*BANG*
In the academy corridors, a slender figure flew through campus floors, leaving a trail of blood stains and sanguine lines in their wake as they smashed into statues of the academy founders.
"If it can go wrong, it will...and at the worst possible time. Lesson learned." The dust settled, revealing a bloodied Sucuria who clutched at her left shoulder with bitterness written all over her face.
Caligula appeared on top of a crystal-blue tower, standing with his arms folded as he watched Sucuria from a comfortable vantage point.
"Fled at the first chance they got and left you to fend for yourself. My little sisters are so cute. When I devour their souls, I will miss them to death." Recalling the scene of Julia and Druscilla blitzing into the distance, Caligula flicked his tongue across his lips. Eyes rolling back as he quivered in anticipation of what he'd do to his misbehaving siblings.
Sucuria ignored him, channeling her Inner Flames as she tried to pick herself up.
"It's no use. I've fused with the Heart of Malice and attained godhood; you are no longer my equal. Predestined to become my victim. Give up the struggle and submit to your fate...is what I'd like to say but..." Here, Caligula's words trailed, cut off by the appearance of Akamana, Elektra, Belphegor, and Arminius' Abomination.
"Why are you busybodies getting involved in a foreign nation's affairs? Are you in such a hurry to get beheaded by the Emperor? Patience, my little swan girls. Your time will come." Caligula's eyes stretched wide. A patch of malignant flames filling his green sclera as his aura erupted.
"Emperor this, empress that. The imperial style is getting tossed around way too casually these days. I have yet to establish the Empire. So from where exactly are all these emperors coming from? Shameless pretenders. Stop disgracing yourselves.
The Spiritual World only has one imperial family. And you are facing its empress," Akamana clapped back in style. Her words making Caligula's rosy cheeks flush bright red.
But though the Grand Priestess spoke with unadulterated confidence, deep down, she was annoyed.
In theory, the detonation of a full-powered divine artifact can destroy a mortal world. So it goes without saying that in the wrong hands, tyrant-class artifacts all possessed the power to rain desolation on the Mortal Plane.
And could there be worse hands than that of Fylkir Caligula? The Blood Apostate himself?
Mad by design. Clinically insane. In his mortal life, Caligula murdered all the adults of his aristocratic house by making them overdose on psychedelics he concocted personally. He then took control of the wealth and slaves, keeping his cousins and his siblings in line with disheartening displays of horror.
More tragic still, Caligula never cared for his family's wealth, living a frugal life, and reinvesting his profits in the youths of his community. So why homicide his relatives, you ask?
Curiosity. The answer...is plain old curiosity. Caligula was just curious to see...how long he could get away with his calculated evil.
"3...300 Destiny Beasts led by...a Fate God?" It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. Overwhelmed by the pressure of this divine cohort, Honoria blanked out—petrified by fear.
This was the real deal. Without Mithras, how were they supposed to resist? To fight back against a true deity. A God! And of the Fate Pantheon at that!
A powerhouse of that level had never been dispatched from the Higher Planes in recorded history! But it wasn't the enemy's power level that made such a mess of Honoria's psyche.
A Fate God and Destiny Beasts. Even Mithras couldn't bring back someone killed by Fate! Meaning that moving forward, one mistake...just one...and they'd die with no hope of rebirth!
But when Honoria was starting to think that things couldn't get worse, the armored god banged his hammer on his shield. And in a crash of rolling thunder, five gray lightning bolts dropped from the heavens, bringing forth five additional armored knights that all carried that same divine wheel at their back.
Here, Honoria despaired.
"There isn't a single deity in the universe with a Sid Level below one million. And we got six saying hi—including a rather tricky fellow.
I'm honestly surprised this is legal." Vel couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Menaka didn't find it funny. Giving Ishtar a hug before approaching Vel for a quick face-to-face.
"The Sixth Secret will only open the door to Marcus' palace on one condition. Are you sure you can pull it off?" Blunt as a war hammer, Menaka didn't waste time in idle chat. Vel wasn't offended, facing her prospective mother-in-law with the class of a highborn MILF.
Minus the babies.
"100%."
"Good. Then get to work. I will hold the line for you." Convinced by Vel's confidence, Menaka stepped forward, summoning a Black Dragon Stone.
The Co-Regent's eyes narrowed at the artifact, her skin crawling at the tyrannical energies oozing from within.
"You're not worried there won't be anyone to save you this time around?" Aware of the risks carried by those forbidden stones, Vel asked.
"There's so much that I want to tell him. So much that I don't even know where to start.
But I know this for sure. If Mithras can't go home...I don't need to be saved." Menaka didn't hesitate. Crushing the Black Dragon Stone, and letting the berserk power of Vritra awaken in its full glory.