[Third Person's PoV]
The remaining Rulers were trembling with anger, their auras flaring uncontrollably as they glared at Cid.
"Now then, before you all get too worked up," Cid began, brushing a strand of hair from his face, "let me remind you of something. I've taken down nearly half of your forces, and I haven't summoned a single one of my shadows to assist me."
Their eyes widened in realization. He was right. From the start of the battle, Cid hadn't called upon any shadow soldiers. He had been toying with them the entire time.
"I should also mention," Cid continued, hands in his pockets, his hair swaying gently over his glowing purple eyes, "I could have brought my wives, who are also Monarchs, to expedite this, but I didn't. They're mad at me for that, by the way. But I'm in it for the thrill. I wanted to demonstrate just how inferior you all are. Clearly, that message wasn't getting through, so I had to spell it out for you."
The four remaining Rulers exchanged uneasy glances. Zeraphiel, the Ruler of Light, who bore the crown of light, frowned deeply. "What are you implying with all of this? That you could have easily destroyed us already?"
"Exactly," Cid nodded. "You've got it. I could have ended this at any moment. But I didn't, simply because I enjoy the game. I wanted to make sure you understood how outclassed you are."
The Rulers' grips on their spears tightened until their hands began to tremble with fury. Chrona, the Ruler of Fate, sighed, closing her eyes.
"Fine," she admitted reluctantly. "You win, Ashborn. We won't pursue you anymore. We've already suffered too many losses. And you can rest assured, we won't ally with the Monarchs either."
"..."
Cid was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Cid doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Oh, this is rich! Let's give a round of applause to the Ruler of Comedy over here!" he mocked, slowly clapping his hands, glancing to the side as if addressing an invisible audience.
Liora, the Ruler of Justice, opened her mouth to defend Chrona, but Cid, wiping a tear from his eye, interrupted.
"That's funny," he said coldly, his expression hardening. "You think you still have a choice in this matter. No, no, no. You lost any say of the situation the moment I set foot in this place."
A shockwave of shadows erupted from Cid, forcing the Rulers to leap back in fear. The floor of the divine hall became engulfed in a swirling, smoking darkness, from which black and purple figures began to emerge.
The four remaining Rulers unleashed their power in response, but Cid, hands still in his pockets, began to walk away, his form fading as his presence disappeared and he turned invisible. "Iron, take charge," he ordered.
Iron gripped his shield and axe, releasing a thunderous battle cry that bolstered the courage and strength of the shadow forces. Leading the charge, Tank roared as he rushed forward, ready for battle.
Zeraphiel turned into a streak of light and charged towards the Shadow Soldier ready to engage them in battle but before she could a purple streak of light appeared and tackled her out of the way slamming her roughly against the wall.
It was Lucifer, Cid's shadow which was made out of the shadow essence of thousands of demons gifted with the power of purple light.
Zeraphiel had an annoyed expression, the two streaks of light then swam through the skies of the battlefield below. They never remained standing still in one spot and were flying all over the place. They're two lights smashing against each other.
Zeraphiel struck her spear right through Lucifer, but grabbed her arm which was closed to his stomach, then grabbed her face. Zeraphiel's free hand went to Lucifer's arm trying to break free; however He was gripping her face too tightly.
Lucifer unleashed a blinding and wide searing flash of light that would be equivalent to the sun, however it appeared Zeraphiel survived.
Meanwhile Liora wanted to chase after Zeraphiel and fell but as she took off slightly Iron appeared from jumping down from the air swinging his axe down. Liora tried to dodge but it nicked her wings cutting them as the axe creating a miniature earthquake as it landed.
Liora cried out and angrily tried to stab Tank but he blocked it with his shield creating large sparks between them.
Tank pushed the spear upwards with his shield creating an opening and creating a large gash along her torso with his axe causing White and Gold blood to erupt from the wound.
While Cid just casually levitate Pyrrhon's body from the ground using Rulers authority and unstuck Belisara and Tylos from the wall and stored their bodies into his shadows, "For save keeping, worry not your bodies won't go to waste, they would be put to very good use~" Cid said teasingly.
