BloodStar

Karasu turned to see a shadowy figure of a person concealed by a dense black aura. Although the physical appearance was somewhat masked, there could be no doubt that the physique of a strong man existed beneath.

Karasu assumed a defensive position immediately as he honed all senses on to this man. Jarek took note of Karasu’s on guard posture, and said, “Do you know this man Karasu? Is he dangerous?”

Karasu grit his teeth, “Yes. And you do too by name. Though I have no idea why he is here. Ashrok of the Ru-Shai-Ra.”

Jarek’s eyed went wide with shock as he thought to himself, “That is Ashrok?” He looked to the man to see him walking by himself with a floating coffin emitting muffled screams from within.

Jarek stepped forward, “Ashrok of the Ru-Shai-Ra. We have not formally met, but if you are here to rescue Constance Khan then you will find that I, Jarek Heraklinos, stand in your way.”

Ashrok extended a black, smoky extension of his aura several feet in front of him. The aura extending like an arm towards Constance but stopped as it approached Jarek. The aura then shot three small, bullet-like projectiles at Constance which instantly dissolved her restraints.

Freed, Constance darted behind Ashrok before Jarek could take note of what just happened. Karasu made no efforts to prevent Constance from escaping. He knew better than to toil with the likes of nightmare ki.

Jarek frowned and yelled, “Did you not hear me?!” He gathered a huge, dense ball of ki within both of his hands and fired a ferocious beam directly at both Ashrok and Constance.

Ashrok extended his aura to a radius of 6 feet around him and Constance. The destructive beam could have leveled an entire city block; however, as it made contact with Ashrok’s aura, it simply disappeared into the void as the nightmare ki seemingly dissolved the entirety of Jarek’s attack into nothing.

Jarek took a few steps forward as he yelled, “Your nightmare ki may be able to counter my ki attacks, but what if I grab your neck and snap it?!”

Karasu put a hand on Jarek’s shoulder to give the suggestion of hesitating and Jarek took the suggestion. He stopped and Ashrok called out, “We can battle if you would like. The great Jarek Heraklinos would probably win. If you attack with Master Karasu, you are almost certain to win. However, as we are in your capital city, the cost of victory would include the destruction of your flagship city, most of its people, and… at least one of you two would perish in our battle as well.”

Jarek was furious, “If you are not here to battle, then why are you here? Speak quickly, Ashrok.”

Ashrok allowed the coffin to slam down to the ground, “I am here to deliver he who is destined to be the first victim of this war. As is ancient BloodStar tradition.” Ashrok looked to the screaming coffin and then continued, “Although alive now, Pope Peter won’t be for much longer.”

Jarek and Karasu stood in disbelief as they both looked to the coffin. Jarek thought to himself, “God damnit! We have been outplayed! Trick us into a rescue during an armistice, use it against us, and then deliver the real Peter as the first victim!”

Jarek’s face turned red as Ashrok extended a cold, white hand from beneath his robe and aura, “As it is not her war, Empress Victoria bids you both good luck in the war against her daughter, Xenia BloodStar.”

Master Karasu called out to Ashrok, “I hope to meet you in battle Ashrok. My clan has made great strides since we met last.”

Ashrok gave a cold chuckle of chilling death, “I serve the Empress. Not the Warlord.”

Constance stood from her crouched position behind Ashrok, “I hope to see you, Karasu. A rematch would be thrilling. Wouldn’t it?”

Karasu smirked, “Thrilling? It would hardly be a warmup youngling.”

Ashrok turned and without a word began to march outside of the palace gates as he made his slow journey back to the BloodStar Empire with Constance Khan trailing his aura.

Jarek rushed to open the coffin left behind. He flipped it up to find a screaming and writhing Peter with a pale complexion and overall malnourished appearance. Jarek saw no bodily injuries and detected no ki that may be attacking his mind.

Karasu came to the same conclusion. Jarek called for a team of doctors to examine him immediately as the screaming Peter continued to writhe and squirm in pain that had turned his existence into a living hell.

________________________

The brightest doctors of the Heraklinos Empire worked tirelessly through the evening even consulting other brilliant minds from around the world in attempts to decipher the mystery that plagued Pope Peter.

Samples were taken for research, various medicines were administered, and even specially targeted neurological surgical procedures were performed in order to halt the pain. However, nothing seemed to work.

The doctors ultimately failed to find a cure or even a therapeutic measure to ease Peter’s suffering. They attempted to induce him into a forced medical coma; however, he died before the measures could be implemented.

Jarek had slept restlessly on and off through the night awaiting updates as they came available. He sat at his private breakfast table within his master villa as the Chief Medical Officer of the Heraklinos Empire arrived to brief him.

