Chapter Six: Those Who Work Behind The Scenes

There is a certain Labyrinth on the continent of Shen, one that many refer to as 'Zero's Labyrinth' also known as 'The Labyrinth of Terrors'. On the one-hundredth floor of this great labyrinth is a certain room situated. In the room, one can hear two entities speaking. Of the two, one has dark green hair and a body befitting an athlete. You would guess he is in his thirties or maybe 40s just by looking at him. I guess I shouldn't beat about the bush. He is none other than our dear majestic emperor except that he was rather being a bit cordial and maybe submissive with the one he was talking to. The other person was not all that visible because of where and how he was seated. Judging by his voice, he should be about sixteen years old yet he talked to the emperor as if he was his age mate or perhaps even older.

The Emperor asked; " Judging by the fact that you have concealed yourself all these years, I never thought you would join me there."

"I'm not going to be all that active. I just wanted to stretch my legs since it's been so long since I left this labyrinth of mine." replied the mysterious figure.

"And out of all the places in this world you chose to visit the Demon Lord's domain and at the time that I went there?"

"Of course, that's what I found interesting and that's why I never conquered them."

As they were talking they remembered what ensued in the Demon Lord's domain. The Demon Lord was meeting a few of his high-ranking subordinates. Just after he said "Ahlan wa sahlan" a phrase that means welcome in the Tengu tribe to welcome his subordinates he realized all of them had stopped moving as if they were stuck in time or time had stopped for them and that was exactly what had happened. Then he heard a voice say "I hope your day was good Ashkan" The voice paused a bit and then said mockingly "Akbar".

This was a voice he never wished he would hear in his domain. While quaking in his boots, he slowly turned around and yes, it was none other than the emperor whom he has been so wary of for quite some time. Regardless, he tried to stay calm and asked; "If it isn't our dear most powerful Emperor. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Regardless of his effort, one could still see on his face how terrified he was.

"I realized you were going to have a meeting about my son so I came to listen in"

"Same here." To both of their surprise, Someone else was actually listening in on their conversation.

"Who-who are you? How can you spy on us whilst the emperor has stopped time? Are you with the Emperor? Are you here to kill-"Ashkan spat out these words in one breath.

"I'm not here to kill you. And I'm sure you can tell who I am." All this while the mysterious figure was in the corner of the room, with little illumination leaning on the wall as if he had no care in the world.

"Are you the rumoured Zero? If so then are you more powerful than the emperor? Wait a minute, ..." Ashkan strained his eyes to see the mysterious figure properly. "If so, you should be thousands of years old. How come you sound like a teenager and although I can't see you properly I can tell you are not a day over sixteen.".

"Good." Zero smiled and then turned to the emperor. "Rava, you can continue with your business here."

Rava nodded, cleared his throat, and addressed Ashkan. "Now, let's put everything together. So, you want to murder my son right?" Ashkan nodded and he continued; "Because of your great grandfather's prophecy?"

Ashkan nodded once more before saying; " How did you find out? Does it mean you know all of our inner workings? "

"Of course "

"I heard that you could see everything if you wanted to but I thought it was just an exaggeration of your capabilities."

"I think you are selling me short but disregarding him, I am the most powerful person in the world. This means there is no ability you know of that I don't already have in my arsenal."

Ashkan gulped down his saliva and declared though he was still terrified; "We are not going to wait for your son to grow up so he can destroy us all."

The prophecy foretold by the Demon Lord's great-grandfather was one that said; "There shall be born a prince on the Shennian continent. Upon his birth, darkness shall befall the whole continent and it is he who would bring an end to the dark-tengu race on the continent.

"Calm down. I'm not here to stop you. As long as you don't come there yourself, I assure you I will only use first-tier abilities to battle against your minions."

"I suppose I should say 'Thank You '"

"Well, Goodbye and good luck with your preparations."

Back in the labyrinth, Dad asked; "So, what do you think about my son?"

Nonchalantly, Zero replied; "I think we can entrust the future to him. He has the power to do so."

"And I'm sorry I changed the name of the empire without consorting you"

"Never mind. I'm guessing you will also be changing the calendar?"

"Well, The Twelve will do that. I don't have time for trivial matters."

"As if. Well, have fun ruling the empire. I'll drop by later to spend time with... what was his name again?... Yeah, Powstrava. I like his name. "

Back at the Demon Lord's Domain, Ashkan sighed after the two Men left and sat back on his throne.

"What is wrong brother?" Reza, The Demon Lord's younger brother rushed to him and asked. To him, his brother just stood up, sighed and fell back in his seat in distress. Though Ashkan looked perfectly human, his brother had a slightly longer nose and a pair of crow wings behind him but he looked far more like a human than the other Tengu in the hall.

In anger, Ashkan spat out; "I said do not call me that." He then calmed down and said; "At least, not when I'm addressing my subjects.

Jodhaa, a very beautiful Tengu came forward. If you look at the white wings behind her you would think she is an angel but she isn't. Jodhaa is the Demon Lord's secretary and lover and a fellow Tengu. When she saw her beloved fall back onto his throne in a weird way she realized something was wrong so she took over. "Welcome everyone." Jodhaa paused for a while before continuing; "We have gathered here to discuss whether or not the darkness that befell the continent is an indication that the prophecy foretold by our great ancestor is due. If it's due to happen then we would discuss how to move forward." Jodhaa first looked at Ashkan who signalled that she should continue. She then looked at a very old female Tengu who was holding a metallic staff that has rings hanging around it. She is the Tengu Oracle and her staff would make noise whenever she moved. She moved closer to Jodhaa and turned to the audience. "There is no need for me to say this but only the prophesied harbinger of doom can bring darkness upon us all." The Oracle's hateful screeching voice resounded in the hall.

Jodhaa put a forced smile on her face and said; "Thank you oracle." She then turned to the audience and announced; "According to The Oracle, The newly born Shennian Prince is most probably the one in the prophecy." 'Oh... wait the empire is now called The Powstravian Empire.' She thought before saying; "The empire has now changed its name to Powstravian Empire so I guess the prince should be called the Powstravian Prince instead." She paused briefly and continued; "Next on the agenda The Demon Lord will give his verdict."

Jodhaa stood aside and Ashkan said while sitting on his throne; "It appears we are in a precarious situation but you should not worry, My younger brother, Reza, will lead his elite troop to their palace during the naming ceremony and take care of the prince."

Reza came forward and enunciated proudly; "Thank you for entrusting me with this mission brother, I will not let you down. With my acid magic, I will melt even his bones.".

[TN: I'm publishing this chapter for my birthday and I'm sorry I haven't been releasing new chapters of late. Will do my best to publish more.]