Zephyr: The Elemental Clans

180 - Service Terminated

Duran Blaze - POV;

"Boom! Boom!"

"Stop him! Argh-"

"Don't let him advance! Gaaaah!"

I stood on the balcony of the tower I called my home, sipping a rich selection of wine as the sounds of conflict and battle rang out below me.

"Damn it! What are those worthless scumbags doing by letting him advance! If it were a real threat they would breach our security in no time!" Rex roared.

"Don't worry Rex. I don't necessarily believe that's true. I have an order out for none of our best men to intervene. The ones trying to intercept him are the lowest of low. They are probably more shocked than anything to see him charging in here. Let them grow," I calmed him down, "They just may be driven by this experience to become great warriors."

"DURAN!!" a large male shouted as he broke in through the main door of my room.

"It seems that you are finally back from your mission. I hope you bring me good news of the siblings' deaths, Zegarth," I spoke to the rude newcomer without facing him and instead continued to look off into the distance as I puffed on my cigar.

"Don't give me that shit!" he coughed, hacking up blood. His hand went to his badly scarred and stitched neck, still oozing pus from severe injuries he'd clearly recently sustained.

"I came back here to report to you that our plan was compromised and leaked but instead I am greeted by your underlings who seemed like they were seeing a ghost!" Zegarth continued, "When that bitch of the World Heirarchy ambushed me, I didn't believe a word of what she said. I thought for sure that the Heirarchy had gotten word of the attack and intercepted it... but the pieces are falling into place. It doesn't make sense that the World Heirarchy would find out about this... how would they? And even if they did, they wouldn't care about some nobody village. Not only that, your people thought that they KNEW I died. Someone had to tell them I died.... YOU told them I died! You knew about this, didn't you, you fucking dog?! Explain yourself Duran! What do you have to say about this?!"

"Tch. Worthless," I muttered.

"What?!" he snapped.

"That's what I have to say: all of you are worthless," I stated in an angry yet commanding tone as I turned towards him, "Every last one of you whom I've outsourced the most simple tasks to have been colossal failures! I gave you an easy mission: Kill everyone living around the abandoned Library while Nero seized The Third Prophecy. What was the outcome? You were beaten within an inch of your life by an inexperienced boy with no grasp over his power and you let those five siblings survive so they could ruin our plans to have Xyder incarcerated! I gave you a Legendary Beast and sent it along with your army of demonic dogs to just kill one little child before he could get in our way. The outcome? You let Xyder and his sister escape nigh unscathed and they grew to become the foundation if the largest thorns in my plans! And now... I told you to kill those five rats one more time. YOU FAILED TO KILL FIVE POWERLESS CHILDREN FOR THE SECOND TIME! You have proven to be nothing but a pain and a nuisance! But perhaps it's not your fault. All of you marked as Vessels of Darkness seem to be cursed as failures. Even that Detective from the Heirarchy couldn't kill a flea like you when I told her to. Instead she ran her pretty tongue and made you come barrelling here so full of yourself. My use for you has all but vanished, but you know far too much to let live! Your service terminates here!"

As those words escaped my lips, my body was engulfed by the pure white flames of Blaze as I prepared to show him true despair.

"Black hole!" Zegarth exclaimed unexpectedly as a burst of Dark energy exploded forth from his body and an army of demonic dogs stormed through every crevice. It didn't take me long to realise that he had taken advantage of the chaos to flee but he should have known better. Duran Blaze can't be outdone so easily!

****
Eclipse Zegarth - POV;

"FUCK! FUUUCK!" I spat as I bolted through the winding halls of Duran's prized skyscraper in Nereus City. Despite my firm demeanor while confronting him, I knew that there was not even the slightest chance for me to defeat Duran Blaze. Though it would be true, it was hardly fair to describe that man as a human. He was a monster of the highest calibre amd I knew this perhaps better than anyone else, especially after seeing him go head to head against Grisha Astra and Damon Neptulus.

Grisha alone was largely regarded as one of the most powerful men alive today but against Duran, he and Damon we practically both annihilated in little time. I could even see Duran holding back in that encounter as their deaths was something he certainly didn't make a goal nor priority. Once Duran Blaze wants you dead and appears before you himself, your fate might as well be sealed.

"You can't run from me Zegarth," Duran voiced as he appeared at the other end of the corridor. I made a sharp left, covering my face with my arms as I ran straight through the glass walls of the fifteenth storey, breaking into the vast cover of the shadowy night outside. I entered a freefall, maneuvering myself so that I landed squarely on one knee and bolted forward through the darkness to escape the terror that was Regulus Blaze.

"Boom!" A loud explosion sounded as the solid concrete walls to my right was blasted into smithereens when a hulking, shimmering figure burst through it. Even at this hour, I could ckearly make out the figure of Rex Blaze whom appeared infront of me to cut off my path, especially since the brilliant, white flames bleeding out from his body lit up the alleys.

"Destroy him!" I commanded some of my demonic dogs whom had gathered at the base of the tower. They leapt into action, bounding towards the flaming man with killer intent. In an unprecedented turn however, they screeched to a halt and took a moment to stare at the man before turning their blood thirsty glares on me.

They stepped towards me with vicious growls and foaming mouths, some occasionally barking and snapping as they encircled me.

"What's the matter? Scared?" Rex snickered.

"What's going on? Attack him you mutts! Not me!" I yelled at the canines.

"Are you confused? I'm not surprised," Rex laughed, "You ate up our lies so hungrily! You caught yourself up in a glowing fantasy. You really thought you were special? 'You have a unique talent for commanding the respect of vile beasts'. You lapped up that bullshit directly off of the floor!"

"But I've led them for so long! How could that be a lie?!" I countered.

"These heathens don't care for emotions and respect. They follow one thing: instinct," Rex explained, "The pack follows the pack leader. The common Demonic Dogs follow the lead of the Greater Demonic Dogs. The greater beasts listened to the Legendary Beast, Fenrir. But all of them answered to one with supreme authority over their kind. I journeyed to the depths of hell itself and left the guardian of it's gates headless. Tell me Zegarth. Answer this riddle. Who do you think is their new Cerberus?"

As he said this, his flames grew in power and size, multiplying until they formed a three-headed behemoth of a hell hound which towered over thirty feet into the air and illuminated the city with the intensity of a sun.

"My previous order no longer stands, mutts," Rex cackled, "You no longer have to obey the demands of that fool. Here is your new task: Kill him!"