Pain.
A crushing weight pressed in on them, and with each breath they took, despair pooled and tightened around their chest like an iron vice.
The bodies of their fallen brothers lay scattered across the battlefield, forming an image that was both grotesque and heart-wrenching.
Silence reigned, stifling and oppressive, broken only by the rhythm pounding of their hearts- a haunting reminder of the life still tethered to them.
Thump… Thump…
Their hands clenched instinctively, trembling with the weight of numerous untold emotions.
Hot tears carved paths down their dirt-streaked cheeks, leaving a burning sensation in their wake. The air around them grew heavier, laden with sorrow, anger and the suffocating grip of despair.
And worse,
"Huff… Huff."
With every breath they took, despair slowly crept closer, its invisible hold tightening around their chest with every heartbeat.
Badump! Badump!
It slithered into their minds, a suffocating specter slowly dragging them into its suffocating depth.
Thump… Thump…
It was relentless.
Maddening.
And must unnerving of all,
Badump! Badump!
I-...It was overwhelming.
And before them stood the source of it all.
Badump! Badump!
A single figure. A one man army as some would say.
His presence as indomitable as the heavens above.
Clench~
Their fists clenched tighter, nails biting into skin.
Perhaps he was a God amongst men, or perhaps… he was something far worse.
His broad back faced them, seemingly bearing the weight of the heavens themselves.
His cold, indifferent gaze sliced through the air like a blade, sending a cold chill through their very souls.
Badump! Badump!
He stood amidst the carnage, like some sort of heavenly demon conjured from the depths of hell to bring ruin to the world above.
And in all sincerity, he did even better.
Around him lay ruin.
Mangled flesh, rumpled organs, splintered bones and severed heads. It was a sight both horrifying and awe-inspiring in equal measure.
But nevertheless, if there was one thing that couldn't be denied,
If there was one thing that couldn't be refuted,
That was the fact that, he had managed to send across the intended message.
***
The soldiers bit on their lower lips, desperate to suppress the primal emotions warring within them.
Clench~
Their fists tightened further, trembling as the flood of emotions surged.
Defiance, anger, and something darker,
Something more primal.
'Aaaaaarggghh!!'
They bit until they could feel the metallic taste of blood flooding their mouth.
Yet,
Thump… Thump…
It did nothing to calm the intensification of their emotions.
If anything,
Drip! Drip!
It only worsened.
It slowly grew into a suffocating force that threatened to take their breath away from them.
…In the presence of the overwhelming pressure.
They continued to bite on their lower lips until they could taste even more blood.
In the presence of t-he suffocating darkness.
Slip~
Weapons slipped from trembling hands, the clangor of metals reverberating through the stifling quiet.
Clang! Clang!
Tears streaked their faces as they fell on their knees, overcome by emotions too vast to contain-
Defiance, indignance, anger, and an-all consuming despair.
Thud! Thud!! Thud!!!
Their voices broke as they whispered through trembling lips.
"We're sorry Emperor…. We're sorry..."
Silent sobs broke out from their chest, their echoes unheard within the suffocating dark.
And with silent cries, and heart bleeding with pain, anger and unwillingness, they all knelt before him.
How could they kneel before the man who had stolen everything from them?
They all knelt before Napoleon- The Conqueror.
Yet, how could they not, when his mere presence alone, crushed their will to stand?
...In that moment, they abandoned their pride, their honor, and the very essence of what it meant to be men of the Roselle Empire.
All that remained was a bleeding heart, and their desperate pleas for forgiveness.
Over and over again.
With tears dripping onto the ground beneath them.
Their voices cracked, carrying their anguish, pain and a vast amount of other untold emotions, to the heavens above.
"...We're sorry Emperor… We're sorry."
***
.
.
.
Amidst the crushing sense of weakness to the intense tiredness that ran through him, Napoleon- The third managed to keep his cold, indifferent expression.
He managed to keep up the cold facade of his.
And despite knowing he was very well on the brink of fainting.
"Hu… ah."
