*Note: Ok, I'm nor full recovered yet but I feel better.
Today two pictures because... well, se the comments and you'll understand.
Have a good day :)
...
While Nemesis returned with Murlus V's corpse to deliver it to the King, other things were happening elsewhere in the galaxy.
We find ourselves aboard a massive spacecraft that could be called a mothership. It was an enormous ship, jet black, perfectly camouflaged with its surroundings.
On it, numerous people were guarding the ship—some in charge of maintenance, others piloting it, and others tasked with protecting their ruler from any threat.
The mothership was gigantic, large enough to contain an enormous throne room. There sat Rarus, ruler of the planet Ranna, a frog-like alien species similar to Earth's toads but humanoid and scaly. They also possessed astonishing jumping abilities and a huge tongue that, while mainly used for eating, was worth mentioning.
Rarus, like Burgus and Murlus V, was not exactly a good ruler, but if there was something that clearly set him apart from the two mentioned earlier and from most nobles in the galaxy, it was that he was completely idiotic. Rarus obtained his title thanks to his now-deceased father, Rarnus VI, one of the finest nobles in the galaxy—respectful, honest, kind to his own race and even to others. Rarnus was a ruler beloved by thousands, whether of his race or not, but the same could not be said of his son Rarus.
Rarus was stupid, arrogant, cruel, misogynistic and capricious, and whenever he wanted something, he tried to get it by any means, regardless of whether they were illegal.
When Rarus came to power, the whole world was discontent and tried to appeal to the King to strip Rarus of his title and appoint someone else—anyone but Rarus—but their complaints never reached the King, or so they thought.
Gid was also very displeased with Rarus, but he could not strip him of his title without cause, so he did nothing and patiently waited for an opportunity to arise. Although Rarus was an idiot, his soldiers were highly competent and left no trace of the crimes Rarus committed, which angered Gid. Still, thanks to a particular someone, Gid was sure he could strip Rarus of his title and even kill him—something he was eager to do.
Anyway. What was Rarus so obsessed with that he wouldn't stop until he had it? I think we all know the answer: women.
Rarus was obsessed with women; he loved them, especially those races similar to humans. Those kinds of races excited him greatly, but they were difficult to obtain. Even so, he had a large collection of women in his royal harem, most of them kidnapped and threatened.
Rarus didn't care if a woman was married, had a boyfriend, children, or anything of the sort—if he liked a woman, he would try to obtain her by any means. But there were three women he could not get no matter how hard he tried: Lala, Momo and Nana.
Even being an idiot, Rarus realized he couldn't kidnap the princesses—or he would be killed in minutes and would never enjoy the beauties he already possessed or planned to acquire. But everything changed when he received news that the three princesses were engaged to the same man.
Why did he learn of it now? His guards were not as stupid as he was; they were elite warriors and quite intelligent and knew what would happen if Rarus found out that the three women he had pursued most had become engaged to the same man, so they tried to hide the news.
Nevertheless, such an important piece of news could not remain hidden forever, and although they managed to conceal it for a while, Rarus eventually found out and, as everyone expected, caused a scandal and threw a tantrum that lasted days.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! How can a mere Terran steal my princesses?!" Rarus raged.
After three days of fury, Rarus finally recovered his senses.
Having said that, Rarus looked at one of his guards.
"You, call an assassin— I don't care who— but bring me the strongest killer you can find!" Rarus demanded.
Then he thought and nodded.
"Call number one, I think her name was Nemesis or something!" Rarus said.
"Sir, we have already contacted Nemesis and she refused the job. In fact, she said that if we contacted her again, she would come here to end your life," the soldier reported.
In reality, Nemesis's exact words had been: "If that fat toad dares call me again, I'll slit his throat. I don't take jobs I don't like, and I certainly won't accept a contract from such filthy scum. If he's still alive it's only because the King forbids me from killing him." But of course the soldier couldn't repeat those words to his ruler or he would likely die that day.
Also, as they suspected what would happen, they had preemptively contacted several assassins.
"Damn arrogant bitch! Call Konjiki no Yami! She's not as good, but I hear she always finishes her jobs!" Rarus barked.
"Sir… have you read the full report?" the soldier asked.