Tusk grabbed his eye of avarice, the red crystal ball and unleashed a gravity hymn towards Auriel, the Ruler of Wisdom, who thought it would be wise to take to the skies as there were barely any monsters there.
However thanks to Tusk spells he was slammed strongly against the ground that it cracked and from behind Tusk a group of red Ogres charged letting out a battle cry.
Auriel screamed loudly as White and golden blood flew everywhere, their shouted and screaming, and grunts from the ogres in until the screaming stopped, when the ogres dispersed it revealed a gory sight, Auriel was down down limb by limb, along with his head which was separated from his body and wings which appeared to be ripped off, golden and white blood everywhere.
Tank the giant ice bear charged towards Chrona who was annoyed and overwhelmed as she found and decapitated some of the Shadow Soldiers who managed to regrow their limbs, they were made from Bellion's army.
Tank appeared from behind her and slashed at her back making her scream, feathers flying everywhere.
Chrona quickly turned around and faced Tank, Chrona tried to change her fate to survive her encounter against the ambush from her direction, however her eyes widened in shock, her Fate of survival was 0%, which meant no matter how much she multiple her chances of surviving her chances would still be 0%.
However she was going down without a fight, she let out a scream as she made sure it was her attacks that caused the fates of the shadows to end as a last resort.
Which worked for lower level soldiers, which were mostly the bandits Cid found in his backyard, the one when Cid was around 5 and Claire had taken him to the forest and they ran into the bandit group together. For exactly the scarface who had his connection with Cid severed due to Chrona erasing his fate with him.
However before Scarface disappeared he grabbed a hold of Chrona's spear, which Tank took a hold on with his jaw, and swung her around until she was slammed repeatedly on the floor and was then proceeded to be mauled over by all the world shadow animals in Cid's possession.
Zeraphiel was screaming due to feeling everyone slowly dying and her own face practically melting.
Lucifer created multiple swords of light and didn't even wait for them to finish materializing around him before sending them all flying towards Zeraphiel impaling her until she was stuck to the wall like a porcupine with purple sword handles coming out of her body.
The swords all dissipated and Zeraphiel dropped down to the floor and landed spread eagle on the ground in a pool of her own white and gold blood.
[Third Person's PoV]
Cid calmly walked through the crowd of his shadow soldiers, who parted and knelt, creating a path towards the fallen bodies.
He patted Iron on the shoulder and said, "Good work."
Iron beamed with pride, his chest puffing out as tears gathered in his eyes. Overcome with emotion, he quickly hid behind his forearm and began to sob happily.
Cid scratched Tank's chin, eliciting a satisfied growl. "You did well too," he added with amusement.
"My lord…" Lucifer knelt, presenting Zeraphiel's punctured body to Cid. He said nothing, simply looking at Cid expectantly.
Cid resisted the urge to roll his eyes in amusement and patted one of Lucifer's horns. 'They're like children, how cute,' he thought. "You should be proud."
"With you as my lord, I always am," Lucifer responded, his head bowed.
'Cheeky brat,' Cid thought, shaking his head as he approached Auriel—or what was left of him. His body parts were scattered across the ground.
"Did you have to mangle his body? I have use for it, you know," Cid said, casting a wary glance at Tusk, who crumbled to the ground in disbelief at being reprimanded. Tusk glared at his subordinates behind him, placing the blame on them without hesitation.
"It's fine, Tusk. I'm not blaming you, nor are you in trouble," Cid said, amused, as he levitated Auriel's body parts and reassembled them.
As Auriel's body reformed, he levitated the other three bodies. Cid recalled all of his shadows, who melted into the ground and swam back into his shadow.
He smirked at the bodies before him. "I hope my wives enjoy the treat I bring them."
…
Igris reappeared in the meeting hall where the 14 Sins and Virtues were gathered. Some crossed their arms in irritation, others looked tired of waiting, but all turned their eyes curiously towards Igris.
"What is it, Igris?" Alpha asked.
"My lord is returning, and he requests that the table be cleared, for he brings a feast that some of you will enjoy," Igris relayed.
