. Even in an extremely restrained state , his killing intent had so well homogenised with the Law of Death that it could easily kill every cultivator upto the Venerable Magus or Nascent Core Stage in a several foot radius immediately. And if he didn't hold back anything and released it completely without restraint, his killing intent was strong enough to kill anyone who didn't have a strong enough mastery of either the Law of Death or The Law Of Life.

Normally, killing intent is only capable of causing terror at best and minor loss of strength in those nearby, his killing intent was special. He had apparently killed so many people in his past life that the Law of Death was thoroughly integrated into his killing intent. As such , whenever he got angry and released killing intent, he was very well capable of turning the surroundings into a desolate and dead wasteland. And while a couple hundred or even a billion humans dying wasn't a concern for him , he had to still stay low in front of his family for the time being. So he forcefully activated the array formation to restrain the Law of Death which he had already carved on his bones precisely for situations like this. Immediately, the array immediately held back the effects of the Law which was enough to restrain it along with his own self control.

He took a deep breath and said in a calm tone, " I already know who you are. However, neither I nor Natsumi wishes to have any contact with you. So I am respectfully asking you to leave. " Of course, Rhadamanthus knew her more than required. She was the one who had abused Natsumi after her father's death and had even tried to force her into prostitution. Due to Reine's intervention, she was turned into a frog by haniel, however, after Natsumi's powers were sealed, she had gained her human form back. And she had brought her filthy existence in front of him searching for Natsumi it seemed. His thoughts were interrupted when the woman gritted her teeth and said, " I don't know who you are, you bastard , but she belongs to me ! So if you want to keep her , you'd better pay me first ! "

Before Shido could say anything, Natsumi spike in a trembling voice and said," G-Go Away ! I don't want anything to do with you ! Leave us alone ! " Shido was genuinely happy to see Natsumi stand up for herself. Her mother however, was not pleased. She screamed, " You little bi- " . As she raised her hand to hit Natsumi, it was suddenly stopped midair. As she turned to look who had stopped her , she saw a police officer with a stern expression on his face. The officer glared at her and said, " I have been observing you for a few minutes now and I see that you are causing trouble for the young lady over there. I will need you to come with me to the police station. Whatever you may wish to say , you can speak at the station. "

Natsumi's mother panicked and screamed, " Y-You're mistaken officer ! I'm innocent ! " The officer shook his head and sighed as he put cuffs on her wrists and said, " Yeah. Yeah. Everyone says that. This ain't my first time at the rodeo miss. " He then tipped his hat towards Shido and said, " Don't worry kid, we'll take good care of her. " Saying this, he dragged away the woman into the distance. As the people who had gathered to witness the drama began to disperse, Shido clenched Natsumi's hand and said in a gentle tone, " I know that this wasn't exactly our plan of a date, but I don't think you'd want to continue it outside. So how about we go home and cook together something for everyone. I have been wanting to try out the miso soup you made last time. Is it alright with you ? " Hearing this, Natsumi nodded nervously yet she had a smile on her face. Shido always knew how to take her mind off the negative things and make her happy . She truly was happy to be alongside him.

Location : An Alleyway near the shopping district

Inside the dark alley , a man dragged a woman forcefully behind him. On closer inspection, the man was in fact a police officer and the woman he was dragging was indeed Natsumi's mother. The officer then pushed the woman with a shove which caused her to fall on the ground. The woman winced in pain and turned around to shout but she saw something that made her blood run cold with terror. The officer's face began to twist and contort until it finally took the shape of the boy who was with her daughter just moments ago. Before she could scream however, she was caught by her throat by Shido as he lifted her effortlessly from the ground with a single hand.

He then spoke up while having a frown on his face as he said, " You know, I really didn't want to meet you ever. I was more than content just letting you rot in some corner of the world , but you just HAD to confront me ! I know the torture that you have put Natsumi through. So do you really think I'm going to let you go so easily ? Oh no. I'm going to make you endure a hell that you'll beg to me for death. " While Natsumi's mother was choking and desperately trying to break free out of Shido's grip by clawing at his hands , she found that all of her attempts futile as her nails simply broke as if they were being scratched across solid rock. Soon, a blood red tendril emerged from behind Shido , immediately piercing her chest causing her body to morph into a blood red blob.

However, as Rhadamanthus had already made clear, he had no intentions to give an easy Death to the woman. The red blob shrunk in size until it finally morphed into the form of a rat. The rat fell to the ground as multiple magic circles surrounded it and held it in place. Rhadamanthus grinned as his eyes glowed a mystic glow as they turned to black with red irises. He then spoke as he said, " In thy greed to satisfy thy earthly desires , thou inflicted horrific woes on thine own daughter. Thou made her scurry for scraps of food just to satisfy her hunger. So thou shall in turn into a RAT, forced to scurry for scraps of food . I curse thee with having insatiable hunger and an unquenchable thirst for the rest of thy life. For the hatred and scorn thy showed to thine own daughter , it too shall reflect on thy own self . I hereby curse thee that every creature that shall ever lay its eyes on thy self will be overcome with unbridled hatred and rage for thou and either trample thou beneath its feet or tear thou apart piece by piece. However , it shall never partake in consuming the filth that is thy flesh. The wounds on thy body shall heal , but they shall never fully disappear completely. For thy lack of thy pity for thine own child, I shall curse thee ; In the same manner that thy heart is rotten, so too shall thy flesh be. Thy flesh shall rot and decay yet Death shall never hold thou in its cold embrace. For thy final sin , I hereby decree this ; I declare thy existence itself to be a Cardinal Sin. As such, I shall dole out punishment for thy Cardinal Sin. I hereby curse thee with an undying body. Until the day the Heavenly Orb shall devour the earth and Morning Star itself, thou shalt wander the world , carrying upon thyself the brunt of the curses I bestowed upon thee ! Now disappear from my eyesight foul wretch , lest I lose my temper ! "

As soon as Rhadamanthus finished speaking those words , the curses came into effect upon Natsumi's mother. While she was now trapped inside the shell of a rat , she still possessed her sentience and as such did the only logical thing that anyone would do in that situation; run away. She ran away, disappearing into the darkness, terrified due to the ordeal. She was now cursed with immortality and would not die until the end of the earth itself. Unless of course something like a meteor strike or a volcano too her out, but even then it was less likely.

The curses that he had utilised were less curses and more along the lines of simple ' Truths ' that were now actualized into existence itself. As such , unless someone was a Higher Being, it was completely impossible to even try to resist against it . This Authority stemmed from him possessing the ' All Seeing Eyes Of The All Father ' , a type of special vision which was the same rank of divine vision as the Mahakala himself, the creator of the Root. It gave him complete access to ALL the information contained in the Root. However, the most important aspect that the eyes allowed him was the Authority of the Nyayadhish. It's literal translation meant' The One Who Judges ' . It was an Authority that stemmed from the Root itself and was crafted by Mahakala himself. With it , he could see the entirety of someone's life with a single gaze and then judge their sins and bestow judgement upon them accordingly. And as it stemmed directly from the Root , it could affect everything including gods and such except for Higher Beings. And there was no way to defend against it. Whatever punishment he deemed appropriate, it would become a fundamental ' Truth ' of reality itself. There was no stopping it or reverting it. Such was the power of the Nyayadhish. Of course, he rarely used this power. Not because of some stupid reason like doubting whether he was worthy to hold such an important position or being uncomfortable with being given so much power, nothing as embarrassing as that. He just found it more fun to torture his victims personally. It was the same as baking a cake from scratch and making a cake from one of those shitty instant cake mixes you found in the market. Sure , one method is quicker and easier than the other, but it's no fun ! In the same way that you don't get the satisfaction when you bake a cake from instant mix you can't get true satisfaction of watching your victim weep bitterly in despair that you would normally get from personal torture rather than using his Authority as Nyayadhish.

Shaking his head, Rhadamanthus made his way out of the alley , once again taking the form of the police officer. He had much more important things to do right now. Not only did he have to prepare for his date with Kurumi, he also had to resume his date with Natsumi. With a hop and a skip , he happily made his way out of the alley while humming to himself as he smiled, not least bothered by his actions........

