CHAPTER 51: THE BATTLE OF INVICTUS (15)

Noble Calamities, as their name suggests, held authority over those ranked beneath them. Just as a king stood above the other nobles, his power depended first and foremost on his people because without a people, there is no king. And calamities were not always an exception to this rule.

While some calamities rose in rank by killing, others received their titles from a superior. And then there was a third category: those who benefited from the reverse of the rule. A great people, a great king.

When several nobles gathered and submitted to one of their kind, that individual would instantly rise above them in rank.

Thus, Baron Mephisto was about to ascend once again.

---

Baron Mephisto rose effortlessly above the ruined fortress. His wings kept him aloft, and from the skies he gazed down upon all below. He saw his beloved subjects ennobling themselves: dozens of larvae began to emerge every second, leaving behind only a heap of flesh the last remnant of their host.

As soon as they were ennobled, they gained intelligence and became barons, immediately detaching themselves from Baron Mephisto’s authority.

But the larvae did not remain in that form for long. Using

Authority: True Form

they took on an appearance similar to Baron Mephisto, with one difference: they were black, while his exoskeleton was crimson.

Once in their true forms, they soared into the air to join their former master.

It was a staggering sight: more than a thousand humanoid wasps spun through the skies, communicating via nerve transmission. Only one subject was on the agenda: the election of a leader.

As a collective, they needed a leader to guide them more efficiently.

Several newly anointed barons stepped forward, boasting of their qualities and the types of authority they possessed. Needless to say, the verbal contest was fierce, each one trying to impose himself.

But despite the intensity of the debate, it did not last long. Their race, naturally intelligent, made the most logical and unsurprising decision:

to elect Baron Mephisto by majority vote.

As soon as consensus was reached, a thousand barons knelt mid-air and, this time, spoke aloud:

"Long live Count Mephisto! We submit to you."

As the words were spoken, the transformation occurred.

Baron Mephisto was no more. He had become Count Mephisto.

His wounds closed, and his body returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.

Of course, he now possessed a new true form fitting for his rank, but he chose not to assume it yet, as not all his subjects had ascended.

That would soon change. All the parasites hatched. There were no longer just a thousand, but over 7,000 barons, some of them born from parasitized enforcers. All took flight and, in turn, sought to proclaim themselves.

This time, however, there was no debate.

Drawing upon his authority, Count Mephisto commanded:

"Submit."

Without resistance, all knelt. Those who refused were slaughtered by the majority.

Thus, a second transformation occurred, giving rise to:

Marquis Mephisto of Hymenotope.

Authority: True Form

---

Elsewhere, outside the walls

Major Kraft and Captain Bernard stood before the corpse of Count Albart, recently deceased.

All the enforcers had been forced to flee the ruined fortress.

They had watched helplessly as humans transformed into calamities (as they interpreted it, unaware of the truth), and as a calamity of Marquis rank rose to overshadow them all.

It had a ruby-red exoskeleton. Four wings sprouted from its back. Two legs served as feet, and four arms, two of them emerging from its back acted as hands. These latter arms had no claws, but bore stingers that dripped a viscous liquid.

Its head resembled that of a human, as did the general shape of its body. Atop its skull, six antennae twisted together into a black crown engraved with mystical symbols.

And yet, the sight of such a creature did not make the enforcers tremble. Quite the opposite.

Rage burned within each of them.

The fortress ,their home, the wall they were proud to defend had fallen. And the monsters they were meant to repel now hovered over its remains.

All clenched their fists, their teeth, their weapons.

They knew the horror such an army could unleash the hundreds of thousands of lives it would claim.

("We failed.")

That was the thought in all their minds.

"Soldiers, with me ! For the Empire, for the Emperor let us die with honor!" shouted Captain Bernard.

He wasn’t good with speeches that had been his colleague Grégoire’s domain. Grégoire, whose fate remained unknown... and who no longer mattered.

But he didn’t need rousing words to motivate his men.