The aftermath and consequence of drying his spirituality and soul core to the minimum extent.
Clench~
He simply bit on his tongue, his back shuddering ever so slightly as he sent a cold, suffocating gaze onto his surroundings.
Coupled with the Monarch's Aura, the effect was heightened to insurmountable extents and everyone was forced to kneel and none,
Thump… Thump…
No man could dare look him in the eye.
…They were too afraid of what would look back at them.
Badump! Badump!
Clench~
He bit even harder.
…He knew he couldn't afford to show an ounce of weakness before his enemies.
Heaving a sigh of relief, even if it were just for a fleeting moment.
'I did it.'
A weak smile crept up his face.
And,
"Uh… uh."
His vision blurred.
~ Biting on his lips until he could taste blood.
He made use of nightstep, rapidly moving through the shadows.
But not without leaving behind an order.
"Scavenge the mines. Assign the men to the army, the ladies…- Tatiana, you know what to do. And…"
Tok~ Tok~
Moving through the grotesque, macabre act of his, he added solemnly:
"Most importantly, lock Roselle in the Dungeon."
Step~
Step~
As he rapidly moved through the endless shadows, his voice resonated with the dark, like a nightmarish omen of death and darkness, sending cold chills slithering down the spine of those who heard it.
In the stifling quiet where the only constant was the deafening sound of their heartbeat, his final words rang crisp and true.
"...I'll be back."
And then,
A stifling, suffocating quiet enveloped the entire surroundings.
***
Anarzel was shaken to the core.
Only until now did he truly have an iota of idea on just how terrifying the conqueror was.
Badump! Badump!
He had heard the rumors- whispers carried by the wind, and tales of prowess that bordered on myth.
...At first, he had dismissed them, marking them as mere tales and scoffing at their absurdity.
B-ut t-his,
T-his macabre, and grotesque image before him.
It was beyond anything the rumors had ever dared to suggest.
The truth eclipsed the tales and whispers, rendering them pale shadows of the reality standing before him.
No words, no tales, no rumor could ever truly capture the extent of his dominance.
Or,
Thump… Thump…
Anarzel's eyes widened in disbelief.
'...Impossible!'
He immediately refuted that line of thought.
I mean-,
Badump! Badump!
'H-how can he get stronger at such an astonishing pace?!'
'I-is that even possible?!'
He thought hard about it but couldn't come up with a logical explanation.
The only thing he was very much certain about was the fact that it had to do with a miracle.
And, he was very much certain that it was definitely one of a higher existential order.
After all, he could still remember the fear
He trembled.
The dread that had crept into his body.
He gnashed his teeth together in an attempt to stop the shivers.
…It was one so terrifying, it bordered on inhuman.
Thump… Thump…
Trembling.
He tightly clenched his hands in order to stop the sonorous tremors running through them.
But-,
Thump… Thump…
It wasn't working.
Nothing he did worked.
If anything-,
"Huff-...Huff-."
The cold sense of dread coiling and tightening around his chest was only increasing at an alarming rate.
The fear, the dread.
He could still remember them clearly.
His hands still trembled from the aftermath.
And-,
Thump… Thump…
H-...he could still feel it. Still feel them.
Like a suffocating shroud of darkness boring down on his chest.
Tick-
Tick-
Before long,
"Hu… uh."
The very act of breathing started to elude his grasp.
"Hu… Hu."
Even as Napoleon's figure vanished into the horizon, it became much more difficult to breathe.
The endless dark felt so… suffocating.
…Almost as though numerous invisible hands were tightly clenched around his neck.
But to his and everyone's relief,
As soon as the Emperor disappeared from their line of sight. The umbral zone vanished, and sunlight bathed the surroundings.
"Eeeuf!"
Anarzel let out a light sigh of relief, even if it were just for a mere fleeting second.
"Haha."
A light laughter came from somehwere behind, and,
~Clamp!
Turning back.
He caught sight of the Empire's godly archer.
Colonel Wenchi said with a shake of his head, "You'll get used to it."