Location : The Blue Moon RestaurantTime : Late evening

Shido and Kurumi entered the large hall while holding hands. While the location that they were at was technically called a restaurant, it was more appropriate to call it something like an appropriate venue for things like large gatherings or functions . Both of them were wearing formal clothing, Shido in a formal tuxedo with an ornate silver wrist watch and Kurumi in an elegant red ball gown. Only after Kurumi had entered the hall did she find out that Shido had apparently reserved the entire hall for their date , just to make it private. She sighed and said softly to Shido, " I know that Ratatoskr's paying for all this but don't you think this is a bit too extravagant ? " Shido merely chuckled nervously and said, " While I do agree with you, the thing is, all of this is being paid not by Ratatoskr's finances , but rather Issac-san's personal salary. Ellen was really pissed because of his behaviour last time and essentially forced me to pick the costliest place just to hit his wallet and punish him. Of course, that's not counting the three hours that she spent chasing him with her realizer. And I gotta say, despite being a Magus , Issac-san is quite good and agile at dodging gunfire. "

Hearing this, Kurumi held her hand over her mouth to stop and hide her laughter, but was visibly failing to do so. While someone being chased by a Magus, especially when said Magus in question was the only Supreme Magus on earth was not something to laugh at, but Issac-san definitely deserved it considering the near heart attack that he managed to give each and every one of the girls when they thought that Shido and Ellen had gone to a love hotel of all things. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the sound of musical instruments. Turning to the source, she saw a standard orchestra, with ninety people playing the instruments with one person, the conductor , directing each and every instrument.

The music was a gentle one , with a slow pace. Shido then went in front of her and bowed down while extending his hand forward and said, " Would you like a dance , My Lady ? " Kurumi blinked in surprise for a moment, before blushing and taking his hand and said, " Of course, if that's what my knight wishes. " Shido smiled as both of them began to dance to the music , with Shido's one hand holding Kurumi's hand while his other was wrapped around her waist. Normally, she would be blushing furiously due to the distance or rather lack of between them, but she was currently more impressed with Shido's movements. Each of them was calm, perfect and refined, as if he had done this multiple times before. If she didn't know better, she could swear that he was a professional dancer. She herself knew how to dance quite well, but it was because she had taken classes from actual professionals to learn it, and even then she was struggling at a few moments to match Shido's finesse.

She sighed as she said, " He sings , he plays music , he acts , he draws , he cooks , he fights and now I find out he even dances well. Seriously, is there something you CAN'T do ? " Shido pouted on hearing this and said, " Oh come on. There are things I'm genuinely bad at. Besides, I know a lot of people who are better than me at the things you mentioned, other than sword fighting and of course. " Kurumi raised an eyebrow at him and said, " You're rather confident about your sword skills, aren't you ? " Shido smirked as he said, " Of course. That , cooking and a few other things are some of the things I actually take pride in. Of course, I'm going to be confident about it. " Hearing this, Kurumi merely rolled her eyes and sighed.

Shido then had a distant look on his face, along with a melancholy smile. Of course, his movements didn't falter in the slightest,which for Kurumi was a testament to his skills and experience. He then had a soft chuckle to himself. Kurumi had a curious look in her eyes as she inquired him why he was laughing. He sighed and said, " Nothing, I was just reminded of our first meeting. How you just stepped inside the class and introduced yourself as a spirit. How after that we went to the rooftop and tohka and origami stalked us . " Kurumi had a teasing look on her face as she said, " Oh yeah. That same rooftop from where you had the extremely bright Idea of committing suicide by jumping from the rooftop if I didn't listen to your demands, didn't you ? " Shido chuckled nervously as he said, " Oh come on. That's not even in my top ten stupidest decisions of my life. " Kurumi raised an eyebrow hearing this. After all, what could possibly be stupider than threatening your enemy that if they didn't listen to your demands, you'd commit suicide ? Shido , seemingly having sensed her disbelief, said in a confident tone , " I mean, I'm the same guy who had the bright Idea of jumping from the top of a skyscraper to avoid getting hit from Tohka's Nahemah when she went inverse because of AST , only for me to get saved in the nick of time by the yamai sisters. Or that one time I jumped from near earth orbit with Mukuro in my arms , just after I had sealed her ? Come to think of it, I have jumped from tall places quite a lot, haven't I ? Huh, maybe I should take a formal class I skydiving or maybe bungeejumping ? " And.... He had proved her wrong...... Kurumi was surprised with the sheer nonchalance with which he was talking about such life threatening tasks , but she knew this was just how he was. An idiot. A complete idiot who would jump in danger just to save others........

Kurumi was snapped out of her trance when Shido began speaking as he said, " Say Kurumi, does our current situation remind you of anything ? " Kurumi tilted her head to express her confusion to which Shido smiled. He then said in a slightly teasing tone, " Remember your sixteenth birthday wish ? When you wished to have a Prince from a foreign land whisk you away on a horse drawn carriage and invite you to a ball ? Well, I may not have a horse drawn carriage, but I think a spaceship is at least a good enough replacement, right ? And I think the ball is up to your standards , right ? " Kurumi's eyes were wide open with surprise as she remembered about her birthday wish. It was her last birthday before she became a spirit. Of course, she was rather childish ( and a chunni too, not that she would admit it. ) at the time, which led to her making such a nonsensical and childish wish. She herself had almost forgot about it and it would have most likely stayed that way, had Shido not reminded her about it. After all, it had been literal decades since that birthday. ( An : Yes, in case you don't know, Kurumi is canonically around 40. )

Kurumi asked Shido curiously, " But how did you know about this ? I don't think I ever told you about it, nor do I keep diaries which you can just read behind my back. So how did you do this ? " Shido chuckled nervously as he said, " Well, I was a bit clueless about what to do, so I went to Nia to ask for her advice. So she dug up your past with rasiel and found out about this. In return, all I had to do was to promise her to make Extra late night snacks before I go to sleep, so that she can eat them while drawing manga. So yes , I bribed one of my girlfriends to get information about my other girlfriend's wishes. Wait....... Now that I say it out loud , that sounds a lot more messed up than I thought. "

Kurumi shook her head and sighed at Shido's attempt at humour. She then turned to Shido and said, " Shido ? " Shido turned to her and asked , " Yes ? " She spoke in a gentle tone and replied , " Thank you. For everything that you have done. Thank you for not giving up on me, even when the whole world had. Even when I myself had given up. Thank you. " Shido smiled and kissed her forehead and said, " Of course. No matter what happens, I will never abandon you. That's a promise. "

The two spent the evening together, hand in hand, dancing together happily. Truly it was a blissful night for both of them.

Location : The Outpost's of the Selkie Kingdom, The Yono Island

A group of guards were keeping an eye out for intruders on the watchtowers. Of course while they were armed, their presence was only for the sake of observing potential threats and being on the lookout for enemies. After all, the kingdom was surrounded with impregnable walls and mystical enchantments that protected it. And contrary to what those idiotic humans portrayed in their so called movies , attacking a castle wasn't just something that took hours or days. It was something that could take entire months or even years at a time when the people inside the castle would simply hole up in. And that was more than enough time for them to request help to the king of the seas. And from what they had heard, the new king was strong enough to create new armies with his own powers.

However , the guard's thoughts were interrupted when he along with everyone else felt a sudden yet large wave of mana hit them. While they weren't hurt ( at least physically ) , the wave was strong enough to knock them on their feet. One of them however, suddenly began to scream loudly while looking up . As he himself turned to where the screaming guard was pointing, he saw something that he could have never dreamed of. Surrounding the entire kingdom was a large barrier in the shape of a dome. The barrier was inscribed with countless arcane symbols. While the guard was certainly no expert on such magic , he was at least informed enough to say that this was completely different from what he had ever seen in his life. It seemed to be entirely alien in origin. However, he did not have time to marvel at the barrier. The barrier it seemed, had somehow disabled all the mystic protections that safeguarded the kingdom. He had to inform the others about this. The only thing that gave him a small amount of hope was the fact that the barrier it seemed had no physical effects on anything. The walls of the kingdom still stood strong. So at the very least, they were somewhat safe because of this.

