Part 44: The Price of Creation and the Cycle of Cruelty
Dante's chill, resonant voice cut through the air of the clandestine room. "It is true what the other entities say. They say I don't control you." He approached the masked man meditating on the map. "They say, 'King is untamed, he is truly a king.' " Dante paused, his eyes narrowing. "They are wrong!"
With terrifying speed and strength, Dante seized King by the neck and lifted him effortlessly into the air. King's body went cold, his eyes snapping open, dilated with fear and sharp pain. His legs dangled uselessly, his hands scratching desperately at the iron grip around his throat.
"I think they're all wrong," Dante continued, his voice a low, bestial huff against King's struggle. "I don't fear you. I fear the people of this city. I fear the bastard that killed my wife! I fear the world breaking again. I fear myself, and I fear how much I would enjoy killing you."
Dante held him there in the air, the tension high as the tower itself. He hated King, yet he knew King was not simply testing his patience; he was testing Dante's perceived worth. If Dante did not kill him for this insolence, it meant King was still invaluable. The inventor never fought back, a fact that only intensified Dante's rage, for King was the sole inventor of Arcanatech and the creator of Dante's formidable hunters—Sheena, Ormazd, and many others yet he never fought back.
Dante finally released his grip. King dropped to the floor, coughing violently, the mask concealing the full extent of his distress.
Dante coolly took King's seat. "The Masked King. I recently lost one of my wives to the bastard you said we shouldn't let out into the world. Turns out he wasn't willing to leave until he was bored. I watched the feedback. The prison you said even you couldn't get in—he simply walked out. And took my wife's heart as a souvenir. I'm not concerned about him for now, because I know he's weak at the moment. My concern is his weakness."
"You mean Black?" King interjected, his voice raspy.
Dante smacked his lips. "I sent two hunters to bring him here, and they never came back."
"He killed them?" King asked, intrigued.
"Perhaps. Two Evangelists should be at your lab as we speak. I need more hunters. Bring me Black." Dante concluded.
King stood, retrieving his journal. "If I decide to give you new hunters, do you trust me not to kill you first?"
Dante smiled, rising. He walked to a shelf, grabbed a jar filled with an experimental, viscous liquid, and smashed it on the floor. The contents were destroyed.
King's masked face betrayed a spasm of anger mixed with excruciating pain. Dante moved toward a second jar. "They'll be done," King quickly agreed, his voice strained, halting the destruction. To King, science was life. If Dante couldn't kill the creator, he would kill the creation.
"I'll give you new hunters, for a price," King said, his voice flat.
"What is the price?"
"Kathryn! I heard you broke her heart. Give me her heartless body, and I will give you two hunters."
A deep frown creased Dante's face. He grabbed another jar. Before King could protest, SMASH!
King let out a loud grunt of agony. "Dante! You touch one more of my jar, and I will kill three things that you love!"
Dante was momentarily stunned, but quickly composed himself. He knew King was holding back, but he had found a reliable way to infuriate him. "I believe you can kill not just three, but all I hold dear. But you won't," Dante stated, walking to the door. "I need them tonight. Bye, King."
King staggered, shallowing his breath. He rushed to a drawer, grabbed an injection, and plunged it into his neck. A network of visible, toxic veins quickly retracted, and he let out a sharp wheeze of air as he calmed himself. He picked up his journal and walked out.
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Arrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhh!
A piercing scream echoed through the halls. Kathryn was released from the regeneration chamber, the memories of her pleasure-filled death flooding her mind. This time, the pleasure was absent, leaving the pain multiplied sevenfold. She was reliving her death, the agony happening seven times at once.
Dressed in her uniform, Kathryn was led to a grand meeting room. At the center of a very long table sat Dante on a massive, obsidian throne adorned with twisted brass with detailing that resembled screaming souls, a silent testament to his power.
The trauma returned instantly. She saw her killer and resurrector seated before her. She was given a seat on Dante's right. Heavy sweats drenched her as she fought panic.
Dante gently laid his right hand on her silken hair, creasing it as if to soothe her. She twitched and shook at his every movement.
The meeting began, dealing with the governance of the Syndicate.
The KAB'HA[1]: "The latest reports on the rebel group, KAB'HA, are troubling. They are destabilizing resource runs. We must increase the deployment of Evangelist divisions. We think their morale is fueled by foolish notions of 'freedom' that we must crush before we start losing our grip on the rest of the citizens."
Arcanatech Market and Production[2]: "Production of Arcanatech remains King's solitary domain. The Black Market is desperate for more arms. We must increase quotas, especially for the kinetic Shields and the enhanced armour. Profit margins must remain absolute, regardless of the cost."
The Scarcity of Air and Gas Masks[3]: "The air quality in the lower sectors continues to degrade. People are dying. Control over air is control over life. We will release batches of low-grade masks to prevent mass riots, but the true atmospheric scrubbers are reserved for the elite and our most loyal. Let the lower rungs of society feel the pinch of our absolute authority."
VETRA[4]: "The synthetic drug, VETRA, is spreading rapidly. It temporarily unlocks latent psychic abilities, turning desperate citizens into wild, unpredictable threats. We need a rapid deployment task force, perhaps we could recruit some scavengers, to interdict the supply lines and execute anyone dealing it. Its chaotic nature is unacceptable."
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After the meeting, Dante stood. He encouraged the entities to maintain order in their respective regions with a tone of cold authority. He then turned to Kathryn. He placed a tender kiss on her forehead. She shook and cried. He sweetly wiped her tears.
"Come, let me take you to bed. Rest. You've suffered."
He led her to his vast, opulent bedroom, a space dominated by black marble, dark velvet, and polished steel, the only light coming from recessed, ambient fixtures. He gently took her clothes off and laid her in the massive bed, covering her with a blanket.
"Sleep, Kathryn. Sleep," he said, his voice a warm, deceptively caring lullaby.
Kathryn, her heart heavy, was unsure whether she was being pampered before her next death or truly cared for. As he repeatedly told her to sleep, his voice sounding like a loving mother's, she gradually drifted away.
Dante watched Kathryn sleep.
Dante moved to a secret entrance concealed behind a bookshelf. He entered a room that automatically illuminated.
He began the grim, deliberate process of plugging wires into his body. Once finished, he flipped a switch. A timer appeared: eight hours and seven minutes. He inserted a tooth guard and bit down hard. Chemicals of an unknown, agonizing nature flowed into his system as the countdown began.
Dante screamed inwardly, the intense, agonizing pain of the Chemical Crucible forcing him to endure the process that made him the terrifying dictator he was.
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Back in King's laboratory, sparks of electricity crackled and died, revealing two new, lethal bounty hunters.
"He will surely kill you too," King began, speaking into the empty air, regardless of whether they were listening. "Dante is sending you to your deaths. He's very powerful."
The hunters departedas he speaks, their mission set.
King turned to look at a strange device—it resembled a spear holder, but it was empty.
The Arcanatech Light-Tip Spear was not there.
The weapon Black now possessed!.
[1] Had to explain some issues in the government that would influence the story as it goes.
[2] Had to explain some issues in the government that would influence the story as it goes.
[3] Had to explain some issues in the government that would influence the story as it goes.
[4] Had to explain some issues in the government that would influence the story as it goes.