He already had someone to lead the way:

Major Kraft.

---

A bestial roar erupted before the major launched himself into the sky, propelled by the force of his fist slamming into the ground.

The rage that consumed him had reached its peak so had his thirst for blood.

Coating

Sigma Mode

Grand Barrier: Prison

A translucent cube formed between his hands. In a flash of light, it expanded several times over, enclosing all the enforcers and calamities in a fraction of a second.

The speed at which the barrier rose surprised everyone.

But without delay, the major followed with:

Repelling Barrier

The cube’s upper face came crashing down, forcing all the calamities to land.

As soon as they hit the ground, Captain Bernard shouted:

" Chargeee !"

The enforcers echoed his cry and rushed forward.

One last battle. For death. For honor.

---

High above, Marquis Mephisto watched the scene, laughing.

At first, he had no intention of dealing with the humans. Or rather, he didn’t see the urgency. He knew that at any moment, the forces of the Order could intervene.

The time it would take to return to the realm of pests with the treasure he had obtained was time the Order could use to cast their net.

He was well aware of the horror those humans in coats were capable of unleashing.

("Still, if they want death... who am I to stop them?")

Resolved, he transmitted an order directly into the minds of all his subordinates:

"You have five minutes to massacre every human. Those who distinguish themselves shall be personally promoted to Count once we reach the realm."

The promise of reward poisoned every calamity’s mind.

Victory was already assured , the numbers made it clear.

They were over 7,000, while the humans didn’t even reach a thousand.

Seven-to-one was already unfair, not to mention their genetic superiority.

"At your command!" they all shouted mentally before beginning their first massacre.

---

Naturally, Major Kraft came face to face with Marquis Mephisto.

The two commanders locked eyes for a brief moment.

The major finally noticed a glowing piece of parchment lodged in the crown of antennae.

He had never seen the legendary star, but as a guardian of Invinctus and a distant member of the Mist family, he knew of the sealed box left behind by one of the Empire’s founders.

When he realized what the object was, he knew he had been a fool from the beginning.

The major wanted to speak, to scream in fury... but words weren’t enough.

So his fist spoke.

Repelling Barrier

The same attack that had once killed Count Mephisto.

And yet, against all expectations, Marquis Mephisto didn’t even move.

He simply commanded the ether to protect him.

A mystical, colorless vortex rose before him, and the barrier shattered into pieces on contact.

Authority: Sensory Disruption

The major collapsed to the ground, all his senses lost.

Just like last time, when he had lost all feeling in his arm.

But this time, he was too slow to dodge it.

Taking advantage of the moment, the Marquis no longer underestimated humans.

He approached the downed major and, before he could retaliate, removed his head with a single sting.

He felt his authority briefly increase from the kill, then raised the major’s decapitated head and reduced it to dust.

The grand barrier disappeared with Major Kraft’s death.

The calamities seized the moment and, using their aerial advantage, accelerated the slaughter.

In the chaos, Marquis Mephisto spotted Captain Bernard bleeding, surrounded by a dozen dead calamities.

With a single beat of his wings, he descended and spoke:

"You too are an interesting human."

Before tearing out his brain with one swipe and taking flight, already pondering its use.

Just as the Marquis had ordered, the battle ended in exactly five minutes.

The wave of calamities flew north, far from the Empire.

Not forgetting the corpse of Count Albart, one of them swooped down, plunged into the body, and emerged with a slimy mass: his brain.

When the Marquis saw this, he rewarded the act with a flap of his wing then resumed his flight.

---

At dawn, as the sun rose, a man in a blue coat approached the ruins of Invinctus.

"So it really did fall... That report wasn’t a joke after all."

He reached for his radio to alert his superiors.

He was only an initiate only they could understand the gravity of this news.

But then a rock shifted, catching his attention.

As he moved closer, he saw a young woman with short blond hair clearing rubble that covered five others:

the last survivors of Invinctus.

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End of Arc: Invinctus