Unfortunately for him however, disasters do tend to come in hoards and what was currently approaching them was a Calamity of the highest level. Before the soldiers could relax , the ground began to tremble. However, it wasn't like the trembling which happens when an earthquake is happening. No , this was much different. The tremble was orderly, methodical and rhythmic. It was marching. The marching of an army.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2n7j1iUHuk

The guards were gripped with terror as they saw a large army marching towards the walls. They were approaching from all sides and from what they could make out , it seemed that they had encircled the entire kingdom. The soldiers of the army had an identical body structure to each other, to the point they were completely indistinguishable from each other. They were at least seven feet in height, with a well built musculature. Most of them had their faces obscured by their helmets. Those that didn't wear helmets however had no facial features to speak of. No nose, no ears. The only thing they had were two black beady soulless eyes that seemed to gaze into the very depths of their souls and wide gaping holes in place of a mouth , lined with razor sharp teeth, which seemed to perpetually secrete an oozing black fluid. However, the thing that made the guards blood run cold wasn't the size of the army , but rather what they were equipped with. Each of them wore a different assortment of armour, weapons ranging from halberds, spears, lances , swords, maces etc. All of them were mismatched, as if the pieces of armour and weapons were just picked out of a pile and the soldiers had just hurriedly put them on. However, what was special about them was the fact that each of them emitted an aura of divinity. Each of the guards could say for certain that each small object, down to the tiniest dagger carried by the approaching army was divine in origin and was forged by Gods. From what they had heard, not even the royal treasury had even a tiny fraction of divine artifacts and certainly they weren't just handing those out to random foot soldiers ! Just what sort of horrific enemy were they facing ?!

The guards tried their level best to at least run away and warn the others about this enemy. They thought that while the enemy would be busy breaching the walls, they could at least secure the lives of the royal family. Unfortunately, fate it seems, was not on their side. As the army kept closing near the walls of the kingdom, they did not slow down in the slightest. They kept their marching rhythm constant even as the walls inched closer and closer to them. And as they finally approached the walls, instead of using battering rams or even magic to destroy them, they did something unexpected. The soldiers kept walking towards the walls, not stopping for a single moment. However, instead of simply colliding with the wall, they kept marching towards without any resistance. Somehow, the section of the wall in front of the soldiers had completely disappeared, as if someone had used a high precision tool to cleanly cut out exact soldier shaped holes in the walls. Of course, due to the fact that now the entire lower section of the walls was missing, gravity did it's job and the walls promptly collapsed.

However, instead of burying the army under the rubble, as soon as the rubble made contact with the soldiers , it simply turned into some sort of blood red liquid and disappeared between the ranks of the approaching soldiers. If someone had waited to closely observe the army , they would have noticed that the number of soldiers had suddenly increased. Of course, almost everyone was too preoccupied with the fact that the enemy army had somehow breached ALL of the defenses of the kingdom and having encircled the entire kingdom, were moving inwards .

The Selkie soldiers, having understood that there was no escaping the approaching calamity. They therefore decided to make a desperate last stand and thus stood their ground . Most of them were trembling in the spot where they stood, yet they steeled their hearts and charged at the enemy army. However, as one would have expected, their weapons didn't even faze the army soldiers who were covered from head to toe with divine armours. Their spears snapped, their swords bent and their maces were warped. The Selkie soldiers already knew that this would happen. Yet they were determined. Even without their weapons, they would grip the legs of the enemy soldiers until they were forced to individually kill every one of them. A single death wouldn't have made much of a difference, but if all of them did this together, perhaps the army would be slowed enough that at least a few people would escape their doom.

However, their hopes were destroyed when the army soldiers did not even stop for a single moment to kill them. They did not attack them with their weapons. What they did was however even more terrifying. They simply trampled over each and every one of the guards that they came across. And for every guard that they killed, their numbers would increase. As the army kept closing in , the civilians too suffered a similar fate. They were forced to run away, lest they were killed in such a manner that not even their bodies were left behind. In the end, the army made their way through the countless buildings and structures in the kingdom, destroying them entirely without so much as even lifting their weapons even once. The people were forced to keep running away from them as they saw that their attacks had no effect on the army , until every one of them was forced in the large ground of the palace, right in the middle of the kingdom. The Selkies were no different from cattle, rounded up by the ravenous hounds which was the immortal army.

In the ground, the masses were huddled together out of fear while a small battalion of soldiers stood in front of the royal family, ready to lay down their lives at a moment's notice. They were alarmed when a small group of the soldiers who had encircled them stepped forward. The armours and weapons were suddenly absorbed into their bodies, leading to exposing the horror underneath. Their bodies were devoid of any distinguishable features, more along the lines of a crimson red mannequin. However, they were most certainly well built, and resembled hulking behemoths and only a vague sense of a humanoid form. The soldiers however suddenly turned into crimson red blobs and fused together. The large pool of blood on the ground began to swirl as a whirlpool was formed in it. Soon, a vaguely humanoid figure arose from the whirlpool. The crimson figure started to take form slowly as it transformed into a young man, probably in his twenties. The man had blue hair with pitch black eyes with crimson red irises. And unlike the soldiers, he wore simple clothing. A black t-shirt , trousers and bright ochre scarf around his neck. He had an amicable smile on his face, as if he was a well mannered guest and not an invader.

He took out a black walking cane from seemingly out of nowhere and tapped it on the ground. Immediately, the pool of blood under him began to shift and went behind him. There , it rose in height as it lifted itself above the ground and started to coalesce into a new structure. It was a throne. However, what was strange about the throne was the fact that the blood which it was made out of had suddenly changed form and turned into bones. The throne was made completely out of bones. With the bones of the limbs and other different bones. On the arms of the throne where the palms of the person sitting on it would rest were placed two skulls in such a manner that upon sitting on the throne , the hands of the person would naturally find themselves on top of the skulls. And despite the horrific and barbaric sight of the throne , not a single person could dispute the beauty of the object in front of them. The throne despite having no beautiful jewels to adorn it or glistening gold to decorate it , was an object of beauty and skill. It seemed to have been crafted by the most skillful of hands , despite its cruel existence.

However, soon everyone present there saw something that made their blood run cold. The skulls and by proxy the other bones on the throne were not human, but rather Selkies. While both of them are indeed anatomically very similar, multiple differences, especially in the skeletal system are more than easily identifiable. The boy however, was not the least bit concerned about this as he nonchalantly went to the throne and sat on it in a regal manner, with one leg over the other. The way he sat had an air of Authority around him, and given how he was most likely the leader of the army , perhaps that was not too far off from the truth.

The boy smiled and spoke in an extremely friendly manner, not too different from the likes of a manager or something along those lines as he said, " Good Day Everyone. My name's Rhadamanthus. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. " The queen, Ariel stepped forth and asked in a cautious tone, " Why have you attacked us ? " Rhadamanthus smiled on hearing this and said, " Straight to the point, eh ? Oh well, not that I can blame you. However, before that , I have a question. What do you think of my army ? It has been nearly a century since I last deployed them . Though back in ye olde days we didn't have these fancy-shmancy divine artifacts. But regardless, I am proud of them. After all, they are made from my own blood. " Ariel had a confused expression on her face as she inquired , " Blood ?.... " Rhadamanthus grinned and snapped his fingers. Immediately, one of the soldiers behind him turned into a crimson red blob which first encircled around him, forcing Ariel to step back as she was startled. The blob then turned into a large red coloured nine headed snake which seemed to have been carved out of a beautiful crystal. The snake was nothing short of a piece of art , with the sunlight reflecting off each and every one of its Crystalline scales. The snake hovered around Rhadamanthus for a few moments, hissing loudly at Ariel and the others before Rhadamanthus struck his cane on the ground. The snake immediately turned back into a crimson red blob, almost as if it had retracted back into that shape. As he snapped his fingers once again, a suit of divine armour and a halberd appeared out of nowhere. The blob then shifted inside the armour and gained a humanoid form once again and made its way back into the ranks of the soldiers surrounding the people. Rhadamanthus grinned and spoke in a proud tone as he said, " I call them the ' Immortal Death Brigade ' . Originally I wanted to go for the ' Backstreet Boys ' but unfortunately, that was already taken . Damn these trademark laws ! Damn them to Heaven ! Oh well, you can't do much about that. When life gives you lemons, commit genocide. Damn, that was a good one ! Huh, maybe I should become a motivational speaker ! "