Jarek invited him to sit, “Dr. Kimbrough, please take a seat. I know you must be exhausted. Thank you for briefing me before you take your rest.”

Dr. Kimbrough took his seat, “I should preface this discussion with the fact that I have no real good news.” He sighed and looked to Jarek who nodded for him to continue.

“Every pain receptor in Pope Peter’s body was hyperactive due to a compound of unknown composition and unknown etiology.” Dr. Kimbrough shook his head, “The world has never seen anything quite like it. It must be man-made. Regardless, this compound appears to have a mechanism of action which activates pain receptors systemically. Furthermore, whereas most compounds will eventually experience some kind of attenuation from a negative feedback loop, this one ostensibly recruits molecules to aid in a positive feedback loop which leads to an ever-increasing sensitization of the pain.”

His voice trailed off as he stared blankly, “It would be one of the worst deaths I could think of.” Dr. Kimbrough gulped audibly as he gathered himself from his terrible thoughts of what Peter must have endured before his death.

Jarek leaned forward, “I know Pope Peter. He can handle pain. Pain alone would not kill him. How did he die, ultimately?”

Dr. Kimbrough sighed, “He had multiple seizures. The intense pain also put him in a state of constant hypertensive crisis which led to a hemorrhagic stroke. It’s amazing he lasted as long as he did. It is a testament to his strength and will power. An average human would succumb within minutes I fear.”

Dr. Kimbrough softly said, “Master Heraklinos, is this a design of our enemy? If so, it must be stopped for the sake of all that humanity stands for.”

Jarek took a deep breath and said, “I know as much as you do although it certainly seems to be a design of our enemy, Xenia BloodStar. She is a medical genius of sorts, and it is very much like her to put her talents towards malice rather than benevolence.”

Jarek took a sip of his coffee as the clock struck 8 a.m., “I plan to make a call to begin dealing with this problem immediately. Please excuse me, doctor. Your update has been invaluable. Please, get some rest.”

Dr. Kimbrough nodded and stood as he took his exit tired from the grueling night before.

Meanwhile, Jarek picked up his personal phone and directly dialed Xenia BloodStar whose number he had retrieved from Jacek for a purpose exactly such as this one.

The phone rang… and rang… and rang… until finally… a voice picked up, “Jarek Heraklinos? Do you know what time it is here in Texas? I sure do wish Jacek would call me at 1 o’clock in the morning while I am completely naked under the sheets. I’d get out of bed for that.”

Jarek ignored her playful commentary, “Xenia, what have you created? What did you do to Peter?”

Xenia sat up in her bed, “Oh Peter? He must be dead by now. A shame really, I did enjoy his company.”

Jarek repeated himself, “I said what did you do to him?”

Xenia responded in kind with her tone, “I did to him what I plan to do to all of my enemies. Kill them in the most painful and slow of methods whether it is by my hand or by my army’s hand.”

Jarek grit his teeth, “This is wholly unnecessary, Xenia. Let us settle this entire war 1 vs 1. You and me. For the fate of this world.”

Xenia laughed, “It’s not that I wouldn’t fight you Jarek. In fact, I look forward to it one day when my power has far exceeded even your wildest imagination. However, I don’t see the point. Not a single Master has respected the terms of my prior 1 vs 1 with Gregory.” She paused before continuing, “No. If wars are meant to be remembered and the victors respected, then it must be long, slow, and oh so painful for everyone involved.”

Jarek quickly responded, “If you plan to repeatedly violate basic human rights during this war, I will find you myself and end your long, slow war much faster than you could ever imagination.”

Xenia smiled to herself, “Jarek. Come and find me. I like when you talk so dominantly to me. Can you give Jacek a few pointers, please?”

Jarek replied, “I’ll do you one better. I am sending Jacek to kill you.”

Xenia yelped with excitement, “You’d do that just for me?!”

Xenia reached her hand down and began to feel between her legs rubbing herself at the thought of Jacek coming to fight against her. She moaned in pleasure directly into the phone and said, “Waging war against my lover? Just the thought…”

Xenia began to moan louder and louder as she dropped the phone and began to pleasure herself to just the idea alone.

Jarek yelled, “Xenia! Xenia!” However, it was no use. All he could hear was moaning and heavy breathing.

He stood in anger and yelled as he hanged up the phone. Meanwhile, Xenia continued to rub and pleasure herself to the very thought of battling against Jacek on the battlefield.

She thought to herself, “To dominate such a powerful man on the fields of war. A true test of power at the hands of life and death to decide the fate of the world. God, what an exhilarating thought. God! I will make him submit, and I will take what I want. All is fair in Love and War!”

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