Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Alorek was a nation of strength. Only the strong could live, and only the truly powerful could lead. Those who lacked strength, lacked rights. Such was the law of this harsh land.

Alorek was a nation covered in sands, rocks, and the occasional fertile oasis. Because of this unfortunate geography, most of the population developed around these rare oases as well as along the only river that ran through the lands, the Lion's Tear.

It was at the base of the mountains where the river was sourced, that the capital city of Alorek sat and built into the stone was the palace where the King and his family lived.

Inside this massive and imposing building, sat upon an ornate throne was a man that easily stood over eight feet tall. His arms were as big around as a normal man's chest. His name was Zethis of the Raging Sands.

Raging Sands was the clan he was born from, and is currently the leader of. His clan won the rights to the throne after the death of the previous king twenty years ago. Since Zethis was the strongest of his clan, that meant he was crowned king.

Zethis looked down the length of his throne room, which lead directly to a balcony through a set of massive stone columns and overlooked his city. The territories of Ranging Sands were vast, and bordered the kingdom of Eroa, but also included the capital city.

For the last twenty years he had worked out deals with all of the largest clans in Alorek, and those that did not deal, were forced to bow. Through these dealings he had amassed great wealth and power for the purposes of returning to their possession the lands of Eroa, and if things go well, the fertile plains of the Five Kings Union.

These dreams were shared by every king and queen of Alorek since their defeat in the last great war. Zethis, was different though, because he would be the one to do it.

"Lord Zethis, your entertainment for the evening has been sourced."

"Excellent." Zethis grinned. His cruel smile showed his extra set of canine teeth. Like all feline beastmen, he had six canine teeth, four on top, two on bottom.

He stood from his seat and walked to follow the servant that had fetched him. Occasionally he would pass one of his many maids and concubines, giving them wink's and silent promises of pleasant nights ahead. Despite his massively imposing figure, he was quite the handsome man. His light brown hair, dark skin, and brown eyes combined with his chiseled face to create quite the specimen.

A few minutes later, he walked out onto a platform that overlooked a large arena that was circular and nearly a two hundred feet in diameter. It was a private arena for noble guests of his and also served to provide himself personal entertainment.

Currently standing in the center of the ring was a C-Rank beast known as a Minotaur. Approaching it was a warrior or spy captured from Eroa. It was a young man with gray hair and eyes. Zethis could not tell from this distance exactly what rank the man was, but he was strong enough to be entertaining, though likely not strong enough to survive.

The minotaur was 'tamed' by Zethis' personal acquisition team of Dark magic users that specialized in taming contracts. He grinned cruelly again as he held up one hand.

"Eroan spy…fight or die." He shouted. At the word 'die' he dropped his hand, which signaled for the monster to begin fighting.

Zethis simply leaned against the railing of the balcony and watched the fight ensue. The Eroan put up quite a good fight, though it was plainly obvious he specialized in speed and not power.

The spy quickly darted between the legs of the massive minotaur which stood twice his height, dodging slam attacks from its fists repeatedly. Normally with opponents fighting using raw power, his tactics would have been to wear the opponent out by outlasting them through stamina. Unfortunately, the minotaur was beyond him in both power and stamina.

He had the edge in speed, but that was useless in the long run if he couldn't keep it up.

"[Ventus: Wind Blade]"

Several blades of wind sped towards the minotaur, but they were batted away easily by it's hand. As a follow-up attack, the beastman slid between its legs again and slashed at the ankles while casting another spell.

"[Ventus: Wind Strike]"

That spell created a second cutting edge made of wind magic right in front of the actual weapon which allowed the user to get two slashes out of a single swing.

Unfortunately, all it did was leave a cut across the skin and did not cut deep enough to cause any real damage. The only thing it actually did was piss the minotaur off even more.

It roared in defiance and began to stomp its feet like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Though not a graceful mode of attack, it did close out any chances for the beastman fighter to get close, so he jumped backwards to create distance.

"Raaaargh!" The beastman roared and began to shift to his more powerful form. He was a lupine beastman, likely a gray wolf. His speed and strength multiplied over five-fold.

"[Beast Arts: Savage Claw]"

The beastman's fingernails extended into sharpened claws surrounded in the dull glow of mana. He leapt towards the raging monster, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. The man continued to leap past the minotaur, pinging around the arena, stopping on the ground just long enough to make another jump.

Every time he passed by the monster, he would land another strike. Several seconds and dozens of strikes later, the minotaur was covered head to toe in slashes. However, they were barely skin deep and began to rapidly heal thanks to the monster's powerful constitution.

"Oh…that is just too unfortunate. Sad to see an Eroan warrior cannot best a single monster. End this farce. Finish him." Zethis ordered. His voice boomed throughout the arena.

The moment the words reached the monster's ears, its tantrum ended and it ran after the beastman, who was still much faster. Since it was the only tactic that seemed to work, he started his repetitive leaping attacks again.

This time, the monster had learned the pattern, so on the fifth leap, it stuck out one hand, and caught the enemy in its grasp.

"Fuck!" The beastman coughed. "You will fail, Zethis…Alorek…won't…win…"

At the last word, the minotaur squeezed its hand causing the beastman's chest to crack and cave. He coughed up blood and his eyes bulged and turned glassy. The minotaur glanced at its prey uncaringly before it popped the body in its mouth and began to chew. After all, it expended some energy during the fight, and needed to refill it.

Zethis laughed at the spy's final display of bravery. "We will certainly see now won't we? I'll be there to see the truth at the end of this fight…but you won't."