While the others were simply confused by his strange words, none dared to speak anything due to the army behind him. Rhadamanthus began to once again speak as he said, " Well, now that I have flexed my powers a bit, I can answer your question. But before that, Miss Nancy ! I believe your ride is here ! " Soon, one of the daughters of Ariel, Nancy stepped forward. She had a calm and composed expression on her face. Alongside her , a man wearing a white cloak stood , ready to protect her against any attacks. Suddenly, a transparent dome surrounded all three of them. Rhadamanthus grinned and said, " Easy there you oversized White Iguana. I'm neither your enemy nor Miss Nancy's. The dome is just a simple array that prevents outsiders from listening to our conversations. You can take Miss Nancy away. " The cloaked figure removed his hood revealing a young man with silver hair. This was the current host of The White Dragon Emperor, Vali Lucifer. He was staring at Rhadamanthus, trying to figure out as much information as possible about him. And while Albion did not appreciate being called an ' Oversized White Iguana ' , Vali chose to remain silent about it, despite Albion's enraged words in his mind.

Vali decided to be as polite as possible and said in a formal tone , " Then I must thank you for not causing her any harm. She is a significant ally of mine. And while I did theorise that the Kingdom of the Selkies would eventually fall due to either an enemy attack or a coup de at, I never expected the enemy to show up so brazenly in the middle of the day ( AN : Yes , the flow of time is different between dimensions, so it's day here while it's still night in Shido's world. ) That and I'm rather surprised that you figured out my identity. I still have all the artifacts on me which would have protected me from being detected or even recognized by anyone. "

Rhadamanthus shrugged and replied in a nonchalant manner and said, " Eh, it wasn't that big of a deal to find you. After all, I'm directly connected to the Akashic Records and basically have Administrator privileges to it. Not that difficult. " Vali almost had to step back due to the sheer disbelief at Rhadamanthus's words. The Akashic Records or The Root as it was sometimes called was essentially the library of ALL of Cosmos's knowledge. Reaching out to gain even the shortest sliver of knowledge even for the briefest period of time was something that even most god's couldn't accomplish. So the teenager in front of him telling that he was directly connected to it was a little too much to believe. But regardless of the validity of the claim , Vali chose not to comment about it, considering that nothing was going to come out of it. That , and the fact that he was essentially surrounded by an entire army. And while taking down an army wasn't much of a problem, it was foolish to engage in needless conflict. Then there was the fact that every one of them was armed with divine weapons and armours. Seriously, what sort of fucking rich asshole hands out so many Go- Lucifer damned divine artifacts in the hands of a fucking kid ?! And while he couldn't identify which Pantheon they were created by, he could certainly say that they were a cut above the weapons that the high ranking angels used from their Divine aura alone.

Rhadamanthus gazed at him intently before sighing as he said, " Hmmm... I must say, perhaps I was mistaken for expecting a bit more. You are quite weak. Is this truly the blood of Lucifer ? " Hearing this, Vali was enraged beyond belief. He clenched his fists as every fibre of his being wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of the man in front of him. However, it would not just be idiotic, but downright suicidal. Attacking an enemy without any information on it was the most idiotic mistake anyone could make and Vali Lucifer was not one. He kept a calm expression on his face and did not react any further to his taunts.

Rhadamanthus stared at him for a few moments after which he broke down in hearty laughter. Vali was completely confused by this as his rage was quickly turned into confusion due to Rhadamanthus's actions. Rhadamanthus finally managed to calm himself and said," Sorry about that kid. I know I hit a nerve , but I really wanted to test how good you are at battles. I know you're like me, a battle maniac. Most of the idiots out there think that being a battle maniac means just charging head first into battles without any thought. That's not a battle maniac, that's just a certified Grade A idiot. To be a battle maniac means to truly embrace the spirit of fighting. To respect your opponent, their skills, their craft and their might. Giving in to rage is something a warrior must avoid as much as possible. It means that you must ALWAYS be wary of your opponent. If and only if you are completely confident that they are weaker than you do you have the luxury of being arrogant in front of them. And even then you should only act arrogant, not be actually arrogant. If they are indeed hiding any trump cards , let them mistake your false arrogance for your weakness as it gets them in a fake sense of security. And when they finally try to capture you off guard, you can surprise them as you were already waiting for it. Don't forget, The Greatest Trap Is The One Where The Prey Thinks It's The Predator. That said, I am happy that unlike those inbred assholes from those so-called demon pillar families, you actually don't let your pride cloud your reason. That's why I suspected whether you truly are the blood of Lucifer. Because those fucking idiots would have attacked me at the first provocation. Seriously, a fucking jellyfish has more intelligence than those nitwits. "

Vali was once again stumped on hearing these words. From a mocking tone it had shifted to that of an elderly wise teacher praising his student for passing a test. Perhaps the man in front of him was older than he looked ? Was he perhaps a god then ? But most god's preferred to take more adult forms while traversing the world. So then why did he have the form of a teenager ? Perhaps he was a god that held some authority over youth or children ? Or maybe it was just a personal preference ? And while he didn't sense any divine aura from him, considering the sheer number of divine artifacts he had, it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that he had one which allowed him to hide his divine presence. However, he still had one question on his mind. He spoke up in a calm tone and said," Yet you called me weak. "

Rhadamanthus shrugged and said," Well, yeah that's because you are. Of course, as in most cases, context matters a lot. Compared to your peers , you certainly are a cut above the rest. You could kick the asses of most devils of this generation to kingdom come any day of the week. However, that's not what you're aiming for, are you ? Most of the previous hosts of Albion merely wished to surpass the Red Dragon Emperor. However, you wish to go toe to toe against the Shut In Neet In The Dimensional Gap and the Infinity Loli. Of course you're currently far off from their level. But regardless, I am happy that you passed this small test of mine. "

Vali was completely shocked to hear this. While it was true that he wished to one day become strong enough to go toe to toe against the Great Red and The Infinity Dragon Ophis, it was something that he had only told his foster father , Azazel about. And much of an annoying guy he could be at times , he wasn't the sort to just babble about things. Perhaps the claim of being connected to the Akashic Records was indeed true. Shit. This was bad. The Akashic Records were THE LIBRARY of the cosmos. If someone had access to it, especially infinite access to it, there was literally nothing you could hide from them. Your strengths, your weaknesses, your plans , your closed ones. Knowledge is power and he who holds the keys to the Akaksha holds the true power of the cosmos.

However, before Vali's thoughts could run wild , he was interrupted by Rhadamanthus as he said, " Oi ! Kid ! I said you passed my test , didn't I ? Don't think I will just attack you despite that ! I may not have morals but I at least have a little bit of honour ! Of course, had you failed the test, the result would have been a bit different. Then I would have just straight up killed you , no questions asked. " Vali raised an eyebrow as he said, " Even with this entire army, what makes you so sure that you would not only be able to defeat me but also kill me ? "

Rhadamanthus laughed heartily on hearing this. Immediately, a new opaque barrier adorned with intricate and complex formations appeared around Nancy. And while Vali couldn't understand what it was , he could say it was definitely powerful from the sheer energy it radiated. His thoughts were interrupted however, when he felt a horrific sense of dread and terror grip his body. Vali Lucifer was a lot of things, but a scaredy cat was not one of them. So yet why was he afraid ?!

He then turned to Rhadamanthus as he saw something that he would not forget for the rest of his life. Suddenly, a pitch black Darkness had surrounded Rhadamanthus completely. It was nothing like he had ever seen. It seemed to outright devour the light around it. Every cell of his being screamed in terror as he was gripped by primordial fear . The Darkness was wrong.