Once the table was cleared, Igris took hold of his cloak, spread it to the side, and bowed with a hand to his chest.
Cid emerged from Igris's cape with his hands in his pockets. As he walked towards his seat, large objects followed behind him, stacking themselves on the table to form a pile.
Seated, Cid crossed one leg over the other, leaning back with his elbows resting on the armrests and his hands pressed together. "I'm sorry, ladies. Something minor came up, and I had to step out for a moment. I hope you didn't mind," he said calmly.
The room fell silent as all eyes widened in disbelief. The objects on the table were the giant bodies of angels, their massive white wings making it unmistakable.
"You should have brought me with you," Claire pouted.
"This was something I had to do on my own," Cid replied calmly.
Even Beta pouted a bit. "We just wish to help you, Lord Husband. We have the ability now where we won't be a nuisance to you."
"I know you do, Beta. I never once thought otherwise. But this was something only I could do. They thought they could barge into my home and make demands without consequences. I had to be the one to handle it," Cid explained. "No one else. Besides, you're not the only one who enjoys a good fight."
Cid smiled slightly. "I can't always sit back and let you all do everything."
Though Beta understood, it didn't mean she liked it.
"So, who are you going to pass their power to?" Claire asked, looking around the room.
"They'll all go to the Seven Virtues—"
"WHAT?!" Epsilon exclaimed. "But that's not fair!"
"It's not about fairness," Alpha retorted. "It's because the Virtues represent the light, and these Rulers are beings of light."
"But I'm a Monarch," Claire said, raising her hand slightly. "Does that mean Alpha will become a Ruler? It would be symbolic—a being of darkness leading the light, and a being of light leading the darkness."
Cid placed a hand on his chin. "That could work…" 'However, I was thinking about making Alpha the Monarch of Destruction and passing the Ruling of Light to Akane since…'
"No," Cid said finally, shaking his head. "As good an idea as that is, I have other plans for Alpha."
"You do?" Alpha asked, taken aback.
Cid placed his hands on top of hers. "You'll have to forgive me, but it might take a while for you to become a Monarch. In fact, you might even be the last."
Alpha didn't look displeased in the slightest. "I trust your judgment. I will do whatever you think is best. And I have a feeling it will be worth the wait anyway."
Cid kissed her hands, making her chuckle. He then turned towards Yukime. "Yukime, as the Virtue of Charity, it will be up to you to pass on the powers of a Ruler to everyone here."
"Oh?" she said, her mouth hidden behind a fan. "So I'll be the first to perform my duties as a Virtue," she said happily.
"What do I have to do?" she asked, standing up.
"Place the hand with the Godrune on top of one of the bodies and think about absorbing it into your body," Cid explained.
Yukime reached over to the table and placed a hand on one of the Ruler's bodies. The rune on the back of her hand glowed briefly, and the body slowly disintegrated into particles of white light that flowed into her hand.
She looked towards Cid to see what she should do next. "The one you just absorbed is the Ruler of Fate, and that one will go to Aurora."
"Me? And why Fate?" Aurora asked in surprise.
"Because, out of everyone here, you perhaps didn't have the best fate. However, your fate changed when you met me. You are practically fateless because your fate should have ended with your disappearance. Thus, as someone whose fate is undetermined, making you the Ruler of it seems like the most logical choice."
Gamma then raised her hand slightly, "My lord I think I speak for everyone when I say you hang all of our fates, none of us would be here if it wasn't for you"
Most of the girls nodded their heads in agreement.
However Cid shook his head and looked towards Aurora, "You understand what I mean don't you?"
Aurora nodded, "Compared to everyone else I was only a memory, I was already dead. I really had no fate since Cid had used the memory of myself to create a soul, and then create me a body"
They were shocked, they had never heard of Aurora's tale before, they all had just assumed her body was trapped or something and Cid had rescued her. They would have never in a thousand years would have thought that she was created out of a memory fragment.
"So it's not farfetched to say that I really am Fateless" Aurora said seeing the looks they were giving her.
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