全城危机

"Hmm? Fallen off the grid how?"

"Transmissions from the final minutes indicate a planet-wide invasion from undead forces. However, all power within the planet went offline soon after the invasion started. Our deep scanners were unable to scan the planet. Emergency response teams sent to investigate were unresponsive. Currently we have three Starships enroute."

The old Emperor sighed and waved his aide away without giving him any instructions.

"Has he finally taken that step?" The old Emperor said seemingly to no one.

"Yes. Our hidden tracker within him had just gone offline." A cold, emotionless voice whispered out of nowhere. "A greater power than ours had taken hold of his body."

The old Emperor sighed deeply once more. "So many children, yet none are suitable. Woe… Woe to Symphonia…"

"There is yet one who, although extremely young, shows promise, Your Majesty…" The cold voice whispered.

"Then let us pray that she survives the looming chaos and that I live long enough to hand the throne to her…"

The cold voice remained silent at that. There was nothing he could say.

"Destroy Hy-Polar immediately and initiate Operation Blood Moon." The old Emperor finally said. "It is time for our old enemies to remember the horrors of fighting with us, and for them to enjoy the grand privilege of being the first to have fun with our new toys."

"As you command, Your Majesty." The cold voice whispered. Unlike before, there was a slight, almost unnoticeable tinge of bloodlust within it.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Flario. Hilda." Caerose said with a grim voice as she sat down on the soft lounge sofas of an impressive meeting room in the Star of Symphonia. Technically, she was a guest in the Starship, and she acted that way. However, both people that were waiting in the room were too smart to be deceived by merely where Caerose chose to sit.

The reality was the cold and hard truth that Caerose was the complete overlord of both their Starships, and their lives. At that point, if Caerose wanted them flayed, they would be flayed.

"Caerose. For the upteenth time today, I truly am surprised." Flario flashed his naturally charming smile at her. "I figured you\'d still be alive, but I could not, even in my wildest imagination, believe that you would be here!"

Caerose said nothing as she sipped on her glass of wine and studied the two Royal offspring of the despicable old Emperor who murdered her beloved.

"It truly is amazing what sort of trash we can dig out once we travel far enough from the Royal Court." Princess Hilda sneered at Caerose. She was an excellent example of Symphonian Royalty. Good looking, highly competent in every single thing she chose to do, extremely ambitious, extremely powerful, extremely arrogant and despicably heartless to the very maximum. They viewed the rest of the Empire as second, third rate citizens and demanded absolute servility from them. Caerose, who had fallen from grace, had entered a special category, a fourth rate citizen who should never have been born. In her eyes, Caerose being alive was already a crime punishable by death.

"Charming as usual, Hilda." Caerose smiled sinisterly. "Apparently the severity of your current situation has yet to penetrate your thick head. You do know that you\'re in the middle of a tragedy, right?"

"Tragedy? The only tragedy in my current situation is that I have to breathe the same filthy air as you." Princess Hilda spat.

Caerose laughed happily. Awesome ideas on how to make Princess Hilda\'s life absolutely miserable just exploded into being, inspired by her words. "Go on, tell me more! What else do you think is bad about your current situation?"

Princess Hilda sneered. "Apart from having to put up with your miserable, wretched self, everything is fine with me. Whoever caught me wouldn\'t have the guts to do anything to me. My father the Emperor would crush them to pieces if anything bad happens to me."

"Excellent. Still very much the pampered daddy\'s girl, I see. Well in that case, let me inject a little bit of, ah… spice, into your boring life. Guards. Move Princess Hilda into a cell. And every five minutes, on the minute, I want exactly ten kilograms of uncovered human waste delivered into that cell. Oh, please make sure to get the human waste from people eating all sorts of different food so that she can enjoy the full variety of \'filthy\' air we have to offer." Caerose ordered with a cute giggle.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Princess Hilda shouted in horror. "STAY AWAY FROM ME! I AM PRINCESS HILDA OF SYMPHONIA! I WILL HAVE YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY HANGED!! STAY AWAYY!!! NOO!!!!!"

​ Caerose\'s giggle turned into full-blown guffaws as she watched Princess Hilda being dragged out of the meeting room.

"Oh my, I have not had such a satisfying laugh for so long! I could really do with more of that." Caerose giggled and blinked innocently at Flario, who had an inscrutable smile on his face.

Far and away, Flario was a much more formidable opponent compared to Princess Hilda. He would not resort to open contempt, even in front of his enemies. Especially in front of his enemies.

"I dare say she had it coming for her. She should never have forgotten that you loved pranks more than any of us." Flario said with a rueful sigh.

"Indeed." Caerose replied. "Now that the little minx is enjoying her little break, let\'s talk about you."

"Me? What is there to discuss? I am your prisoner. You have a God on your side. Do whatever you want." Flario said with a shrug.

"I want you to throw your full support behind Anastasia in the battle for the throne." Caerose said without blinking.

"Anastasia?" A slight look of disbelief flashed on his face for a short second before quickly disappearing. "Why?"

"Orders from the top." Caerose shrugged.

"Today must be a really special day for me." Flario sighed. "I have never had to deal with so many surprises before in my entire life."

He closed his eyes and remained silent for a few moments.

"Fine, I agree on one condition." Flario said.

"No conditions." Caerose shook her head with a beautiful smile. "Full cooperation, or I\'ll have fun playing with you for the rest of your life. Believe me, I have spent many long years coming up with the most gruesome forms of torture designed to exact the most amount of pain and suffering before killing the victim in the most shameful way possible. What Hilda is going through now is my idea of a fun holiday for -"

"Alright, alright. Fine, I agree." Flario raised his hand in surrender and said helplessly. "If I can\'t negotiate for a condition, then at least let me submit it in the form of a request."

"Request? Sure. Request away."

"I would like to be her advisor." Flario said.

Caerose laughed out loud at his words. "Oh my, you really never give up, do you? What makes you think that we would be insane enough to allow you within a kilometer of Anastasia?"

"I do not have to see her to advise her." Flario said with a sigh. "It would be great if I could do that, but even if I can\'t, I could pour out my thoughts in writing. Appraise me of the situation weekly, and I can write out my advice. If you suspect treachery even then, feel free to vet my words. Anastasia is young, naive and much too kind to lead the Empire. You know that."

"I do. But we have more than enough people who are capable of advising her to be the greatest Empress in the entire universe. We don\'t need you at all."

"You have people who understand the politics of Symphonia more than I do?" Flario barked out with a laugh. "Let me meet them! I will prove that they are fools within five minutes!"

Caerose narrowed her eyes as she considered his words. It was true though. Flario was the most fearsome politician she had ever known. With his advice, Anastasia\'s rule would be much smoother. Anastasia may have the backing of a God-like power capable of smashing any and all opposition into smithereens. But it would be really inefficient to rule an Empire with half of her ministers and nobles smashed into pulp. It would be much better to \'lead\' and manipulate them into cooperation.

"I will submit your request to the higher ups. For now, do I have your agreement to support Anastasia?" Caerose snapped her fingers and a blood red contract materialized before them.

"A blood contract?" Flario laughed. He slashed his wrist and signed it immediately. "There, happy now?"

Caerose blinked and studied Flario suspiciously. It seemed too easy.

"I am happy." A soft yet gentle voice suddenly rang out from somewhere in the room.

Flario whipped his head towards the direction of the voice in mild surprise.. He had scanned the room with his power multiple times earlier, but he had not detected anything out of the ordinary.