The Red Wedding
Michaelle had a wife and two beautiful daughters. He had been recently given an important post, thanks to his majesty. He had everything he ever wanted.
Money, a great wife, and a beautiful family.
He was happy the moment his head went flying in the room. Oh but, do not fret, his daughters joined him soon after.
A portal to Epsilon had suddenly been forced open, and a huge beast had emerged from it. This beast had attacked Michaelle and his family, the first victims of the encounter.
Louis stood, grabbing Zoe's hand, surprised by what was something that had never happened before.
Portals never opened randomly. The chances of a new one appearing are almost impossible, much less in the middle of his fake wedding. He instantly knew that somebody had created one. He instantly thought of five things to do.
His pendant had started shaking. That meant that he was being targeted.
The pendant, which was actually just a coin with a chain attached to it, had three useful purposes. The first was a warning, the second one was absorbing the powers of the Hunters he killed so that he didn't become one himself.
The third one was the release of the powers he had absorbed.
He did not order his soldiers to attack, but they moved without his orders. But no Hunter here had any special powers.
None of them, except Zoe.
He ordered them to back away from the monster, grabbed the head of Michaelle, and started whistling to the beast. He wanted to grab its attention, to buy time for his soldiers to get away.
It instantly looked at him, snarling its large mouth. Louis finally had a proper look at it.
It was a large wolf, with red scales covering its entire body. It was a reptilian sort of wolf, with black eyes and a silver metallic liquid for claws. The claws were dripping everywhere, and wherever they were sprayed they punctured through. A liquid with metallic properties, a proper way to imagine it would be like melting ice cream, that whenever it dripped it would puncture through.
He held the head of the dead Michaelle, and lobbed it towards the creature, as he told Zoe to get ready.
Zoe started using her powers.
She started to quite literally melt the monster. The tables near her caught on fire, the floor was already scorched, anything that could catch on fire did. Slowly, the metal around her started to melt. Everything was subjected to her dominating power.
The temperature rose steadily around Zoe. Even though most of the soldiers were a few feet apart from her, they still felt the heat of her powers.
More portals opened, and a pack of monsters came out.
Zoe did not even flinch. In fact, she was not even worried. She simply melted all of them as well.
Louis started to shout to the Hunters to get away from the area as soon as possible, as more portals opened near the guests. He cursed because he knew he was not facing an idiot.
But before he could take control of the situation, he was knocked out cold by someone behind him
He woke up in a chair.
The scenery was beautiful. A boundless blue sky was all he could see. One he had never seen before. He was used to the dark colors of his reality. He was now looking at the sun. One whose brilliance blinded him.
"Is that the sun that you've been named after?" asked a mysterious voice.
He finally looked down.
He saw a goddess. He would never be able to describe her, as she was too much for words. She was perfection, almost as if she came from heaven itself. He felt a strange sense of attraction, one that puts lovers on a pedestal.
One that claims that nothing is greater than the person you are with. The way a teenager would exaggerate the virtues of their first crush.
Her eyes were like the infinite cosmos. You could see the stars, galaxies, and universes in her pupils.
He wanted to get closer, as he was dazed by her immensity. He could not move.
He felt as if his sins would not allow him to reach her. His sins were dragging him away, making his inferiority a barrier. One that allowed no intrusion.
Maybe, he thought, he had died, and he was in limbo, waiting to reach heaven, which was right in front of him.
"Oh no, this is no heaven, my dearest" she said.
A single sentence changed Louis' mood entirely. His admiration turned to suspicion and betrayal.
He was a man of logic. Reason, schemes, his every move, every thought, every secret, was in the safety of his brain.
This was an opponent he would not be able to beat.
"I am no foe" she continued.
He felt danger as she quietly approached. He had never been so terrified of something so beautiful.
"I will now explain your situation my darling. You are in Epsilon, and your mind was breaking. You would have gone mad, had I not intervened. That tends to happen to those with high intelligence. They overthink every small process. Their minds are their greatest allies and their worst foes." she said.
Louis was more interested in why she had saved him. His mind was racing, and struggling for control. He was thinking of ways to escape, just in case. He was also thinking about not thinking at all. He was also wondering why would she save him.
"Because you are the only human that has fought against the world and won."
A Hunter dying in the hands of a human is not unprecedented, but a human defying all Hunters and the food chain? It was unheard of. Louis was the only human that had stood at the top of civilization, while not being the strongest, but the wisest.
He was an anomaly that she found interest in.
"Walk with the giants for as long as you can. Let me see how long you can last fighting beings close to gods, as you continue to live as an ant," she told him.
The feeling that followed was anger. A wave of anger that finally allowed him to speak. She was no longer able to tell what he was thinking, because he was not thinking at all. He was overwhelmed by his feelings.
"Please, Miss Goddess, watch as this little ant crushed all of your giants. Watch, as this little ant, one day comes to you, and crushes even your gods, and takes everything from you".
She laughed, delighted.
And Louis was plunged into Epsilon, where the first thing he saw was a giant shadowy monster.