Shane waited until night fell before he began his journey up the mountain pass. He had expected something or at least a hindrance from reaching his destination but anything he encountered along the path to the top was the creatures that roamed the area freely. If he wasn’t on such an important mission, he would have stopped to truly admire the beauty. Wild flowers bloomed along the outer path, bushes lined with different berries dotted along way and soon he even saw wild life in all shapes and size dwelling there.

If the God was so evil as the people below claimed, why keep these things here?

Unfortunately, he couldn’t ponder any more on the matter because no sooner had he thought that question he was facing into the darkness of the gave that housed the tormentor.

The lord took a deep breath, taking a tentative step forward once he steeled his nerves to advance.

“My, my, the humans decided to send me my payment after so many moons? Pity, I was excited to see what they would look like covered in boils…”

Shane felt a shiver of surprise. The voice clearly belonged to a male, but he hadn’t expected it to speak. Even in the darkness, the heir to the throne knew the being was watching him but from where?

“Good evening,” he said instead. His eyes darted around, trying to get a sense of where the enemy was. “I am sorry to disturb you, but I am not a sacrifice of any sort. My name is Shane and I’m here on behalf of the village you have tormented.”

The man snorted dismissively. “I know who you are; you come far from your lands and recently lost a loved one. Not that I care, but shouldn’t you be doing more important things with your time prince?”

Shane resisted the urge to growl at the God purred at him-openly mocking and having fun with it. “I want to know what you want to get you to stop and restore peace like you did before the sacrifices.”

A moment passes before he chuckled lightly. “Well, honestly I was doing it out of boredom. See, it’s lonely up here and even though I really could just take what I wanted, I found it better to watch them kick themselves trying to figure out who to send “to their death” as some would say and let me tell ya, it was quite entertaining.”

The young lord tensed, hand twitching besides the sword at his hip ready to strike. Somehow, the being sensed it and without warning, Shane suddenly felt a warm breath across his neck and a voice whispering in a breathless caress it.

“I would advise you not to get any idea’s prince. I should kill you for not bowing to someone with my power and ability but I sense you are more interesting than the rest of the scum that has wondered in here and will provide me with some relief. Don’t test me.”

As far as Shane was concerned, he was alive because the man was too much of a chicken shit to show his true self. The cave was still pitch black, the moon’s rays unable to pierce through it and he had a clue the being was intentionally keeping it dark. To scare him, to intimidate…he didn’t know but he wasn’t going to fall for it. He had trained himself not to be caught off guard so if the other was expecting him to cower then maybe he wasn’t all powerful.

“…is there anything in return that you would like for the continuation of these people’s safety?” he continued, ignoring the presence behind him.

“Hmm…not really to be honest. I can get anything I want, have anyone I want go wherever I want. So, nope. Unless you know something I can’t have then there is nothing else to say.”

Shane found himself surrounded with black marble statues that gathered around the dimly lit white room. They were built to perfection and with such realism, it made anyone who entered the room think, they were alive. A single figure was the only thing moving around, his movements graceful as he walked around his sleeping ground. Long blue-grey hair spilled around his shoulders and down his back, his robes of black and red silk falling around him like a halo as he walked. There was an air about him; an almost angelic feel…it one would call him that after what he had done over the past weeks.

Taking only a moment to stop and gently brush against one of the statues with his fingertips, the human could only stare, mystified at the glowing figures back as he made his way across the room to a section of the room decorated with plush furniture, a cup of tea and biscuits waiting for him on the rectangular coffee table. Settling into a plush red velvet chair, the God picked up the china cup, smelling the sweet scent of apple blossom and chai before taking a slow sip of the delicious hot beverage.

After a moment, the man finally looked at him. Upon seeing his stunned expression, he sneered darkly in delight. “It seems I have left the prince speechless. What? Didn’t to come face to face with someone almost human? Shows how open minded your kind are, doesn’t it?”

