The next day arrived and was greeted by a splendid display of performances, parades and music.
Crowds began forming and lined the main town’s parade square, all the way to the gates of the Obsidian Palace, hoping for a glimpse of the Dark King.
News reporters flooded the palace gates, some were given access to the throne room for the coronation, while others showed the world and partook in the celebrations with the common folks.
As the appointed hour is fast approaching, various dignitaries and envoys representing various kingdoms and races lined up as they enter and took their seats in the great throne room hall.
Even the Light’s Heavenly host sent two angelic beings to attend this ceremony, despite being the dark faction’s arch nemesis.
Famous warriors and mages from each of the corners of the world also arrived, invitation in hand.
The Dark Noble Families of the various races were brought in to assist with the logistics and coordination of the event.
Folks like Reginald (Part of the Griffin Family), Leo (Part of the Chimera Family), Jayzee (Part of the Vermin Family) are ushers, guiding the attendees to their seats.
Even Prince Jyggawulf was on duty, as one of the guards for the Obsidian Palace.
They had ramped up security, but secretly, Prince Ryggatigris offered a battalion of werebeasts as guards, some of whom are part of the Night guards.
To not arouse any suspicion, Prince Jyggawulf was also part of the contingent to show that the werebeasts were serious in guarding.
Prince John thought it was a wonderful idea, thinking that beasts should just stand guard and protect their King, aiming to further humiliate Prince Ryggatigris.
As the last of the attendees reached the Obsidian Palace, the great clocktower in the town’s square rung.
It is the appointed hour, the procession shall begin immediately.
It was decided that the procession will begin from Marshgrave School, ride through town, and finally ending up at the Palace.
The organizing committee wanted to show the progress of the king, from a mere student, to becoming a working member of Dark Society, and finally ascending the throne.
Trumpets began blowing, and the carriage with Prince Kenius inside, draped with a royal robe, dressed in the finest clothing and the ornate sword that Jayzee found on his hip.
began to move off.
Students at the sides cheered and praise the new King, with the guards trying their best to maintain order and not have anyone disrupt the procession.
As the onlookers peer into the carriage, all they saw was an unresponsive Prince that stares blankly ahead, and his retinue of 3 Hooded mages.
No waving, no smiles, no acknowledgement to the crowd, the king’s carriage just trudge on ahead.
Soon, it arrived in town.
The commonfolk bowed and cheer for their new king, but similarly, there was no response.
Beings were wondering if the new king was unfriendly or just plain nervous?
The carriage moved on forward, but a hooded figure was following the carriage, darting between the crowds, hoping to get closer.
As the journey continued on towards the Obsidian Palace, the spirit of Prince Kenius is starting to get jittery.
“Great Bat, didn’t you say you can free us at any time?
I think now is the time, don’t you think?
I am about to ascend the throne and once that is done, we are screwed!” Prince Kenius implored, clearly in a state of urgency and anxiety.
“I am seeing a shady figure following us!” The bat grinned and said “When it is time, I will fulfil my bargain.
After all, who knew you could clear the 5 shadow partners.
Though I must admit, it was not the usage of skills, but your usage of guile that triumph those 5.
Your understanding of your talent has improved by leaps and bounds.
For now, enjoy the scenery.
Look, your fellow subjects are cheering for you.
Smile for them!
Gyahahahahahaha!” Feeling offended, Prince Kenius retorted back: “You know I cannot control my own face now, let alone my whole body!” and went off to look at the events transpiring right in front of him.
The carriage reached the gates, where there are alot of beings gathered here.
The royal coachman, as per tradition, signals to the guardhouse.
The guard captain of the gate, dressed in ceremonial armor, came out and asked: “Who goes there?!” The coachman replied: “The King has returned.
Home.” At the mentioned of the word “Home”, the crowd cheered even louder.
The guard captain bowed and said: “Yes, your Majesty!
Open the gates!” The heavy gates swung open, and the carriage proceeded forward, with its monarch in tow.
Usually, all the carriages will then route off to their own respective palaces for each Prince’s domain.
This time, the lone carriage traversed upon the King’s Path, a series of cobblestone lined roads.
The road is lined with a series of 9 flags bearing each of the royal princes insignia on each side of the road, spaced out evenly on the path to the Obsidian Palace.
The royal guards, standing at attention and saluting with their weapon, 2 on each side for every flag pole as the carriage passes by them.
Finally, the carriage arrived at the main door of the Obsidian Palace.
The carriage then came to a completely halt.
“We have arrived, Your Majesty.” The coachman informed.
