??? - A Dark Ruler's Might

[YolkaEd]

Elsewhere, in a location currently unknown to just about anyone important at the moment...

@hades@

...he slouched on a throne; grinning maliciously as he gazed ahead at the lands he ruled. It wasn't to the extent of his kingdom before Nightshroud had dethroned him-

"Hn?!"

Ah, I mean... um... Ha Des willingly allowed Nightshroud to borrow his kingdom because he was getting bored of single-handedly tyrannizing an entire kingdom until just recently, and was in no way forcefully removed from his position of power.

"Better. You were saying?"

Right... though the size of his rule wasn't as grand as it used to be, it got the job done; and it was growing still. His loyal forces had already started to claim the neighboring kingdoms that weren't under the sway of Nightshroud, and slowly, he was rebuilding.

At that point, a duo of winged minions flew into the throne room. "Dark Ruler Ha Des! We bring news to you!"

@hades@

A small chuckle escaped his lips, as he rubbed his chin somewhat. "Oh really? Are they good or bad?"

"Uh... decidedly good, sir." one of the minions uttered.

"We have just finished settling Raviel within his new home. He needs to recuperate from being pulled from those mines, but with the power boost from Nightshroud's minion, it shouldn't take long."

@hades@

"Excellent!" Ha Des laughed, as he shook his head. "He and Berserk Dragon will serve as excellent pawns to use as weapons... but I could always use more."



"...more and more... you do realize that the stunt you pulled nearly cost us Raviel?"

@hades@

A small chuckle he made, before waving the two minions off. "...I needed to demonstrate his power, and that settlement was the closest. Nightshroud would have discovered the machinations sooner or later anyway, so better to just show what we have."



Slowly, the hidden figure stepped from the shadows. "...we do need to be prepared; him and Trueman have more than enough cards hidden in their sleeves to be a problem."

@hades@

He scoffed. "Bah! We simply need to counter anything they may have to counter us!" He looked at the figure with a smirk. "But I'm aware of the risks, yes... especially going up against that two-timing snake who always seems to stay one step ahead of the curve... then again, with you on my side, that's a thing in the past."



"...flattery won't get you far, Ha Des." she mused, as she eventually stepped out of the shadows completely.

@hades@

"I am aware." He smirked. "But you would be wise not to make me cross, even if we're in this together... Yubel."



@yubel@

With a hum, she folded her arms. "Duly noted. Though I trust that you will allow me to use Raviel for my... research?"

@hades@

"Of course; that's part of the agreement." Ha Des chuckled, as he simply waved his hand a touch. "You just keep supplying me with your special creations, and my forces will gladly benefit from it all!"

@yubel@

"...of course." With a nod, Yubel folded her arms... before glancing to the side. "Hm?"

And suddenly, a larger being suddenly barged into the throne room. "Dark Ruler Ha Des! Miss Yubel! Guest!"

@hades@

Ha Des blinked a touch. "...guest?" He then rose to his throne. "What guest are you talking about, Opticlops?"

"Uh..." And the larger being turned back to look at...

[tag=kelik]

[kelik]

A not so modest witch lady with a skull in her hands...

@nemain@ "Thank you, dear. I can take the rest from here..." She had a smile on her face. "You must be the almighty Ha Des..."

[YolkaEd]

With a slightly awkward laugh, Opticlops stood aside.

@hades@

He raised a slight eyebrow, and rubbed his chin in interest. "...I am." he spoke with a small nod. "And who are you supposed to be?"

@yubel@

Still keeping her arms folded, Yubel simply observed this woman with narrowed eyes.

[kelik]

@nemain@ "Nemain, though some rude men coined the phrase "Skull Witch"..." She sighed. "Honestly, you experiment on a few human corpses and all of the sudden everyone labels you an enemy....but I digress." She came up. "I've heard of two powerful dictators in the Spirit World, Nightshroud, and of course...you."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

He chuckled. "Clearly you've made the right choice in coming to meet with me, then." he mused as he observed her.

@yubel@

She still remained silent as she looked over this woman. ...hm...

[kelik]

@nemain@ "Thank you." She giggled. "Though, I have quite a tale to tell. I come from an order called the "Shadow Knights", a group I'm sure you have never heard of."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

He blinked, as he tilted his head ever so slightly. "...yeah, I haven't heard of this. What's this group all about?"

@yubel@

She still remained silent.

[kelik]

@nemain@ "The Spirit World has a long history, I'm not surprised you haven't heard of us...even the Pharaohs of old shouldn't have that much knowledge of us. You see, the Spirit World was much larger than you know. There were separate orders that kept the peace in those expanded regions: The Royal Knights and the Kagero, also known as the Dragon Empire, for example...." She paused. "Then there were people that separated from the Royal Knights, due to various reasons...and they followed a being who's power was almost comparable to the gods. They were known as the Shadow Knights."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

"...interesting." Ha Des hummed, as he rubbed his chin a touch.

@yubel@

She didn't say anything, but she did seem somewhat intrigued.

[kelik]

@nemain@ "The being who lead us was...." She held the skull out, and visions popped out into view...



"Phantom Blaster Dragon."