Shane’s words died in his throat and he looked away from the smug smirk, gritting his teeth in irritation. He had to control his anger. His father was expecting him to solve this matter and return home as soon as possible. If the blasted creature didn’t want anything then they would fight…

“Anyways, there may not be anything I want but I can tell you won’t be leaving until this issue is resolved so I’ll put it simply so you can’t claim you misheard me. If you want me to stop and restore this trash heap to what it was before I went on a rampage (their words, not mine) then get on your hands and beg me like the sniveling piece of trash you are and I’ll consider it.”

Shane’s mouth dropped, eyes widening at the God’s words. It was so shocking; he took a step back as if struck. “Y-you want me t-to beg?” he hissed in disbelief. No one had ever asked that of a prince in high standing. Not even his father demanded it.

The creature’s smirk grew wider and he set the cup down. “You heard me princess. Get on your fucking hands and knees and beg me to stop what I am doing. Or…”

“Or what?” Shane snapped bitingly. Well, there went politeness.

A small breeze and then he was in front of the human. Strong hands came around to grab him by his waist and drew him closer. And it was then Shane realized, with growing horror, the being was hard in his neither regions.

“Or you can warm my bed for the night and then leave. Trust me, when it comes to bed partners I’m not picky as long as they are good looking and quite frankly…” One of his hands came around to fondle the prince’s ass. “You’re quite easy on the eyes. So what do you say?”

Not liking what was implied, Shane ripped himself away in disgust, putting as much distance between them as he could without leaving the cave entirely. He unsheathed the Crescent Blade from his waist, pointing the weapon at the arrogant man, who in turn bared his fangs at him in gratification from his reaction. It was then Shane realized he was waiting for a fight.

Well, if the asshole wanted one he was going to get it.

“Trust me; you are nowhere near my level. Go shove your two inch dick somewhere else.”

The creature’s face went blank, pondering his words.

Then hell broke loose.

Moving swiftly, too fast for any normal human eye, the being shot forward, hand outstretched to snap Shane’s neck but just before he made contact, the human shouted something unintelligible and suddenly he found himself trapped in a blue bubble.

His shock only lasted a moment. So, the human also could use magic. Now that was surprisingly. However, the spell was weak and the powerful being managed to tear through it with ease. He pushed back against the human, forcing Shane and half of the mountain's entrance outside. They crashed into the destroyed forest, uprooting more rock and terrain as fought to get ground.

"Kintosai: Summoning of the Guards!"

A dark blue red aura surrounded the creature’s body. It twisted and morphed until three transparent figures, each solidifying into black, humanoid entities with weapons respectively and shields. They surrounded Shane, attacking only when their master gave them the signal.

The first monster, closest to Shane swung its sword in a blindingly fast downward arc towards his head.

The human sidestepped, counterattacking with a powerful lateral strike of his sword. The young lord held out his right arm, a light yellow current slowly swirling around the blade in his hand. He raised his blade to land an attack on the shadowed creature, who elevated his shield to protect himself.

"Shakuko: Lightning of the Heavenly Beasts!" Shane bellowed as the massive solid iron blade of his weapon slammed into the raised shield. A powerful blast of electrical energy discharged at the impact point, causing a popping flash of light.

The second beast descended upon him in an instant when Shane was distracted. He pivoted and countered with a downward slice of his sword, causing the second thing to dodge and step back, but leaving an opening for the first. It reached back and swung wildly with its sword directly at his head, but missed as he ducked.

Shane stepped back again and parried another strike by the first enemy with the handle of his weapon.

The lord raised a hand, screaming another elemental blast, "Shakuko: Wind Dance!"

A powerful surge of air whirled around his hand, before shooting in an influential wave towards the two who had struck first. Its speed carried full force into the monsters and they were thrown backwards by the weight of the wind.

Their master watched with much amusement from the sidelines as Shane rained his attacks on his summons. He knew they were weak against the human, but it was so much fun to wear his prey out before he went for the kill. Shane was doing pretty well, and he knew he wasn’t using even a third of the power he displayed. However, it was odd. Humans were not capable of having such ability. They didn’t have the right core or sense to understand how to summon and perform such large feet.

Nevertheless, here stood a disgusting sack of filth and was performing astronomically against his attackers.

He pulled an orb from the folds of his robes and muttered softly until it glowed a faint green.

“What’s up Lazarus? Finally decided to call your loving brother?”

