In a vibrant and strikingly wealthy city, where the lights of the city were in hues of Purple, Red, Pink, Gold, Green, Orange, and Grey over casted by the red sky, the central focus was a vast space shrouded in Black, housing a massive black and white palace. This colossal structure stood as an undeniable presence at the heart of the bustling metropolis.
Inside the palace's imposing walls, the atmosphere was one of shadow and grandeur. Throughout all the numerous chambers and rooms, the path led to the immense throne room.
There, upon the elevated throne, sat a woman. She was enveloped in a black silhouette that meticulously concealed her true features and identity.
However, this dark outline did clearly show that she possessed striking, alluring curves, and her pure white eyes shone with an intense, arresting light that truly was out of place against the darkness.
Placed on either side of the magnificent throne were two beings, each kneeling in devoted reverence. They were in a complete contrast to each other, one enveloped in Black and the other in white.
The being in black was male, clad in protective armour, showing his strong body and great height. He carried two short swords resting securely on her hips and bore a formidable great sword strapped across his back.
The second being, in white, was female, dressed in a body-hugging robe that emphasised her form but also showed that her body has lean muscles. She carried two short swords resting securely on her hips, complemented by a single, longer sword sheathed on her back.
A folded black note materialised, gliding through the air with an unnatural grace, and floated into the outstretched hand of the white knight.
Her gaze immediately fell upon it, and as she read its contents, her white eyes began to glow with a slight red light. With a practised motion, she then respectfully handed the note to the woman seated upon the throne.
When the folded black note was presented to the woman on the throne, and she carefully read its contents, her eyes immediately glowed with an even brighter white light. As she finished reading, she covered the note with darkness, and then the note vanished completely, disappearing as if it had never existed in the first place.
"Humm, now this may prove to be quite interesting," the woman on the throne mused aloud, her voice carrying a tone of contemplation. Simultaneously, the surrounding black and white knights trembled as they knew it was bad that their queen had gained an interest in something.
The woman on the throne then raised her gaze, looking intently far past the red sky of hell and the blue sky of earth, reaching all the way up to the shimmering gates of gold. Her vision abruptly stopped there. At that precise moment, a booming, resonant voice sounded out, shaking the air.
"You are fully aware of the deal, so do not try this again," the voice commanded, its power obvious. Then, the tone calming down, the voice added, "For maybe a few hundred years, have a good day, Azmariel."
The voice stated this while it was still booming, yet only the woman on the throne, now revealed to be Azmariel, was able to hear the words. As she heard the word of 'that being', her face registered a grimace, reflecting her displeasure, before she slowly looked back down.
"Shachor, go get the TV from the movie room," she commanded, calling out to the black knight known as Shachor. Without delay or question, the black knight went promptly to retrieve a television as per his queen's direct orders.
'That fucking old man was so fucking annoying. I hate this feeling, but soon it will just take some time.' She thought, hoping to take her mind off the recent event, by watching some soap opera or gory blood bout for Ira Agares district from the Amon clan, while that incident won't be put on television, but it won't stop her.
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And so, changing the scene from the massive black castle, the perspective is immediately taken to a room that was filled with a disturbing contrast: on one side, it was replete with cruel torture objects and an array of sophisticated weapons, yet it also contained items of domestic comfort such as a plush couch, a functioning television, a small fridge, and a practical stove.
In the centre of that contradictory room was a young man who was currently in the unsettling act of ripping apart someone who was restrained on what appeared to be a medical operating table, their ragged screams of pain echoing through the chamber. The young man seemed to be meticulously dissecting the person fastened to the table.
"Sir, that woman you wanted me to keep an eye on has unexpectedly gotten herself into a severe fight with one of the gladiators in her own ring," a woman who was impeccably dressed in a maid's outfit stated to the man, her expression composed and not even caring about the harrowing screams emanating from the person on the operating table.
"And what of it? Why the fuck does that matter in this moment? She is free to do what she wants; it is her ring she is in control of, so precisely why are you interrupting my fun?"
The man demanded, his voice laced with both palpable confusion and annoyance. In his agitation, he carefully put down the tools he had been utilising to dissect the person strapped to the table.
"She almost died, my lord, while her mother, Lady Agares, ultimately saved her; she almost died all the same and by the hand of a normal demon who only recently went through some form of transformation," she patiently explained, maintaining her even tone and not even caring about the annoyance clearly detectable in his voice.
"Oh, oh, well then," he replied, a new, dangerous interest sparking in his eyes. "In that case, I am so going to kill that little bug for even conceiving the idea of taking away what is mine." He concluded with a chilling tone as he performed a swift motion that immediately killed the person who was still strapped to the operating table.
"Let's go, Lika. I have someone to go see, and most certainly someone to kill," he stated, rising from his work. The maid, Lika, immediately and dutifully followed behind him as he exited the room.