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Suddenly, it disappeared in the same manner it had appeared as Rhadamanthus stood in his place, smiling. The ordeal had lasted for about a single second yet it had left Vali so terrified that he was unable to form even a single thought in his mind. Rhadamanthus rushed towards him and kneeled down as he took a tiny flask only a few centimetres in size filled with a white liquid out of his soul storage. While he didn't touch it directly and instead made it float above his hands with magic , he immediately forced it down Vali's throat. Vali had a blue glow surround him for a few moments after which he finally returned to his senses. Rhadamanthus laughed as he hit his back with a pat and said, " Well done Kid ! I am definitely impressed ! You managed to endure almost a single second under the proximity of primordial Darkness ! Even most gods would have their souls destroyed and bodies ravaged by being in its proximity. And you managed to not only endure primordial Darkness, but primordial Darkness from me, the Scion of Darkness himself ! Granted , I was holding back and in the end we did have to use a small amount of diluted liquid from the Kshirsagar of Vaikuntha, the abode of the Aura Guardian. It contains minute amounts of primordial Light aka Aura which helped you out. Normally, just a tiny amount of Aura is enough to kill the strongest devils but due to the fact that you had absorbed the primordial Darkness, it worked out fine. It's kinda like a neutralisation reaction with an acid and a base ! And before you ask then why I force fed you such a dangerous energy like Aura, it's both to stabilise your soul and erase the effects and influence of primordial Darkness. Most people don't know but Aura has the peculiar property to stabilise souls as well as heal injuries of souls. Of course, the problem is Aura users are so fucking rare that at the height , there were only less than 2 thousand users in the entire Cosmos ! Though it has fallen sharply now. Eh, regardless, all's well ends well ! You passed your test nicely ! "

Now that Vali had finally composed himself, he was trying to understand Rhadamanthus's words. However, before he could make complete sense of them , his thoughts were interrupted by Albion's panic filled voice in his mind as Albion screamed , " Shit ! Shit ! Shit ! Fuck ! Shit ! Fuck ! Fuck ! We're Fucked ! Shit Shit Shit ! Of all the things I had to run into a Fucking Scion Itself ?! Fuck ! " Albion immediately manifested on his hand in his gauntlet form and spoke up in a polite yet nervous tone as he said, " Albion Pays His Respects To The Scion Of Darkness ! "

Vali's eyes were wide open with shock. Albion, The Albion , The White Dragon Emperor was speaking in a respectful and polite tone to someone ?! Just who was this person in front of him ?! Rhadamanthus laughed at his words and said, " Don't worry about it. And you can relax , I never was one for these formalities. Though I think your host would require some enlightenment . Feel free to explain to him everything you know. Albion seemingly hesitated for a few moments before speaking with Vali mentally as he said, " Listen very closely to me kid. You're facing someone beyond your wildest dreams, nay nightmares ! Don't even think about offending him much less challenging him. He is a Scion. There are two fundamental forces in the cosmos, Light and Darkness. These forces are old. And I do mean that. They have existed since the birth of the cosmos. And they are presided over by two beings. The purest form of mystical Light , Aura is presided over by the Aura Guardian while the purest form of mystical Darkness, Primordial Darkness is presided over by the Crawling Chaos, Nyarlothep. And they do have Complete control over light and darkness respectively. They have their chosen representatives, called Scions who wield as much power as them. If Nyarlathotep has hundred percent Authority over Darkness then the Scion of Darkness has around eighty percent. And Primordial Darkness is not something you want to mess with. He wasn't lying when he said that at this level it would destroy the souls of even most gods. You need to be a powerful dragon or something like that to even endure what you just did. Still, you should thank him considering he gave you an infusion of Aura to stabilise your soul. Otherwise you would have been fucked. And before you ask, Primordial Darkness can only be harmed by Primordial Light, aka Aura. Nothing else can affect it. He can just create a dome of Primordial Darkness and sit inside it as we bang our heads outside in frustration. And even if we do manage to so much as hurt him, then we're still fucked because then we'd have to face against Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos ! That guy fucks with reality more than he fucks mortals ! He can alter reality as he pleases. Destroying planets or entire worlds is no big deal for him ! And he doesn't even need to do all that. He can just erase you and me out of existence itself ! It'll be as if we neverexisted ! Because in case you didn't know, he's one of the two people who safeguards the Akashic Records, the Library of the Cosmos. That alone should speak volumes about his strength. And he is a crazy bastard who'd definitely screw around with others for the smallest reasons. I myself don't like bowing in front of others , but this isn't an individual. Do not think of Scions as individual beings. Think of them as Forces Of Nature itself. For that is the only way to conceptualise their might. I had the misfortune of running into Nyarlathotep once while I was alive and I don't even want to remember those memories ! So whatever you do kid , DO NOT MESS WITH THE GUY IN FRONT OF YOU ! "

Rhadamanthus fake coughed to get both of their attention as he said, " Well, as Albion has so eloquently put it, you really shouldn't challenge me. I am THE worst possible matchup for you. That's because your signature ability, Divine Dividing, is based on the usage of a poison to divide your opponent's soul in half too. However, I possess the martial spirit of Shin-No-Orochi. Martial Spirits are the Nexuses of the beings they represent and the concepts they embody. For example, Someone with a Four Winged " Heavenly Phoenix " Martial Spirit holds authority over all phoenixes in existence and by proxy, Authority over Flames of any sort ( Though it is still weaker than that of the Authority that the Herscher Of Fire would have ) . I, as the wielder of ' Shin-No-Orochi ' have complete Authority over every poison in existence, no matter it's strength. As long as it embodies the concept of ' Poison ' , I hold Authority over it. Of course, as long as I exist , there can be no other person with the Martial Spirit of Orochi , so I don't have to worry about it. Oh , and in case you were wondering about that dome, it was to protect Miss Nancy. Normally nothing can safeguard you from the effects of Primordial Darkness other than getting away as far as possible, but in this case, both the array and the Darkness originated from me, so it worked out. "

Well..... Shit. This phrase alone could summarize Vali's thoughts right now. This was supposed to be a simple rescue mission, not this bullshit ! He was snapped out of his thoughts when Rhadamanthus called out to him and said, " That said, while I am not going to harm you in any way, I have a favour to ask of you. Can you please deliver this ring to the King of The Seas ? " Vali paused for a moment before speaking up as he said, " You swing that way ? "

Before he could even react , Vali was struck on his head with a Harisen (a paper fan) as he winced. Normal paper fans don't hurt this bad ! This one felt like someone smashed his head on solid steel ! He held his head in pain and screamed , " What the hell was that for ?! " Rhadamanthus scoffed and said, " That was for jumping to conclusions you nitwit. I'm already in a relationship with multiple girls and I love them , so no , I don't swing that way, thank you very much ! And as for why I hit you with the Harisen, would you have preferred me striking your head with an anti-draconic weapon like Gram or Balmung ? " Vali instinctively stepped back slightly on hearing the two names and said hesitantly, " No. Thanks..... " He had to remind himself that despite the nonchalant attitude, he was dealing with a psychopath.

Rhadamanthus nodded while smiling, as if satisfied by his answer and said, " As I was saying, the ring is a spatial ring, which contains a few million tonnes of gold and other precious jewels. Now while I do realize that this is pocket change to the guy who rules the oceans, it's still a tradition at this point to present rulers gold as a sign of goodwill. The more important and precious thing however, is a single bottle of Heavenly Sake, made by Philemon himself. That should more than make-up for the destruction of this vassal state and my unauthorized presence here. Please take care of it. "