The doors of the carriage were opened by the Palace staff, who was awaiting the carriage at the drop off point.
Sslisstith came out first, hooded though, but a definite faux pax.
The King is supposed to disembark first, but Prince John told the mages to formed a 3 way triangle to ensure the magic is enforced and to defend the King at all cost.
News outlets immediately began reporting on this mistake as it was broadcast to both locally and internationally.
Prince Kenius came out next, looking regal as he was draped in the royal robes.
Then the remaining 2 mages alighted from the carriage.
They began walking forward and headed towards the door to the Foyer.
The palace staffer, A skeletal undead butler dressed in fine robes, greeted the King-to-be, and informed him that the path will take through the Foyer -> Passage way -> Ascend the grand staircase -> Throne room.
The butler then guided the King and his party as they passed through the various halls and ascended the staircase.
While moving, the other palace staffs bowed their heads as the new king passed by.
Finally, they were one more door away, with thousands of beings in the next room, waiting to see Prince Kenius become King.
The butler announced the arrival of Prince Kenius.
The doors opened and music from the orchestra started playing a regal tune.
The audience clapped as Prince Kenius walked in.
As he entered, it is tradition that the 9 Princes are standing at each side, like how the carriage going down the King’s path is like.
4 princes on each side.
The last prince, would be the prince whose race was to be King, in this case, Prince John, awaits at the dias before the steps to ascend to the throne.
The announcer then spoke: “Prince Kenius, son of Prince John of the Human Race, has awoken the required regalia to be recognise as King.
Now, present to us, the King’s Insignia!” Prince John, eager to assist, took the royal robes of his son.
He then assisted to remove the fine shirt that Prince Kenius was wearing.
As the light shone from the oculus above, it was for all to see.
The markings of the great bat motif is on the back of this Prince.
The announcer continue: “The proof has been confirmed!
The King’s Insignia, representing the Dark Phantasm Beast of the Bat, is a primordial symbol of power that represented the Dark Faction since times immemorial.
Kingship can only be confirmed when one is in possession of it.
With that, we move on to the next step of the ceremony.
Words of guidance from the current race prince to the incoming King.” As the other mages dressed Prince Kenius back, Prince John began his speech.
“My dear son, Prince Kenius.
When the day I got to know that you have awakened Dark Magic, it brought me so much joy.
The humans are given a chance again to rule.
This could be in part that our previous King, the First Dark Human King, ruled with such wisdom, it ushered us into an era of peace and prosperity.
Us 9 Princes have done our utmost best to ensure that his legacy continues, as respect to the great contributions that our kings of old has done for us.” Prince Ryggatigris gave a sarcastic laugh silently and thought to himself.
“Its your son’s coronation, and you barely spoke about him, but more of the human race ruling again.
What an egotistical bastard!” Prince John continued:” While I know you will do well, my son has spoken to me about assisting him in his rule.
He has granted me the position of Grand Vizier, A regent position, to help ensure stability and provide advice to him.” The crowd started to chant: “All hail the King!
All hail the King!” As Prince Kenius stood there, Prince John reveled in the cheers.
It was as though the cheers are for him.
Prince John then turned around.
“My son, ascend the throne.
Take your rightful place and rule as King.
So that we can bring peace and progress to our glorious Dark Faction!” In his head though, Prince John was thinking: Ascend the throne, and Humans will rule, nay, I will rule the Dark Faction!
Prince Kenius started ascending the steps, one at a time.
The mages stood at the dias, secretly releasing magic to manipulate the young prince.
To Prince John, the moment is like an eternity, a countdown, to him being the true ruler.
Each step his son took, his rule is secured.
He could not even contained his smile, which was noticed by Prince Ryggatigris.
Seething with anger, Prince Ryggatigris was preparing to give the command to his night guards, as he made eye contact with them.
Prince Kenius stood at the top, in front of him resting the Obsidian Throne, with the Obsidian Spire at the back, and souls traversing around it like a conduit.
He turned around and put both hands on the arm rest, and sat down.
At this moment, several things happened.
The Obsidian Throne started to glow as some of the souls rushed towards it.
Prince Kenius’s eyes started to glow.
Then, a massive power spike occurred, releasing massive waves of energies.
Prince John started laughing, the dark faction is his now.
As Prince Ryggatigris prepare to give the command to his night guards, something suddenly happened.
In the consciousness of Prince Kenius, the souls rushed in and the great bat started consuming them.
Prince Kenius’s spirit was very confused and tried to shield himself from the barrage of souls entering the dome.
“What is going on?!
What is this?” shouted Prince Kenius.
The Phantasm, devouring each soul, just said one thing.
