The Infinite Bk. 05 Ch. 09

Lupin's pace was broken, and he couldn't reform his stance or even catch his breath. Kaisen wouldn't let him off easy and continued raining blows. Nell cried and turned away, unable to watch the savage beating.

"He's not going to make it," Shannon murmured.

"Noah, if you're going to do something, now's the time," said Valia.

"Come on, Lupin. You know what to do," Noah hissed with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Kaisen extended his arm, holding Lupin off the ground by his throat. His face was bruised and bloody, and every breath was a wheeze. "I suppose I should thank you for putting all this together. Everyone will get to see me end your life, and no one will ever question my supremacy. You expect me to put on a fancy silk shirt and deal with paperwork? I'm going to tear down this city brick by brick and return these cowards to the one true life, free of these delusions of order.

There will be only one law: I take what I want. I don't need the people of Welindar to respect or love me, all I need is their fear. I need them to know that the only fate that awaits those who defy me is death. They will cower when they hear my name, and worship me as both king and god as they wallow in the dirt like they're supposed to. Even the Profane will bow before my might. First, I'll rule Welindar, then the world."

"That's the difference between us, Kaisen," said Lupin, spitting blood with every word. "You want to rule; I want to lead." He then jabbed Kaisen in the elbow, forcing him to drop Lupin as his hand went numb.

Lupin landed shakily on his feet but didn't have time to catch his breath. He struck a pressure point under Kaisen's ear, disorienting him, and when he turned away, boxed his other ear. Kaisen staggered to the side, and the moment he flashed his gaze back to Lupin, Lupin poked him in the eyes. Kaisen raised his head and screamed in pain, and Lupin silenced him with a solid blow to the Adam's Apple.

For the last three days, Noah had been coaching Lupin to target pressure points, weak spots, and every vulnerability that could not be hidden by height and bulk. Lupin kept the assault going, hitting Kaisen in every vital area and leaving him unable to fight back. Fueled by pain and desperation, Kaisen tried to slash Lupin just as he would with his claws, but Lupin grabbed his wrist and pulled him off balance. He did as Noah taught him, swinging Kaisen onto the ground in an arm lock, finishing with a severe break.

"Hey Kaisen," said Lupin, getting on top of him. "You're going to die today. What say you?"

Before Kaisen could answer, Lupin rained punches down upon him, hammering Kaisen's face to the point of disfigurement. Blood splattered across the stage from Kaisen's face and Lupin's knuckles, with both men soaked in sweat. It was primal savagery in its purest form. The beating ended when Lupin ran out of breath, but even then, he was too driven by fury and bloodlust to show mercy.

He retrieved his chain, raising the handle above his head like a dagger. However, before the finishing blow could be delivered, Kaisen grabbed his wrist, stopping Lupin with the tip of the handle hovering just above his eye. The two foes roared at each other like savage beasts, using every last bit of strength in their bodies. Lupin pushed down with all his weight, stabbing Kaisen in the eye.

Kaisen roared at the top of his lungs, and several snarls answered his call within the crowd of spectators as numerous fiends ripped off their disguises and took on monstrous forms. Unlike all other fiends encountered, their bodies were stable and robust. Their muscles, skeletons, and skin were highly augmented without cancerous mutations or asymmetrical features. Their parasites were merged with their spines and were much larger than the typical worms usually applied. These were the elite that Lupin had warned of.

They smashed their way through the crowd, indifferent to the innocent people they trampled, and the soldiers in their way fared no better. They rushed to the stage, but Valia reached it first. She was about to raise her sword and execute Kaisen, but the fiends grabbed the stage and flipped it off the ground. In midair, she caught the prince and jumped to safety. Kaisen was launched into the air, but now freed of the magic circle, he adorned his semi-transformed state and landed with perfect feline grace.

"I'm coming for you, prince!" he snarled, blood pouring from his missing eye. The other wasn't faring much better, nearly swollen shut from the barrage of punches he received.

While most of the fiends were dealing with the soldiers, three gathered around him. "Sir, we're getting you out of here," a man with the head and legs of a goat said.