As Vali took the ring , Albion's voice rang in his head as he said, " I really don't believe this. He's actually giving a flask of Heavenly Sake , especially one brewed by Philemon himself. Listen closely kid, that Heavenly Sake is something that Philemon himself has made. And while it's called sake, it's more along the lines of a potion. But it's THE tastiest potion you'll ever drink. However, that's just a small part of it. The real reason why this is so precious is the fact that since it contains a great amount of numen, upon consuming this , your soul is greatly strengthened. There aren't many things in the cosmos that can increase the strength of your soul and even those that do don't come close to this. A normal human upon drinking this will gain divinity and become as strong as a chief Deity of a Pantheon like Zeus or Odin. It's so powerful that had I consumed this during the peak of my power, I could have become strong enough to go toe to toe against Great Red himself. That's why it's so precious that literal wars can be waged over that single tiny bottle. Of course, you can't just drink it in the middle of battle and win with a literal Deus Ex Machina. Since it strengthens something as delicate as the soul , the process can take even centuries at times. Of course, it's not a long time by divine standards but it leaves you in a highly vulnerable state during that time. So you do have to be a bit tactful. I don't know what The King of The Seas is going to do with it. Maybe he'll consume it in the future or maybe he'll give it to his children. Regardless, I'm sure that he won't take it now considering he's in the middle of a war. Of course, there's also the fact that The King's immortality was a gift from his late father. So I guess he's pretty confident with himself. Also if he consumed it , it would be an indirect insult to his father as it would imply he doesn't trust his father's own gift. But damn , I'll be honest, I certainly am jealous. Had it been someone else, I would have forced you to obtain it in any manner whatsoever. Even if you didn't consume it , at least it would have prevented any chance of it falling into Dradaig's hands. Of course, even I'm not crazy enough to try to steal from both The King of The Seas AND The Scion of Darkness. "

Rhadamanthus immediately spoke up in a slightly annoyed tone and said, " Well of course you wouldn't. That's why I'm handing it to you. I don't know of many idiots who would try something as stupid as that. " Vali was caught off guard by the sudden interruption as he asked, " You were reading our minds ? " Rhadamanthus had an expression of mock shock on his face as he took a step back and said dramatically and in an exaggerated manner , " How awful ! I am an upstanding, lawful and hardworking citizen you know ! I would never do something as terrible as reading someone's mind ! That's a violation of privacy ! No , what I did is much simpler. I just accessed the Akashic Records to find out what both of you were speaking telepathically. The Akashic Records takes a note of every minute thing that happens in the cosmos. Every thought of every individual of every species on every planet in every galaxy in every dimension of every branch in the cosmos is observed by the Akashic Records. Like a scribe which notes down every small thing, it too is the same. In the case of mind reading, it's like wiretapping a conversation. However, in this case, it's more akin to me essentially reading the script of the universe. "

The sheer nonchalance with which Rhadamanthus spoke was unnerving to Vali. He knew that as a rule of thumb, most of the beings with power are weird in some or the other aspect. But wasn't this a bit too much ?! Regardless, Vali chose not to mention it and said, " Then by your permission, I would like to leave. I'll be certain to complete your request. " Rhadamanthus smiled and said , " Of course. I wouldn't want to take more time of yours than what I already have. And don't worry about the island. I'll leave it in one piece. Hell , I'll be a good Samaritan and leave it completely clean. "

Saying this, Rhadamanthus snapped his fingers which caused the array around Nancy to disappear. Vali immediately went by her side and gestured to her that he would explain everything later. Rhadamanthus smiled and waved at her politely as he struck his cane on the ground which caused the array which separated the three of them from the people outside, who were still cowering in fear due to the army soldiers. Of course, the truth was , Rhadamanthus didn't need to snap his fingers or strike his cane on the ground to disable the arrays. He could do it mentally. However, he did have a penchant for theatrics and he found it amusing, so he did it regardless.

Ariel was desperately trying to get her daughter's attention but Nancy was completely neglecting her as if she wasn't even there. As both Vali and Nancy teleported themselves from the island, Ariel and her other daughter were left shocked by her actions. Rhadamanthus resisted the urge to burst out laughing. Damn, who needs soap operas when real life gives you such amazing entertainment ?! As Vali and Miss Nancy were finally departing from the island, Rhadamanthus was waving at them happily. The angry and fuming faces of Ariel and Lucy just caused his smile to get even wider.

After both of them were finally gone , Rhadamanthus clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention and said, " Now that we have said our farewells, let me reintroduce myself. I am Rhadamanthus, The Scion of Darkness, True Ancestor of The Cursed Bloodline and I am here to kill you. " As Rhadamanthus spoke in his nonchalant manner, everyone, especially Ariel and Lucy gritted their teeth. Lucy asked him in a scornful tone , " Why are you attacking us ? When did we wrong you ? "

Rhadamanthus shrugged and said," Well, remember your stepson ? How you almost killed him only recently ? Well see , the thing is, he's one of the fragments of Xemnas. And one of the other fragments of Xemnas is friends with Aichi Sendou, who's a member of the Cursed Bloodline, and due to my position as a True Ancestor, it's sorta my moral obligation to look after him. And since he cares about his friends, I'm also looking after all of Aichi's friends. And one of them is The fragment of Xemnas. And by property of Association, your stepson too falls under my protection. And since you tried to kill him, you've earned my annoyance, so I'm going to eradicate you. Simple, isn't it ? "

Lucy, who had a horrified look on her face, screamed, " That's the reason you're doing all this ?! For such a petty reason ?! We didn't even succeed in killing him ! '' Rhadamanthus laughed and said, " Well of course it's a petty reason. The truth is, the reason I gave you is just an excuse rather than an incentive. Sure it is partially part of the reason, but honestly, I wouldn't have hesitated to blow this place purely to cure my boredom. Besides, I'm the Abhorrence of the Paramount Dao kid ! My whole existence symbolises the phrase ' Fuck the Rules ! ' Lady , I commit enough war crimes on a daily basis that I make the Geneva Convention look like the ' Geneva Suggestions ' You think I give a shit about morality ?! Damn It kid, if I didn't know better, I would have thought you were trying to kill me of laughter ! "

Rhadamanthus's laughter was nothing but insult and indignation to everyone present there. Yet they could not do anything. After all, what idiot tries something so stupid when a literal army is around you ? Rhadamanthus finally stopped laughing and spoke up as he said, " Getting back to what I was saying, there's one thing I want to make clear. I can read all of your minds and observe all your actions. So Mr. Robert , please drop that weapon of yours . Yes, no need to hide it. Yes, there we go ! Mr Nicholai , no need to worry about your wife and child. It's useless trying to escape to reach them. Besides, they're exactly 24.2 m away from you , so yes , they're alive , at least for now. And since I'm such a nice guy, I'll order my soldiers to kill you at the same moment as your wife and child. So even if you can't share your spatial coordinates with them , you'll at least share your temporal coordinates ! See how much of a nice guy I am ?! Mr Ronald ! What the hell are you doing ! I get that you're hungry and don't want to die on an empty stomach but of all things a fucking pineapple pizza ?! What the hell is wrong with you ?! Somebody get that man a real pizza ! Oh for fucks sake , I'm the Abhorrence of the Paramount Dao but even I won't take such abhorrent actions ! What the hell is wrong with people these days.... "

Had it been any other context , Rhadamanthus's words would have been humorous. However, in the current circumstances, they were just an indicator of the degree of control Rhadamanthus had over them . Their lives were in his hands. Rhadamanthus, amused by their fear, smiled and spoke up as he said, " That said, you see , I love to put on performances. However, as it is with most attractions, my little ' Performance ' is going to have certain restrictions too. We can't have innocent minds being scared by needless things now, can we ? "

Saying this, Rhadamanthus threw something on the ground in front of everyone. It was a single pocket knife. It had a cheap plastic handle with a seemingly dull blade. However, what was terrifying about the knife was the fact that it seemed to radiate a hellish degree of killing intent around it , as if it was responsible for taking the lives of countless souls. Seeing their reactions, Rhadamanthus grinned and said," May I have your attention please, everyone ? This knife here was purchased by me just a few hours ago at my local department store. However, for our purpose, I took the liberty of customising it a bit. You see, the knife is infused with The Law Of Death itself. So the moment the knife blade makes contact with your flesh , you will die and your soul will be sent to the Collective unconscious for your rebirth. However, due to the enchantments I've placed on it , the knife will only kill beings under the ages of fifteen and since I was feeling a bit merciful, it'll also kill those who are over the ages of sixty. It'll be a completely painless death. The moment the blade makes contact with flesh , the person's soul will depart. It'll almost be like falling asleep. "

