Wrongness

- You are wrong Hogul, you will be the only one to fall, with your precious ship and all that it contains. This dark and forgotten planet of the galaxy will be your grave, and you will lie forever in the shrouds of poisonous gas with your beloved minions. And one more thing, conceited king, I am no longer a prince. But you should know that I don't have to be, to beat your kind. I have my own way of doing things.

With a particularly violent blow, the so-called prince managed to throw the treacherous leader against a metal wall.

- It's over for you Hogul.

With this defeat, Avine felt wonderfully relieved. Smiling happily at her savior, she watched him catch his breath, and return his smile of bliss. He approached the girl with an arrogant and triumphant air.

- So princess, how were you going to help me again, tell me?

The princess shook her head in tender exasperation.

- No need to be so insolent. Besides, I said you never know what might happen.

- I'd like to point out that I've been forced to fend for myself for a long time. Unlike you, who probably hasn't left the family nest yet.

Avine frowned.

- But we're almost the same age.

- That's probably how you see it, but never trust appearances. So there's no point in arguing.

- But...

But the girl didn't have time to finish her sentence, because a huge explosion suddenly occurred.

Fortunately, the warrior prince, experienced in combat, protected them with a huge spherical shield.

Hogul appeared through walls of reddish flames, angrier than ever.

- Tell me prince, how did you manage to get into my ship?

- Is this really necessary? said the surprised and mocking prince. I see that you yourself have given the coup de grace to your beloved floating palace. he remarked as he felt the great ship descend. So what's the point in knowing the answer anymore.

- This floating palace as you understood it, is my true home. Declared the damned king proudly. I put everything in it, my heart and my soul, if I ever had any. So I know everything about it, its strength and weaknesses. My entire magic is imprinted on it. Despite everything, you managed to infiltrate it without anyone, especially me, detecting you. So answer me, what is your secret.

The fallen prince shook his head, full of contempt and condescension that Avine could not have borne in his enemy's place.

- You are so pathetic, Hogul. replied the latter, ignoring his opponent's questions. You have desired the wrong things all your life, and you have conquered and accomplished them in the most vile horror. You have overestimated your strength. Now you are paying the price. Know your place, you weakling.

Hogul laughed wryly.

- So you're not even going to bother to answer me. Anyway, you're right, it doesn't matter anymore. At the end of the day, you are the one of us who is more shaped by blinding darkness.

- And that's what you forgot. His adversary admitted without being dismayed. And what I am able to do, you will never be able to do.

- I finally realize it. I can't beat you, it's true, and I'm going down this day. But there's one thing you were wrong about...prince, I never underestimated you. That's why I had to stoop to taking another monster as an ally. Worse than me, and much stronger, really strong, who will destroy you in my place

And from the bitter language of his battered body, this agreement must have taken a heavy toll on his pride, but if in his already irredeemably twisted mind, the ultimate goal was to defeat and annihilate the one enemy he had no control over, he was willing to pay that ultimate price.

- What are you talking about? inquired the young warrior, squinting his glass eyes. With whom you have allied yourself to finally have the chance to kill me Hogul.

But the latter did not see fit to answer in his turn. He mutilated his body under the horrified gaze of the young couple, and let all his blood flow from his body to the last drop.

- What are you...? What are you trying to do, Hogul?

The young warrior was totally stunned but also felt an abominable danger that would follow this repulsive act.

- You'll see, Prince. This time, you'll be faced with a power you can't fight. So you will finally understand me. Like all those whom you had beaten without mercy. This will be my last vision in this life.

His blood flowed again and again until it was imprinted on the countless letters and symbols etched into every corner of the ship. When it was done, Hogul recited strange words of doom, then laid his hands heavily on the ground and released the unspeakable monster he spoke of.

Avine nearly fell unconscious at the mere sight of the beast's huge, fatal aura. The symbols of blood were walled up, and together they joined the center of the ship to form a huge portal with ash-white wings, bearing the mark of a vile creature.

- Prince...

The girl whispered, choking under the pressure of a terrible and morbid power. Then the young warrior had to create a stronger barrier around them to help her catch her breath.

When the doors of the colossal portal opened, Avine saw at first only a white mask, wearing a crown of an equally astonishing and ... painful white.

- What is it prince? asked the young victim, distressed.

- A monster.

More than the appearance of this vile creature, it was the fear that the prince felt that troubled Avine the most. For if he too trembled before such a power, then did it not mean that they were all lost.

The beast revealed its immense power, took control of all the debris on the ship, and disassembled what was not to produce it. Then it threw them violently against its targets. In addition to the barrier, the prince also emitted a devastating power that overpowered the beast's magic, and the debris came to rest before turning to ash.

- Not bad, young prince," said his masked opponent in a voice so sinister that a cold shiver ran through Avine's body. But I'm afraid that's not enough against me.

Despite her nameless terror, Avine was proud to see that her stranger was not intimidated, on the contrary, he was on fire, literally and figuratively.

- I'm not afraid, monster," he declared, bravely standing up. Perhaps I was for a moment, he conceded without shame, but I am not any more in any case. On the contrary, I am even motivated. Unusually so. For if I reconsider, I have been given the chance to unleash the full grandeur of my magic to fight an enemy that I hope, as your minion has formally insisted, will be a match for me.

- I am happy to see that at least your last moments will have been spent in the illusion of an unfinished superiority.

When the beast emerged fully from the portal, and uncovered itself to the eyes of its opponents, Avine was seized with the purest terror, for she guessed and felt to the depths of her being the true power.