"I'm not leaving! Not until I've ripped his head off!"

"You're in no condition to fight! You can barely see!" a man covered with scales said.

"All I need is to smell his fear, to hear his frantic heart. I'm not going anywhere."

"That's right, you're not going anywhere." Kaisen and the fiends turned to a voice that chilled the air with bloodlust. "You have crimes to answer for," said Noah, approaching with his sword drawn. "Do not expect me to be as kind to you as Lupin was. He only took your eye. I'm going to take everything else."

"Tallos, deal with him," the goat-headed man said.

The third fiend, bearing the augmented form of a jackal, turned to Noah and charged with super speed, ready to slash him to ribbons with his claws. However, before reaching Noah, he collapsed as if tripping and hit the ground with his severed head rolling to the side. The fiends were shocked, unable to believe what had just happened. They never even saw Noah's attack. How was it possible for someone to move that fast?

"Rait, get Kaisen out of here!" the scaled fiend shouted. On cue, a beastman with massive black wings descended. Kaisen tried to resist but was seized and pulled into the sky. Noah took aim with an illusory pistol and fired several rounds at the beastman, making him stagger in the air.

"Bastard!" the scaled fiend roared as he charged towards Noah. Like his cohort, he didn't see Noah's attack; he only felt the blade cut through his neck. However, his tough scales slowed the blade, leaving Noah's sword stuck halfway through. The fiend grabbed the sword and held on tight. "I've got you now, and I'm not letting go, no matter--" A dagger through the eye socket, though failing to kill him, did render him silent and break his hold. Noah pulled his sword free and delivered a second slash to the throat, succeeding in beheading the fiend.

He turned around, but the winged fiend had already carried Kaisen off, and all the other fiends were slipping away in the chaos. The people were in a panic, with several dead and countless others wounded, most of which were soldiers. However, that soon changed.

"People of Welindar!" Lupin shouted from the balcony overhead, bruised and bloody all over. His voice drew all eyes to him and silenced the wailing voices. "What you just witnessed were the acts of a coward, someone who not only shamed himself, but sacrificed others to save his own life. I swear, I will never show you such disgrace. For the rest of my life, I'll put your needs and lives above mine. All I ask in return is that you trust me, and let Uther be your home. You are my people, let me be your leader. Let me fight for you."

All was silent for a few moments, then someone began to chant. "Lupin! Lupin! Lupin!" It spread among the crowd, people raising their hands and chanting his name. Soon, everyone was cheering for him, soldiers and civilians alike. Until now, the people of Welindar had grudgingly put up with him, tolerating this outsider, but now, he had proven his character. He had put his life on the line and fought with his two fists for the right to rule. Regardless of his faith or origins, he had earned their respect.

The night after the battle, Lupin walked down the palace corridors towards his chambers, but was stopped by a peculiar smell. Following his nose, he stepped out onto a veranda overlooking the city. There was a row of chairs, and sitting in one was Noah, smoking a pipe.

"Lord Noah, what are you doing out here?"

"Ah, Your Highness, please join me. I thought I would unwind a bit before bed. Take a seat." Lupin sat down next to him and sighed. "How do you feel?"

"Quite sore. Nell healed me as best she could and even used that trick you taught her, but not all aspects of recovery can be augmented with magic. Sometimes the pain just wants to stick around until it's said all it needs to."

Noah handed him his pipe. "Here, take a hit off this."

"It smells like gonlief."

"It is, mixed with something that's great for relieving pain, anxiety, and a whole host of other problems."

"I don't smoke, but considering the stress-reliever you taught Nell, I'm willing to trust you."

Lupin took the pipe and breathed deeply, brightening the pit of embers. "Hold it in," said Noah. Lupin held his breath and then exhaled, releasing a long stream of smoke with a few coughs.

"Hmmm, that's not half-bad."

"Take another."

Lupin repeated the action, put out a second cloud of smoke, and passed it back to Noah, who took a hit of his own. The two men sat in silence for several moments before Lupin spoke. "By the gods, what is in that pipe?" he asked, making Noah snort.