@nemain@ "A being of darkness who's only desire was to see the order in Spirit World destroyed and rebuilt. He pulled enough strings to make all the clans who governed the land to war against him, and the knights. He feeds off chaos, you see, and the more we warred, the stronger he became. Until he reached into an unstoppable, godlike form..."



"Phantom Blaster Overlord."

@nemain@ "With this evolution, victory was nearly in his hands...however..."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

"...do-gooders." Ha Des frowned. "There always has to be do-gooders to bring down a perfectly evil regime..."

@yubel@

Still, she remained silent whilst watching these images.

[kelik]

@nemain@ "Indeed..." She continued the images.



"The King of Knights' right hand man, Blaster Blade, stepped forth to oppose him..."



"As well as our lord's right hand man, who recently defected back to the Royals: Blaster Dark."

@nemain@ "Along with the King of Knights himself, they tried to defeat Blaster Overlord. They couldn't quite cut it...until Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark settled their differences, and fused into a hero strong enough to defeat our lord..."



"Majesty Lord Blaster...a warrior with perfect balance between light and darkness. His power was just enough to defeat our lord, and demolish the Shadow Knights..."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

"Feh..." He narrowed his eyes. "...I hate it when that happens; always the triumph of good over anything else..."

@yubel@

Finally, she saw room to speak up. "...if this Majesty Lord Blaster proved powerful enough to destroy your organization... how does that explain you being here?"

[kelik]

@nemain@ "Now that's the odd part...I woke up one day, along with most of the other members of the Shadow Knights. I'm not sure, but I assume something may have brought us back somehow." The skull stopped glowing, as the images faded. "We gathered that we weren't in the Spirit World we knew of, it's most likely the future. That could explain why all of the clans aren't around anymore."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

"...so you wanna start fresh, eh?" He chuckled a bit. "I see... so you came straight to me."

@yubel@

She grew thoughtful, but kept it to herself.

[kelik]

@nemain@ "More or less." She turned. "Our master would have greeted you himself, but it seems he's still badly injured from his battle with that cursed warrior..." She frowned. "He's resting his strength up, and once he regains it, he'll be more than glad to assist you...of course, causing some destruction speeds his restoration up as well."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

"...heh." He grinned at that. "Senseless destruction is well enough... but destruction with a purpose is truly glorious." He nodded. "With our forces expanding my rule, I'm sure your master's gonna be as fit as a fiddle in no time."

@yubel@

"...may I inquire into something?" Yubel hummed, as she narrowed her eyes. "...why Ha Des? Why not visit Nightshroud?"

@hades@

"...hey." His tone turned dark at that moment, as he scowled.

@yubel@

"Nothing ill meant, Ha Des, but just from a current position of power, Nightshroud has the bigger chokehold of this world at the moment." she noted, as she looked at Nemain with her narrowed gaze. "I'm simply wondering why they opted for your allegiance first."

[kelik]

@nemain@ She just gave Yubel a smile. "I can understand your confusion. Indeed if we allied ourselves with Nightshroud, we could give him just enough for to overwhelm every other force in a short amount of time...however, if all the fighting had ended that fast, then our lord wouldn't have enough energy to wake up. Not that we wish to drag this out longer than you'd hope for, but..."

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

He chuckled. "Oh, by all means. We're still rebuilding after I took a shore-leave, so if it's destruction and chaos you need to wake your master up, we can supply it tenfold!"

@yubel@

She still remained silent, though she did mellow out a touch due to the reasonable explanation. Still... "...you can guarantee that you wouldn't abandon us the moment it would be beneficial to you, then?"

[kelik]

@nemain@ "I wouldn't dream of it. Why would I abandon my allies?" She held out her hand...and showed her lengthy nails. "I certainly hope we can work well together, miss."

[YolkaEd]

@yubel@

She simply observed that hand for a moment...

...and then she nodded. "...call me Yubel."

@hades@

"Splendid!" Ha Des chuckled, as he grinned at the two of them with a small nod. "Yubel, how about you show our newest ally around? I'm going to plan our next move in the meantime."

@yubel@

"...certainly." With a small nod, Yubel began walking; glancing at Nemain with a nod. "...if you please."

[kelik]

@nemain@ "Of course." She nodded, and looked back. "Of course, the other Knights would be happy to assist as well. I'll send the second-in-command a message of our new alliance." She followed along.

[YolkaEd]

@hades@

"Good, good..." With a chuckle, Ha Des slouched back. "I'm sure you won't regret it."

With that, the two women left the throne room.

@yubel@

As they wandered, Yubel simply looked ahead without a word.

[kelik]

@nemain@ She followed along, keeping that smile on. "Have you been working for Ha Des for long?"

[YolkaEd]

@yubel@

"...for a while." Yubel hummed in response. "We've been working mostly in the shadows until recently..."

[kelik]

@nemain@ "Oh? What made you come out into the open?"

[YolkaEd]

@yubel@

"...Ha Des acquired a mighty weapon, and he intended to show it off. Flaunting it in Nightshroud's face, so to speak."

[kelik]

@nemain@ "A mighty weapon you say?" She looked over, curious.

[YolkaEd]

@yubel@

"...currently, it is resting." Yubel mused. "I can show it to you, if you refrain from coming in physical contact with it."

[kelik]

@nemain@ "You have my word, miss Yubel." She nodded.