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Changing the scene once again, we are taken to a part of a dense forest, a vivid red forest, and this unsettling colouration is decidedly not natural, as it is composed of the numerous, lifeless bodies of slain beasts that make that entire part of the forest appear red.
And in the very middle of that vast, gruesome pile of bodies is a powerful demon with long, straight, shoulder-length pink hair, that had two sharp, black horns coming from his forehead, but one of the horns was clearly broken.
With glowing crimson-red eyes, and a muscular, chiselled chest that is laid entirely bare for the elements, with his strong legs covered only by ripped and tattered black pants, holding a long, silver glaive in his right hand and a razor-sharp short sword in his left.
He was taking heavy, deep, ragged breaths, vigorously trying to catch his breath after an arduous battle, then suddenly fell hard to his knees, utterly exhausted, but just at that moment, a giant, fearsome beast with the massive body of a lion, a menacing tail of a snake, the enormous, black wings of a vulture, the sharp, deadly talons of an eagle, and a grotesque head of a... a well, it looks horrifyingly like a rotten, decaying animal corpse, appeared before him.
Just as the monstrous beast was poised to lunge and attack the vulnerable demon, in a blinding flash, its massive body was instantaneously cut into numerous pieces, scattering blood and gore across the red forest floor.
Immediately after this sudden attack, a woman dressed in a pristine maid's outfit with silver hair, with two horns coming from the back of her head, yellow glowing eyes, and an hourglass figure that was covered by the maid outfit, gracefully appeared, then went quickly up to the exhausted young man, and firmly grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Young master, your esteemed mother has called you back," the composed woman in the maid's dress stated to the weary demon.
As the demon looked up at her, his glowing red eyes alight with a complex mixture of intense rage, searing hatred, profound pain, and a flickering, slight hope, all he managed to utter was,
"As mother commands, and nice to see you again, Caera." Then he slowly but resolutely got up to his feet, and the woman in the maid's dress did not react to her name being called. She just quickly opened a shimmering, swirling portal, and they both stepped into the ancestral home of the powerful Agares clan.
'I'm coming back, sister, and this time I'm going to kill you, and take back my rightful title as the heir of the Agares clan,' the demon fiercely thought to himself. And with that resolute, vengeful thought, the fallen heir of the clan, Dio Agares, was finally going home to face his mother and sister.
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Back to the mother and daughter of the Agares clan, they are seen in a completely different, richly furnished office from the one they had previously occupied at the gladiator ring.
It is an extremely opulent office, clearly designed to project immense power and history, with many distinct, notable things displayed prominently on the right wall, such as the mounted head of a terrifying demon deer, a significant symbol depicting a majestic dragon surrounded by intense flames, and engaged in a brutal war against hundreds of people, along with a gleaming obsidian long sword hanging horizontally with its corresponding sheath mounted underneath it.
Inside this impressive room, there was a massive, floor-to-ceiling bookshelf fully stocked with ancient tomes, scrolls, and books occupying the entire left side of the wall, a small, elegant table situated on the right side near the entrance door, and in the far back of the spacious room was a large, heavy black wooden desk positioned centrally, with a towering, ornate, throne-like chair directly behind it; in front of the desk were two simpler, high-backed chairs for visitors.
Seated regally in that throne-like chair was Eleanor, he right leg crossed over the left, with her daughter, Stella, occupying one of the chairs positioned directly in front of her.
"So what do you plan to do with Kaelen Nightingale, especially after the 'incident'? You seriously need to decide what to do with him." She paused, giving her daughter a long stare, but she began to talk about some choices she could make while Stella just listened in silence, also shifting in her seat while she was being berated by her mother.
"You could choose to kick him out back on the streets of Ira, keep him only as a servant, just let him go with the winner's prize, or whatever else you may want to do with his future."
Eleanor carefully explained to her daughter. While she herself hadn't actually made a 'deal' per se regarding the arrangement, it was undeniable that Stella is responsible for what happened, and it is her responsibility to resolve the situation.
"I'll make a real deal with him." She spoke up, but after saying her words, Eleanor just looked at her with an eyebrow raise, but let her say her peace before she told her the pros and cons of such a thing.
"You've seen it yourself, mother, he is strong, or at least Nightingale is strong," she began to say before thinking about it for a second, before correcting her words.
"Ok, I will allow this, but I will give you this. Your brother is coming back, and from what I've heard, he is not the same as before. You will have a challenger for your title, so have as good of a time as you can, bye bye, my love."
She said as she made a hand waving motion, and Stella went out with a thank you. She has much to do: 1 make a deal with Kaelen Nightingale, 2 get ready to send her brother packing again to show him she is the heir of the Agares clan, and nothing will change that
As Eleanor was left alone, she looked at a picture on her desk, which showed her, a younger Stella and Dio, and a male who looked like the adult version of Dio. She looked at Dio and the older version of him in pain, but they slowly put him down, and a slight tear fell down her cheek, tracing a path along her skin, but she quietly wiped it away and went on to do some paperwork.