"Good stuff."

"Good indeed. Very good. The goodest good."

"The very best. You want some more?"

"I think I do." Both men took a turn imbibing the smoke and sat silently for a brief span once more. "So you were in Sylphtoria, right? How was it?"

"Breathtaking. The elves live in these colossal trees all woven together and shape their homes into the wood. At night, they have these priestesses that sing a beautiful aria that makes you shiver. You've never been?"

"I met with Chancellor Lour in the home of a local lord near the outskirts, but I've never been to the actual city. The elves didn't want me and my men anywhere near Sylphtoria."

"If it wasn't for Valia, they would have killed me the moment I set foot in their woods. I had to avert a plague just to get them to warm up to me."

"But you got to meet the queen, right? I heard she is a divine beauty."

"Meet her? I got her pregnant."

Lupin broke into a fit of THC-induced laughter. "That's funny."

"Oh, you have no idea. I plan to return there after I break my curse, but unfortunately, that's a long way off. What about you? Have you been back home since the gala?"

"I've been too busy. But hopefully, once everything calms down and the city is more stable, then I can check in. It would be nice to see my father and brothers again. Hopefully, whatever you did to them stuck, and they've reformed themselves into better people."

"There is still hope for Seraph, but Galvin is a lost cause, and I think you know that. He was born rotten and raised to be even worse. Trust me, I've spent a lot of time around people like him. I know the look, the aura."

"I hope not. He may be a smug little cretin, but he's still family. I'd like to think that there is some good in him that can grow to overcome the bad."

"Speaking of knowing the look, how are things between you and Nell?"

"It's that obvious, is it?"

"I can smell the tension between you two."

"I am engaged to the princess of Vandheim. I can't jeopardize that, even for Nell. There are times when I truly wish I wasn't a prince, but my duty comes first."

"Understandable, and unfortunate. So strange, that human beings, who lead such short lives, maintain a system that forces them to spend what time they have with someone they don't love, and why? Because it's so hard to get along without an arranged wedding? People invite so much unnecessary struggle and pain into their lives because they have no sense of perspective. Even the dwarves, who live twice as long, make the same mistake."

"Yes, well, we can't all live forever like you. We're just fumbling in the dark, trying to do the best with what we have. I'm doing this for my people, for the future of my country. I'm willing to make that sacrifice."

"It's not the living that changes you, it's the dying. So much of human endeavor and experience is utterly pointless. Really, all of it is, but certain aspects are more pointless than others. I've spent a long time trying to teach that to people, trying to get them to see beyond themselves for the sake of a better future, but whether I do it with a gentle palm or iron fist, I can't get the lesson to stick. In the end, people act out of their own self-interest, not realizing they're acting AGAINST their own self-interest. Your sacrifice is a noble one, but it's only necessary because of the short-sightedness of others."

"It's what I have to do to prevent chaos and instill order."

Noah chuckled. "Chaos? There is no such thing. Regardless of species or ideology, everyone searches for order in life, even if how they define order differs. Fascists believe that order comes from the centralization of power. Anarchists believe that order comes from the even dispersal of power. Naturalists believe that order comes from the authority of power. They all believe in and strive for a world where people get what they deserve.

I've seen countless societies, large and small, break down with the loss of law and governance, but everyone, even looters and marauders, seeks out what they believe to be balance. Everything we destroy, we do so because we think they intrude on the fairness of the world we each envision. Everything we take, we do so because we believe ourselves justified in our actions and worthy of our needs and desires being fulfilled. Chaos doesn't exist. Chaos is merely a definition of order that we disagree with.

Even Kaisen believes in fairness and opposes chaos. He clings to the belief that might makes right, that the strong should rule over the weak, because that is the only thing that makes sense to him. To him, survival of the fittest ensures everyone gets what they deserve. He envisions a world where we live as animals, free of rules and technology, because to him, societal laws interfere with nature's balance and sabotage destiny's distribution of fairness. He sees man's attempt to instill order as interfering with the natural edict and inciting chaos. The question is, what will he do now? Kaisen can't show his face around this city after your win."