Anarzel nodded, a wry smile creeping up his face:
"I hope so."
Wenchi simply smiled, his eyes flickering a bright crimson glow.
And before long,
The commands of the emperor were carried out.
***
Tick-
Tick-
Time easily clocked by.
Perhaps a few hours, days or perhaps even weeks, later.
Within a dark, lightless underground, hidden deep within an endless darkness.
A figure.
A broken, battered and bloodied figure could be seen.
***
He had gone through the worst of torture that man could dream of.
From torture so harrowing, it could literally break anyone, over and over again.
To torture that broke his bones and rumpled his organs.
To being healed once again.
The cycle was endless.
Never-ending.
It was abysmal beyond what words could expanseate on.
His hair at this point had long grown disheveled, even his usual bright lustre was slowly dimming.
His face, his eyes to be more precise, were filled with tears. Blood streaked tears.
Debuffing arts that did the worst, inhumane-opposite of buffing arts.
He had gone through them all.
Pain.
Anger.
Agony.
He had suffered them all.
And each time,
Every single time,
His answer still remained the same:
"You can go to hell!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood on Anarzel's face.
"Y-You bastard!"
Anarzel raged, and sent a punch flying right for his face.
Baaaaang!!!
The punch landed, and his vision blurred, blood seeping from the corner of his lips as his head dropped downwards, a bright red liquid dripping onto the cold floor beneath him.
Drip!
Drip!
Anarzel was just about to deliver another devastating punch, the air whizzing violently when-,
"No need."
A figure suddenly walked in, his snow white hair cascaded down his shoulders while his cold gaze sent chills through the very souls' of those who gazed at him.
"...E-emperor."
Anarzel was quick to get on his knees, his eyes locking with the ground beneath him.
Napoleon waved a hand, signifying for Anarzel to get to his feet.
Now gazing at Roselle, he smiled, and said, "You don't need to bother him. Not anymore,"
"Hmm?" Anarzel's brow arched upward.
"I would have been disappointed if he had actually given up… so easily."
Shifting his gaze away from Roselle to Anarzel, he said, "But you know what?"
He smiled, and somehow that smile sent a chill through him.
"I've got all the time in the world."
With a light unsettling laugh that resonated in the endless dark, Napoleon threw Roselle one last look.
"Hah!"
With a dark smile, he slowly stepped out of the dungeon, but not without leaving a word behind:
"Get him prepared. We'll be heading for the Empire in a fortnight."
"Yes your Majesty," Anarzel said, bowing slightly.
Napoleon nodded and slowly walked out of the endless darkness.
Step~
Step~
Leaving the two figures behind, once again.
He knew If he ever wanted a chance of getting Roselle, he needed someone Roselle shared a sentimental bond with.
…Even if it no longer exists.
With a light sigh, he made his way to the throne room.
An addition to the bundles he had.
…And to be honest, the workload was becoming too much to take in.
But-,
"Ha… Ha."
He had no other choice.
With tightly clenched hands, he continued pushing forward.
He had to.
He was left with no other choice.
***
.
.
.
In the endless dark.
The torture continued.
Whiipp!!!
Slaaasssh!!!
"Be Healed!"
Sequence 9 of the Mother pathway- Nurturer- ensured that the torment could persist endlessly, trapping him in an unrelenting cycle of agony.
The act was cruelly precise, preventing Klaus's death, while prolonging his suffering beyond comprehension.
But-,
***
"Hah-ahaha!"
An unsettling laugh escaped my lips.
One that sent chills slithering down Anarzel's spine.
And this only prompted him to clench his teeth even tighter, anger simmering right under his skin.
'Do you find pleasure in this wretched torment?!"
I simply smiled in response.
And,
Slaaash!
It only prompted him to lash out.
His slashes became faster.
Harder, even.
But,
Slash~
Slash~
My smile only widened.
Pain.
Pain, I could endure.
Riiiippp!
Riiiippp!!!
Pain.
A wide grin spread across my face.
….Pain, I was no stranger to.