Hearing the stunned silence Rhadamanthus smiled and clapped his hands dramatically and began to speak again and said, " So why am I telling you all this ? Well, it is Elementary My Dear. All of us know here that you are now prisoners of war. You can now be subjected to torture the likes you can never even dream of. However, I'm sure that you do not wish your children or your elders to be subject to such horrific fate. So , this knife will be your salvation. Use it , and save your children. Use it , and free your elders. One touch. A single moment and you'll have saved them. Do you not wish for it ? Is your heart so cruel that you'd silently see their plight ? "

Rhadamanthus then had a feral grin on his face as he said, " But you see, there's a catch. I am a busy man. And unfortunately, I was low on pocket knives. So as of now, there is only one knife for using on this entire island. The entire kingdom has to make due with this one knife. And ... " Rhadamanthus then snapped his fingers as a large hourglass fitted on a circular stand appeared. The hourglass had a golden frame with black sand inside it. Rhadamanthus continued speaking and said, " We have limited time too. This hourglass is calibrated for exactly seven minutes. After the seven minutes are done, you can stab yourself all you want but the enchantment will not work. Also , everyone here other than Mrs Ariel and Miss Lucy are free to participate. So seven minutes are all you have to give salvation to your loved ones. Remember, you aren't going to be fighting for your life , or should I say death , but rather the deaths of your loved ones. So contestants ! Your time ! Starts ! Now ! "

Saying this, Rhadamanthus flipped the hourglass as the sand began to immediately tumble downwards. The people rushed towards the knife. Stepping on each other, pulling each other back , pushing one another. They did not stop. They did not hesitate. Everyone wanted to save their loved ones. People trampled over each other just to grab hold of the knife for a few moments before being ultimately shoved off by someone else and falling to the ground and being trampled under someone else's feet. A few who were successful in keeping ownership of the knife for a few moments had a feeling of ecstasy in their hearts before being confronted by the tragic truth that they now had to search their loved ones amongst this chaos to actually kill them. Of course, as one might expect, they failed quickly and met their end as the horde descended on them to snatch the knife, ending their life in almost the same way as a group of vultures tearing apart a carcass.

Of course, a few people did indeed succeed. People were feeling joy over killing their loved ones with their own hands. It was madness ! It was Chaos ! It was entertaining ! And that , was all that mattered to Rhadamanthus at the end of the day. The people who act friendly and kind to each other would happily tear each other apart for their own benefits in times of despair. He had learnt that lesson years ago. And even today he saw it playing out right in front of his eyes. Because at the end of the day, that's what all life in the cosmos was. Whether it be a god, demon , human ; mortal or immortal ; all of them will happily throw others like a carcass if it aids their goals. Sentient Life by nature was inherently self destructive. Like maggots who would cannibalize each other if they didn't find their meal, Sentient Life was no different. This was the reason why he would never care for anyone other than his family. For maggots like these , death was too great of a mercy.

Immediately as the seven minutes had passed and the sand in the hourglass had completely fallen into the lower chamber , Rhadamanthus spoke in a thunderous voice which echoed through the island as be said, " Contestants ! Your time is up ! Please step back ! Mr . Thomson , your time is up , the enchantments have already stopped working ! Please, you're just stabbing your son with a knife which is contaminated with the blood of countless people. Don't worry though, your son will die of sepsis in about a few hours. Please step back ! Yes, yes , you can cry as much as you want, no one is going to stop you, just throw away the knife. There we go . It wasn't difficult, now wasit ? "

As Rhadamanthus stepped back to look at his masterpiece of a social experiment, he had a look of pride on his face. Front of him was a massive pile of corpses on the ground. However, it was difficult to separate one corpse from another as the stampede had caused them to be smashed together into a mush like form. From the mush , a few broken fingers poked out at some points while bloodstained white structures which were once jaws of someone popped at other places. At some places, there was slight movement in the mush in the form of twitching flesh. This was due to the fact that some people caught in stampede were still alive. Heavily injured and in a near death yes, but still alive. Of course, it didn't matter to Rhadamanthus as they were choking on the blood and flesh of others as well as their own and would die a slow, painful death.

Rhadamanthus used his eyes to observe that exactly two hundred and thirty two people had been struck by the knife and had safely reached the Collective unconscious and would undergo reincarnation eventually. Conversely, more than three thousand people were caught and died in the stampede. This fact alone brought a smile on Rhadamanthus's face. Sure , he lost the chance to torture those two hundred and thirty two souls , but in return he got to see the despair of more than three thousand souls. This was definitely a profitable turnover. However, this was just the prelude to the main act. And on top of that, the finishing touch was yet to be added. So he was going to do just that.

He smiled and spoke up again and said," While we are done with the opening ceremony, there is still the finishing move that I believe everyone must see here. So now ! Everyone ! Feast your eyes ! This is the Kind Demon's Mercy ! " Saying this, Rhadamanthus struck his cane on the ground which resulted in a thwack sound echoing through the air. Immediately, multiple glowing arcane circles appeared under the feet of multiple children as well as the aged people. In a single moment, their bodies fell limp to the ground like puppets who's strings had been cut.

The people screamed in horror as they realised the truth. The entire time , the game was nothing more than a farce. He had done it only to mock and torture them. Each and every one of them wanted to attack him, consequences be damned, yet they were unable to move a single muscle. Seeing their reactions, Rhadamanthus grinned savagely. He spoke up and said, " Now , now gentlemen ; and ladies too. We are all civilized people here, not savages. Let us not resort to needless violence. Besides, I fulfilled my promise as those who died by that knife did indeed die a painless death and had their souls transported to the Collective unconscious. They are now safe there. Sure their life may have ended, but they will be reincarnated eventually, so not much harm is done to them. And as for your complaints, I never once said that the children and elderly who would not die by the knife wouldn't be freed. I have shown mercy to the children and the elderly. Unfortunately, that's where I draw the line. My mercy has run out. Now, this is where the real fun begins ! "

As Rhadamanthus snapped his fingers, a large red blob emerged beside him. The blob then turned into multiple humanoid figures with extremely beautiful faces. Some of them were men , some were women, yet one thing was evident, their beauty was enough to take away the breaths of anyone who laid their eyes upon them. Soon, multiple objects manifested in the hands of the newly formed individuals. The objects were in fact, musical instruments. Drums , banjos and instruments most people couldn't even name were present in the hands of the individuals. A few men and a large number of women were empty handed however, as they would be seemingly part of some chorus.

The strange tension in the air was broken when suddenly the army soldiers surrounding the citizens began to strike their feet on the ground without moving from their spot. For some reason, the sound that was produced wasn't random but seemed methodic and rythmic to a degree. Rhadamanthus himself jumped in as began to clap hands and spin around, having begun to dance to the sound of the instruments. The choir of men and women began to sing too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSqQDsh78sY

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, heyHey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, heyHey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, heyHey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

There lived a certain man, in Russia long agoHe was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow.

While the citizens were initially confused by the sudden turn of events, they began to experience something strange. For some odd reason, the citizens themselves began to sing along with the chorus.

Most people looked at him with terror and with fearBut to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear

Soon , every citizen began to dance as they sang along with everyone. They spun, they danced , they laughed gleefully. Yet as is often the case, the ugly truth often lies behind a mask of beautiful lies. The citizens were not singing and dancing of their free will. They were acting under the influence of the array that was covering the entire kingdom.

The array formation that covered the island was a Tier Five array . Even the topmost of the sects on earth made due with Tier three arrays. This was because as the arrays increased in Tiers, the materials required to create them as well as the time required to create them increased exponentially. For instance, the array formation that protected Heaven itself was a Tier Seven Tianwei Array , which had taken literal millennia to construct with the help of thousands of the greatest divine array formation experts and precious materials such as remains of divine beasts, divine metals etc. However, there were two things that separated Rhadamanthus and the Heaven when it came to arrays. The first was the Skill, or rather lack of on Heaven's part. While the array experts of Heaven weren't exactly idiots, they were still a far cry from what Rhadamanthus was capable of. Even the Akashic Records , the Cosmos's library contained knowledge which he instinctively knew. The greatest and so called forbidden arrays mentioned there were literally child's play for him. And as he had confirmed with Nyarlothep himself, the only one who was his equal when it came to Array formations was Philemon himself. The Heaven's may have better Smiths than him, the Heaven's may have better Alchemists than him but they most certainly had no one like him.