“Exit” Dark energies started erupting out of Prince Kenius’s body.
A mixture of magical waves, flames, wind, electricity, and many more elements were starting to shoot out.
Suddenly, the magical seals that the mages cast broke in succession.
The feedback was felt by the 3 dark mages which immediately caused them to turn and look at whats going on with their puppet.
Without the magical seals, Prince Kenius recovered his mobility and usage of his limbs.
Using his dark magic, Prince Kenius nullified and expel out the corruption magic his father had input into him, releasing him from Prince John’s control.
The green sickly aura came out, leading to Prince John looking on in shock.
The new King, after the barrage of energies that blasted out of him, slumped into the throne.
The 3 mages wanted to go and control him again, as they know they lost the magical seals and were unable to control their puppet, but the guards intervened.
Prince Jyggawulf, along with the other werebeasts, surrounded the new king, prevented anyone from reaching him.
Prince John realized the situation has turned out differently than he has planned and he had to regain control.
He pulled out the Sword of Imminent Darkness and threatened Prince Jyggawulf to move aside, or be slashed by him.
Prince Ryggatigris, seeing that his son is being threatened, gave the command for the night guards to ambush and capture Prince John.
Several guards from the contingent broke out and held back Prince John, others sneaked off from the crowds and restrained the Human Prince by holding him down.
Prince John was pushed onto the floor as he was held by 3 Night Guards.
“Release me at once, how dare you attack a Prince of the Dark Faction.
Runaway Prince, your treachery knows no bounds!
The King will not forgive this!” Prince Ryggatigris stepped forward and kicked Prince John in the face.
“Is that so, everyone here saw your corruption magic being expelled out of the King’s body.
Am I the treacherous one, or you?” Suddenly, a robed shadow flew past and with a swing of his sword, almost offed Prince Ryggatigris’s head.
“Shadow Prince, what are you doing?!” As the shadow blade is against his neck, Prince Ryggatigris tried to calm it down.
“You have disrupted this sacred ceremony with your coup attempts, you shall be judged and executed” said One-who-walks-in-shadow as it prepares to swing its blade to slice off his head.
——- On the Obsidian Throne, Prince Kenius’s unconscious body jerked and twitch.
In the inner world, the Great Bat, after eating so many souls, spoke to him:” My bargain is done, I have freed you from their control.
Go out there and give them hell!” Prince Kenius’s spirit smiled and spoke to the great bat.
“Lets go!” ——- Before the deed could be done, however, suddenly a loud roar filled the halls.
“Silence!” This word was not just loud, it carried regality and strong dark energies.
Silence immediately filled the room.
Everyone had stopped what they were doing.
Prince Kenius’s eyes opened, charged with Dark energies, sat up straight on the throne.
“Bow down to your King!” Everyone who was in there immediately knelt, as though gravity pushed them down.
“I am Kenius, your new King, and I am here to reveal some facts and to right some wrongs.” Everyone was confused, like what is going on?
The King spoke: “Firstly, the three mages who accompanied me.
Arrest them.” Royal Guards immediately came and bounded them all.
“They are my father’s minions, and have done his bidding to make me his puppet.
They have implanted a lot of magical seals into me to control me.
Send them to the dungeons, I will pass judgement of them later.” Sslisstith, along with the other two mages, begged for their lives as they were carried off.
“Secondly, this is not the true king’s insignia.” Kenius undraped the robes.
He used his magic to burn the marks off.
It was there solely by markings done by his father.
“The true King’s Insignia is here!” He opened his palm, and Kenius revealed the mark of the King to everyone.
It radiated with so much power that it impacted some of the folks in the throne hall, causing them to faint.
“Finally, to my father.
The one who committed such treachery as to mind control his son, so that he can be the ruler of the dark faction, while I am his puppet!” Kenius shouted.
Prince John, still manhandled by the Night Guards and pressed on the floor, replied back.
“This are – serious accusations.
I did not – do that!” Prince Ryggatigris, upon hearing the King revealed the truth, smiled and turn towards Prince John.
“I knew something was up.
No one believed me.
You and your sob story, trying to make the council fall for it.
Not only that, you humiliated me further by making me apologize, even though I was right all along!” His partial transformation began and claws sprouted out of his hands.
“Die, you treasonous scumbag!” As his claws swiped down, all Prince Ryggatigris could think about was that revenge is sweet.
Once his claws makes purchase with his target, Prince John will be dead and an eyesore will be removed.
Suddenly, a combination of earth, molten metal, ice erupted from the ground and block the claw of Ryggatigris.
“Now, now, he has much to answer for.