"No! As soon as I saw that disgusting human had taken what is rightfully mine, I got so angry I didn't read the rest of the news!" Rarus snapped.
"Sir, if you had read the entire report, you'd know Konjiki no Yami is engaged to the heir of the throne and will become his concubine," the soldier explained.
Rarus became so enraged upon hearing that that he nearly suffered a heart attack—only anger saved him. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, the race Rarus belonged to had two hearts and could survive on just one; otherwise the soldier would have added more fuel to the fire.
"Opportunistic bitch! All women are whores who only love power and money! Even that bitch Konjiki no Yami got engaged to that human so all her crimes would be forgiven! Filthy sluts!" Rarus roared.
After ranting for a while about Akira's lineage, Rarus calmed down.
"All right, then call whoever you think is the strongest," he said once he had cooled off.
The soldier sighed. At least Rarus had vented his anger.
"Right away! The captain is already searching for a suitable assassin!" the soldier said.
"Fine. Whoever it is, hire them. Money is no object—pay whatever they ask without haggling. Tell them I want the job done in five days max. How long does it take to reach Earth from here?" Rarus asked.
"Exactly five days at top speed," the soldier replied.
"All right, then I'll give them a week to finish the job," Rarus decided.
The soldier raised an eyebrow. Did Rarus not realize the assassin might be closer or farther from Earth than he imagined? Once again, the intelligence of their new ruler was sorely lacking. Why had Rarnus had to die? He had been the ideal ruler and, although he too admired the princesses and their beauty, he would never have been foolish enough to send an assassin.
"He would have let things be. He believed in destiny and would probably have thought the princesses and he were not meant to be, and would have left the matter alone... Is this because of his son?" the soldier thought.
Maybe it was because he'd indulged him, but… could one blame him? He had always been very busy and scarcely had time for his son; for fear the son would not love him, Rarnus always indulged his child's whims.
"Perhaps that was my lord's only mistake—not being strict with his son…" the soldier pondered.
Now the line of succession of their family was in mortal danger, for if the assassin's plan failed, they would likely discover Rarus had sent the killer and he would be punished accordingly. And there is only one punishment for attempting to take the life of the future King: death.
The bloodline of their benevolent ruler would be exterminated by his foolish offspring—a shame...
As a soldier, he could only relay the order to his captain, who promptly contacted an assassin.
This time the hired killer was a woman. She appeared somewhat older, with wrinkles crossing her face; however, it wasn't that she was elderly—her species simply looked that way. Their race resembled humans, but with a notable difference: they appeared elderly at every age. Whether infants, children, adolescents, adults or elders, they always looked like old people.
Nonetheless, despite appearing to be eighty, they possessed great physical strength, and among them stood out this assassin, ranked number 14 on the killers' list: "The Annihilator."
"The Annihilator" was known for her tremendous brute force, unusual even among her own kind. Her murders, unlike those of others, were brutal. The Annihilator would pulverize her enemies with overwhelming strength before they had a chance to react.
Worst of all, weapons were practically useless against her. Even the strongest bladed weapons on the market could only scratch her thick skin. As for firearms, human bullets wouldn't even tickle her. The only weapons capable of killing her were the most advanced arms available—but who carried such weapons on hand?
Carrying arms was forbidden and only rulers were permitted to use them. Although a black market existed, The Annihilator always followed her targets from a distance for several days to ensure they carried no weapons that could harm her. If she confirmed the target was unarmed, she would crush them; if not, she would wait until they were distracted and then use all her strength to kill them with a single blow, preventing them from reacting or using their weapons.
When The Annihilator was contacted, she accepted the job immediately after asking for an exorbitant fee.
What she loved most were challenges, and this mission ignited the blood of the warrior inside her.
It was no longer a matter of merely assassinating the target, but of testing the strength of the human who had subjugated Konjiki no Yami—the one who, according to many, could kill her with a single blow, although The Annihilator never believed that.
She believed her strength ranked among the top ten assassins, but due to the short time she'd been on the job compared to her peers, she couldn't break into the top ten—yet. But when she killed the human and then that bitch Konjiki no Yami, she would claim a top spot. Just imagining it put a smile on her face.