The second thing that seperated Rhadamanthus from every other Array Master in existence was the fact that Rhadamanthus rarely if ever used actual physical materials for setting up arrays. Arrays by nature were expensive affairs as any Array over Tier Four required materials like Dragon Blood , Dragon Fangs, Leviathan bones, Divine Blood etc at bare minimum. However, Rhadamanthus never used anything like this. He simply used only Thirteen forces. Nine Laws, One Blade Force, One Primordial Darkness , One Mana , One Qi and all of it interwoven into reality itself. If normal arrays were things that simply existed on the fabric of existence, similar to paintings on a canvas ; his Arrays were so deeply interwoven with Reality that they were more akin to embroidery on a fabric. This was the reason why other Arrays could be constructed with the help of multiple gods and yet they would require thousands of years for completion yet Rhadamanthus could do everything alone in a matter of hours. However, despite his skills with Arrays, he preferred to keep them as a trump card of sorts in case he found an opponent someday that was too difficult for him to overcome ( though he had yet to find one ) . Most of the other time , he would utilize his talents in Arrays to create custom arrays for improving his torture sessions.

The Array that was currently surrounding the Kingdom was one of these torture tools too. It focused on multiple functions rather than excelling in a single one. The first and most basic one was protection. It was to ensure that there would be no uninvited guests entering. The second and more important one was the ability to induce docility in the individuals under its influence. It wasn't suppressing their emotions or altering them , it was merely making it so that one type of emotion , that is rage was less likely to be acted upon. Under it , while the people were still capable of feeling rage , they were simply unable to express it through any form, especially violence. After all, a mindless doll can't feel despair, now can it ? What fun is it to torture someone who can't even respond ?

The third ability of the Array was to control the actions of the people inside the array. The people were still indeed aware of their actions , though they were unable to control them. This was what Rhadamanthus was using to make the people sing and dance. The fourth and the most interesting one ( at least to Rhadamanthus ) was the ability to induce weakness and pain throughout the people. The body of those inside the Array would start to break down on a cellular level and pure unadulterated pain would course through the bodies of those affected. The people around may have joyful smiles on their faces but joy would be the last emotion they were experiencing. Their feet bled as they danced. Their hands snapped and fell apart as they clapped. Their mouths coughed up blood as they continued to make grunts and noises instead of singing as their vocal cords were falling apart. The very act of their heart beating in their chests caused agonizing pain to course through their bodies. Yet their bodies did not stop. They were not allowed to stop. Such was their fate.

All while this was happening, Rhadamanthus kept singing and dancing. He spun around, seemingly ecstatic by the horror around him. While dancing, he boldly exclaimed , " The Rich shall dance beside the Poor ! The King shall dance beside the Pauper ! The Weak shall dance beside the Strong. The Sick shall dance beside the Hale ! For this is the Dance Of Death ! This is ; The Danse Macabre ! "

Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes was all it took for the last person on the island to finally drop dead. When the last person had finally died, the musicians had once again dissolved into the red blob from which they had formed as Rhadamanthus finally stopped. Seeing the scattered bodies around him, he laughed. He laughed as he remembered the past. Of how he used to execute entire cities as they desperately struggled to survive. Rhadamanthus calmed himself and took a deep breath. He composed himself and turned to Lucy and Ariel and said, " So did you enjoy my performance ?! Was it amazing ?! Come on now, don't be shy ! A good artist always listens to critique ! "

Ariel snarled at him and said, " Go to hell you bastard ! " Rhadamanthus clicked his tongue in annoyance as he said, " Damn it, why does everyone keep repeating that same phrase ?! At least come up with something new ! Oh well, I can't blame you now, can I ? That said, it is now for the grand finale ! The final act ! " As soon as Rhadamanthus finished speaking, countless mystical enchantments appeared around both Lucy and Ariel. They were immobilized in their spots, unable to move in the slightest. Rhadamanthus's eyes turned to black with red irises as both mother and daughter felt a horrible senses of dread, as if myriad eyes were staring at them.

Rhadamanthus began speaking as he said, " With my Authority as The Nyayadhish, I hereby judge thy souls. For thy lack of pity for thine own blood, I curse thy flesh to forever rot and decay. For thy pride in thine own powers , I curse both of thee to lose all of thy mystical abilities. Never shalt thou cast a spell or command magic. For thy hatred of humanity , I curse thee. Thou shalt forever be stuck as the ones that thou spent thy whole life despising. Henceforth, thou shalt always be trapped in the form of a human. And for the pain thou brought to thy child's own kin, thou art forbidden from having any thoughts or actions which may harm him or his kin directly or indirectly. The moment such a treacherous thought enters thy minds , both of thou shalt suffer agonizing pain. And finally, I RHADAMANTHUS , THE SCION OF DARKNESS, ELDRITCH THE DEVOURER OF WORLDS, USE MY AUTHORITY AS THE SCION TO FORBID THE SOULS OF ARIEL VON NJORD AND LUCY DU NJORD FROM ENTERING THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS ! THEIR SOULS SHALL NEVER KNOW PEACE AND SHALL BE BARRED FROM THE CYCLE OF REINCARNATION ! EVEN AFTER THEIR MORTAL SHELLS SHALL BE DESTROYED THEIR SOULS SHALL REMAIN IN THE MORTAL PLANE AND ROT AND STAGNATE ! MY WORDS SHALL BECOME MY DECREE AND MY DECREE THE TRUTH ! "

As Rhadamanthus finally finished speaking, the enchantments glowed for one final time before disappearing.Both of them had passed out due the effects of the enchantments taking its toll on their souls. His final curse to the mother and daughter pair was the cruelest curse someone could be afflicted with. As the Scion, he had some degree of Authority over the Collective unconscious. Using the same Authority, he had barred both of their souls from ever entering the Collective unconscious. Even if they wouldn't die of natural causes and somehow had their entire body destroyed, they would still be unable to reincarnate. Their souls would simply remain and without any anchor to attach themselves to, they would slowly rot over the course of thousands of years. It was the cruelest fate anyone could be subjected to. Worse than what even faith based gods experience when they disappear due to lack of worship. Because of this reason, rarely if almost never was this Authority used by Philemon and Nyarlothep. Yet he had used it. Still, he definitely wasn't regretting it. However, there was still work leftover to do.

As he snapped his fingers, the soldiers turned to blobs once again and combined with his body while the artifacts they carried were placed back into his soul storage. With another snap , essence flames roared around him, completely incinerating everything aside from the mother daughter duo. The bodies , the buildings , the structures, the trees , nothing was spared. What was strange was the fact that this was one of the few times when Rhadamanthus didn't burn the souls of the citizens of the place he was invading. Oh well, he had gotten more than enough entertainment out of it, so he wasn't complaining.

            As the flames settled down and disappeared, he looked around. Where once bodies and rubble littered the ground was now completely devoid of anything. Not even the ashes had remained. Had it been anyone else, they would have at least felt a twinge of guilt or regret over massacring an entire kingdom. But not Rhadamanthus. Rhadamanthus was someone who was born in despair. The moment Shido Itsuka had lost his family, he had fallen into despair. Shido Itsuka had died. What was born however from the hatred and despair however, was him. He was born that day. While most lose sight of themselves on being drowned in despair, he, Rhadamanthus , instead descended deeper into it. He bathed in it and relished in the sensation of dragging others along him. He was not a human. He was a monster clothed in the skin of man. He was but a twisted parody of the man who was once Shido Itsuka.

             He shook his head to dispel those useless thoughts. Regardless, it mattered not. He had power and he would continue to use said power to protect the people he cared for. That was all that mattered to him. He struck his cane on the ground as a portal appeared in front of him which he stepped thorough and disappeared, leaving behind the two women to suffer for the rest of their lives......

So finally the chapter is done ! Sorry for the delay, but I had a few things to take care of in my own life. That said, I hope this makes up for the delay with its length of over 16000 words. This is the longest chapter I have ever typed. And once again, thanks to Winter_Wanderer for letting me use the charecters from his book. Check out his books , they're amazing. And once again, feel free to ask any questions or any suggestions for improvement.

Word count : 16302 words