The In-BetweenMoments Ago

Tar panics as he repeatedly slams into the barrier of solid miasma around him, uncaring that each time he does so it wears away slightly at his avatar. Uncaring that it will take him months just to recover after this.

Because all that’s on his mind right now is the image of Scarlet’s injured face in his vision as he slams himself into the wall with abandon, just like he’s been doing for Oberon knows how long now.

But out of nowhere, the miasma barrier suddenly lifts itself, making him fly straight through it, passing out of the In-Between again and into Tartarus where he finds himself in the Demon King’s throne room. And without a single care for the various dukes in the room, the two duchesses, or even the two Demon Lords, Tar immediately flies straight past them to end up right at the Demon King as he physically grabs and pulls on his hair, to the man’s absolute shock along with all of the demons in the room.

“Please help her! She’s dying!!!!!” Tar shouts, his voice echoing throughout the room in a panic.

Then the Demon King’s eyes flare red, a flurry of emotion passing through them so quickly that Tar barely manages to catch the absolute rage, hatred, and fear in them before a powerful bubble of blood spreads out from him, filling as far as Tar can see with the Demon King’s Blood Domain. And within that Domain, everything begins to shake. The demons and even the Demon Lords in the throne room all drop to one knee without a word, each trembling in fear, leaving the Demon King to rise to his feet, the ground beneath him cracking as flakes of crimson blood fly out of his eyes like flames before vanishing again after getting a few inches away from his face.

“Take me to her now,” the Demon King declares, his voice echoing throughout the throne room with a sense of power that urges Tar to immediately enter the In-Between after handing the Demon King a piece of his fur to use for tracking. And after mere seconds, he appears back at the Battlefield hundreds of meters above the ground where he looks down to see the lunatic attacking Scarlet and throwing her battered and broken body like a ragdoll.

All of his beloved best friend’s armor is shattered, leaving naught but the unbreakable under armor remaining as her own bones stick out of her skin all across her body. Meanwhile her very eyes are crying blood, blood is leaking from every single pore in her body, and he even senses wounds all across her reality through his bond now that he’s close enough.

But before he can move down there in what would be a futile attempt to help her, a loud roar louder than anything he has ever heard before echoes throughout what Tar is sure to be the entire planet. And as if reacting to the roar, the entire world shakes around them. The air, the sky, the ground, everything. And it’s not just the world. Crimson lightning begins to fall from the sky like it was reacting to something, the miasmic barriers around the area shatter within an instant, and rain of blood begins to pour down all around them. All around the entire world if Tar had to guess.

Then the roar is followed by an equally loud howl, and thousands of howls in return.

And within a single instant, the bubble of the blood domain reaches them and the Demon King appears in his full glory floating in the air with rivulets of blood pulsating all around him in his quadrupedal beast form, floating at over five meters in height and seven meters in length. The King has crimson eyes trailing along red light at an angle following the angle of his eyes that is reflected in the blood rain, sleek black fur with strips of red as crimson as fresh blood running across it, a tail spanning two fifths of his length that’s constantly shifting from a smooth tail, to one made of crimson blood with a hint of silver, to one made entirely of a blackish red blood metal. Meanwhile he’s snarling while looking down at the undead kitsune who has completely stopped paying attention to Scarlet to fully focus his insane attention on the enraged King.

The very air around the Demon King starts to waver as the blood filling the battlefield floats up into the air joining a massive ocean of blood quickly forming above them, blocking out the crimson lightning flashing in the skies. Even as the bolts strike the blood ocean itself, occasionally lighting it up with crimson light.

Then the Beast of the Apocalypse’s voice echoes throughout the entire world as hundreds of blood lycans begin to appear charging through the Battlefield from all directions until they circle the undead kitsune as a show of force completely unnecessary before the Beast’s power, “Kitsugami Shirou.”

Tar finds himself in awe for a faint second as the undead kitsune is bound by a blood metal collar around his neck, manacles around his wrists and ankles, and is lifted up into the air where his arms and legs are stretched outwards as chains of blood metal form in the air to attach themselves to the manacles.

“You are to face the judgement of the ages for the crime of assaulting a member of the Royal Family and my granddaughter,” the Demon King’s voice continues echoing throughout the entire planet. And to Tar’s both shock and pleasure, he finds the kitsune’s body separating apart into six unbleeding segments as all of the power slowly fades away in him, the Demon King somehow stealing his very reality energy and draining it from his blood. From his life force. All the way till he is no longer even a level 1 demon. “Demons of Tartarus, repeat the judgement of the ages for all those near and far to hear so that no one repeats this offense.”

Tar’s eyes widen as he hears a loud roar of voices answering, as if every last being on the planet capable of doing so was shouting at the top of their lungs the exact same words.

“As according to the Laws of Tartarus, any who unlawfully assault a member of the Royal Family should their crest be on display will face the judgement of the ages. They shall have their body separated into six parts from their extremities to their core and finally their head, their power absolved by the Demon King both physical and magical, and they shall be left to feel eternal torment until the day of Tartarus’s end with naught but their ability to feel pain intact.”

But to Tar’s surprise, the undead kitsune just laughs throughout all of this until he can no longer laugh anymore, his lips perfectly seamed together by themselves as the blood lycans all around them continue kneeling, their glares directed at the undead kitsune.

Then they continue speaking.

“Furthermore, all family members of the assaulter shall be executed should there be any and have their holdings claimed by the crown to be distributed to the Royal Family member who was assaulted. This punishment will thereby be increased in severity for the next one to earn the judgement of the ages as according to the Demon King’s will. For those who break the Laws of Tartarus deserve no easy death, nor do those who fail to learn from their predecessors.”

Tar’s eyes widen in shock at that, not having known the Laws himself, only for his gaze to return to Scarlet as he rushes down to her, only to find her wounds having already healed. The Demon King having apparently healed her long before dealing out the undead kitsune’s punishment despite not having approached her himself.

So Tar looks up again just to find six different demon dukes and duchesses appearing before the Demon King, each holding a chest. And without a moment of hesitation, the dukes and duchesses each place one segment of the undead kitsune – who’s eyes still have laughter in them despite the absolute pain he must be in right now – into each chest.

Then Tar turns back to the unconscious Scarlet again, only to find both the Demon King and the Blood Lord kneeling next to her already, both in their lycan forms.

But before the other demons leave, every last demon in the world shouts one last thing, making a chill run down Tar’s spine despite him being in an artificial body. One that he feels is beginning to lose consciousness.

“The Dawn of the End shall rise only after the Blood no longer Stains the Battlefield, for the Royal Family are all there is. The Bringers of Hope, and the Calamities of the Kingdom’s enemies.”

And right when the last word is stated, everything goes black in Tar’s vision, the fae prince falling down to the ground himself in a heap.