The bat-demon flexed its massive, leathery wings, shattering the rest of the glass tank behind it. It let out a deafening, monstrous roar that shook the entire Doom Tower, preparing to absolutely slaughter the Royal team standing in front of it.
Ken stayed hidden behind the sofa, keeping his hands totally out of sight. His dark eyes locked onto the monster's chest.
"Okay," Ken thought silently, his mind perfectly calm and completely unfazed. "If you want to play the final boss, let's see how long you last."
----
The massive, bat-like monster that used to be Vane stood in the center of the ruined penthouse. His leathery wings twitched, and his jagged fangs dripped with a sickening green liquid. Princess Iris, Naomi, and Sayma stood totally frozen, gripping their weapons tightly. They were ready for him to charge. They expected a mindless, roaring beast to attack them at any second.
But Vane did not attack.
Instead, the giant monster let out a low, rumbling chuckle. The sound was absolutely horrifying. Because his vocal cords had mutated, his voice came out in a distorted, demonic double-layer. It sounded like two different people talking at the exact same time—one voice deep and gravelly, the other high and echoing.
"You look at me like I am the villain," Vane growled, his double-layered voice shaking the dust off the ceiling. "You point your shiny little swords at me and call me a criminal. You stand there in your clean, pretty uniforms, thinking you have the moral high ground."
Behind the overturned, broken sofa, Ken Eliot was crouching on the floor, hugging his knees. He peeked through a small hole in the fabric of the couch.
"Oh, man," Ken thought to himself, completely dropping his goofy act inside his own head. "Here we go. It is time for the classic villain monologue. Why do bad guys always do this? You turn into a giant, scary bat-demon, and instead of fighting, you want to talk about your feelings? My legs are already falling asleep from crouching here. This is the worst."
Out loud, Ken decided to play his part perfectly. He poked his head up just enough so Vane could see his eyes.
"Excuse me, Mr. Giant Bat!" Ken yelled, raising one hand like a student in a classroom. "Are we doing a storytelling session right now? Because if we are, I left my snacks downstairs. Can we take a quick five-minute break so I can get a juice box?"
Naomi did not even look back at him. "Ken, I swear, if you do not shut your mouth and hide, I am going to feed you to him!"
"Just asking!" Ken mumbled, ducking back down behind the couch.
Vane ignored the lazy boy entirely. His glowing, toxic green eyes were completely locked onto Princess Iris.
"You call me a monster, Princess," Vane hissed, stepping heavily on the concrete floor. His massive claws left deep scratch marks on the stone. "But I was not born like this. I was made like this. And do you know who made me? Your precious, shiny Empire."
Sayma pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her hands were still glowing with the golden light of her barrier magic. "What are you talking about? The Imperial Police files say you have always been a criminal."
"The files are a lie!" Vane roared, his double voice echoing painfully in their ears. "Ten years ago, I was not hiding in the slums. Ten years ago, I was wearing a uniform much nicer than yours. I was a loyal Captain in the Belmontian Imperial Army."
Naomi’s green eyes narrowed. She came from a very proud, strict family of noble knights. Hearing this twisted monster claim he used to be a respected military officer made her completely furious.
"You are lying," Naomi snapped, pointing her sharp dagger directly at his mutated face. "A true Imperial Captain lives by a code of honor. An Imperial Captain protects the innocent. They do not kidnap poor people, farm their life force, and sell them cursed drugs. You are a disgrace to the uniform you claim you wore!"
Vane let out another dark, bubbling laugh. "Honor? You think the Empire cares about honor, little girl? I fought for this country! I bled for this country! I spent five years on the borders, fighting a brutal, bloody war against the rival nation of ZulFarah. I watched my best friends die in the mud to keep the capital safe. And I did it proudly, because I believed I was protecting my home."
Princess Iris lowered her silver rapier just an inch. Her violet eyes softened slightly. She knew the history of the ZulFarah border war. It was one of the darkest, most violent conflicts in the Empire's recent history. If Vane had truly fought in that war, he had survived absolute hell.
"If you were a war hero, what happened to you?" Princess Iris asked. Her voice was not angry. It was calm, steady, and full of genuine curiosity. She wanted to be a good Empress one day, which meant she needed to understand why her people turned to darkness.
"What happened?" Vane whispered, his leathery wings folding slightly behind his back. The toxic green light in his eyes flared up with pure, unfiltered hatred. "The war finally ended. I survived. I was so happy. I packed my bags and traveled back to my home. It was just a small, quiet rural village on the far edges of the Empire. I was so excited to see my family. I expected to find peace."
Vane took a heavy step forward. Naomi immediately raised her daggers, but Vane didn't attack. He just looked at the floor, lost in a terrible memory.
"But when I got home, there was no peace," Vane continued, his voice trembling with a mixture of rage and overwhelming sadness. "There was only death. My entire village was suffering from a horrific, flesh-rotting plague. People were dying in the streets. The local doctors had absolutely no idea what was causing it. The magic healers couldn't cure it. It was completely eating them alive from the inside out."
Sayma frowned. Her highly analytical brain was working quickly. "A sudden, flesh-rotting plague in a rural village? There are no historical records of a plague outbreak ten years ago. The Empire tracks all magical diseases."
"Because the Empire caused it!" Vane screamed, slamming his massive, clawed fist into the wall. The concrete shattered, raining dust down on them. "I investigated the sickness myself. I tracked the water supply up the mountain. And do you know what I found? I found a massive, hidden facility. The Empire's new, highly classified 'Soluriam' mining project."
Sayma’s eyes went wide behind her glasses. She actually gasped out loud. "Soluriam? That is impossible. Soluriam is the rarest magical mineral in the world. It is what brought immense wealth and prosperity to the capital city ten years ago."
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