"He's still out there, and he'll keep gathering supporters until he's strong enough to try another coup. For now, what we really need to worry about is the Profane. They must be exterminated."

"I've gone over everything I gathered from Carthace's prison, and they apparently have some kind of mobile base where most of the parasite research is happening. They can move to new areas to avoid detection and gather victims for experimentation. We'd have to find it before it moves again and infiltrate it, but I don't know where to begin looking."

"We'll find it. Maybe it's because those punches I took knocked by brain around, or maybe it's whatever is in that pipe, but I have hope for the future. I think things are looking up."

And thus, the two men sat and continued to enjoy the night air.

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Roaring in fury, Kaisen slashed the fiend before him with his claws, ripping open the monster's skill and leaving nothing behind but a lower jaw and exposed spinal column. Turning around, he opened his mouth and fired a Lion's Roar blast at another fiend, shredding flesh and crushing bone, but failing to kill the creature. Barely a second later, Kaisen remedied that failure with his claws, separating head from neck.

A winged fiend tried to attack him from behind, leaping with his feet outstretched, ready to sink his talons into Kaisen's flesh. Kaisen grabbed the fiend by the throat, slammed him into the ground with enough force to shatter his spine, and then finished him off with several stomps to the head. All around him lay dead fiends, used to vent his anger and frustration, but it wasn't enough to satisfy him. Though his wounds had healed, his ego was still bruised black and blue.

"That bastard cheated me out of my throne! I'll make him suffer for this indignity!"

"Are you done yet?"

Kaisen looked up to a catwalk spanning the room where Curcio stood. He had returned to the Profane base after his loss, and neither time nor violence could calm him. "Send more minions! I still haven't had my fill of death. Satiating me is the best these small-fry can ever hope to accomplish."

"You are no different from they are. Not only did you fail to kill the prince, but the people of Welindar are now cheering his name."

"He got the best of me with trickery and cheats, but it won't happen again. I'll grind him into dust."

"And what about the Wandering Spirit and the Sword Goddess? What do you think will happen when you face them? Two of your subordinates were already slain as if they were nothing."

"What of it?! I'll kill them both!"

"They've already slain Carthace, who was far superior to you. The way you are now, you'll just end up another nameless corpse."

"Come down here and say that to my face!"

Curcio cracked a maniacal grin. "That's why you need to become better than what you are now, far better. The time has come for you to become part of the Profane, to reach the pinnacle of strength."

"My custom parasite has been finished?"

"You could say that. Your case will be quite different from these peons you've been butchering. Of course, to gain great power requires great pain. If you aren't afraid of such things, follow me."

Kaisen leaped up onto the catwalk. "Lead the way," he growled.

Curcio led him through the dark corridors of the base to a surgical chamber. A table with straps sat underneath sterile white light, with a tray of tools and drug-filled syringes nearby.

"If you're ready, hop on the table. But know that this is your last chance to reconsider."

"There is nothing to consider. The ultimate goal of all life is supremacy, to maximize our strengths and attributes so that we might dominate the world around us and everyone in it. Survival of the fittest! There is so sin or crime too terrible as long as it leads to greater power. I was born from the unity of two powerful clans, the perfect beast warrior with the mightiest blood. Combining the lion and tiger made me what I am, and to combine the liger with the Profane will make me even greater. That is all that matters."

Kaisen lay back on the operating table and was strapped in. Curcio stood over him with a scalpel and syringe. "Since your parasite it unique, certain steps must first be taken to make you more... compatible. I can promise you that it will be the most excruciating pain imaginable. You will scream and beg for death. However, when I'm done, you won't be a mere host. You will be a genuine Profane, and the mightiest fiend to ever live. I'm going to make you beautiful."

"Enough jabbering. I don't have all day."

"Believe me, until I'm finished, a day will feel like a lifetime."

Curcio then went to work, and try as he might, not even Kaisen could endure the agony silently.

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