Chapter 153: Fool's Castle

The Dragon's speed was almost comical, zipping across the clouds with no signs of stopping, the entire group forced to hold down on its burning hot scales, its temperature slightly altered so as to pick up such people, with some even screaming in joy, others in terror due to such momentum and height. Asmodeus, the Rider of the dragon, could visibly be seen being annoyed by the group, watching them scream or cheer like they were in an amusement park. Zazel couldn't help but laugh silently to himself, hearing such happiness and fear go off simultaneously. The beast soared through the skies with no signs of stopping. Before long, they would be able to see the kingdom once more, though its appearance changed dramatically, with the group quieting down and taking in such a change. The Castle was no longer something pristine, but rather a black color. A Bleak structure, with jagged edges that were once towers, now mere pillars of dark steel and sharpened stone, swords that only giants would wield. The Center of the city would be full of riots, though not aimed at the king, but rather at themselves. Violence visible to the naked eye, even in such a large height, with pools of blood sprayed all over, some even somehow aged into an oxidized substance. The buildings that were once mere cardboard cutouts, mere child-like drawings that makes it feel innocent, was painted well with such sanguine liquid. To make matters worse, the ground felt like it was shaking. They could see crevices in the earth, slowly spreading out to the many buildings that once stood.

If one looks closer at such crevices, they can see hints of red pulsating in it. It's growing. It's feeding. It's living.

The group swooped down to the ground and charged their way into the Kingdom, with Harvard knowing the directions due to his capture before. The guards took notice of them and tried to follow, yet Asmodeus and his dragon both served as a roadblock, preventing them from further entry. As everyone else explored the castle when making their way into the throne room, they could see that the decor changed to fit with the outer walls of the castle: Black bricks with white chalk, all sorts of drawings depicting of people. At first, they would be confused, until Harvard would notice that certain people were donning certain plants on their body: A Queen with an Iris resting on her head, a King with an Asther donned on his robes, a Duke with an Astilbe in his hand, smelling it, as if he was enjoying its fragrance. The more and more they went down the corridor, the more and more they saw such chalk drawings of the people in an extremely close detail. There was no words that needed to be exchanged, Solomon and Stolas merely looked on to Harvard and Zazel, to which the latter simply nodded their heads.

They were the royal Family. The Family of the Queen that resided in this once beautiful castle.

As they reached the throne room, following the trail of the red carpet as a direction, they would be met with someone they'd never expect to come back. A Man would be seen laughing to himself, wielding a skull in one of his hands, and a blade on the other. The Man was adorned with the finest robes and jewelry, dressed like a military general in such silk-like clothes of red and black, diamonds and emeralds embedded on the cloth. Around his arm was the supposed crown, shaped like a shoulder blade from a set of armor, colored in the same manner as the castle. The Blade's sheathe glistened within the sun that poked out its rays to the room, and the Skull would be seen made out of silver. Most importantly, however, is that he has a major chest wound on him, one that somehow recovered and let him keep going. "You're...Alive...!?" Harvard would state, almost in disbelief, with the voice catching the knight's attention.

He grew a wicked grin, his crimson eyes still present. "OH! Well if it isn't the brat that cheated us out of our game! I knew that I was going to meet you little runts again, A message from the Divine indeed..." He'd jeer, before tossing the skull over his head and getting up from his throne, standing straight and stretching his body, loosening up his joints. "And it seems that the interlopers also arrived here. The betrayers of my very group, and the priest that sealed my life....How fun it is to meet you all, the very people I despise most."

"How the heck are you-.." 

"Alive?" Malak was quick in interrupting the boy's voice, before he'd snap his fingers, having his rabid servants come in to showcase a demonstration. The group could see that such servants were frothing at the mouth, almost as if they contracted rabies. Their eyes were just as red, signifying that such a disaster has came for them, and there was no turning back. "I am a man of Show.....not Tell. Instead, why don't I merely show you such a performance?" He'd clap his hands as the demented servants began to dress themselves, with one of them donning the same outfit as the queen, another donning the Knight's former attire, and a few more acting as either background characters or the set designers to handle the props, one of which was of a large, cardboard hand of white and blue. He'd clap his hands twice to have more servants close the curtains and shed some light, allowing the play to be performed for everyone to see. As it all went quiet, the play would begin.

A Man resting on the ground, fake blood splattered across the flooring and on himself. The Fake prop raising down and touching his body, displayed in the form of angels both cleansing and replacing his blood to heal the Man, as well as providing a lot of energy, treating it as a blessing. When the Man was revived and saw the castle, he'd approach it. Guards would arrive and try to stop the man, as well as the queen with her personal men. The man did not cared, and hacked it all away. One by one, as his blade "cut" through his opponents, they'd fell on the floor, mannequins used as extra limbs and body parts being severed, being brutish in his movements. As he met the Queen, they would be fighting to the death, yet during such a fight, the Queen went more and more ballistic, being a free opening for the Knight to strike at her, crippling her. The Knight pointed at her, preparing to give a speech, before the Queen would cast her magic, with more props to serve as cardboard vines and branches to push him away. The Queen, buried under her own magic, would die as a result, with the Knight taking the crown off of her head.

A Brutal Play, where the Queen and her Men became overwhelmed by a godly force, taking his role as king, with a sneer made by Malak to show each and every detail was as accurate as possible.