Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Crystal City

Lord Celzex sat on his throne. The air was thick with the musty smell of corpses, the walls were licked with condensation and corpse flies buzzed about the room in lazy circles over the moldering bodies. Sunlight still streamed in from above, heating the feted meat to a slow cook as the bodies slowly began to liquify.

His body buzzed with adrenaline as he lorded over the room of corpses, making it difficult for him to sit still as the pungent stink of decay permeated the air around him. No one dare step into the room while he was here, the bodies on the floor a testament to what he could and would do when in such a mood. Every movement, every sound, every smell was heightened, his vision seemed to make everything slow, and the world passed by around him as he sat and waited.

He didn't feel sorry for the bodies before him, but he did feel anger towards the one who had done this to him. The creature that came to sit behind his throne and threaten him. He wouldn't have been worried about the creature if they had simply used a knife.... But they had come and done something far far worse.

They were using the adrenaline to manipulate him.

At first he convinced himself the substance was easy enough to let go, the humans had no problem with it constantly in their bodies after all, so clearly it was something he could handle giving up. But as he tried multiple times the following symptoms became too much and he found himself begging, pleading for another dose. He felt sick at himself, sick at the image he could see in his mind of the great emperor bending to a fraud, tethered by the substance that had once brought him even more glory.

He sat like a pupped on his own throne ordering ships into an attack formation as they prepared for assault on the GA, staring with the human solar system.

Lord Celzex tapped his foot impatiently. He had to get out of this somehow. If they were to attack the humans he would lose more than his honor. If anyone were to know what was going on, he would lose more than his honor. He would lose his crown, and his followers and his possessions, and probably his life.

Lord Celzex had made it to the top because he was the most ruthless warlord ever to come out of the seven ring, but even he could not withstand a full attack from hundreds of warriors storming his palace. In fact, it was almost a miracle he had made it this far. The celzex as a group were vicious and blood thirsty and if they didn't think you were giving them enough blood, then you would be off the throne very quickly. There were some who thought he wasn't going far enough by not taking over the universe, but his quick and decisive destruction of one of his own moons had convinced them that he was not the kind of warlord to argue politics with.

He could take over the universe.

But why would he want to?

He would gain nothing but notoriety from such a stunt, and it would likely take the next thousands of years to quell any sort of rebellion, and even if he did destroy the human homeworld first, other humans were always going to be out there to cause a nuisance.

No, none of that would do.

He had made friends with the humans for a reason, and now this unknown entity was going to ruin all of that. He had managed to keep his people in line by way of fear and awe at his expense, but if they learned that he was being extorted for drugs behind his back.... Well it wasn't likely they would have many praiseworthy things to say about him.

It was just then that he felt the cool press of a knife to his back.

"Good morning your eminence." Said the voice dripping with scorn and sarcasm as the tip of the knife was pressed harder into his back. This was not the same voice that he had heard on the first day. This one was slightly deeper than the other had been convincing him that there were at least two or three people involved. That first voice had not been around for a while, a few weeks at most, leaving their friend behind to do the dirty work.