“Shut up Zotuna. Listen, I need you to do some digging on the human Shane Rozenkratz and his family. Don’t ask why. Just do it and don’t let anyone else know what you’re doing. Report only to me.”

Lazarus hung up before his younger brother said anything and tilted his head just as one of his solders was sent flying past him. Oh, right…

Shane growled in irritation as the three warriors came back to full health. "Why won’t you fight me?!” he demanded Lazarus as he blocked a strike to his leg. “To much of a coward to face me yourself?”

Sending him a bored glare, Lazarus spoke in an equally bored tone. “I would, but then it wouldn’t be a fair match. I’m actually trying to save you the embarrassment of defeat.”

The human snarled and aimed a bolt of lightning towards him. It was brushed away easily with a flick of his wrists and two seconds later, the black creatures vanished. Shane found himself on his back with a foot pressing against his throat a moment later.

The attack was too fast. He didn’t even notice when Lazarus had moved. Horrified, he stared into the glowing eyes of his enemy. They stared back at him, hard and glowing a soft blue.

“As much as I have enjoyed this dance,” Lazarus sighed, pressing deeper into Shane’s skin until the human gagged for air. “I think I need to cut it short. There is so much I can take before I start getting bored and since you didn’t accept my offer, I’ll try something else. Therefore, this is what I’m going to do after I leave you here: I’m going to kill every single human on Earth starting with your family. Then maybe after, create some more humans, let them live in comfort for a bit before I kill them too. And over and over the cycle will continue until I grow bored again and just say fuck it and destroy this stupid trash planet.”

Shane gasped, struggling to breathe as his windpipe was slowly crushed beneath the God’s foot. “Y-you can’t do th-that!” he choked out with the little air he had. Fear, powerful enough to almost paralyzed him, gripped the younger man to the point it hurt. How could someone so cruel exist in the world?

Lazarus hummed. “Oh, but I can. I can tear this world apart because I was the one that brought it into existence you simpleton. I’m too damn lazy to start that shit over but I digress. The only way I will change my mind is if you make a deal with me. Not for the village or any other human."

He took a step off Shane so he could sit up and waited until the human was done having a coughing fit before continuing. “Despite your rudeness I actually think you are pretty interesting so I’ll make it easy on you; every four generations your bloodline will offer me someone to me to make up for having me restore everything to normal. I’m not going to tell you what I plan on doing with them but don’t worry, I won’t kill them.”

When his words were met with a cross between outrage and skepticism, Lazarus huffed. “What? You thought I was going to say I want you to give me all your newborns to eat? Since you won’t let me fuck you, might as well take a child of yours to make up for it. And no, no negotiating, no other offer. It’s either this or I destroy the world right now. Just nod if you agree to my terms.”

It took Shane every ounce of him not to spit in Lazarus’s face, disgusted and angry at the God’s offer. How the hell was he going to tell his generation they had to give up a son or daughter to this hellish being? A part of him wished he just took what the being asked the first time. At least his family wouldn’t have been burdened with a loss of a loved one. He certainly wasn’t a martyr…but his father sent him here expecting a resolve before he returned. If he went back…

No. There would be nothing to go back to if he didn’t agree. He, and his family, the world, would be dead and it would be all his fault.

Fuck. He screwed up big time.

Shane struggled, but he nodded in acceptance despite the bile rising in his throat. There was no other option. He wasn’t strong enough to deal with this on his own.

He would give Lazarus what he wanted, but he swore that day, one of his own was going to cut the God’s head off and end him for good. Shane watched angrily as the God grinned in victory and snapped his fingers. The world righted the homes of the villagers repairing and the ground became new with their harvest. The livestock returned and everything was put back into their place.

“I’d ask for a kiss to seal the deal but you look like you’re two seconds from trying another pitiful attempt at killing me. Therefore, I’ll just take this as promise,” Lazarus hummed, swinging Shane’s medallion from his finger.

The human gasped, reaching for his neck and felt nothing. He swore, charging the God but all he hit was air as the being vanished into thin air. As he stood there, cursing Lazarus in anger, the God watched from above the clouds, a faint smile dancing across his lips.