There is a queue for the amount of people who wants to off him.” Back all the way near the door, a hooded figure appeared.
The being pulled back the hood to reveal that it was Mensarius.
“Its Mensarius” “The previous headmaster” “Uncle to the King” “What is he doing here” The crowd continue gossiping at this unexpected arrival.
Prince Ryggatigris scowled, as Prince John still draws breath.
“MENSARIUS, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO STOP ME!
I WILL KILL THIS BASTARD FOR TRYING TO RUIN ME!” and he let out a loud tiger’s roar.
“No one but me have the right to judge him.” Kenius spoke in a calm and collected manner.
“Uncle, come here.
Prince Ryggatigris, stand down.
Have your guards bring Prince John here.
None shall forestall my judgement.” as Kenius raised his palm again and the King’s Insignia radiated out with power.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Mensarius took his place next to Kenius, while Ryggatigris stood down.
He ordered his Night Guards to bring Prince John in front of the King.
His guards followed the order.
“I have seen it, through my own eyes, a prisoner in my own body, all the atrocious things you have done to me, your son.
Do you agree?” Prince John tried to wiggle his way out of this.
“I did this for the sake of the realm.
I would have brought this great faction into its golden era.
I would have trampled on the other elements and even wipe out the Light!
It was all for Dark Faction!” Kenius started shaking his head.
“It is for your own cause that you wish to wield the power of the king.
You could have advise me, and I will make the right and necessary decisions.
Instead, you chose to bypass the Kingship and rule in my stead?
Its high treason, is it not?” Prince John, still being defiant, released himself from the night guards and pointed the sword of imminent darkness at the King.
“I know that you cannot achieve the grand ambition of my plan.
I will do it myself, as I have been all these while in the dark council.
With the absolute power of the king, I could have done so much more.
Instead, it was gifted to you.” As the crowd watches on, Prince John mutters: “I will become King, No, I must be King!
The insignia is mine!” and he let out a slash filled with his signature corruption energy.
Kenius sat on his throne and raised his hand.
Dark Magic – Aspect of Nullification.
The sickly green magic dissipated.
Prince John started going into a frenzy and launched several more waves, but they were all negated by Kenius’s dark magic.
“Impossible!
I did not even train your usage of Dark Magic.
How can you control it so freely!?” Prince John, in his shock, remarked at his son, sitting comfortably on the throne.
“While I am your prisoner, the great bat taught me and trained me.
While you had your mages pump in knowledge of statecraft and basic magics, I was honing my dark magic and its various aspects.” Prince John, in his last act of defiance, jumped up and activated his strongest magic.
Corruption Magic – Unholy Burst The sickly green mana charged and swirled around him like an orb.
It then blast out, threatening to corrupt all in the throne room.
The various dignitaries and envoys try to put up their magics.
Even the angelic beings of the Light put up a shield to try and shield many of the audience from the wave of green energy.
The corruption magic ate away at the magics and was breaking through the various barriers that they had set up.
Prince John laughed as he was about to get a lot of corrupted folks of diplomatic importance.
He even may get some strong units to bolster his offense, as long as they do not die first.
Kenius raised his hand.
Dark Magics erupted out again, taking on a new aspect.
Dark Magic – Aspect of Absorption The green mana gets sucked away like a vacuum sucking in dust.
In a few seconds, the room was cleared of the corrupted energies.
Then, Kenius spoke.
“Prince John, I shall now declare my sentence.
You will be stripped of all lands and titles.
You will be chained and paraded to the masses to let them know what you have done.
Finally, you will be executed by me personally for all the transgressions you have done.
The date in which all will happen will be finalize later.” With a wave of his hand, dark shackles chained up his father, causing Prince John to drop the sword of imminent darkness.
Then, the shackles pulled him into darkness, most probably transporting him into a pocket dimension that the king used as his private jail.
As Prince John sank in, he screamed and shouted a series of expletives, and cursed the king.
As the last of the Prince disappeared, Kenius looked up at the announcer and told him to finish the coronation.
The announcer, shock at what had happened, regain his composure and spoke.
“Alas, our King has returned to his throne.
All hail the King!” The crowd erupted: “All hail the King!
All hail the King!” Now, King Kenius sits on his throne, having regained control of his body, free of his father’s shackles and now, the ruler of the Dark Faction.
He smiles as he observes his subjects and foreign parties praising his ascension.
“Looks like all is well, nephew?” Mensarius spoke to the King.
“This…is just the beginning” Kenius said, as he waved to the public one more time.
The ceremony then comes to a close, and the Dark Faction now has a new King.